REPOSITORY: TOC OF BOOKS

This page provide summary of books including Table of Contents and review by the contributors of this website. The aim is to provide an easy reference to the future readers to get the information quickly and from multiple sources. The page is under continuous update and may look incomplete at times. Most of the books referred here are in public domain and out of copyright. Since the PDF copies have been OCRed, texts are still not 100% accurate and some words might be misspelt. The folder names and file names are reference to the future [online] repository which shall be shared with visitors in due course of time.

ऋग्वेद में 1028 सूक्त हैं, जिन्हें दस पुस्तकों में व्यवस्थित किया गया है जिन्हें अष्टका या मंडला के नाम से जाना जाता है। The Rig Veda consists of 1028 hymns, organised into ten books known as mandala. Each mandala has shuktas (hymns) formed by individual strophes called ric from which the name Rig Veda. भाषा-विज्ञान और भाषाई साक्ष्य इंगित करते हैं कि ऋग्वेद किसी भी इंडो-यूरोपीय भाषा में सबसे पुराने मौजूदा ग्रंथों में से एक है। The philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rig Veda is one of the oldest existing texts in any Indo-European language. Learn about Thiest, Diest, Panthiest, Athiest, Agnostic, Phoenix Philology: the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages.

• ऋग वेद -Rig Veda - the most important Veda. इसमें प्रसिद्ध गायत्री मंत्र सहित खुशी, स्वास्थ्य और ज्ञान के लिए मंत्र और भजन शामिल हैं। It contains mantras and hymns for happiness, health and wisdom, including the famous Gayatri mantra.
• साम वेद -Sama Veda - Song Knowledge - यह संगीतमय भजनों और मंत्रों का एक संग्रह है जो कीर्तन का आधार बनता है, भक्ति योग का भक्तिमय जप। It is a collection of musical hymns and mantras that form the basis for kirtan, the devotional chanting of Bhakti yoga.
• यजुर वेद -Yajur Veda - Ritual Knowledge - यह समारोहों के तकनीकी पहलुओं, यज्ञ कार्यों और देवताओं की पूजा के लिए निर्देशात्मक पुस्तिका है। It is the instructional handbook for the technical aspects of ceremonies, sacrificial acts and worship of the deities. This is used by Vedic priests. गायत्री मन्त्र और महामृत्युंजय मन्त्र यजुर्वेद में हैं. It is divided into two sections, the earlier black and the more recent white. इसे दो भागों में बांटा गया है, पहला 'काला' और दूसरा हाल का 'सफेद'।
• अथर्व वेद - Atharva Veda - यह राक्षसों और बीमारी को दूर करने के लिए जादुई संस्कारों और मंत्रों का संग्रह है, साथ ही विवाह और दाह संस्कार के लिए भजन भी हैं। It is a collection of magical rites and spells to dispel demons and disease, as well as hymns for marriage and cremation.

गठन /  संरचना:  
अर्चिका [पूर्वार्चिका, उत्तरार्चिका]
-- प्रपाठका 
--|--अर्ध-प्रपाठका 
--|--|--दष्टि 
--|--|--|--ऋचा
--|--|--|--|--पद 

List of Books with Authentic Translations

RIGVEDA ऋग्वेद : Vol. I - With Original Sanskrit Text, Transliteration & Lucid English Translation in the Aarsh Tradition of Maharshi Yaska and Swami Dayananda) English translation by Dr. Tulsi Ram M.A., Ph.D. (London, U.K.) (Professor, Administrator, Researcher and Writer)

RIG-VEDA-SANHITA: A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns OF THE RIG-VEDA. The Oldest Authority for the Religious and Social Institutions of the Hindus. Translated from the original Sanskrit. VOL. II By H. H. WILSON, MA, F.R.S.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA - WITH THE COMMENTARY OF SRI SANKARACHARYA: Translated from the original Sanskrit into English By ALLADI MAHADEVA SASTRY

THE SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM OF KRISHNA-DWAIPAYANA VYASA: Translated into English Prose from the original Sanskrit text. BY J. M. Sanyal [Second Edition] VOL-I

D.J. Boilet, Al-Biruni, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, H.A.R. Gibb, J.H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal and J. Schacht Editors, Brill, 1986 --- "In 1017, al-Biruni travelled to the Indian subcontinent, studying the Indian science and conveying it to the Islamic world".

