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What is good collection of these Indian myths? Is there one akin to One Thousand and One Arabian Nights; with more focus on India?

edj 16y ago
The Panchatantra: a collection of ancient Hindu tales [PDF] http://books.google.com/books?id=jB0YAAAAYAAJ http://books.google.com/books?id=jB0YAAAAYAAJ This one is "Weaver as Vishnu" on page 46. Note: the HTML version is in Sanskrit, the PDF in English. Edit: Of course, there are many other works of Indian mythology. The big two being the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which if you consider it a single work, is the longest text ever written. The heart of the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita.
adi92 16y ago
http://panchatantra.org/ http://panchatantra.org/ http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/jataka.html http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/jataka.html
ivenkys 16y ago
There are quite few disparate collections of stories and myths from India. My suggestion would be to start with the Mahabharata, it is a whole literature in itself and is at par with some of the best in the world. Start with a summarised version(The version by C Rajagopalachari is quite popular) and if you like it you can explore it in-depth with the version by van Buitenen or Kisari Mohan Ganguli.
blizkreeg 16y ago
I have both, The Panchatantra, and 1001 Arabian Nights. Much (or may be all) of the world's wisdom lies in there. What amazes me is how timeless these nuggets of wisdom are. Great books, both. As a child, these were simply fun, entertaining reads. Now, I find myself going back to understand the lessons in there and just relishing the stories once again. To your question - the most popular ones are The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. Jataka Tales as someone has mentioned below. Also, Tales of Tenali Rama and Vikram & Betal are good reads too. While this doesn't fall under the category of myths, perhaps one of the most comprehensive works on finance, war strategies, and international relations (yes, this from ancient India) is Chanakya's Arthashastra. Another book by Chanakya, Nitishastra is about the ideal way of life. Look up Chanakya on Wikipedia.

edj 16y ago

The Panchatantra: a collection of ancient Hindu tales [PDF] http://books.google.com/books?id=jB0YAAAAYAAJ http://books.google.com/books?id=jB0YAAAAYAAJ This one is "Weaver as Vishnu" on page 46. Note: the HTML version is in Sanskrit, the PDF in English. Edit: Of course, there are many other works of Indian mythology. The big two being the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which if you consider it a single work, is the longest text ever written. The heart of the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita.

adi92 16y ago

http://panchatantra.org/ http://panchatantra.org/ http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/jataka.html http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/jataka.html

ivenkys 16y ago

There are quite few disparate collections of stories and myths from India. My suggestion would be to start with the Mahabharata, it is a whole literature in itself and is at par with some of the best in the world. Start with a summarised version(The version by C Rajagopalachari is quite popular) and if you like it you can explore it in-depth with the version by van Buitenen or Kisari Mohan Ganguli.

blizkreeg 16y ago

I have both, The Panchatantra, and 1001 Arabian Nights. Much (or may be all) of the world's wisdom lies in there. What amazes me is how timeless these nuggets of wisdom are. Great books, both. As a child, these were simply fun, entertaining reads. Now, I find myself going back to understand the lessons in there and just relishing the stories once again. To your question - the most popular ones are The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. Jataka Tales as someone has mentioned below. Also, Tales of Tenali Rama and Vikram & Betal are good reads too. While this doesn't fall under the category of myths, perhaps one of the most comprehensive works on finance, war strategies, and international relations (yes, this from ancient India) is Chanakya's Arthashastra. Another book by Chanakya, Nitishastra is about the ideal way of life. Look up Chanakya on Wikipedia.