· American Oriental Society, Index to Journal of the American Oriental Society, Edward Schafer, Ed. American Oriental Society, New Haven.
This is a useful guide to over forty years of work which has been published in this eminent journal.
· Bhattacharya, Sachchidananda, A Dictionary of Indian History, G. Braziller, 1967.
Arranged in a dictionary style, this book is another somewhat useful account of the history of what has come to be called India.
· Chekki, Danesh A., The Social System and Culture of India, Garland, New York, 1975.
This work contains over 5,400 entries, some of which are not listed anywhere else. The work is classified by sociological category. There is a great deal of material concerning the goddess and Sakta Pithas.
· Creel, Austin B. "Studies in Hindu Ethics: A bibliographic Introduction," Religious Studies Review, 2,4 (1976): 26-33.
This essay presents a critical interpretation of works on Hindu ethics. It is comprised of over sixty essays and texts.
· Dandekar, R.N., Vedic Bibliography, 2 Volumes, Karnatak Publishing House, Bombay, 1949.
This work continues Renou's work (although in English). This text is an essential source for the study of Hinduism. It reviews work on the Indus valley, the Vedas and post-Vedic Religion.
· De Barry, Williams et al. A Guide to Oriental Classics, Columbia University Press, New York, 1989.
This is a recent look at the basic textual works from Asia. In addition to looking at the texts themselves this collection of authors also looks at the scholarship which has surrounded these works.
· Dell, David, Guide to Hindu Religion, G.K. Hall and Co, Boston, 1981.
This is an invaluable work to anyone in the field. It contains very useful and thoughtful annotations for all of the entries and represents a significant piece of scholarship. The work is an excellent starting point for serious research in the field. There are sections on History, Sociology, Art and Iconography, Sacred Locations and much more.
· Dowson, John, A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion, Geography, History and Literature, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1961.
This work can be useful if you are just looking for a short introduction to a subject. It focuses primarily upon mythology, but other key issues are also addressed. There are no bibliographic references.
· Eliade, Mircea, Ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion, 16 Volumes, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York,
A classic introduction to many of the ideas and phenomena which are important to the academic study of religion. There are many sections which are particularly useful for the study of Hinduism. Composed of an amalgamation of authors, this encyclopedia is a useful starting point for many studies. Most if not all of the entries contain relevant reference information.
· Farquhar, John Nichol, Outline of the Religious Literature of India, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1967.
This is an excellent source for looking at the entire breadth of Hindu religious literature. It is an essential for any serious scholar of Hinduism.
· Garg, Ganga Ram, Ed. Encyclopedia of the Hindu World, 3 Volumes, Concepts Publishing Company, New Delhi, 1992.
A fairly useful collection of information, although I found the text difficult to understand sometimes. The first volume contains a sixty page introduction which is fairly useful to the neophyte. These three volumes are only the "A" part of the Alphabet! The editor promises to fill in the rest by the turn of the Century.
· Gonda, Jan, ed. History of Indian Literature, 10 Volumes, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1975-1981.
This collection of works is truly exceptional within the field. I know of no other work which can even come close to rivaling it. The text itself is primarily a look at the textual tradition and perhaps the best attempt I have seen to catalogue it within the context of one work.
· Hastings, James, Ed. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 16 Volumes, Charles Scribners Sons, New York 1913.
Being published in 1913 is a serious constraint on the scope and content of this work. Although purporting to cover "all the great religious traditions of the world," it provides little more than fragments of the "non-western" traditions. It did however, seem to have some merit and some of the sections warranted attention.
· Holland, Barron, Popular Hinduism and Hindu Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography, Greenwood Press, Westport Connecticut, 1979.
This is a fairly massive volume of bibliographic references on the majority of major issues within the field. There are sections on general studies, sects, Deities, rituals and worship, the sacred literature, symbolism and imagery and much more. The only problem with this volume is the disappointment which is brought on by the title. While this text professes to be an annotated bibliography, only a few of the books have annotations and the one that do are rarely longer than one superficial line..
· Kennedy, Richard, The International Dictionary of Religion, Crossroads Publishing Company, 1984.
A very short introduction to many of the concepts prevalent in various religious traditions. It is notable in that it contains many interesting images. There is also a useful religious chronology.
· Lal, Mohen ed. Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, 6 Volumes, Schita Academy, New Delhi, 1992.
This piece is interesting because it represent an attempt by a non-western scholar to take a look at the tradition. It discusses a great deal of academic literature which is not discussed within western academic circles. It is overall a fairly good introduction and overview of the tradition.
· Long, Bruce, The Mahabharata: A Critical and Annotated Bibliography, Cornell University South Asian Studies Program, Ithaca, 1974.
This work is the most comprehensive bibliography to date on the Mahabharata. It is also a useful guide to other studies of ancient Indian traditions.
· Nakamura, Hajime, Religions and Philosophies of India: A Survey with Bibliographic notes. 3 Volumes, Hokuseido Press, Tokyo, 1973-1974.
This work contains a brief discussion of most of the major topics which are central to this field of study. Each of the selections is then followed by detailed bibliographic notes. There is also a great deal of information contained in this text which does not exist anywhere else including many articles and books published in Japanese.
· Patterson, Maureen, South Asian Civilizations: A Bibliographic Synthesis, Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1982.
This is an excellent bibliography of South Asian Civilizations. It is well respected and well worth looking at.
· Potter, Karl H. The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 1, Bibliography, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1970.
This work contains over 9,000 entries on Sanskrit texts and secondary materials. The work is divided into three main sections. The first is of Sanskrit texts whose authors and dates are known. The second is of works whose dates are unknown. The third section is on secondary literature and is organized by philosophical school.
· Singh, Sher, ed. Indian Books in Print, 3 Volumes, Indian Bibliographies Bureau, Delhi.
This text is published annually in three separate volumes. It is primarily a catalogue of authors, titles and subjects of books in print within India. An interesting resource for engaging non-western scholarship (better brush-up on my Vernacular.)
· Stutley, Margaret, James, Harper's Dictionary of Hinduism: Its Mythology, Folklore, Philosophy, Literature and History, Harper and Row.
A smaller and somewhat superficial (How can you expect to have a thorough dictionary in 350 pages?) text, which provides illumination on a few topic. Each entry also contains a set of references, although, I found some of them difficult to trace.
· Walker, Benjamin, The Hindu World; An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism, 2 Volumes, Praeger, New York, 1968.
A useful encyclopedic style text composed of two volumes. The text itself is fairly dated and thus is lacking in numerous areas, but its is still useful for certain items. Also useful are short bibliographies at the end of each entry.
· Wood, Ernest, Vedanta Dictionary, Philosophical Library, New York, 1963.
This text is a useful sourcebook for students wading through the depths of the Vedantic literature. While it is a useful starting point for preliminary definitions, it should not be seen as the end-all on some terms.
· -----Yoga Dictionary, Philosophical Society, New York, 1956.
Another useful volume for looking at some of the writing surrounding the subject of Yoga. It should be mentioned that the authority of this work is sometime called into question.