Unabridged Upanishads in simple English

[The Crimson Universe]

Few years back when i asked for unabridged editions of the major upanishads with an explanation or commentary in simple English, one of the members of HDF (Mr.Yajvan) recommended me Muni Narayana Prasad's translation.

I went to the library and found only the Chandogya upanishad which is a fat volumous book. I think it was unabridged. Not sure. The explanation too was simple and easy to grasp. I was very happy with his recommendation. But i didn't find the rest of the upanishads by that same author in the library.

Later, back at home when i looked online, i found a couple more upanishads by Muni Narayana Prasad, but they were all thin books, and seemed to me that they were brief, abridged editions.

Are there any good unabridged Upanishads that you know of?
I checked a few sample pages online of The Principal Upanishads by Radhakrishnan, but it speaks of things that i'm not familiar with, like sexual intercourse as a kind of sacrifice and adding one's semen into the fire of sacrifice. The author Radhakrishnan doesn't explain in detail how those sacrifices should be carried out and for what purpose. He doesn't say whether the adding of the semen in the fire is a kind of metaphor or should it be taken literally. His translation of the upanishads also speaks of many other things like water is also called fire (but he doesn't explain why it is called such) and fails to introduce the novice or western reader about such things.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I checked a few sample pages online of The Principal Upanishads by Radhakrishnan, but it speaks of things that i'm not familiar with, like sexual intercourse as a kind of sacrifice and adding one's semen into the fire of sacrifice. The author Radhakrishnan doesn't explain in detail how those sacrifices should be carried out and for what purpose. He doesn't say whether the adding of the semen in the fire is a kind of metaphor or should it be taken literally. His translation of the upanishads also speaks of many other things like water is also called fire (but he doesn't explain why it is called such) and fails to introduce the novice or western reader about such things.

I have not read any book by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, but I also did not expect that Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, who was supposed to be a scholar of highest caliber, to write such trash. That sort of removes Dr. Radhakrishnan from my screen. For me Swami Shivananda's small book on 'Ten Principle Upanishads' was enough to begin with and I am grateful for that.

I do not need Upanishads now. I have found my answers. But sometimes when discussions in the forum necessitate it, I search on Internet, check on the verses, see the translation or comments and then understand it in my own way. That I know a little bit of Sanskrit is helpful. I value Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta's writings (his five volume book on "History of Indian Philosophy", all volumes available at Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine). I do not think he had books on translation of Upanishads, but he wrote a book "Indian Idealism", which discusses Upanishads. If you so desire, you can check on the book at Indian Idealism : Surendranath Dasgupta : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. For me, there is no better scholar than Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta.

Another of his books that I know you would like is "Hindu Mysticism". You can get it at Hindu Mysticism : Dasgupta, S.n. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Surendranath Dasgupta - Wikipedia

Surendranath Dasgupta describing his childhood. He was a prodigy.

 

[The Crimson Universe]

Thanks Aup Will check them out.

 

[mangalavara]

Are there any good unabridged Upanishads that you know of?

About a month ago, I finished reading all the Upaniṣads translated by Robert Ernest Hume in his 1921 book The Thirteen Principal Upanishads: Translated from the Sanskrit with an Outline of the Philosophy of the Upanishads and an Annotated Bibliography. It contains the 10 mukhya or principal Upaniṣads that Śaṅkarācārya and Madhvācārya wrote commentaries on as well as three Upaniṣads that, from what I understand, contemporary scholars count as mukhya, namely, Kauṣītaki, Śvetāśvatara, and Maitrī. In his translation, Hume places important Sanskrit terms in parentheses and includes scholarly notes. He also has an introduction to the philosophy of the Upaniṣads, which I did not bother reading. Interestingly, he translates Ātman as 'Soul' rather than 'Self,' so, I had to mentally read 'Soul' as 'Self' the whole time. You can download the whole book for free at the Internet Archive website: The Thirteen Principal Upanishads.

 

[The Crimson Universe]

I checked the reviews online of a few upanishads including the ones recommended by Aup and Mangy. Some said that the book they bought is not a good translation and suggested another translation. When i checked the reviews of that another translation, some said that another better translation is available.
So i guess i'll have a hard time if i go for any one author.
I think its best to grab, compare and read the translations of different authors. Its going to be time consuming but its the only way to find out what each of the verses are trying to tell us.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I would only say that you should not buy anything written after 1950. Commercialization of religions and philosophies came after that. I prefer older books.