Reviews

Selected Poems–Joseph Furtado. Published by Phllip Fertado: 5, Hazarat Terrace, Sankli Street, Byculla, Bombay-8. Price Rs. 5.
Dasavatara and Other Poems–R. Rabindranath Menon. Writers Workshop, Calcutta-45. Price Rs. 6.

It is difficult to get at two books of poems more essentially contrasted than these two. Of the poets one is a Goan, the other an Indian. (Of course, Goans too are Indians now.) One is rural, the other urban. One is untaught, the other sophisticated. One is simplicity to the point of simpleness, the other complex to the point of obscurity. One

Dreams and sings
Of simple things,
The other

Of movie seats and parlour chairs
the coffee breaks and social airs.

The publication of the one is the work of filial devotion carefully canalized by Philip Furtado; the publication of the other the work of the Writers’ Workshop of Calcutta, ably supervised by Sri P. Lal, the Secretary, The Goan is Indian to the tips of his fingers and the Indian is cosmopolitan. SriMenon’s Dasavatarais a 20th century Dasavatara and his Ahalya is of today.

But the Goan Fiddler sweats of India through every line of his verse. Here is love of the Motherland, love of nature, love of Brahmin girls and the Mullah’s daughter, of the Pariah girl and the farmer’s wife; here is ‘majah’. He sings as the bulbuls sing or as the dhyal sings. He chats with the king crow. Like Blake he feels that a robin redbreast in a cage puts all Heaven in a rage. He writes

I take my tunes from the birds on my way

And some from the winds that blow–

They are all the tunes I know–

He is the laureate of India in

It made the angels smile
To hear an ox called son

or

Of all the girls, the Brahmin girls
Are fairest of the fair

or

Land of palm and mango tree

Dear as life art thou to me

or

And either side the tulsi plant
A guava tree and palm
The milkman’s hut–for such it was
Had quite a homely charm

or

A woman young and fair
A child against her hip;
Sweet mogras round her knot of hair
A lilt upon her lip.

Furtado’s poetry has the run of a ballad and the love of a Wordsworth. Even ‘bidee-makers’ are material for his poetry. A poem like the Cobra Woman reminds one of Keats’ Lamia. There are poems in Portuguese for those who are competent to read and judge them. Though a Goan, he sings of India’s plenty and variety. Goa is India and India is Goa; a regionalist is also a universalist and the world is reflected in a drop of water. Like Kipling, Furtado makes Hindi words like jadhoo, laddoo, chapatti, ghee, bhai, lok, kala pani, kismet denizens of English verse. It warms the heart to read a poet who interprets the sights and sounds of India so lovingly. From this naturalness and apparent artlessness to the modernity and word-craft of Menon is a far leap. A modern poet, it is said, feels insulted if he is understood. Sri Menon cannot be insulted. Even after repeated readings some of his poems baffle the reader like Giaconda’s smile and are as fascinating indubitably. They are bright, chic and modern. The Dasavatara ends in a cobalt bomb and Ahalya is juxtaposed with atoms’ transgressions and flow of free molecules. The verse is natural as in

Who else knows the little thrills
the rivulets weave around hills?

or alliterative as in

Teasing present had a toasted past

or novel as in

The sun is free to shine outside
not in the little room

or strikingly beautiful as in

The ponds in his eyes pondered in waves.

Sri Menon’s thought is aphoristic which indicates settled convictions:

Status lies in status quo
Everything, in its proper place,
preserves its plume

The web builds its spider!

In Sri Menon’s poetry things misbehave (except the poetry, of course). It is for the literary psychologist or detective to discover why he is fond of the word ‘misbehave.’ Men misbehave, the sea misbehaves, the lava misbehaves.

We are the wronged men
with a strong message
We know not what!

Sri Menon underlines the undoubting processes of nature in

Tiger eats the tender cow
without worrying why or how.

He pleads for social justice and opportunities in

Freedom is fine, not when free to starve,
But free to climb, and free, ones destiny to carve

or

Work, not an end, but mere means to regain;
that freedom from wants and to leisure attain

He loudly emphasizes

the journey that will lead me on
to the lunar erewhen

or desires

which like chrysanthemums gold or tulips red
In life’s green pastures a glow of splendour spread.

