A Primer of Hinduism

by D.S. Sarma

Presented as a dialogue between a father and his daughter, this is a marvelous introduction to Hinduism. As the oldest of the world's religions, and being the end product of a long process of the interactions of various cultures, creeds and cults, Hinduism is not easily presented in either summary or detailed form. Professor Sharma has given us a readable and interesting presentation of the fundamental doctrines of Hindu religion and philosophy, thus giving a strong foundation for further study. In this new edition, the publisher has added an Introduction, a general article of Hinduism, and, as an Appendix, a representative selection of passages from the Hindu scriptures.

Genres: Hinduism, Religion

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Abhishek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect mid 20th century Hinduism of the urban Tamil classes owes its theology in large part to Vivekananda and the Ramakrishna Math, and this text can be taken as a representative of that strand of synthesis of the native religions. This is not a bad text at all if you are even remotely familiar with the context (and the children of the 90s all are the inheritors of that synthesis), but I don't think this will work if you are an outsider.

A very useful, if incomplete, articulation of the faith if you are struggling to explain your background to the offspring.

[Orin · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have done better...