The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, 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 books are in the public domain in the United States, and most or all are in the public domain in many other countries.[1] Electronic versions of all 50 volumes are widely available online.
Vol. | Group | Published | Translator | Title and contents |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hindu | 1879 | Max Müller | The Upanishads, part 1/2:[2] |
2 | Hindu | 1879 | Georg Bühler | The Sacred Laws of the Âryas (Dharmaśāstra), part 1/2: |
3 | China | 1879 | James Legge | The Sacred Books of China, part 1/6 – the texts of Confucianism:
|
4 | Zor | 1880 | James Darmesteter | Zend-Avesta, part 1/3: |
5 | Zor | 1880 | E. W. West | Pahlavi Texts, part 1/5: |
6 | Islam | 1880 | E. H. Palmer | Qur'an part 1/2 – chapters I-XVI |
7 | Hindu | 1880 | Julius Jolly | The Institutes of Visnu. |
8 | Hindu | 1882 | Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang | The Bhagavadgîtâ: |
9 | Islam | 1880 | E. H. Palmer | The Qur'an, part 2/2 – chapters XVII-CXIV |
10 | Bud | 1881 | Max Müller (Dhammapada from Pāli, Sutta-Nipata from Pāli) | Dhammapada: a collection of verses
Sutta-Nipâta: a collection of discourses, one of the canonical books of the Buddhists |
11 | Bud | 1881 | T. W. Rhys Davids | Buddhist Suttas:
|
12 | Hindu | 1882 | Julius Eggeling | Satapatha Brahmana, part 1/5:
|
13 | Bud | 1881 | T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg | Vinaya Texts, part 1/3:
|
14 | Hindu | 1882 | Georg Bühler | The Sacred Laws of the Âryas, part 2/2:
|
15 | Hindu | 1884 | Max Müller | The Upanishads, part 2/2: |
16 | China | 1882 | James Legge | The Sacred Books of China, part 2/6 – the texts of Confucianism:
|
17 | Bud | 1882 | T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg | Vinaya Texts, part 2/3
|
18 | Zor | 1882 | E. W. West | Pahlavi Texts, part 2/5
|
19 | Bud | 1883 | Samuel Beal | The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king: a life of Buddha, by Ashvaghosha, Bodhisattva; translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmakṣema (A. D. 420). |
20 | Bud | 1885 | T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg | Vinaya Texts, part 3/3:
|
21 | Bud | 1884 | H. Kern | The Saddharma-Pundarika or The Lotus of the True Law. |
22 | Jain | 1884 | Hermann Jacobi
from the Prâkrit |
Jaina Sûtras, part 1/2 |
23 | Zor | 1883 | James Darmesteter | Zend-Avesta, part 2/3:
|
24 | Zor | 1884 | E. W. West | Pahlavi Texts, part 3/5:
|
25 | Hindu | 1886 | Georg Bühler | The Laws of Manu: with extracts from seven commentaries. |
26 | Hindu | 1885 | Julius Eggeling | Satapatha Brahmana, part 2/5
|
27 | China | 1885 | James Legge | The Sacred Books of China, part 3/6 – the texts of Confucianism:
|
28 | China | 1885 | James Legge | The Sacred Books of China, part 4/6 – the texts of Confucianism:
|
29 | Hindu | 1886 | Hermann Oldenberg | Grihya-sutras, part 1/2 – rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies:
|
30 | Hindu | 1892 | Hermann Oldenberg (Apstamba),
Max Müller (Yajna) |
Grihya-sutras, part 2/2 – rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies: |
31 | Zor | 1887 | Lawrence Heyworth Mills | Zend-Avesta, part 3/3: |
32 | Hindu | 1891 | Max Müller | Vedic Hymns, part 1/2 |
33 | Hindu | 1889 | Julius Jolly | The Minor Law-Books: Brihaspati |
34 | Hindu | 1890 | George Thibaut | Vedanta-Sutras, part 1/3
|
35 | Bud | 1890 | T. W. Rhys Davids | The Questions of King Milinda, part 1/2 |
36 | Bud | 1894 | T. W. Rhys Davids | The Questions of King Milinda, part 2/2 |
37 | Zor | 1892 | E. W. West | Pahlavi Texts, part 4/5
|
38 | Hindu | 1896 | George Thibaut | Vedanta-Sutras, part 2/3
|
39 | China | 1891 | James Legge | Texts of Taoism, part 1/2
|
40 | China | 1891 | James Legge | Texts of Taoism, part 2/2
|
41 | Hindu | 1894 | Julius Eggeling | Satapatha Brahmana, part 3/5:
|
42 | Hindu | 1897 | Maurice Bloomfield | Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Together With Extracts From the Ritual Books and the Commentaries |
43 | Hindu | 1897 | Julius Eggeling | Satapatha Brahmana, part 4/5:
|
44 | Hindu | 1900 | Julius Eggeling | Satapatha Brahmana, part 5/5:
|
45 | Jain | 1895 | Hermann Jacobi
(from Prâkrit) |
Jaina Sûtras, part 2 of 2: |
46 | Hindu | 1897 | Hermann Oldenberg | Vedic Hymns, part 2/2: |
47 | Zor | 1897 | E. W. West | Pahlavi Texts, part 5/5:
|
48 | Hindu | 1904 | George Thibaut | Vedanta-Sutras, part 3/3, with the commentary of Râmânuja |
49 | Bud | 1894 | Edward Byles Cowell (part 1, from Sanskrit), Max Müller, and Takakusu Junjiro (Amitâyur) | Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts, part 1/2:
Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts, part 2/2:
|
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. |