The Hindus: An Alternative History

I bought this book because it was recalled from the Indian market and, being a Hindu, the title attracted me. The author clearly loves her subject and has dedicated a lifetime researching it (I can't imagine there are many Americans with such an indepth knowledge of Sanskrit - more than most Indians, even the educated ones!).The content is very interesting and well organised. Simply, a very good read. Whilst I didn't necessarily agree with all the author's interpretations, I don't question her absolute right and authority in making them.The book brings a fresh angle to a complex and much interpreted subject and therefore provides many interesting insights and perspectives. Above all, it makes it clear that there is no ONE Hinduism or tradition of Hindu thought. As such, there is no one person or body of people who can claim all of Hinduism as their own. Those who have sought the banning of this book have done themselves and the Hindu tradition no favours at all. The very strength of the Hindu tradition has been its tolerance of different ideas and its ability to assimilate them from many sources. Shame on you narrow-minded "Hindus"! And shame on Penguin India for giving in to them.This book won't be enough on its own to understand Hinduism and its philosophies, but that is not the objective of the book. I believe, as the title suggests, it is intended to be an alternative and thought-provoking work. It certainly achieves that.A final word on writing style. The book is very clearly written, though I recommend having a good English dictionary to hand for the occasional words that are not in common use (probably not a problem for specialists in the field). At the opposite end of the spectrum, I found it refreshing how the author compared habits from India thousands of years ago with examples of modern American life (yes, the ubiquitous MacDonalds hamburger gets a mention!). A very down to earth approach.

This is the best single volume history of Hinduism yet written. Unfortunately, it has been attacked by a vocal minority of Indian writers who generally live outside India. Please do not be put off by their criticism, which is (ironically enough) based on a Western Orientalist view of Hinduism as a singular, monolithic entity. The fact that these critics attack Doniger for being Orientalist is doubly ironic, since her ‘‘alternative history’’ is explicitly intended to counter earlier Western Orientalist views of Hinduism, especially Hinduism as viewed and understood through an upper-caste Brahminical lens. These critics seem to think that only Indians have the right to represent Hinduism, and dislike anything that contradicts their own positive, middle-class neo-Ved antic Hinduism of peace and light, yoga and the Bhagavadg ıt a. For them, neo-Ved antic Hinduism is the only Hinduism, or alternatively, is the only Hinduism that matters. Yet for a scholar like Doniger (whom the critics refer to patronisingly as "Wendy"), it is often the little known, the secret, the repressed, that constitute the most attractive objects of study. Scholars may not perceive their professional role as being to ‘‘represent Hinduism in a balanced manner’’, but rather to contribute to the global accumulation of knowledge. Critics such as Malhotrahave either misunderstood, or seek to misrepresent, what the academic enterprise is attempting to achieve.

Lengthy, detailed and well-researched history offering a slightly different interpretation of the "traditional" Indian views and the other "imperialistic" British views. Doniger's views nevertheless opened new views indeed!

In understanding the complexity of Hinduism and the problems that beset the socio-cultural make up of the country, this book does a wonderful job. Prof. Doniger is erudite and well read bringing great insights onto a complex set of ideas (not necessarily one religion). She unravels difficult subject areas and is also reverential to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, indicating that she rates them to be of more interest than many other sacred texts. Being open and understanding about caste and women's issues and how they have defined society are so important for a modern India which should take the best of the past and merge it with the best of the present. I found it greatly readable, fun and insightful with great depth. I would recommend it to anyone who has an open mind and wishes to understand more about Hinduism and its evolution to the present day.

I read this book with great interest. The theory and explains are of great knowledge; however this is only one opinion of the author as I have seen others with differing opinions.

One reason I bought this book, apart from the fracas about its being banned in India, was that it is an OUP publication.To my surprise it is not written and presented in a detached academic manner but is eccentric and personal - I have not yet decided whether this is a good thing, though more rigorous editing would plainly have been a good idea.One point to note is that my copy was not printed by OUP but was run off by Amazon on an ad hoc basis. Consequently the paper is shinier and the print less clear and distinct than on a "normal" book.This might not matter in a paperback novel but is disappointing in a serious and encyclopaedic work like this.In my view Amazon should inform the prospective buyer when it is selling a book in this format.

I've just started to get into this. Reads well. It really is an attempt at an alternative history of Hinduism, emphasising the role and contributions of non-mainstream and excluded groups. The author clearly knows her stuff (comes with two doctorates and is a university professor). Apparently has annoyed established interest groups in India, which is definitely a recommendation.

The book arrived smelling heavily of incense which was amusing. However, I am divided as to content.Doniger's "history" is so subjective it is hard to evaluate. It is interesting and annoying and there are many gaps of convenience. That apart, the main problem is the style. The book is drowned in wordiness. If 20 words suffice Doniger will use 500. It is as if she was paid by the page not the content. For example on page 383, she writes a long and complex paragraph that could be resumed as "The Brahmins translated and transcribed the oral tradition to fit their own ends". Next time she could invest in a friendly editor and save the forests of the world.

