[rramadass]

I would not recommend Wendy Doniger's works for the beginner.

She has more of a interpretive approach (which is not clearly spelled out) rather than a direct translation and hence highly controversial. Her works seriously suffer from The Danger of a Single Story syndrome (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg) towards the culture they purport to explain.

[tiberious726]

I agree wholeheartedly with this caveat. Her works are really great as a non-standard (and admittedly very controversial) perspective, but can be really misleading if they are the first thing you read. I should have included something along these lines in my original recommendation, thanks!