- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (9 Oct 1975)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571093639
- ISBN-13: 978-0571093632
- Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
414,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Upanishads
- #67 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Religions > Oriental Churches
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Product Description
About the Author
W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) was born in Dublin and was educated in Ireland and England. He was instrumental in the development of a national Irish theatre - and in particular the founding of the Abbey Theatre. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear and deeply-felt,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ten Principal Upanishads (Faber Paper Covered Editions) (Paperback)
This translation of the Upanishads is beautifully written. Even though the English is relatively simple, it retains all of the clarity and wisdom of the originals, and has a lovely sense of wonder and amazement at the universe. Yeats' poetic touch is indispensible. At times you really feel that you are seeing something far greater.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beauty and Truth,
This review is from: Ten Principal Upanishads (Faber Paper Covered Editions) (Paperback)
It's notoriously difficult to produce a readable translation of scripture that at once captures the meaning and conveys the special nature of the text. There was, of course, a decent chance that, with Yeats' involvement, the present book would have a sense of the poetic about it. Where it scores is in the understated majesty of the translation: we get a real sense of the import and weight of the contents, conveyed in language that is at once familiar and special. This really is a readable translation.
Criticism has been levelled at Swami Purohit's inexactitude in translation [W. Stede, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Jan. 1939, pp 117-120]. Nevertheless, and weighed against my limited knowledge, sufficient of the essence has been conveyed to make this a volume worth having, albeit that other versions need to be referred to for study purposes. Certainly, it's rather wonderful to be able to have by one's bedside a volume which is as worthy of reading for its literary quality as for its content.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful poetic rendition,
By Dennis Littrell - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ten Principal Upanishads (Faber Paper Covered Editions) (Paperback)
Of the many thousands of books that essentially are one of a kind and out of print, few are more worthy of being reissued than this very beautiful rendition of the heart of the Upanishads. World class poet W. B. Yeats, working with Vedic scholar Sri Swami Purohit, retired to Majorca away from the war clouds gathering over Europe in the thirties with the intent of making "a translation that would read as though the original had been written in common English" (p. 8). Here's an exchange between the boy Nachiketas and Death from the Katha Upanishad that gives a sense of just how well Yeats and Purohit succeeded:Nachiketas said: "Some say that when man dies he continues to exist, others that he does not. Explain, and that shall be my third gift." Death said: "This question has been discussed by the gods, it is deep and difficult. Choose another gift, Nachiketas! Do not be hard. Do not compel me to explain." It is from the Upanishads that the Bhagavad Gita finds its inspiration. One can see immediately in this short exchange the seed from which the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna grew. Indeed it is from the Upanishads that the central doctrines of Hinduism are derived, and the philosophy of yoga, and even that of Buddhism. As such the Upanishads, despite their repetition and extraneous material, constitute one of the great spiritual works of humankind. What Yeats and Purohit have done here, in contradistinction to other translations that I have read, is to make the work intelligible, accessible and a pleasure to read. To do this, it is true they have trimmed; and they have drifted in parts from a strictly literal translation, preferring instead to emphasize the spirit and the essence of the Upanishads. Consequently, for the scholar this is not the best translation. But for those who want the feel and the heart of the Upanishads without the ritualistic circumlocutions or much of the repetition, this is an idea translation. Through the poetic use of words, incorporating the magic of sound and rhythm in judicious repetition, Yeats and Purohit are able to preserve the oral formulaic expression of the Upanishads, and bring the sense of their power to the modern English speaker. This is an outstanding achievement. Here is the refrain that ends this beautiful translation: "This is perfect. That is perfect. Perfect comes from perfect. Take perfect from perfect; the remainder is perfect. May peace and peace and peace be everywhere." |
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