Ralph T. H. Griffith

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Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826-1906), scholar of indology, B.A. of Queen's College was elected to the vacant Sanskrit Scholarship on Nov 24, 1849. He translated the Vedic scriptures into English. He also produced translations of other Sanskrit literature, including a verse version of the Ramayana and the Kumara Sambhava of Kalidasa. He held the position of principal at the Benares College in India.

His translation of the Rigveda follows the text of Max Müller's six-volume Sanskrit edition. His readings generally follow the work of the great scholar Sayana who was Prime Minister at the court of the King of Vijaynagar - in what is now the District of Bellary in the Indian state of Karnataka - in the fourteenth century.

Now long out of copyright, copies of his translation of the Rigveda, Samaveda, White Yajurveda, Atharvaveda and Ramayana are available on the internet.

• The Ramayan of Valmiki (published 1870) (read online)
• Hymns of the Rigveda (published 1889) (read online)
• Hymns of the Samaveda (published 1893) (read online)
• Hymns of the Atharvaveda (published 1896) (read online)
• The Texts of the White Yajurveda (published 1899) (read online)