Sri Menon is an interesting writer with a future: he has the poise of common sense and the strength of uncommon thoughts. His sensitiveness to ‘time surrounds’ and the urge to go beyond the Gentility Principle (as defined by Alvarez) alert the reader to watch his future word-play. Sri Menon says,

With present I am out to step

He recognizes

Rules framed long before
No longer hold good

Let us hope his future poetry shatters to bits this sorry scheme of things and remoulds the world nearer his heart’s desire.

On pp. 37 and 47 the reader finds misprints like lauguid and sauvity.

–K. VISWANATHAM

Preceptors of Advaita–Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Pitharohana Diamond Jubilee Volume. Edited by Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan. Copies can be had at Personal Book Shop, Madras-6. Rs. 25.

The grand, sumptuous volume of scholarly articles on Advaita by learned pandits and laukikascholars, sixty in number, starting from sage Vasishta down to the present acharya of Kanchi, is a fitting tribute and fruitful offering to mark the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee Year of the ascension to the Sri Kamakoti Pitha by His Holiness the Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi.

Tradition holds the view that Advaita, as a philosophical system was first revealed by the Lord to the four-faced Brahman. Prior to Sankara there are four sages who have expounded the doctrines of Advaita–Vasishta, Suka, Vyasa, and Parasara. We have an article on each of them, starting from the pen of our revered elder Sri K. S. Ramaswami Sastri, the untiring and indefatigable writer and a savant of vedantic thought and Indian culture, on sage Vasishta. The article on Suka, the propagator of the immortal Bhagavata, his life and teachings are carefully culled from different sources by the insightful and keen perpetual student and savant of Hinduism, Sri K Balasubramanya Iyer. The article is not the mere result of learning but arises out of his Krishna ahaituki bhakti and enjoyment of the rasain the Bhagavata.

The scholar editor of the volume Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan who has dedicated his life to the preaching of the gospel of Sankara, by word, thought and deed, has given us the article on Gaudapada, the Paramaguru of Adi Sankara. It is a chip from his philosophical workshop – I mean his larger study on Gaudapada (3rd Edition, Madras University). Besides this, the Editor has given us the article on Vidyaranya and the concluding one on the present Acharya, an account full of devotion and discernment.

The volume is the first of its kind. It gives a comprehensive account of all important Advaita preceptors. It includes a critical account of the Kamakoti Pitha and the icons worshipped. The influence of the sage of Kanchi on lives of millions of us is enormous and most healthy. There is a remarkable revival of the best in Indian tradition not only in religion, but also in fine arts and ancient cultural institutions. It is difficult to single out articles for special mention. Those of Sri Raghunatha Iyer, Dr. V. Raghavan, Sri K. Chandrasekharan, Sri Ramesam, and several others are good accounts of the different preceptors. The range and the depth of Advaita Philosophy is described in its historical setting through the work of the preceptors. It is a memorable publication to mark a celebrated event of a great sage who lives
amidst us.
–P. NAGARAJA RAO

Social Welfare Organisation–byV. Jagannadham. Published by The Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. 1967. pp. 150. Price: Rs. 5-50.

For a long time a need was felt in India for a comprehensive and uniform policy of social welfare administration. But what should exactly be the shape of things to come was not visualized clearly. Prof. V. Jagannadham of the Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, should be congratulated for performing this task very ably and for placing before us through his book Social Welfare Organisation, a comprehensive blue-print of a desirable social welfare administrative set-up based on sound organizational principles.

In suggesting the guidelines for re-organisation of the pattern of social welfare administration, Prof. Jagannadham took full account of the peculiar socio-economic and political conditions the country and also the defects in the present-day administrative set-up both at the Central and State levels. Some of the important suggestions made by him towards the re-organization of the welfare administrative structure of the country are: creation of a Ministry of Social Welfare at the Centre; transfer of the responsibility of looking after the welfare of the scheduled castes and ward classes from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the newly suggested Ministry of Social Welfare; placing of rural and urban community development subjects under a single department in the Ministry of Social Welfare; creation, in each state, of a separate Ministry of Social Welfare and establishment of a Directorate for Social Welfare, headed by a person trained in social welfare and social work, and the establishment of a separate Social Welfare Department in every Zilla Parishad and Municipality. He feels that the Welfare Departments as well as the Social Welfare Advisory Boards in the States have separate but important functions to perform and hence they could coexist. Despite alleged criticism from some quarters, the author’s stand that “without legislative support, administrative discretion tends to suffer from personal predilections” seems to be basically sound.

