Sanskrit Books

The Language of Yoga: Complete A to Y Guide to Asana Names, Sanskrit Terms, and Chants

Nicolai Bachman

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Features:

• Finally, a tool to help yoga teachers and students pronounce asana names and yoga terms correctly!
• The Language of Yoga is the definitive A-Y of yoga specific words. (There is no Z in Sanskrit)
• Useful for yoga teachers and students

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Yoga
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Reference
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Truly a "must" for non-Indian yoga teachers 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I can't believe I have never reviewed this before! I've been a yoga teacher for - oh yikes, way too long to admit to but until I listened to the CDs that come with this book, I had been pronouncing things incorrectly. I guess my teachers learned the wrong pronounciation from others who didn't know...and on it goes. But my students know the difference now; hopefully, they will pass it on as some of them become teachers.
I've also used the book for tattoos. Just enlarge the writing for the artist...perfect.
Namaste

The Language of Yoga 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As a student in Yoga Teacher Training, I found this book excellent. It is a clear and easy to find Sanskrit to English and English to Sanskrit on Yoga Postures, with simple diagrams, and pronunciation. The book includes to CDs
to help hear the proper pronunciation of the words.

Editorial Review:

This interactive book/cd set includes more than 200 asanas with illustrated yoga postures and 300 Sanskrit definitions. Nicolai Bachman teaches you how to read and pronounce these sacred sounds with precision, and guides you through seven yoga chants with exact rhythm, tone, and pronunciation. This is an indispensable reference guide for any serious student of yoga.

The Upanishads (Classic of Indian Spirituality)

Amazon Price: $9.56 List Price: $11.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Nilgiri Press Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $6.82

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Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Authors, A-Z -> ( E ) -> Easwaran, Eknath
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Hinduism -> Sanskrit
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Hinduism -> Upanishads

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Concise, explains things in a lucid manner 3 out of 5 stars.
6 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Well Honestly Eknaths Book is for those who are looking to know Upanishads and its essence, while the book attempts to cover most important texts from various upanishads.

My personal opinion has always been that a person who is getting a first hand look at upanishads and philosophy of Brahm ( not its not Brahman, its pronounced as Brahm ), should be allowed to take a look the actual translation ( And not read commentaries or any gists etc AT ALL period.) This is because i think a person's own opinion develops over the time and he might get a much deeper understanding by knowing and realizing the absolute truth himself and not limiting his / her opinion to authors own ideas ( Bias perhaps ? ) . That also includes Shankaras commentaries. For this very reason, i started with actual translations of upanishads and Brahm Sutras to know exact meaning or words of the shruti and not authors ideas. After you have grasped everything, then perhaps ( especially when you are competent enough about the subject that no one can cloud your opinion ( unless your opinions are not true or you are missing something ) should one go and read such texts.

So in short i would have liked this text much more ( i gave it 3 ) if it included actual translations and not just english texts.

Needless to say Eknaths book was a appreciable experience. Upanishads themselves are always a joy to read. ( be in any form )

Regards
Vyas, Anirudh

Editorial Review:

Among the oldest of India’s spiritual texts, the Upanishads are records of intensive question-and-answer sessions given by illumined sages to their students. Widely featured in philosophy courses, the Upanishads have puzzled and inspired wisdom seekers from Yeats to Schopenhauer. Eknath Easwaran makes this challenging text more accessible by selecting the passages most relevant to readers seeking timeless truths today. His accessible, highly readable translation and lively foreword place the teachings in a contemporary context for students and general readers alike.

The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text by Vatsyayana Including the Jayamangala Commentary for the Sanskrit by Yashodhara a

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Subjects -> Parenting & Families -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Hinduism -> Sanskrit
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> New Age -> Reference

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

WARNING! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book after it being recommended by a friend of mine. While reading it, my husband comments "there sure aren't a lot of pictures. So if you're buying this book for "pictures" you will be disappointed. However if you have an actual interest in the history and meaning behind the Sutra, this books fer you!

The Complete Kama Sutra 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

An excellent informative book.
Must be approached as a religion and not a list of sexual positions.
otherwise you will be disappointed.

