‘Among the eighteen classic Hindu texts called the Puranas, the Brahmanda Purana recounts the stories and lores associated with Brahma, the creator and one of the trinities of the supreme divinity along with Vishnu and Shiva. A relatively early Purana, its composition can be traced back to approximately 400 to 600 BCE, predating many other Hindu texts. While the first volume talks of the cosmology, creation, and geography, the lineages of rishis and shraddha rites, ending with Parashurama's stoory, the highlight of volume 2 is its emphasis on Lalita's greatness, the slaying of Bhandasura, Madana's rebirth and the glory of Kamakshi. Translated and annotated from the original Sanskrit by Bibek Debroy, this edition of the Brahmanda Purana is a precious and rare volume for the lovers of Hindu mythology and religion. This is the sixth volume in the Purana series; the others include the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Brahma Purana, Vishnu Purana, and the Shiva Purana.’

Hinduism is ancient. Considered as one religion, it is the oldest religion on Earth. Modern scientific understanding, in contrast, is relatively very recent. It is only in this very recent mode of understanding that we have come to understand the basic material structure of the human brain is that of a supremely complex network. We don't find anything in the Hindu corpus that refers to this, or to the modern scientific fact that our experience of self and world as human beings, is a construct of the functioning of this supremely complex network. And yet Hinduism itself contains, expressed through a cultural fabric, the representation of a supreme understanding, through which the most fundamental fact of modern brain science comes into focus. The point of Hinduism, like that of any of the great religions, is the discovery of God, whether as Brahman or Krishna, and not merely the provision of entertaining stories about our origins. With this in mind, this book contains a steep but fast shortcut into the core content behind the cultural fabric, in such a way that is compatible with Western inquiry, whilst giving full due regard to the profound and spiritual nature of the corpus. It is all too easy to regard the pantheon of Hinduism as proof of its estrangement and disconnection from a religion such as Christianity, which amongst the religions predominates in the West. But such a judgement would be to overlook the one thing that all cultures and all religions have in common, and on which they depend for their expression, in the first place. Which is none other than human brain function. In these pages the deeper content of the Hindu corpus and the single most fundamental fact of modern neuroscience, come together. They are exposed together, for anyone who is interested, to show how in a very 21st-century way, as well as in an ancient Hindu way, we are what Hinduism may might regard as Śiva's brainchild.