A small press · est. 2026

Jijnāsu

Old books, in plain English.

Complete translations of classical Indian texts on tantra, yoga, medicine and astrology. Nothing softened, nothing left out.

See the books

The name is Sanskrit for one who wants to know. These books were printed once, in a language most readers cannot follow, and were on their way to being forgotten. We put them into English a curious person can read, in the order they were written, with their mantras in their own words.

The catalogue

Six books.

01 / 06

Ravana Samhita Volume One

The Life Story of Ravana

After the war, Rama asks how strong his enemy really was. The sage Agastya answers with Ravana's whole life: his lineage, his boons, his conquests and the curses that followed him.

On Kindle

Ravana Samhita Volume Two

Tantra-Mantra Practice

The Uddisha Tantra and more than three hundred rites and charms: the Six Acts, Yakshini rites, healing spells, exorcisms and the mantras of the nine planets.

On Kindle

Ravana Samhita Volume Three, Part One

Internal Medicine

A working Ayurvedic formulary. It names each disease, gives its treatment, and lists the medicines one by one, from the fevers to the disorders of the heart.

Coming soon

Ravana Samhita Volume Three, Part Two

Wounds, Skin, Senses, Women and Children

The rest of the physician's art: wounds and fractures, the long run of skin diseases, the eye and ear, childbirth, poisons, and rejuvenation.

Coming soon

Ravana Samhita Volume Four

The Science of Time

A complete reference of Indian astrology: signs, houses and planets, every conjunction, the yogas of kings, and the dashas that time a life.

Coming soon

Sat Chakra Nirupana

The Six Chakras and Kundalini Yoga

The classical source of the six-chakra system. All 55 verses with the traditional commentary, and ten new illustrations of the channels and lotuses.

Coming soon

How we work

Complete

Every passage of the original, in its own order. If the source says something hard, the English says it too.

Plain

Sentences a reader can follow without a teacher beside them. The tradition's own words are kept and explained once.

Checked

Each passage read against the source page. Each mantra compared letter by letter. Each name looked up.

For study, not for practice.

These are translations for readers of Indian religion and history, students of yoga and Ayurveda, and anyone curious about what the texts actually say. They are no substitute for a qualified teacher or physician.

Write to us Report an error