Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook Translated from the Sanskrit

Wendy Doniger

Jun 2004 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

Recorded in sacred Sanskrit texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, Hindu Myths are thought to date back as far as the tenth century BCE. Here in these seventy-five seminal myths are the many incarnations of Vishnu, who saves mankind from destruction, and the mischievous child Krishna, alongside stories of the minor gods, demons, rivers and animals including boars, buffalo, serpents and monkeys. Immensely varied and bursting with colour and life, they demonstrate the Hindu belief in the limitless possibilities of the world - from the teeming miracles of creation to the origins of the incarnation of Death who eventually touches them all.

Ratings and reviews

I feel like killing this author .. being a Christian who worship a normal human being will never understand a spiritual cultural and a ritual religion. Who the hell do u think you are .. u can't define hinduism with a full of narrow mind set .. Sorry how will you even understand coz u people don't worship God you people worship humans right .. cow eaters .. the brutalist

Most useless book don't buy it, if you can afford come to Himalayas india, spent 50yrs you will see all this is true. Or you can watch Bageshwar dham sarkar on YT.

Should be renamed "understandings of a dull mind of the Vast, Majestic & Great HINDU MYTHOLOGY"

About the author

Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago, and the translator of numerous Sanskrit texts including the Laws of Manu, and Kamasutra.


Wendy Doniger holds doctoral degrees in Indian literature from Harvard and Oxford Universities and is the Mircea Eliade Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. Her publications include The Rig Veda and The Laws of Manu for the Penguin Classics, and the acclaimed Kama Sutra for OUP.