Al-Biruni considered the world, that is the universe, had come into existence in time, as Muslims believed, and then it was not eternal like Aristotle told. In the Mas'udi Canon, al-Biruni writes that the Earth is at the centre of the universe and that it has no motion of its own, as it is in the Ptolemaic system. However, in this book, he takes issue with this system on several points.

J. Boilot, The Long Odyssey, The Unesco Courier, June 1974, Pages 10-13: “He holds, for example, that the Sun’s apogee is not fixed, and while he accepts the geocentric theory, he shows that the astronomical facts can also be explained by assuming the Earth revolves around the Sun”

TAMING THE UNKNOWN: A History of Algebra from Antiquity to the Early Twentieth Century by VICTOR J. KATZ AND KAREN HUNGER PARSHALL --- Pg-105: "The earliest mathematical ideas that we can definitely attribute to Indian sources are found in the Sulba-sutras, works dating from sometime in the first millennium BCE, that describe the intricate sacrificial system of the brahmins. Most of the ideas contained in these texts are geometrical, but many of the problems can be thought of as geometrical algebra". Pg-106: "The central mathematical chapter of the Aryabhatya, the text’s second chapter, consists of thirty-three verses, each containing a brief rule for a particular kind of calculation. The requirements of poetry make some of the rules cryptic, but with the help of a commentary by Bhaskara I (early seventh century CE) and the two mathematical chapters of the Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta of Brahmagupta (early seventh century CE), both written around 628 CE, it is generally possible to understand Āryabhata’s meaning."

Pg-112: In the Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta, however, Brahmagupta did present a general algorithm for solving quadratic equations, in particular, equations we would write as a.x² + b.x = c. As he put it, "diminish by the middle [number] the square root of the rūpas multiplied by four times the square and increased by the square of the middle [number]; divide [the remainder] by twice the square. [The result is] the middle [number]." Pg-113: Several hundred years later, Bhaskara II (1114–1185) also dealt with quadratic equations in his Bija-ganita, written around 1160. He, however, gave an explicit solution method involving completing the square and not just an algorithm similar to the quadratic formula.

Pg-121: There is good evidence that Brahmagupta and Aryabhata were originally interested in congruence problems for the same basic reason as the Chinese, namely, for use in astronomy, because many of the problems in their texts have astronomical settings. 32 The Indian astronomical system of the fifth and sixth century, like the ancient Chinese system, hinged on the notion of a large astronomical period at the beginning and end of which all the planets (including the sun and moon) had longitude zero. The idea was that all worldly events would recur with this same period. For Āryabhat.a, the fundamental period was the Mahayuga of 4,320,000 years, while for Brahmagupta, it was the Kalpa of 1,000 Mahayugas. In any case, calculations with heavenly bodies required knowing their average motions. Since it was impossible to determine those motions empirically with any accuracy, it became necessary to calculate them on the basis of current observations and on the fact that all the planets were at approximately the same place at the beginning of the period. These calculations involved solving linear congruences.

Pg-124: Pell Equation --- Why this problem interested Indian mathematicians remains a mystery. Some of Brahmagupta’s examples used astronomical variables for x and y , but there is no indication that the problems actually came from real-life situations. In any case, the Pell equation became a tradition in Indian mathematics. Studied through the next several centuries, it was solved completely by the otherwise unknown Acarya Jayadeva (ca. 1000).

Pg-126: Indian mathematicians also considered algebraic problems of kinds other than the solution of equations. One particular algebraic result that was discussed beginning in the time of Aryabhata was a formula for determining the sum of integral powers. Recall that verse 2.19 of the Aryabhatiya gave, as a special case, a formula for the sum of the integers from 1 to n. Verse 2.22 then presented the formulas for the sum of the squares and the cubes: "One sixth of the product of three quantities which are, in due order, the number of terms, that increased by one, and that increased by the number of terms; that will be the solid made of a pile of squares, and the square of a pile is the solid made of a pile of cubes."