Professor Jagannadham does not put forth any concrete suggestions regarding the re-organization of the voluntary sector. He says that “the omission is deliberate and purposeful” for, he felt that “voluntry/private sector organizations must have the freedom to experiment ...(and)...should not be as rigidly bound by heirarchy and rules and procedures as a Government department.” Even so, from the point of enhancing the administrative efficiency of the entire welfare organization in the country, it would have been better and proper had the author taken into account the voluntary sector as well and suggested necessary guidelines for its proper functioning.

On the whole, the book Social Welfare Organization is a valuable addition to the scanty literature in the field of social welfare administration in India. One way, this book is an extension of the Renuka Ray Committee Report on Social Welfare and the Welfare of ward Classes submitted to the Government of India in 1959; and as such, if read together with the Report, this book will prove of immense use to all those interested in the field. Since the study was undertaken by Prof. Jagannadham at the request of the Government itself, it may be hoped that his recommendations will be given a fair trial. No doubt, certain of these suggestions are already in practice in some States. But from the point of toning up the overall administrative efficiency in the field of social welfare, it is essential to put into practice in toto the entire recommended net-work of administrative reforms.

–K. RANGA RAO

Administration and Society in the Carnatic: By Dr. K. Rajayyan, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Pages 170. Price Rs 8.

The book under review is a study of the Carnatic of the 18th century. The term ‘Carnatic’ was a geographical expression of the 18th century. It stood for the coastal tract of South India extending roughly from the river Gundlakamma (Guntur District, A. P.) to the extreme tip of the peninsula. The Carnatic, as is well-known, served as a first foot-board for the political expansion of the East India Company. The author, Dr. K. Rajayyan, has attempted to capture the political atmosphere of the timesand its impact on the society.

A study of the 18th century India discloses the reasons for the easy conquest of the land by the British. The political power of the Carnatic was in the hands of Nawabs of Arcot. These Nawabs, nominally owed allegiance to the Subedar of Deccan who maintained a similar type of relationship with the Mughal rulers of Delhi. “Engaged in wars, besieged by creditors, harassed by the English and distracted by harems, the rulers showed littleinclination to improve the administration.” The weakness of the Central Government led to the rise of poligars, or military chieftains. In order to quell them, and to settle their personal scores among themselves, the Nawabs depended more and more on the British and ultimately
this led to the triumph of the latter.

Dr. Rajayyan, during the course of the book, describes the village, its economy, religious and social structure. According to him, the 18th century villagepresented a picture of a degenerated society. Chapters like the second, “Extortion vs. Evasion”, are important in that they bring to light the dichotomy between the rulers and the ruled and its effect on the prosperity of the country. On reading the conditions of the 18th century, one pauses and wonders if even today dichotomy, this hiatus between the organs of the Government and the people is absent.

For the study of the modern history, there is an abundance of source material and the author of the present work has fully utilised this to present an instructive picture of the 18th century Carnatic. There are, however, typographical errors on a number of pages. On the whole, the work is a welcome addition to the research publication on Modern Indian History and Dr. Rajayyan deserves to be congratulated.
–K. SUNDARAM

Life-Literature-Yoga. Some letters of Sri Aurobindo, collected and edited by Shri K. D. Sethna. Published by Shri Aurobindo Ashram. Pondicherry-2. Price Rs. 6.
The present publication of Life-Literature-Yoga is a revised and considerably enlarged second edition of the book originally published in 1952. It is a collection of a few of the innumerable letters of Shri Aurobindo, the recipient of the letters being Shri K. D. Sethna, the editor himself.

Shri K. D. Sethna, one of the foremost disciples of Shri Aurobindo, Editor of Mother India, a monthly review of culture from the Ashram, is quite well-known in the literary world, both as a poet and as a spiritual journalist. In the Ashram and to the disciples and followers of Shri Aurobindo and Sri Mother, he is better known as Amal Kiran meaning Clear Ray, a significantly meaningful name conferred on him by the Master.