This is a sweeping, scholarly,panoramic view of the people of India and its major belief system, Hinduism. The author sets the academic tone right in the introduction when she states that this is A view of Hinduism, not THE view of Hinduism, and another scholar with the same set of facts may write quite a different book.Written with verve, humour, empathy and a deep scholarship, the book is a pleasure to read. packed with information, yet never dull. Serious, yet witty. The authors knowledge of Sanskrit and her ability to provide translations of her own are great assets. It is rare to find a book on religion written with such felicity. As an introduction to one of the world's oldest extant belief systems, it would be difficult to find a book to outdo this one. Strongly recommended.

At least from the standpoint of the reviewer who before reading this work was for the most part unacquainted with the history of India, its study assisted to some degree in answering the following questions concerning Indian history and culture:1. Why do many Western intellectuals who have an aversion for religion find themselves being sympathetic to Hinduism and Indian culture in general?2. Why does the practice of Hinduism not instill the raising of large armies that cross borders to forcibly proselytize this religion on others who do not practice its tenets, such as commonly the case for Western religions such as Islam and Christianity?3. Are Brahmins the rich, uppity individuals they are frequently imputed to be by those individuals (such as the reviewer) who have concentrated disdain for the caste system of India?4. Indeed, what is really the origin of the caste system and are the members of each caste comfortable with their status or do they consider it burdensome and unfair?5. What is really the origin of vegetarianism and what is the extent of bovine worship in India?6. When historically did the concept of karma arise, and what motivated it as a belief structure in the minds of Hindus?7. Does the Hindu religion have a proliferation of different sects as is the case for Western religions or is there a Hindu canon?The author does a fine job of answering these questions in this sizeable but interesting (and entertaining) book. There is no doubt that the author has some bias in her approach to the reporting of Indian history, but she is aware of this bias and reveals her agenda early on in the book. This involves setting the record straight on the role of women and “Pariahs” in developing Hinduism, and in revealing to what extent Brahmins were always sycophants to the ruling classes in India. The author however does not pull any punches when it comes to the Brahmins, who she describes as “misogynists” and “class-bound.”That Hindus can engage in violent intolerance is brought out throughout the book, and readers who imagine Hindus via the Hollywood-Gandhi-Johnny Quest point of view will probably be surprised by this. But the breaking down of reader prejudices about Hindus is perhaps the best reason for studying this book, and those readers who decide to finish it will be amply rewarded for their discipline, even though it is not burdensome to study it, thanks to the rich and sometimes biting dialog throughout the book.That being said, the author does not throw eggs at the reader or at Hindus, in spite of her having some thrown at her, as she alludes to early on in the book. But she does concentrate her attention on what she refers to as the “history of marginalized” Hindus, and not the “mainstream” ones. Her focus in this regard readily explains the subtitle of the book, and for those readers, such as the reviewer, who do not agree with the usual axiom that history = a history of kings and rulers, this approach is refreshing and one that should be emulated throughout the history profession.But the preservation of history through writing (and coinage) is typically done by kings and rulers, who of course emphasize their own contributions (if they be called that), and not those of the culture at large. So where does an historian go, particularly one who is concentrating on a part of the world where the oral tradition is predominant, to find information on the “history of the marginalized”? The author elaborates on this question in some detail, and points to texts such as the Upanishads as her starting point. And of course, the storytelling and myths, which proliferate throughout Indian history, must be distinguished from the history itself. The study of the impact of ideas goes hand in hand with the history of the ideas, but the former is harder to prove than the latter, and care must be taken not to impute the motivations for taking certain actions solely because ideas were part of the Zeitgeist of the time.The caste system was “regulated” by religion, the author argues, and if true this is not a surprise, since social hierarchies throughout history have been invented, manipulated, and “regulated” by religion. Kings, tyrants, and every form of despot have found religion convenient and useful for their ends, and they usually find willing supplicants to assist with their strategies and goals. In this respect, Hinduism has much in common with other religions, even though Western intellectuals typically impute to it a level of wisdom not found in Western religions.There are many surprises in store in this book for the reader not familiar with Hindu history:- The concept of reincarnation has its origins in the ancient Greeks, not the Hindus.- People from Africa were the first to settle India.- There is a flood myth in Hinduism, but it did does not have much intersection with the Biblical myth: only a fish to warn the “Indian Adam” Manu about a upcoming flood, and Manu builds a ship to save himself (all other creatures perished).- Hinduism, at least in the Upanishads, has a kind of “triadic” metaphysics: three “qualities of matter”, and only the numbers one and two appear (there is a third called “plural” that stands for all those numbers above the number three).- Loosely speaking, one may say that the “is-ought” problem of Western ethical philosophy is encapsulated in the Dharma, “which is the way things are and the way they ought to be.”- Just as in the Old Testament of the Bible, absurdly long lifetimes of people were part of the Ramayana, and the cities that Rama ruled are an analog of Eden, where “no one died at the wrong time”, “no living creatures got sick”, and no violation of dharma occurred.- India had its violent leaders, with Ashoka of northern India, characterized as both a brute and a repentant sinner after he viewed the carnage of march on Kalinga.- Hindus are forbidden by dharma to have contact with dogs, the latter of which are compared in the Mahabharata to “upwardly mobile Pariahs”.- The god Shiva is a gambler, according to the Artha-shastra texts, and also cheats at it (such lively gods deserve worship more than the Western ones).- Alcoholism and various other vices are viewed in the Mahabharata, not as “diseases” but as coming “outside the individual”.- Women are considered as “addictions” in the Dharma-Shastras, and should be “watched very carefully.”- Lest the Western reader believe that the Hindus are always compliant to social hierarchies, the author points to the bhakti movement as protesting against “Brahmin exclusivity.”- The somewhat lengthy discussion of the Tantra sheds light on the actual rituals that were practiced, and that some in the West consider abhorrent or unsanitary.- Readers will gain a deep appreciation of the current tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and historically between Buddists, Jainas, and Hindus.The British deservedly take some potshots from the author, and she includes some commentary on Hindus in the United States. The reader may walk away with the impression that those currently in the United States are faring well, but it remains to be seen whether Hinduism, even as the rich tapestry of ideas and practices that the author describes it in the book, will evolve as quickly as the Western religions under the onslaught of science and secularism. But if Hinduism survives pretty much in its current form, there is not much for those hostile to religion to fret about. Its history and the conduct of its practitioners lend credence to the idea that polytheism has a much calmer effect on the human psyche. It seems that when there are many gods and they sometimes fight amongst themselves, their worshippers act in the opposite manner. There seems to be no provocation from these gods for their worshippers to act violently. There seems to be no incentive for these worshippers to cross borders and engage in forced conversion.

