Chapter 32 Further Reading: Hindu Philosophy

The bibliography below is organized by accessibility and purpose. Hindu philosophy has one of the richest scholarly traditions in world philosophy, and the challenge is not finding good resources but knowing where to start. The annotations guide you toward the most useful entry points.

Primary Texts in Translation

The Bhagavad Gita

There is no shortage of Bhagavad Gita translations; the challenge is finding one that is both accurate and accessible.

  • Barbara Stoler Miller, The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War (1986) — The best scholarly translation for philosophical study. Miller renders the Sanskrit with precision and provides an introduction that situates the text in its literary and philosophical context. The verse form preserves something of the original's poetry without sacrificing accuracy. Essential.

  • Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God (1944) — A classic introduction-friendly translation with a foreword by Aldous Huxley. Less literally precise than Miller but more readable for a general audience; Prabhavananda's commentary reflects the Vedanta Society tradition. Good for a first encounter.

  • Eknath Easwaran, The Bhagavad Gita (1985; second edition 2007) — Part of Easwaran's "Classics of Indian Spirituality" series. Excellent introductory essay, clear contemporary English, and a running commentary that makes the philosophical content accessible without oversimplifying. Probably the best single volume for a reader new to the text.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras

  • Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation and Commentary (1989) — Feuerstein was one of the most rigorous Western scholars of yoga philosophy. This translation includes the Sanskrit text, a transliteration, a literal translation, and a detailed commentary that treats the Sutras as the serious philosophical text they are.

  • Edwin Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary (2009) — The most thorough scholarly treatment available in English; 600 pages of commentary drawing on the classical Indian commentarial tradition. Essential for serious students; manageable for dedicated beginners.

Shankaracharya

  • Shankaracharya, Vivekachudamani (Crest Jewel of Discrimination) — Shankara's most accessible practical text on the Advaita path. The A.J. Alston translation is solid for scholars; the Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood translation is more accessible for general readers.

  • Shankaracharya, Upadeshasahasri (A Thousand Teachings) — More technical than the Vivekachudamani; the Sengaku Mayeda translation and study (1979) is the best scholarly edition in English.

Secondary Literature: Scholarly Introductions

B.K. Matilal, The Character of Logic in India (1998) Matilal (1935–1991) was the greatest modern scholar of Indian philosophy in the analytic tradition, and this posthumously published collection demonstrates why. He shows that Indian logical traditions — Nyaya in particular — are philosophically rigorous and capable of engaging as equals with Western analytical philosophy. Essential reading for anyone who suspects that Indian philosophy is primarily mystical rather than rigorously analytical.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, eds., A Source Book in Indian Philosophy (1957) The definitive anthology for a survey of Indian philosophical texts. Despite its age, it remains the most comprehensive single-volume collection of primary texts in translation, covering all six orthodox darshanas, the heterodox schools, and major figures. The translations vary in quality, but the coverage is unsurpassed. Essential as a reference.

Karl Potter, ed., Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (multiple volumes, 1970–present) The authoritative scholarly reference work. The series has grown to more than 26 volumes covering different schools and periods. Not bedside reading, but invaluable for serious research into specific schools or thinkers.

Eliot Deutsch, Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction (1969) A rigorous analytical reconstruction of Shankara's Advaita that takes it seriously as philosophy rather than mysticism. Deutsch's approach — treating Advaita as a coherent metaphysical position to be evaluated by philosophical standards — is a model for how Western analytic philosophy and Indian philosophy can engage productively.

Andrew Fort and Patricia Mumme, eds., Living Liberation in Hindu Thought (1996) A collection of scholarly essays on the concept of jivanmukti — liberation while still alive — across different Hindu philosophical traditions. More specialized than the other secondary texts here, but philosophically rich and accessible to serious students.

Accessible Introductions for General Readers

Swami Vivekananda, Jnana Yoga (volume 2 of Complete Works) and Raja Yoga Vivekananda's lectures — originally delivered in New York and London in the 1890s — remain among the most accessible introductions to Advaita Vedanta and Patanjali's system written for Western audiences. They are dated in some ways (Vivekananda's synthesis reflects his reformist agenda) but philosophically engaging and historically important. Available free online.

Jeaneane Fowler, Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism (2002) A solid, philosophically minded introduction covering the major darshanas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. More comprehensive and rigorous than popular introductions; less demanding than Radhakrishnan-Moore.

David Knipe, Hinduism: Experiments in the Sacred (1991) A brief but thoughtful introduction that conveys the diversity of the tradition with both scholarly accuracy and genuine appreciation. Good for situating the philosophical traditions within the broader religious and cultural context.

Critical and Contemporary Perspectives

B.R. Ambedkar, The Annihilation of Caste (1936; annotated edition with introduction by Arundhati Roy, 2014) Ambedkar's searing critique of caste-based dharma, written as a speech he was prevented from delivering to a Hindu reform conference. The 2014 edition with Roy's introduction is the best available. Essential for anyone who wants to engage honestly with the tradition's shadow alongside its light. Philosophically significant as well as historically important.

Vrinda Dalmiya, Caring to Know: Comparative Care Ethics, Feminist Epistemology, and the Mahabharata (2016) A rigorous philosophical engagement with Hindu texts — particularly the Mahabharata — from a feminist and care ethics perspective. Demonstrates how contemporary feminist philosophy and classical Indian philosophy can be brought into productive dialogue. More technical than the introductory texts but rewarding for readers with philosophical background.

Jonardon Ganeri, The Lost Age of Reason: Philosophy in Early Modern India, 1450–1700 (2011) Ganeri's historical-philosophical work recovers a period of Indian philosophy often overlooked in surveys: the rich philosophical activity of the early modern period, in which Indian philosophers engaged sophisticated epistemological and metaphysical questions in ways that deserve comparison with early modern European philosophy. Shows that Indian philosophy did not stop with the "classical" period.

On the Bhagavad Gita in Contemporary Life

Barbara Stoler Miller's introduction to her translation — twenty pages that constitute one of the best short essays on the Gita as a philosophical text, its place in Indian thought, and its reception history.

Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History (2009) A wide-ranging, intellectually adventurous history of Hinduism by one of the foremost Western scholars of the tradition. Controversial and deliberately counter-conventional in its emphasis on marginalized and transgressive strands of the tradition alongside the canonical philosophical schools. Doniger is a lucid and engaging writer; this is a genuine pleasure to read even when (especially when) it challenges received views.