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"Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law. The authors present the major transformations to India's legal system in both the colonial and post colonial periods and their relation to recent changes in Hinduism. Thematic studies show how law and Hinduism relate and interact in areas such as ritual, logic, politics, and literature, offering a broad coverage of South Asia's contributions to religion and law at the intersection of society, politics and culture. In doing so, the authors build on previous treatments of Hindu law as a purely text-based tradition, and in the process, provide a fascinating account of an often neglected social and political history"--

The Oxford History of Hinduism: Modern Hinduism, edited by Torkel Brekke. New York:Oxford University Press, 2019. xi + 317 pp., £73 (hb). ISBN 9780198790839.

Hinduism is very much a living force in the lives of millions of Hindus in India. These are common people, mostly villagers, many of them illiterate. There is an important minority among the Hindus however, consisting of educated, Mc Ur dwellers, whose religious belief & practice have become separated from their total way of life. This fragmentation between the religious & the secular is alien to Hindu consciousness. It began with the arrival of Christianity in India & was deepended by British rule. Hindu reformers sought to 'purify' Hinduism so that it could be held forth as a viable, modern alternative to Christianity & the western world view. Reform & revivalism in the domain of religion soon had their political consequences in the emergence of nationalism & 'communalism'. (By the latter term is meant the adherence to one's religious community first, & only then to a territorial unit in the quest for national independence.) Communal politics, aided by the policies of the British, ultimately resulted in religion being reduced to a shadow of itself. India was partitioned amidst communal riots. While Pakistan declared itself an Islamic state, India under J. Nehru chose to call itself a socialist, secular democracy. A revulsion against the abuses of religion led to the revival of a spurious discussion about the relation between Hinduism & economic development. Empirical evidence pointed to the futility of such debates. The Ur, educated, Mc Hindu today finds that he has become alienated from Hinduism, & yet has not become a recipient of gifts from the largesse of the western industrial civilization. "Where does he turn next for a renewal of life?" This question must be answered. AA.

A Survey of Hinduism by Klaus K. Klostermaier.

From the Contents: Adivasi -- Colonial Perceptions of Tribal Religion -- Khasi Religion -- Medical System of the Khos -- Religion of Bharias -- Religion of the Ao Naga -- Religion of the Ho Tribe -- Religion of the Raika-Rebari -- Religion of the Sumi Naga -- Religion of the Tiwas -- Abhinavagupta -- Abortion (Hinduism) -- Acintya-bhedābheda-Tattva -- Adhikāra -- Adultery (Hinduism) -- Agastya -- Agrahāra -- Ahalyā, the Human Face of Sacred Infidelity -- Aitareya Brāhmaṇa -- Akka Mahādevī -- Alcohol (Use of) -- Alexander the Great -- Amṛtānanda Mayī Mā (Ammachi) -- Anandamarga (Ānandamārga) -- Appar -- Appayya Dīkṣita -- Arcāvatāra -- Ardhanārīśvara -- Arjuna -- Aryan [Āryan] -- Astronomy -- Aum -- Auroville -- Auspiciousness -- Avidyā -- Aśvamedha -- Babri Masjid (Bābarī Masjid) -- Bahuchara Mata (Deity of Transgenders) -- Basava -- Basham, A. L. -- Besant, Annie -- Bhandarkar, R.G -- Bharat Dharma Mahamandal -- Bhedābheda -- Bhoga -- Bhāgavata Purāṇa -- Bhārata Mātā -- Bhāravi -- Bhāskara -- Bhīma -- Bhīṣma -- Bioethics (Hinduism) -- Birth Control -- Brahma Kumaris -- Brahma Sūtras (Vedānta Sūtras) -- Brahman -- Brahmo Samaj -- Brahmotsava -- Brahmā -- Brāhmaṇa (Brahmin/Brahman) -- Brāhmaṇas -- Bādarāyaṇa -- Bāuls -- Caribbean and Central America, Hinduism in -- Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra -- China (Hinduism) -- Cilappatikāram (Śilappadigāram, Shilappadigaram) -- Cinema, Hindu Themes in -- Citamparam (Chidambaram) -- Dattātreya -- Daṇḍanīti -- Demon (Hinduism) -- Devīmāhātmya -- Dharma -- Dhyāna -- Dhṛtarāṣṭra -- Education, Hindu (Ancient, Classical, Modern, and Contemporary) -- Ekādaśī -- Environmentalism (Hinduism) -- Ganesh Chaturthi (Gaṇeśa Caturthī) -- Gaṅgeśa -- Gaṇeśa (Gaṇapati) -- God, Overview -- Hagiography -- Hanumān (Hanumant, Hanūman) -- Hariścandra -- Harivaṃśa -- Hastings, Warren -- Hijra (Hijaḍā) -- Himālaya -- Hindu Charitable Endowments -- Hindu Diaspora in Portugal: the Case of our Lady of Fatima Devotion -- Hindu Mahasabha -- Hinduism and Commercialization -- Hinduism in Africa -- Internet, Hinduism on -- Jajmānī System -- Janābāi -- Jones, William -- Jīva Gosvāmin -- Jīvanmukti -- Kaaval Katavul (Guarding Deities) -- Kaavu in Kerala (Sacred Groves in Kerala) -- Kabīr -- Kali -- Kane, P.V -- Kaurava -- Kaśmir Śaivism -- Kirtan in North America -- Krishnamurti, Jiddu -- Kriya Yoga -- Kumbha Mela -- Kuntī -- Liṅgāyata -- Loka -- Lokāyata -- Lāl Ded -- Līlā -- Madhusūdhana Sarasvatī -- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi -- Mahā-vākya -- Mahābalipuram (Māmmalapuram) -- Mahābhārata -- Mantra -- Manuscripts (Hinduism) -- Mathematics -- Matrilineality (Hinduism) -- Maṇimēkalai -- Maṇipravāḷa -- Meaning (Hinduism) -- Medicine (Hinduism) -- Meditation (Hinduism) -- Megasthenes -- Menstruation: Pollutant to Potent -- Naiker, E.V. Ramaswami ("Periyar") -- Nambudiri -- Nammāḻvār -- Naraka -- Nathdwara -- Nationalism (Hinduism) -- Navagraha -- Navarātri -- Naṭarāja -- Neo Vedānta -- Nimbārka -- Nirukta -- Nivedita, Sister -- Nivṛtti -- Niyoga -- Numbers -- Nyāya (and Navya-Nyāya) -- Old Age -- Omniscience (Hinduism) -- Pallava Dynasty -- Periya Purāṇam -- Pilgrimage – Hinduism -- Poṅkal (Pongal) -- Prahlāda -- Prakṛti -- Pramāṇa -- Prapatti -- Prarthana Samaj -- Pratyabhijñā -- Prayaschitta -- Proverb (Hinduism) -- Psychological Method -- Reason (Hinduism) -- Rebirth (Hinduism) -- Relativity (Hinduism) -- Religious Tourism -- Rishikesh (Hṛṣīkeśa) -- Sahaja -- Saints, Overview -- Samādhi -- Sanskrit (Saṃskṛt) -- Sanskrit literature in Maharashtra folk art Keertan -- Sanskritization (Hinduism) -- Sat -- Sati (Suttee) -- Satyabhāmā -- Savarkar, Vinayak Damodhar ("Veer") -- Saṃnyāsa -- Science -- Scripture (Hinduism) -- Shamanism