Wendy Doniger's book is at once deeply engaged with textual details, historical sweep, theoretical concerns, and contemporary politics. She is scholarly, persuasive in her interpretations, especially bringing to light the suppressed presence of women, tribals, and untouchables, and witty, providing great reading pleasure and knowledge. Despite its obvious love of and dedication to the civilization of India, it is understandable that the Hindu fanatics would want to ban this excellent book and have successfully pressured Penguin to withdraw it. The book offers the challenge of substantial scholarship to their attempt to put Hinduism in a strait-jacket.

This is one of most amazing books I have read on Hinduism.This is one of the most thoroughly researched books on Hinduism. The richness of reference material is breathtaking. Every argument Ms. Doniger makes is referenced and supported by established reference.I personally loved the book for its connectedness, academic rigor, and a viewpoint of Hinduism that is sometimes critical of it but always with an eye towards accuracy.This book challenges the accepted narrative of Hinduism that is promoted and propagated by media/TV/political parties and many other interested parties, but mainly folklore, TV serials and Amar Chitra Katha. Readers of this book, while criticizing the book, forget the premise of the book: Hinduism today is amalgam of various religious thoughts, practices, and beliefs of many religions that were/are practiced in India.I have read most of the comments here, denigrating the academic rigor of the book, calling author many names and what not. However, few, if any, have offered any counterpoints other than the folklore that they (we) heard while growing up.None of the negative comments here have actually cited a reference that is against any of the rich hypotheses in the book. I will cite one doha from Ramcharit Manas that goes to the heart of Hinduism and its views:ढोल गवार शूद्र पशु नारी,सकल ताड़ना के अधिकारी!!Now, you can interpret this anyway you want to. Many "supporters" of Hinduism would take the interpretation that supports their viewpoint. (There are umpteen benevolent interpretations of this on the Internet, so I would not waste anyone's time here). Wendy Doniger would very likely suggest that this be interpreted in the context of 15th century value system in India which may lead to a different inference that the most generous interpretation that it is accorded.Also, I recommend that readers read Mahabharat, Ramayana, the Vedas, the Puranas; also books on Indian history by Keay, DD Kosambi, Thapar and others to really enrich their understanding of Indian history which is different from history of Hinduism though both are intertwined. Folklore, while an important part of religion (mistaken many times for the Shruti system) is not intellectually valid for it lacks the rigor of the Shruti system of transferring the knowledge.Are there nits to pick in this book? Sure. I, for one, was slightly disappointed by somewhat flippant similes, examples, etc. that the editorial staff should have taken out given the gravity of the topic. I mean, one can find better examples than "Animal Farm" when trying to explain a concept of Hinduism. However, the fact remains that it is one of the most authoritative books on Hinduism that I have had the opportunity to read.My recommendation: Read the book with an open mind for what it offers and not for reinforcement of your preconceived beliefs that you are seeking from it.Thank you for reading.Swami Agnipath