Bhattaacharji, Sukumari, The Indian Theogony, Cambrisge University, Cambridge, 1970.
A study of the pattern of Indian Gods as they move and evolve from the civilizations of the pre-Aryans and Aryans through the late Puranic period.
· Berriedale, Keith A. The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanisads, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1925.
A fairly old, yet still useful text from one of the great scholars of the past. The text is primarily a survey of Gods, rituals, philosophical concepts. It moves from the early Vedas through the Upanisads.
· Bloomfield, Maurice, The Religion of the Veda, Putnam, New York, 1908.
This text is primarily drawn from six lectures which were given in 1906-1907. The book, while extremely old has dominated academic thought on the Vedas since the time of Bloomfield, Keith and MacDonell. This text seems an essential for any student beginning serious study of the Vedas.
· ----- Trans. Hymns of the Atharva-Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1973.
This text is a translation of about one-third of the full text. The translations seem good and are readable. The text contains a brief introduction as well as notes.
· Burrow, T. "The Early Aryans," in A Cultural History of India, Ed. A.L. Basham, Claredon Press, Oxford, p. 20-29, Ch. 3, 1975.
A fairly clear survey of the theory of Aryan migration from the Central Steppes of Asia to India. There is discussion of the conflict with Indus culture and the transition from Vedic to later Hindu traditions.
· Eggeling, Julius, Trans. The Satapatha-Brahmana according to theText of the Madhyandina, 5 Volumes Sacred Books of the East Vol. 12,26,41,43,43 Ed. Max Mueller, Oxford University press, Oxford, 1900. (Reprinted, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1963,1966,1973.)
This text is the largest and richest of the Brahmanas. The introductions provided to the translations are useful and essential for an intelligent reading of these texts.
· Keith, Arthur Berriedale, Trans., The Veda of the Black Yajus School entitled the Taittiriya, 2 Volumes, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 18-19, Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1914.
Keith has an extensive introduction to the text and discusses its relationships to other texts and to rituals, as well as its language and style and approximate date. The text itself deals is divided into seven parts and deals with many issues including the full and new moon sacrifice, the rekindling of the fire, as well as mantras for the horse sacrifice, and much more. An old yet readable translation. Note: many of these translations are very old, yet the age of full text translation seems to have past and so many of the full text translations we have were translated about the turn of the century or before.
· Macdonell, A.A., The Vedic Mythology, Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1963.
This text, from another great scholar of the past, presents a detailed survey of the Vedic Mythology that is organized in terms of the various Vedic Gods.
· -----Hymns from the Rid Veda, Associations Press. London, 1922.
This text, comprised of forty hymns provides an excellent introduction to the contents of the Rig Veda. The author provides us with a useful introduction and also a brief illustration of each of the deities being invoked by each of the Hymns.
· Miller, Jeanine, The Vision of Cosmic Order in the Vedas, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1985.
An interesting overview of the authors understanding of the Vedic sages vision of cosmic order. She focuses upon three primary issues. The first one is the "law" as it manifests itself in the universe and therefore in nature. Secondly, she discusses the idea of truth at the human level being equal to Truth at the universal level. Lastly, Miller looks at sacrifice and its role in constituting social order.
· Muller, Max Ed. The Sacred Books of the East, 50 Volumes, the Claredon Press, Oxford, 1879-1910.
This collection of works is the product of the classical Indological enterprise. It is a set of invaluable translations compiled by numerous translators and laboriously edited by the monumental Max Muller. In this series, many Vedic Hymns, Upanisads and Law books are translated.
· Oldenburg, Hermann, The Religion of the Veda, trans. Shridham B. Shrotril, Motilal Banarsidass, Varanasi, 1988.
A classical introduction to the religion of the Vedas which has just recently been translated into English. Somewhat encyclopedic in form, Oldenburg present us with a useful introduction which describes the Vedic gods, deals with sacrifice, and what he calls Animism. The text itself seems to be framed largely in terms of western theological categories.
· Pateria, A.K., Modern Commentators on the Veda, B.R. Publishing Company, Delhi, 1985.
This text is primarily a survey of the theories and interpretations of three significant Vedic scholars. The text includes discussion of Max Mueller, Swami Dayananda and Aurobindo. As such, it is an interesting fusion of western and Indian scholarship.
· Patton, Laurie, Ed. Authority, Anxiety and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation, SUNY, Albany, 1994.
A collection of essays by various scholars throughout the field. They are linked primarily by the fact that each chapter addresses the theoretical questions of canonicity and the historical continuation, appropriation or rejection of Vedic authority. The text includes significant contributions by notable scholars such as Brian Smith and Barbara Holdrege.
· Sen, Umapada, The Rig Vedic Era, Firma K.L., Calcutta, 1974.
The main thesis of this work seems to be that Vedic civilization had priority over the Indus Valley Civilizations in ancient times. Sen argues that Vedic civilization dates back beyond 3000 BC. The text is an interesting criticism of Western scholarship.
· Van Buitenen, J.A.B. "Vedic and Upanisadic Bases of Indian Civilization," in Chapters in Indian Civilizations, Ed. Joseph Elder, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Iowa, p.3-38, 1970.
A short introduction to Vedic literature, ritual, sacrifice, and the role of other religious concepts upon Indian civilizations.
· Whitney Williams Dwight Trans. Atharva-Veda -Samhita, 2 Volumes, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1962.
This work is a full translation of the text, yet is somewhat dated and the translations are taken too literally. The effect of this is to make the translation virtually unintelligible. The notes included may help the adept scholar.