Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal
This is an easy-to-understand interpretation of the Upanishads. I recommend it.
I have been reading the Upanishads for over 10 years. This is the best, most clearly written version I have found. If I only owned 1 book in the world, it would be this one.
Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester have done quite an excellent job of translating these principle Upanishads. The good swami obviously has a deep knowledge of the subject, both from the standpoint of learning and scholarship as well as personal experience of the truths contained in these works. There is also included an interesting preface which gives some details of the swami's life and spiritual journey. the introduction is short but quite valuable to set the Upanishads in a historical and spiritual context, as well as to illuminate the main points of the teachings. Recommended.
Anyone wishing the attainment of Brahmavidya, or direct seeing of reality, will appreciate this book. The translation of this important upanishad by Swami Sarvananda is a good one and his notes are rich with detailed explanation for those wishing to dive deeper into the subtleties of the text. The text is in both original Sanskrit and English translation but lacks English transliteration of the Sanskrit words. For those who are attempting to read the Sanskrit but are not yet adept at reading the Devanagari script, this leaves a bit of a gap, but for those primarily interested in the English translation, this is not a problem. The Swami has also included a very excellent introduction to this upanishad which sets it in its historical and spiritual context as well as giving a chapter by chapter summary of the main teachings. Recommended.
I found the English easy to read. It is a great opportunity for someone who doesn't understand Sanskrit to learn essential beliefs. I see its influence on the Bhagavad Gita.
