Heinrich Zimmer - Philosophies & Myths of India (2 books)

HEINRICH ZIMMER (1890-1943) was an Indologist and historian of South Asian art. His method was to examine religious images using their sacred significance as a key to their psychic transformation. His vast knowledge of Hindu mythology and philosophy gave him insights into the art, insights that were appreciated by the mythologist Joseph Campbell and psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung among others.

Two of Zimmer's best-known works are included here. The New York Times called PHILOSOPHIES OF INDIA (1952) "the most complete and most intelligent account of this extraordinarily rich and complex philosophical tradition yet written."

MYTHS AND SYMBOLS IN INDIAN ART AND CIVILIZATION (1946) interprets the key motifs of India's legend, myth, and folklore, taken directly from the Sanskrit. It is primarily an introduction to image-thinking and picture-reading in Indian art and thought, and it seeks to make the profound Hindu and Buddhist intuitions of the riddles of life and death recognizable not merely as Oriental but as universal elements.


Both books are in PDF format.

* MYTHS AND SYMBOLS IN INDIAN ART AND CIVILIZATION (Pantheon, 1946). Edited by Joseph Campbell.

* PHILOSOPHIES OF INDIA (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1952). Edited by Joseph Campbell.