The Sacred Books of The Hindus

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THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE HINDUS series was devised by the well-known scholarly institution-the Panini Office in Allahabad, for the exclusive purpose of making available some of the most important sacred books of the Hindus providing the original Sanskrit text along with its English translation. The translation work of the individual books was entrusted to expert scholars in the field. The Sacred Books of the Hindus Series brings together the best writings upon philosophical subjects from the sacred scriptures of the Hindus. These historical and critical texts provide a complete framework for the understanding of the philosophical and spiritual tenets of the Hindus. Many of these texts are very uncommon and are useful today not only to teachers, but the researchers, students, philosophers and above all the general reader. The Sacred Books of the Hindus is the result of one of the most impressive publishing endeavours of the twentieth century. The work was devised along new lines, a simple system envisaged by the Panini Office and B. D. Basu, and its contributors included some of the leading scholars of the day. It represented the first attempt to bring a coherent method to the compilation of Hindu scriptures which could be of use to both, the scholar and the lay educated person.

Major Baman Das Basu (24 March 1867 23 September 1930) was an Indian army physician, botanist, nationalist, historian, and writer. He resigned from the Indian Medical Service after serving in Chitral and Sudan due to the conflict with his nationalism and joined his brother Sris Chandra Basu in editing and publishing books on Hinduism from the Panini Office, Allahabad. A promoter of Indian medical traditions, he completed the botanical work begun by K.R. Kirtikar on Indian medicinal plants.

Basu married Srimati Sukumari Devi, daughter of Babu Hari Mohan De of Allahabad in 1887. Shortly after the birth of their son his wife suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1902. His son was then raised by his sister Jagat Mohini Das [2] Basu was opposed to the caste system and said that it would lead to the downfall of Hinduism and also publicly condemned child marriage and the purdah system. He was strongly against Islam and Anglicization. He admired Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati. He served as president of the 9th all-India Ayurvedic conference held in Lahore.

Basu believed that diabetes could be treated by a vegetarian diet and authored the book The Dietetic Treatment of Diabetes, in 1909. In the book he stated that "diabetic patients who are vegetarians live longer than those who are meat eaters". This statement was disputed by a reviewer in The British Medical Journal.

His recommended diet for diabetic patients excluded meat, while allowing milk, butter, and vegetable oils. Basu condemned European doctors who were prescribing meat to diabetic patients. Basu's book sold well to the public, between 1909-1925 it went through thirteen editions. Basu died from diabetes in 1930.

There are several works written by Europeans on the Mythology of the Hindus; Moor's Hinda Pantheon, Ward's Account of the Hindus, Dowson's and Garnett's Dictionaries of Hindu Mythology, Wilkins Hindu Mythology and McDonnel's Vedic Mythology are well-known to Sanakrit scholars. But these works by no means exhaust the sub- ject. In the preface to his dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Professor Dowson very truly said that "the fall harvest of Sanskrit learning has not yet been gathered in."

Although great credit is due to European scholars for what they have done for Sanskrit learning, yet their works generally suffer from the disadvantage which was pointed out by Schopenhauer more than half a century ago. He said :- “If I consider how difficult it is, even with the assistance of the best and most earefully educated teachers, and with all the excellent philological appliances collected in the course of this century, to arrive at a roally correct, accurate, and living under- standing of Greek and Roman authors++++while Sanskrit+++can be learnt only with appliances which are as yet vory imperfect; If I add to this the impression which the translations of Sanskrit works by European scholars, with very few exceptions, produce on my mind, I cannot resist a certain suspicion that our Sanskrit scholars do not under- stand their texts much better than the higher class of School-boys their Groek, or course, as they are not boys, but men of knowledge and understanding, they put together, ont of what they do understand, something like what the general meaning may have boon, but much probably eroeps in exingenio."

The above observation of the distinguished European philosopher can hardly apply to the author of the present work. He is a veteran scholar and has devoted more than half a century of his long and eventful life, not only to the study of Sanskrit literature and philosophy in general, but also of comparative philology and comparative mythology. It is said that no mythology in the world has so many points of interest and such intrinsic value as that of the Hindus. But to understand it is, by no means, an easy task. The present work, we hope, furnishes the key to the modern Hinduism, for, the writer has brought to bear on its preparation his great learning of the Vedas, the Puranas and the Tantras as well as his careful observations of the customs and manners of the Hindus.

The author is also well read in Indian Botany. The present work not only contains interesting information regarding gods and goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon, but also an important chapter on some of the useful plants mentioned in the Hindu Sástras. No student of Indian Botany can do without consulting his valuable observations on those plants-THE EDITOR.

**Contents and Sample Pages**