The Upanishads represent for the Hindu approximately what the New Testament represents for the Christian.

The earliest of these spiritual treatises, which vary greatly in length, were put down in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 BC. This selection from twelve Upanishads, with its illuminating introduction by Juan Mascaró, whose translation of the Bhagavad Gita is also in the Penguin Classics, reveals the paradoxical variety and unity, the great questions and simple answers, the spiritual wisdom and romantic imagination of these ‘Himalayas of the Soul’.

‘In death thy glory in heaven, in victory thy glory on earth.  Arise therefore, Arjuna, with thy soul ready to fight’

The Bhagavad Gita is an intensely spiritual work that forms the cornerstone of the Hindu faith, and is also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry. It describes how, at the beginning of a mighty battle between the Pandava and Kaurava armies, the god Krishna gives spiritual enlightenment to the warrior Arjuna, who realizes that the true battle is for his own soul.

Juan Mascaró’s translation of The Bhagavad Gita captures the extraordinary aural qualities of the original Sanskrit. This edition features a new introduction by Simon Brodbeck, which discusses concepts such as dehin, prakriti and Karma.

The Dhammapada is a collection of aphorisms that illustrate the Buddhist dhamma or moral system.

Probably compiled in the third century B.C., the verses encompass the struggle towards Nirvana - the supreme goal for the Buddhist - and point out the narrow Path of Perfection that leads to it. 'In the Dhammapada we can hear the voice of Buddha,' writes Juan Mascaro, translator of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. 'This gospel of light and love is amongst the greatest spiritual works of man. Each verse is like a small star and the whole has the radiance of eternity.'