Sacred Books of The East

The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Islam.

All of the 50 volumes have been converted into electronic versions and are available as free PDF e-books: HolyBooks.com and as plain text The Internet Sacred Text Archive.

All of the books are in the public domain in the United States, and most or all are in the public domain in many other countries - see discussion at sacred-texts.com for details.

Volumes of the Sacred Books of the East
Vol. Group Published Translator Title and contents
1 Hindu 1879 Max Müller The Upanishads, Part 1 of 2. Chandogya Upanishad. Talavakara (Kena) Upanishad. Aitareya Upanishad. Kausitaki Upanishad. Vajasaneyi (Isa) Upanishad.
2 Hindu 1879 Georg Bühler The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, vol. 1 of 2. The sacred laws of the Aryas as taught in the school of Apastamba, Gautama, Vâsishtha, and Baudhâyana. pt. I. Apastamba and Gautama. (The Dharma Sutras).
3 China 1879 James Legge The Sacred Books of China, vol. 1 of 6. Part I of The Texts of Confucianism. The Shû king (Classic of History). The religions portions of the Shih king (Classic of Poetry). The Hsiâo king (Xiao Jing).
4 Zor 1880 James Darmesteter The Zend-Avesta, vol. 1 of 3. The Vendîdâd.
5 Zor 1880 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts, vol. 1 of 5. The Bundahis, Bahman Yast, and Shayast La-Shayast.
6 Islam 1880 E. H. Palmer The Qur'an, vol. 1 of 2.
7 Hindu 1880 Julius Jolly The Institutes of Visnu.
8 Hindu 1882 Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang The Bhagavadgita With the Sanatsugâtiya and the Anugitâ.
9 Islam 1880 E. H. Palmer The Qur'an, vol. 2 of 2.
10 Bud 1881 F. Max Müller (Dhammapada) Viggo Fausböll (Sutta-Nipata) The Dhammapada and The Sutta-Nipâta, a collection of discourses; being one of the canonical books of the Buddhists, translated from Pāli; and The Dhammapada, a collection of verses, translated from Pāli.
11 Bud 1881 T. W. Rhys Davids Buddhist Suttas. The Mahâ-parinibbâna Suttanta, The Dhamma-kakka-ppavattana Sutta, The Tevigga Sutta'anta, The Âkankheyya Sutta'a, The Ketokhila Sutta'a, The Mahâ-Sudassana Sutta'anta, The Sabbâsava Sutta'a.
12 Hindu 1882 Julius Eggeling The Satapatha Brahmana according to the text of the Mâdhyandina school, vol. 1 of 5.
13 Bud 1881 T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg Vinaya Texts, vol. 1 of 3. The Patimokkha. The Mahavagga, I-IV.
14 Hindu 1882 Georg Bühler The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, vol. 2 of 2. The sacred laws of the Aryas as taught in the school of Apastamba, Gautama, Vâsishtha, and Baudhâyana. pt. II. Vâsishtha and Baudhâyana.
15 Hindu 1884 Max Müller The Upanishads, part 2 of 2. Katha Upanishad. Mundaka Upanishad. Taittiriya Upanishad. Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. Svetasvatara Upanishad. Prasña Upanishad. Maitrayani Upanishad.
16 China 1882 James Legge The Sacred Books of China, vol. 2 of 6. Part II of The Texts of Confucianism. The Yi King: (I Ching).
17 Bud 1882 T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg Vinaya Texts, vol. 2 of 3. The Mahavagga, V-X, the Kullavagga I-II.
18 Zor 1882 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts, vol. 2 of 5. The Dâdistân-î Dinik and the Epistles of Mânûskîhar.
19 Bud 1883 Samuel Beal The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king, a life of Buddha, by Ashvaghosha, Bodhisattva; translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksha, A. D. 420.
20 Bud 1885 T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg Vinaya Texts, vol. 3 of 3. The Kullavagga, IV-XII.
21 Bud 1884 H. Kern The Saddharma-Pundarika or The Lotus of the True Law.
22 Jain 1884 Hermann Jacobi Jaina Sûtras, vol. 1 of 2, translated from the Prâkrit. The Âkârânga sûtra. The Kalpa sûtra.
23 Zor 1883 James Darmesteter The Zend-Avesta, vol. 2 of 3. The Sîrôzahs, Yasts, and Nyâyis.
24 Zor 1884 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts, vol. 3 of 5. Dinai Mainög-i khirad, Sikand-Gümanik Vigar, Sad Dar.
25 Hindu 1886 Georg Bühler The Laws of Manu. Translated, with extracts from seven commentaries.
26 Jain 1885 Julius Eggeling The Satapatha Brahmana according to the text of the Mâdhyandina school, vol. 2 of 5, Books III-IV
27 China 1885 James Legge The Sacred Books of China, vol. 3 of 6. Part III of the texts of Confucianism. The Lî Kî (Book of Rites), part 1 of 2.
28 China 1885 James Legge The Sacred Books of China, vol. 4 of 6. Part IV of the texts of Confucianism. The Lî Kî (Book of Rites), part 2 of 2.
29 Hindu 1886 Hermann Oldenberg The Grihya-sutras; rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies. vol. 1 of 2. Sankhyayana-Grihya-sutra. Asvalayana-Grihya-sutra. Paraskara-Grihya-sutra. Khadia-Grihya-sutra.
30 Hindu 1892 Hermann Oldenberg, Max Müller The Grihya-sutras; rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies. vol. 2 of 2. Gobhila, Hiranyakesin, Apastamba (Olderberg); Yajña Paribhashasutras (Müller).
31 Zor 1887 Lawrence Heyworth Mills The Zend-Avesta, vol. 3 of 3. The Yasna, Visparad, Afrînagân, Gâhs, and miscellaneous fragments.
32 Hindu 1891 Max Müller Vedic Hymns, vol. 1 of 2. Hymns to the Maruts, Rudra, Vâyu, and Vâta., with a bibliographical list of the more important publications on the Rig-veda.
33 Hindu 1889 Julius Jolly The Minor Law-Books: Brihaspati. (Part 1 of 1).
34 Hindu 1890 George Thibaut The Vedanta-Sutras, vol. 1 of 3. Commentary by Sankaracharya, part 1 of 2. Adhyâya I-II (Pâda I-II).
35 Bud 1890 T. W. Rhys Davids The Questions of King Milinda, vol. 1 of 2. Milindapañha.
36 Bud 1894 T. W. Rhys Davids The Questions of King Milinda, vol. 2 of 2. Milindapañha.
37 Zor 1892 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts, vol. 4 of 5. Contents of the Nasks.
38 Hindu 1896 George Thibaut The Vedanta-Sutras, vol. 2 of 3, commentary by Sankaracharya, part 1 of 2. Adhyâya II (Pâda III-IV) -IV.
39 China 1891 James Legge The Texts of Taoism, Part 1 of 2. The Sacred Books of China, vol. 5 of 6. Also: The Tâo the king (Tao te Ching): The writings of Kwang-tze, books I-XVII.
40 China 1891 James Legge The Texts of Taoism, Part 2 of 2. Includes The Writings of Kwang Tse, books XVII-XXXIII, The Thâi-shang tractate of actions and their retributions, other Taoist texts, and the Index to vols. 39 and 40.
41 Hindu 1894 Julius Eggeling The Satapatha Brahmana according to the text of the Mâdhyandina school, vol. 3 of 5. Books V, VI, VII.
42 Hindu 1897 Maurice Bloomfield Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Together With Extracts From the Ritual Books and the Commentaries.
43 Hindu 1897 Julius Eggeling The Satapatha Brahmana according to the text of the Mâdhyandina school, vol. 4 of 5, Books VII, IX, X.
44 Hindu 1900 Julius Eggeling The Satapatha Brahmana according to the text of the Mâdhyandina school, vol. 5 of 5, Books XI, XII, XIII, XIV.
45 Jain 1895 Hermann Jacobi Jaina Sûtras, vol. 2 of 2, translated from Prâkrit. The Uttarâdhyayana Sûtra, The Sûtrakritânga Sûtra.
46 Hindu 1897 Hermann Oldenberg Vedic Hymns, vol. 2 of 2. Hymns to Agni (Mandalas I-V).
47 Zor 1897 E. W. West Pahlavi Texts, vol. 5 of 5. Marvels of Zoroastrianism.
48 Hindu 1904 George Thibaut The Vedanta-Sutras, vol. 3 of 3, with the commentary of Râmânuja.
49 Bud 1894 Edward Byles Cowell, F. Max Müller and Takakusu Junjiro Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts. Part 1. The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha, translated from the Sanskrit by E. B. Cowell. Part 2. The larger Sukhâvatî-vyûha, the smaller Sukhâvatî-vyûha, the Vagrakkedikâ, the larger Pragñâ-pâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra, the smaller Pragñâ-pâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra, translated by F. Max Müller. The Amitâyur dhyâna-sûtra, translated by J. Takakusu.
50 index 1910 Moriz Winternitz, with a preface by Arthur Anthony Macdonell General index to the names and subject-matter of the sacred books of the East.

Famous quotes containing the words sacred, books and/or east:

    Mary, hear,
    O Mary, marry earth, sea, air and fire;
    Our sacred earth in our day is our curse.
    Robert Lowell (1917–1977)

    Ambivalence reaches the level of schizophrenia in our treatment of violence among the young. Parents do not encourage violence, but neither do they take up arms against the industries which encourage it. Parents hide their eyes from the books and comics, slasher films, videos and lyrics which form the texture of an adolescent culture. While all successful societies have inhibited instinct, ours encourages it. Or at least we profess ourselves powerless to interfere with it.
    C. John Sommerville (20th century)

    From the east to western Inde,
    No jewel is like Rosalind.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)