Information about Buddhism

Reference: THE AGE OF WARS OF RELIGION, 1000–1650 AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GLOBAL WARFARE AND CIVILIZATION, Volume 1, A–K by Cathal J. Nolan Buddhism. A world historical faith founded by the Nepalese aristocrat Prince Siddhartha (‘‘The Buddha,’’ or "Enlightened One," 563?–480? B.C.E.). Buddhism was distinctively Indian in origin, though in later times it is hardly to be found in India. That shift was brought about by disruptive invasions, by the co-option of the Buddha in north India into a revived Hinduism (as an Avatar in the cult of Vishnu-worship), and in part by violent repression by a new devotional cult of Shiva-worshipers (bhakti), who slaughtered so many Jains they wiped out that faith in south India. The Asoka emperor (269–232 B.C.E.) was more kindly disposed, and sent out Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka and west Asia. Buddhism spread from north India to Bhutan, Burma, China, Indochina, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Tibet. It reached Southeast Asia in the 1st century C.E. Buddhism was introduced to China in the Han dynasty and enjoyed a "golden age" there from the 5th to the 9th centuries, until it was harshly repressed by the Tang from 845 C.E. In defense, Buddhist monasteries were rebuilt as mountaintop fortresses and housed thousands of well-trained and armed monks. A "White Lotus" sect of Buddhism evolved a military offshoot known as the Red Turbans, who were so adept at the martial arts they helped overthrow the Mongol (Yuan dynasty) in 1368.

INDIA and the UNITED STATES: ESTRANGED DEMOCRACIES 1941 - 1991 by DENNIS KUX with Introduction by Senator Daniel P. Moynihan

The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India's Partition by Narendra Singh Sarila - Narendra Singh Sarila was aide-de-camp to Lord Mountbatten and served in the Indian Foreign Service,1948–85. He joined the Indian delegation to the UN, and was India’s ambassador in Spain, Brazil, Libya, Switzerland, and France.

A radical reassessment in British colonial history by the former ADC to the last Viceroy of British India is important, but Sarila’s claim that current Islamic terrorism is partially rooted in Partition has wider implications. Historians have underestimated the role of British strategic fears about the USSR’s control of Middle Eastern oil wells and access to the Indian Ocean. New material on figures like Gandhi, Jinnah, Mountbatten, Churchill, Attlee, Wavell, and Nehru are offered.

The Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush by Robertson, George Scott, Sir, 1852-1916

Kafiristan, or "The Land of the Infidels," was a region of eastern Afghanistan where the inhabitants had retained their traditional pagan culture and religion and rejected conversion to Islam. The Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush is a detailed ethnographic account of the Kafirs, written by George Scott Robertson (1852-1916), a British administrator in India. With the approval of the government of India, Robertson made a preliminary visit to Kafiristan in October 1889, and then lived among the Kafirs for almost a year, from October 1890 to September 1891. Robertson describes his journey from Chitral (in present-day Pakistan) to Kafiristan and the difficulties he encountered in traveling about the country and in gaining information about the Kafir culture and religion. The latter, he writes, "is a somewhat low form of idolatry, with an admixture of ancestor-worship and some traces of fire-worship also. The gods and goddesses are numerous, and of varying degrees of importance or popularity." Robertson describes religious practices and ceremonies, the tribal and clan structure of Kafir society, the role of slavery, the different villages in the region, and everyday life and social customs, including dress, diet, festivals, sport, the role of women in society, and much else that he observed first-hand. The book is illustrated with drawings, and it concludes with a large fold-out topographical map, which shows the author's route in Kafiristan. In 1896 the ruler of Afghanistan, Amir 'Abd al-Rahman Khan (reigned 1880-1901), conquered the area and brought it under Afghan control. The Kafirs became Muslims and in 1906 the region was renamed Nuristan, meaning the "Land of Light," a reference to the enlightenment brought by Islam.