25 years in making, Hindu encyclopedia is complete

A comprehensive encyclopedia of one of the world's major religions is set to be unveiled next week in South Carolina, USA.

The 11-volume work covers Hindu spiritual beliefs, practices and philosophy, and is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort. The encyclopedia is


written in English and includes about 7,000 articles on Hinduism and its practices. The work also deals with Indian history, languages, art, music, dance, architecture, medicine, and women's issues.
The entire encyclopedia contains more than 1,000 illustrations and photographs. Brightly coloured images of Hinduism's deities fill entire pages, with foot-noted explanations of the forms and powers God can take in the religion.

"The goal was to have something pretty definitive, not just about Hinduism, but about the whole South Asian tradition," said University of South Carolina professor Hal French, who met with a small group of scholars in 1987 to offer academic support for the project.

"This hadn't really been attempted before," said French, 83, a distinguished professor emeritus of religious studies at the school and an associate editor. "It is a milestone of research that brought together both Eastern and Western scholarship."

French, who specialises in the religions of Asia and served as an associate editor of the encyclopedia, said a primary inspiration for the work is one of India's most revered spiritual leaders, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, who is coming to the USC conference that will celebrate the work's launch.

Swami Chidanand founded the India Heritage Research Foundation, which became the parent organisation behind the encyclopedia effort.

The encyclopedia's volumes run from 600 to more than 700 pages. Some 3,000 copies are being issued in the first printing and will be of interest to libraries, religious institutions, and those studying Indian culture around the world, French said.

Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with 1 billion followers, according to a Pew Research Center study published this year. Christians number 2.2 billion and Muslims 1.6 billion, the study showed.

Many Hindus who settled around the world have found that they need a comprehensive source of information on the religion for their children, said Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, managing editor of the encyclopedia and a secretary of the India Heritage Research Foundation.

Children came home from schools where a teacher may have discussed whether Hinduism is a belief in one god, or many gods, and need the proper background to explain it, Sadhvi Bhagawati said in a telephone interview.

"They wanted a source to go to so they could pass the correct information to their children," she said.

She explained that the encyclopedia project took more than 20 years because "it began in pre-computer days.

www.hindustantimes.com...

cool..am planning to buy it and check it out .. would it be quiet interesting ...

Always about money. Did it ever occur to them to do a wiki and give it out over the internet for free.

Of course not!

Can't find a price as yet but it will be a real money spinner for them. Remember it is for the kiddies. Real sales pitch!

Just once can any religion do the right thing.

P

Originally posted by pheonix358
Always about money. Did it ever occur to them to do a wiki and give it out over the internet for free.

Of course not!

Can't find a price as yet but it will be a real money spinner for them. Remember it is for the kiddies. Real sales pitch!

Just once can any religion do the right thing.

P

on second thoughts, your right....that entire collection costs 1500$ , Screw that...go wikipedia

reply to post by maddy21


$1500.00 by 3000 copies on the first print run = $4,500,000.00 or 4.5 Million US Dollars.

But it is for the kids! Yea right!

P

Wow... Even a religion like the Hindu..OF ALL people it seems to me, can't do a basic thing like compile and make available religious data ....without factoring obscene profit margins.

Now that's so pathetic and sad I could just spit.

They ought to be ashamed of themselves and I hope it takes each of those losers 3x's as long to find Nirvana for that stupid stunt. Sacrilegious comes to mind as a term fitting here. Petty, selfish, small minded little toads is another, of course.

Oh, but hell, let nothing stand a moment between a religion and their PROFIT margin. Even the Hindus now? (deep sigh)

Next the friggin Amish will put toll roads in, across all the land they control. Watch! We 'English' need to pay our fair share in polluting their area, so must pay tribute. Why not, with this story to wake up to? Nothing is sacred anymore. Literally!

reply to post by wrabbit2000

Even a religion like the Hindu..OF ALL people it seems to me, can't do a basic thing like compile and make available religious data ....without factoring obscene profit margins.

Im not really in favour of Religion but this seems more like people taking advantage of the religion to make profit rather than religion.

For example, a yogi in Himalayas, who is probably more devoted Hindu than these publishers is gaining nothing from this.

reply to post by wrabbit2000


One of these days a Christian is actually going to 'Give up all and follow me' and when that happens the world will end!

The only person who seemingly did this was Mother Teresa but then she had some heavy donations coming in!

Pathetic really!

P

reply to post by maddy21


25 years is really nothing.

Miriam Webster spent 30 years defining the Letter D.

Originally posted by pheonix358
Always about money. Did it ever occur to them to do a wiki and give it out over the internet for free.

Of course not!

Can't find a price as yet but it will be a real money spinner for them. Remember it is for the kiddies. Real sales pitch!

