Informative but sadly full of stereotype predudice

This is a good book from the perspective of describing the scriptures, figures, traditions, history etc of Hinduism. It suffers terribly from a western perspective and gets caught up in the mixing of beliefs of Hinduism with social practice.

He is critical women's lack of rights in India by blaming Hinduism, but does not mention the similar treatment in Christianity or how the British may have encouraged it (ex. Luthur's Protestant writing - "The rule remains with the husband, and the wife is compelled to obey him by God's command" or Timothy 2:15 ""But women will be saved through childbearing". He ignores the lack of opportunities for women in many christian churches, which may be part of a patriarchal society and less with religion

The cast system is also singled out as a Hindu core value, with a strong focus on the plight of Dalits, without mentioning the British Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 - This specified that whole communities were criminals by birth and therefore were subject to harsh treatment handed out to criminals in the Raj,
including mandatory indentured labor, property rights, violence etc.

Clearly there were other forces at work for many centuries and to assign such social ills to being integral to Hinduism, when they are clearly present in many other non Hindu societies. This distorted view has led to a biased perspective that does not reflect the beliefs of Hinduism.

Sadly the author seems to be oblivious to this systemic distortion, promoted during colonialism to dehumanize India and justify the excesses of extraction and exploitation.

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