D

Editorial Review:

This definitive volume is the first modern translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra to include two essential commentaries: the Jayamangala of Yashodhara and the modern Hindi commentary by Devadatta Shastri. Alain Danilou spent four years comparing versions of the Kama Sutra in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, and English, drawing on his intimate experience of India, to preserve the full explicitness of the original. I wanted to demystify India, he writes, to show that a period of great civilization, of high culture, is forcibly a period of great liberty. 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day (Hazelden Education Materials)

Sanskrit Proverb

Amazon Price: $10.94 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hazelden Amazon Marketplace: 69 new & used starting at $2.00

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Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Recovery -> Alcoholism
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Recovery -> Substance Abuse
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Recovery -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

MORNING INSPIRATION FOR RECOVERY 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

MUCH OF THIS BOOK IS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE BIG BOOK OF AA / 12 STEPS, 12 TRADITIONS, THE BIBLE AND MANY OTHER INSPIRATIONAL WRITINGS.
RECOVERY IS ABOUT A CHANGE IN BOTH PHILOSOPHY AND LIFESTYLE.
THIS BOOK WILL DEFINATELY HELP YOU MAKE THE JOURNEY.

expression of hope 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Desparation is the mainstay attitude of recovering alcoholics. This little book, when faithfully used each morning, can set an alcoholic's mind on positive thinking and productive action. Well worth the price

good stuff 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great book to suppliment the "Big Book". Inspirational and motivational to keep things in perspective. Well worth the small investment to take care of the "big investment".....your sanity.

24 Hour Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful tool to use in learning to live "One Day at a Time". I have purchased this book for Amazon many times and have received a great product in a timely fashion.

Editorial Review:

A fundamental tool for recovering people for 40 years, this classic book began the tradition of using meditatins as a daily source of strength and renewal. The traditional values of Twelve Step recovery are highlighted with an inspirational thought, meditation, and prayer

Lord Jim (Unwin Critical Library)

John Batchelor

List Price: $59.95 By: Unwin Hyman Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $51.45

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Criticism & Theory -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Criticism & Theory -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Short Stories -> British

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 73 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

a master of the English language 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

When I read Lord Jim for the first time as a teenager I found it boring. Many years later I now find it an amazing book. Conrad himself spent sixteen years at sea in the late 1800s, so this book is to some degree autobiographical. The version of this book that I have even quotes Conrad: "Every novel contains an element of autobiography." In this book, the protagonist, Jim, travels to a remote region of the world, far from Victorian England. In this sense, the plot is similar to that in one of Conrad's other famous works, Heart of Darkness. Other than that book, I'm not familiar with Conrad's other works, nor am I an expert in Victorian literature, so I can't place this in its proper historical context. However, it seems like an amazingly well written story in and of itself. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

Editorial Review:

HarperCollins UK Audio Classics presents abridged and unabridged readings of the world's favorite literary masterpieces. Among the distinguished readers are Christopher Lee, Derek Jacobi, Simon Callow, Linus Roache, Elizabeth McGovern, Terry Jones, Peter Firth, and Rufus Sewell. Each package of cassettes in the Audio Classics series is beautifully packaged and shrink-wrapped.

Introduction to Sanskrit, Part 1

Thomas Egenes

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Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Hinduism -> Sanskrit

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Start here! 5 out of 5 stars.
97 of 98 people found this review helpful.

If you're interested in the Sanskrit language, whether for linguistic or philosophical reasons, this is the book you should start with.

It introduces the script and the grammar in slow, gentle steps. After about 7 lessons, you ease into the different kinds of external sandhi (sound changes and assimilations from one word to another). By the end of the first volume, you've learned a suprising amount: most of the major declensions, and been introduced to the verb, and the principles of compound formation.
Every lesson has plenty of exercises, both English to Sanskrit and vice versa, to test your comprehension and to give you practice. The answers to the exercises are given in the back of the book.

Just a great, great introduction to the language. After finishing Book I, you can continue with his Book II, or pick up, with confidence, any of the standard academic introductions - Maurer, Goldman and Sutherland, Deshpande, even (gasp!) Coulson.

I wish every ancient language had an introductory book like this.

Editorial Review:

Just reprinted, excellent ed. used widely as a text, useful for beginning students. We also carry pt. 2.

