Reddit reviews Bhagavad-Gita trans.by Sw. Gambhirananda

Bhagavad Gita most accurate without commentary :

Most accessible without commentary

With Sri Shankaracharya's commentary

Also with Sri Shankaracharya's commentary

With independent commentary


Mahabharata

Don't know which translation of the Ramayana is good.

The Vedas are not supposed to be translated and there are no good translations available.


Upanishads with Sri Shankaracarya's commentary : Vol I and Vol II

> I am a Vaisnava Brahmin myself, everyone in my family is religious, except they don't really know what our religion talks about.

I can identify with this to some extent. My wife's family is Brahmin Hindu (albeit more followers of Ganesh) and despite having a large shrine, gathering for pujas and bhajans, and turning their noses up on "lower" castes, they are largely ignorant of the lessons and content of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. I've noticed that in today's world - at least among the diaspora Indian population in the U.S. - "Hinduism" is often more of a cultural identity, tradition, and way to unite a community for events. Many know a few folkloric tales, some procedures for ceremonies, basic conceptual framework of the religion - but few actually walk the path, few practice meditation, few have studied the Upanishads or Gita and appreciated the messages of mysticism contained therein. This is even more true for second generation Indian-Americans. That said, the same could be said for almost any religious group; you can't tell me that every Methodist Protestant can recite the book of Luke or Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.

>I wish I could actually understand sanskrit(the language the scripts are written) so I could have my own perception of the scripts rather than translations.

I recommend these translations of Sankaracharya's 6th-7th century commentary of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. These do a rough breakdown of the words, gives an idea of how the Sanskrit breaks down, and gives a pretty true representation of one of the oldest translations from Sanskrit into vernacular tongues.

If interested, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda are great as well. They give the original the Sanskrit, the direct transliteration, a translation into coherent English, and then a commentary. However, this book is more an instruction manual on yoga practice (unitive and meditative exercises and broader lifestyle, not American stretch class); though still a great read for someone looking for a practical approach to mysticism.