The Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion

In August of 1997, during my visit to India from England, I was travelling with my [...] daughter from Benaras to Delhi by train. Our first class, air conditioned compartment was completely full. With us there were many lecturers and professors from the Benaras Hindu University. They were discussing different intellectual topics and we were listening to them with interest. When the topic of Hinduism arose, one lady opened her hand bag and took out a book. She raised the book in her hand and showed it to everybody around and said, "This is the best book on Hinduism that I've ever read, I always carry this book in my hand bag." It was "The Essentials of Hinduism" by Swami Bhaskarananda. That lady said that she was the professor of Anatomy in Benaras Hindu University. My daughter and I were overjoyed to hear what she had said, because we also had the same opinion about that book. When we first read the book in 1994, my husband said ,"This is the best book to learn about Hinduism," and started recommending the book to all his friends in England who wanted to know about that religion.

When looking to study the Hindu religion, I searched high and low for resources. I found them sorely lacking, unless I wanted to learn Sanskrit and plow through all of the original script. This book was a wonderful overview of the religion within the context of cultural understanding. It gave not only the basics of the religion in theory but also great insight into how it is practiced. It is amazingly comprehensive for as short as it is. It is well-written and conversational in style. I have recommended this book to many friends that are curious about other religions and cultures, and I have even bought it as a gift.

This is a concise and comprehensive introduction to a complex subject. I have read a few books on Hinduism, and this is by far the most understandable. The author has a gift of making even obtuse concepts appear simple by means of his lucid writing style and apt analogies. Students of Hinduism of all levels should benefit from this reference book.

This book was exactly what I was looking for: something to help me understand the basics of Hinduism without either oversimplifying or overcomplicating things. I had previously thought that Hinduism was difficult to understand, but it turns out that it just needed to be explained properly, something this book does far better than any others I have encountered. Bhaskarananda fills the pages with colorful stories and analogies, and sets up much of the book in a question-and-answer format, making it a delight to read. I found that almost all of the basic questions I had about Hinduism were answered. Questions are given in large, bold headings organized by topic, and are then answered in a concise but clear manner. Since Essentials of Hinduism is organized so well, it is excellent for keeping on the bookshelf as a quick reference. If you only buy one book on Hinduism, this should be it.