Just once can any religion do the right thing.

P

The book was compiled by academics over 25 years, not some dodgy swami in 2 weeks.
Its not a bible or religious text, its a reference guide.

You put 25 years work into something youd wanna get paid too.
I personally dont have an issue with the fact they are charging or the price.
Id buy one.

So you would all be equally outraged to hear that Encyclopædia Britannica is selling its latest all Moroccan leather bound, gilt-edged commemorative edition for a penny under £10,000 or $15,495. A business that makes money from knowledge and at one point would have sales people knocking doors to hustle their latest editions with children's education as a unique selling point.

Funny thing about the way the world works – people still need to get paid for work/research and production costs. Anyone care to break down what the possible profit margin for this Hindu Encyclopædia is? I will go out on a limb and suggest $1500 is a steal to have access to so much information – especially for academics.

So, until the world becomes a utopia where we can all plug into an information matrix and learn all that we want, $1500 might not be bad for 25 years work.

32-volume Encyclopædia Britannica for £9,999

And an article from South Carolina Radio Network expands a little more on the work involved and where profits will go. The encyclopædia's managing editor Sadhvi Bhagawati Sarawati says:

The encyclopedia’s managing editor Sadhvi Bhagawati Sarawati said some of the experts who contributed to the encyclopedia wrote their articles by hand in the script of their original languages. Those articles had to be typed and translated. Those translations had to be checked again. Bhagawati said the enormous collection is meant as a resource for Indians who have questions about a faith that has a strong oral tradition and is not clearly structured in the way that most Westerners consider religion. “We no longer can afford, on any level, to not be as deeply educated as we can be about the world’s traditions and the world’s cultures,” she said Monday. The proceeds from the encyclopedia’s sales will go towards cleaning and preserving India’s rivers.

South Carolina Radio Network article

Originally posted by pheonix358
Always about money. Did it ever occur to them to do a wiki and give it out over the internet for free.

Of course not!

Can't find a price as yet but it will be a real money spinner for them. Remember it is for the kiddies. Real sales pitch!

Just once can any religion do the right thing.

P

Expecting people to work for 25 years without pay, eh? Might as well call them slave labor. :shk:

The peeps doing this work have been collecting sponsorships, grants and donations for 25 years. That is, they have all been paid their salaries over the life of the project. Much of the work was supplied by contributors for free!

This 4.5m is largely the profit margin, pure unadulterated profit! Lots of profit.

P

Originally posted by pheonix358
The peeps doing this work have been collecting sponsorships, grants and donations for 25 years. That is, they have all been paid their salaries over the life of the project. Much of the work was supplied by contributors for free!

This 4.5m is largely the profit margin, pure unadulterated profit! Lots of profit.

P

I still dont see the problem

These guys are ACADEMICS not Rabbis, Priests, Muftis, Gurus, Swamies, Witch Doctors etc etc.

Are you suggesting that because their chosen field of Study and research is religion based they should live like paupers?
The grants they received over 25 years most likely paid their living expenses, you know food, bills, mortgage, Dr bills, school fees etc etc
If it was done under a university, the compilers wont see much if any of the profit.

It sounds like Hindus are all for this idea, nothing like it has ever been compiled and considering the religion is about 5000 years old that should tell you it was not an easy undertaking.

$1500 for a limited edition, beautifully illustrated, unique reference guide to one of the worlds major religions that took 25 years to compile seems fair to me.

I really cant understand what the problem is, its not a religious book its an encyclopeadia!!!!!!

Originally posted by pheonix358
The peeps doing this work have been collecting sponsorships, grants and donations for 25 years. That is, they have all been paid their salaries over the life of the project. Much of the work was supplied by contributors for free!

This 4.5m is largely the profit margin, pure unadulterated profit! Lots of profit.

P

Nothin wrong with a little Project Completion bonus. You think they only deserve a living salary for creating something amazing? Besides, unless proof comes out showing how much they kept, and proof of how much their salary was (was it comfortable, or barely enough to get by? What about medical benefits and vacation?), then there's no point in having an argument about whether or not they got what they deserved for the work they did.

I was hoping for more discussion about the contents. Obviously it won't be hard to get a free copy after enough people buy them. I imagine universities will buy them and a lot of people will have access to them. That's probably why they wanted to make a little bit of money while they can before it gets out there into the hands of pirates.

Originally posted by pheonix358
The peeps doing this work have been collecting sponsorships, grants and donations for 25 years. That is, they have all been paid their salaries over the life of the project. Much of the work was supplied by contributors for free!

This 4.5m is largely the profit margin, pure unadulterated profit! Lots of profit.

P

'The peeps'? Come on, read a little more about what is happening here. Profit margins are not about taking a sum of money and multiplying it by x amount.