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic

Ramesh Menon

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Fairy Tales

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The great Indian epic rendered in modern prose

India's most beloved and enduring legend, the Ramayana is widely acknowledged to be one of the world's great literary masterpieces. Still an integral part of India's cultural and religious expression, the Ramayana was originally composed by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 b.c. The epic of Prince Rama's betrayal, exile, and struggle to rescue his faithful wife, Sita, from the clutches of a demon and to reclaim his throne has profoundly affected the literature, art, and culture of South and Southeast Asia-an influence most likely unparalleled in the history of world literature, except, possibly, for the Bible. Throughout the centuries, countless versions of the epic have been produced in numerous formats and languages. But previous English versions have been either too short to capture the magnitude of the original; too secular in presenting what is, in effect, scripture; or dry, line-by-line translations. Now novelist Ramesh Menon has rendered the tale in lyrical prose that conveys all the beauty and excitement of the original, while making this spiritual and literary classic accessible to a new generation of readers.

Mahabharata

William Buck

List Price: $17.95 By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $2.71

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Criticism & Theory -> General AAS
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Few works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience, in nations with radically different languages and cultures, as the "Ramayana and "Mahabharata, two Sanskrit verse epics written some 2,000 years ago. In "Ramayana (written by a poet known to us as Valmiki), William Buck has retold the story of Prince Rama--with all its nobility of spirit, courtly intrigue, heroic renunciation, fierce battles, and triumph of good over evil--in a length and manner that will make the great Indian epics accessible to the contemporary reader. The same is true for the "Mahabharata--in its original Sanskrit, probably the longest Indian epic ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle, between the Kurus and Pandavas, for land. In his introduction, Sanskritist B. A. van Nooten notes, "Apart from William Buck's rendition [no other English version has] been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic." Presented accessibly for the general reader without compromising the spirit and lyricism of the originals, William Buck's "Ramayana and "Mahabharata capture the essence of the Indian cultural heritage.

Ramayana

William Buck

List Price: $17.95 By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $2.39

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Literary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Bible & Other Sacred Texts -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Few works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience, in nations with radically different languages and cultures, as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Sanskrit verse epics written some 2,000 years ago. In Ramayana (written by a poet known to us as Valmiki), William Buck has retold the story of Prince Rama--with all its nobility of spirit, courtly intrigue, heroic renunciation, fierce battles, and triumph of good over evil--in a length and manner that will make the great Indian epics accessible to the contemporary reader. The same is true for the Mahabharata--in its original Sanskrit, probably the longest Indian epic ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle, between the Kurus and Pandavas, for land. In his introduction, Sanskritist B. A. van Nooten notes, "Apart from William Buck's rendition [no other English version has] been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic." Presented accessibly for the general reader without compromising the spirit and lyricism of the originals, William Buck's Ramayana and Mahabharata capture the essence of the Indian cultural heritage.

Teach Yourself Sanskrit Complete Course (Teach Yourself)

Michael Coulson, Gombrich Richard, James Benson

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Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Reference -> Dictionaries & Thesauruses -> Foreign Language -> Sanskrit
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Super Technical 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I am sure this book serves a very good purpose (Academic research etc).

However it is not for a layman trying to learn Sanskrit.

An Appreciation Without Apprehension by Bharat S. Shah is such a nice book for an absolute beginner.

Among things that I don't like in this book are that the Author does not use devanagri scrip uniformly throughout the book. It would be nice to read it in the script in which the language is actually written.

However, Sanskrit resources are not that easily available and I have certainly learned some valuable things from this book. So this is a good book to have in your library. Just know that this is a very technical book (and when I say technical, I really mean it). Unless you are in langage research, you will find this book hard to decipher.

But there are sections that are helpful. Its a good addition to collect. Just not a book for laymen trying to learn Sanskrit.

There are other grammar books which are targeted towards beginners and might be more relevant.

Editorial Review:

Learn a language from the comfort of your own home

With Teach Yourself Sanskrit Complete Course, the series brings to life this ancient language, allowing you not only to learn the literary and classical tongue of India but also to be able to decipher Sanskrit text. It also presents numerous passages of original Sanskrit writing. Includes:

• Extensive exercises so readers can review what they have learned
• An overview of the culture surrounding the language, giving travelers and students an understanding of how it is used in context
• Expertise from authors with strong scholarship in each language