Gods, Sages and Kings: Vedic Secrets of Ancient Civilization

The book calls into question our entire view of human history, and therefore our primary understanding of who we are as human beings inhabiting the planet earth. Although the book on the one level is a fascinating and colorful revelation of a highly developed ancient culture, it is much more significantly a truly spiritual vision of where we come from and who we are.

This book solves a long standing dilemma, encountered by those who have cherished a spiritual vision of life. Our human identity has been captured in a belief in domination by force as a necessary condition of survival. Under such circumstances, spiritual life, be it yoga and

meditation, or prayer and devotion has tended to be largely a means of escaping domination – hence life denying and therefore unfruit-ful. What should be obvious to us after millennia of spiritual

striving with limited success is that we have had no foundation on which to build. Yet it is not that we have really lacked a spiritual foundation – but that we have not recognized the one which existed.

David Frawley has turned on the light in a big way. For the first time we see a rich and radiant vision of the origins of human civilization in a spiritual culture, based upon yogic knowledge

that we are the children of great seers, rishis, and we have somewhat lost our way.

Gods, Sages and Kings presents a remarkable accumulation of evidence pointing to the existence of a common spiritual culture in the ancient world from which present civilization may be more of a decline than an advance. The book is based upon new interpretation of the ancient Vedic teachings of India, and brings out many new insights from this unique source often neglected and misinterpreted in the West. In addition, it discusses recent archaeological discoveries in India whose implications are now only beginning to emerge.

It reveals the geography of the ancient Vedic world, including the sacred Himalayan lands of the Soma. It shows the lineages of the Vedic kings and the realms that they ruled. It deciphers the ancient Vedic calendar and its sophisticated system of astronomy going back to before 4000 B.C. and uncovers the yogic practices of the ancient Vedic seers that appear to be behind all the religions of the World. It suggests that all the peoples of the ancient world may be related to the Vedic culture including those of Sumeria, Egypt, China, and the Americas. The book challenges the accepted views of the origins of civilizations in a profound way and thus causes the reader to re-examine what it means to be a human being.

Review(s)

“The book proposes the idea of an ancient Indian and Himalayan home for world civilization. The vedas find a new interpretation at the hand of the author… Written in a readable language…useful [for] serious thinkers on civilization”. – E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma, The Adyar Library, Bulletin, 1993

“The argument implicit in Gods, Sages and Kings is that Vedic culture through the great traditions of Hindus, Yoga, and other Eastern philosophies, is the continuation of a way of looking at life that is at least 8,000 years old”.-Richard Kenyon, Yoga International, Nov.-Dec.1991

“There is no doubt that this is a landmark book for our understanding of India. …It helps us gain a radical shift in our perception of ancient Indian History. It gives us a totally different picture of Vedic civilization that what we are traditionally taught in history books”.- Francis Assissi, India-West, Sept. 1991

“…is a remarkable piece of brilliant scholarship”.-The Visva-Bharti Journal of Philosophy, Vol. xxx, No.1, Aug. 1993

“… yet another presentation from Frawley, which will be earnestly sought by readers interested in Indian civilization. The author has done an excellent job and has opened new vistas before us”. – Tattvaloka, Bombay, June-July 1994

“… a pioneer work to usher an era of fresh understanding of the origins of human civilization that are yogic or spiritual in nature”.-R. T. Vyas, Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol.xliii, Sept-Dec.1993

About the Author(s)

David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri) is one of the few Westerners recognized in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the ancient Vedic wisdom. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Vedic Topics including Ayurveda, Vedic Astrology,Vedanta, Hinduism, Yoga and Tantra, as well as translations and interpretations from the Vedas. Dr. Frawley has been given many awards for his work in India including the Veda Vyasa award by the International Institute of India Studies. He is a Jyotish Kovid through the Indian Council of Astrological Sciences, and is also the President of the American Council of Vedic Astrology, the American offshoot of the Indian council; He has a Doctor’s degree in Chinese Medicine and has also been certified as an expert through the University of Poona for his knowledge of Yoga and Ayurveda. He is presently Director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies.