[INDOLOGY] [External] English translation of Sylvain Lévi's La Doctrine du Sacrifice dans les Brāhmaṇas

[Herman Tull]

Dear Colleagues:

I am stunned by the kind words I have received from Finn Moore Gerety,
Brian Collins, and others (sent to me personally) regarding the translation
of Lévi's work into English. As a student of 19th century Indology, I am
pleased to see that others still see the value in these early works (not
that they should be taken uncritically, and not to elevate them above the
many superb modern critical studies of the Brahmanas).

Sorry to restate the obvious, but once again, I must join the chorus of
voices celebrating this list and the world-wide community it has
established.

with regards,

Herman

*Herman Tull, PhD*
*Princeton, NJ*


On Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 3:21 AM Finn Moore Gerety <
finn.mooregerety at ames.ox.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hi all—
> I’d like to chime in with my own appreciation for what Herman has
> produced. I hope it will be published so that more people can access Lévi’s
> classic work, which in my opinion remains the best single work on religious
> thought in the Brāhmaṇas. Brian, your anecdote about Roberto Calasso is
> wonderful but not surprising given that Calasso was such a discerning
> thinker and great interpreter of Vedic traditions; what a shame that he is
> no longer with us to follow through on this intention.
>
> Bravo, Herman!
>
> Yours,
> Finn
>
> *From: *INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> Collins, Brian via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Date: *Friday, 9 January 2026 at 17:12
> *To: *Herman Tull <hermantull at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject: *Re: [INDOLOGY] [External] English translation of Sylvain
> Lévi's La Doctrine du Sacrifice dans les Brāhmaṇas
>
> I want to express my gratitude to Herman for taking it upon himself to
> make such a seminal text available to the Anglophone audience and for doing
> such an excellent (unpaid) job. I have been anxiously looking forward to
> someone doing a Levi translation for over a decade. In fact, I was having a
> conversation with Roberto Calasso about it in 2015 and he immediately
> volunteered to write an introduction to any translation I could produce of
> this text. I told him that I could not produce any such translation, but I
> hoped someone else would. And now Herman has. Unfortunately, it has come at
> a time when the demands of living in a failed state and preparing for
> spring classes has not left me much time to read it. But what I have read
> so far is excellent. And I look forward to finishing it soon. Thanks again,
> Herman.
>
>
> Brian
>
> Prof. Brian Collins
> (He/Him/His)
> Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy
> Department of Classics and Religious Studies
> 234 Ellis Hall
> Ohio University
> Athens, Ohio
> 740-597-2103 (office)
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 8, 2026, at 6:45 PM, Herman Tull via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> 
> *Use caution with links and attachments.*
> For those interested, I have recently uploaded an English translation of
> Sylvain Lévi's 1898 volume, *La Doctrine du Sacrifice dans les Brāhmaṇas.*
>
> The work can be read/downloaded in .pdf format at archive.org:
>
>
> https://archive.org/details/the-doctrine-of-sacrifice-in-the-brahmanas_20251223
>
> or at academia.edu
>
>
> https://www.academia.edu/145862648/The_Doctrine_of_Sacrifice_in_the_Br%C4%81hma%E1%B9%87as
>
> It can also be downloaded in epub format which loads nicely into tablets
> and ereaders:
>
>
> https://www.academia.edu/145841269/The_Doctrine_of_Sacrifice_in_the_Br%C4%81hma%E1%B9%87as_by_Sylvain_Levi
>
> Please feel free to reach out to me with comments and corrections.
>
> with regards,
>
> Herman Tull
>
>
> *Herman Tull, PhD*
> *Princeton, NJ*
>
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