Shri Aurobindo’s correspondence is extraordinary, unique and nonpareil. They are not mere letters. The correspondence constituted a way of life, a way of Yoga with Shri Aurobindo in the Ashram. Letters written by him during this period are literally countless, all of them addressed to the disciples in the Ashram. As one of the Sadhaks stated, though in a lighter vein, the wielding of his “Mighty Magical Pen”, by Shri Aurobindo for the Yogic transformation of his disciples may be aptly compared with the “incessant fluting of the reed by Shri Krishna to melt the hearts” of his Gopis.

Correspondence was the chosen medium of the Master by which he kept close contact with, and transferred his consciousness into, the inner beings of aspiring Sadhaks. As a part of their Sadhana, the disciples wrote seeking guidance of the Guru; on several, writing was even obligatory, a daily samskara. So it is that outsiders can seldom know the real value of these communications. Sometimes, even the recipient himself could not comprehend correctly or completely the significance of a letter except after meditation.

And see how much time Shri Aurobindo spent on this “letter-writing business, 12 hours–3 hours in the afternoon and the whole night upto 6 in the morning.” So much importance to the correspondence! Why? Because in the hands of the Master it was then the effective instrument to achieve his central purpose–“the needed capalisation.” Piles and piles of notebooks and letters went up; Mother and Shri Aurobindo poured over them the whole night, month after month “(apparently) answering all sorts of questions.”

Some of the questions on which one Sadhak or other sought the Master’s guidance might appear ridiculous to another Sadhak or others. But the Mother and Shri Aurobindo never considered non-Yogic any question “from the sublime to the ridiculous” coming from a sincere Sadhak. So comes, there is not a subject which Shri Aurobindo has not touched upon in this correspondence.

In one of his letters Shri Aurobindo wrote: “Every mode of expression by the Sadhak can be made a vehicle of a superior power which helps to open the consiousness.” For instance, in answer to the question “Need one aspire even for writing poetry?” Sri Aurobindo answers “Aspiration is an essential part of Sadhana.”

The present collection, though few, is all important and significant. But in reading these, or for the matter of that any of the letters of the Master, one has to remember always what Shri Aurobindo said about his correspondence in general–viz., “What is written for X is not meant for Y.” This is necessarily true so far as the personal touch in every letter is concerned and so Shri K. D. Sethna has very carefully edited the letters “prefixing to every letter the relevant notes of the questioner to bring out the personal touch” as best as possible. But most of the letters, if not all, have a universal application.

For instance: The question: (vide page 21) ‘Why is X acting so strangely and what could be his grievance against us?” Apparently purely personal, concerning the conduct of a particular individual X. But look at the answer: “….But a man who has a mental life ought surely not to be dependent on others for it, once that life is formed within–there ought to be springs within that flow by their own force.” Doubtless this answer has a profound universal application.

The present collection is unique in one or two respects. These are letters received by a poet, one of the very few to whom Shri Aurobindo gave the exceptional privilege of drawing him out; to quote the Words of Dilip Kumar Roy “Amal has successfully employed his skill and art to dispossess the Master of his vast wealth of knowledge.” So, in this collection we have an abundant wealth of knowledge regarding poetry, literature, life and yoga which the divine has chosen to manifest, classified under several titles.

Any one reading these letters is sure to agree with the words of Chadwick (known as Arjava in the Ashram) “How crystal clear, not a trace of haziness any where, no abracadabra, wanting to show off and yet how luminous-shedding light without heat–like his eyes.”

–V. VENKATRAMA SASTRI

TELUGU

Pothanacharitramu–byVanamamalai Varadacharyulu. Royal size. Pages 514+132+XVIII. Copies can be had from the Author. Chennuru, via., Manchiryal, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh. Price: Rs. 20.

Among the great poets of Andhra, Pothana occupies a high and respectable place. His great epic the Mahabhagavatahas immortalised him. Pandits of all schools agree that Pothana excelled the original in Sanskrit while rendering it into Telugu. The book under review is a highly laudable work on the life of the great poet Pothana. To attempt almost a mahakavya on the life of a poet itself shows the high appreciation and respect the author has for Pothana. It is a great thing to conceive of a mighty subject but it is greater still to execute the work in all its glory.

Even a casual reading of the book impresses the reader that the author has practically imbibed Pothana’s easy and mellifluous style. A further scrutiny tells that the author is an adept in the nuances of Telugu prosody. He has a chaste, free and easy style which enchants the reader.

The Telugu-knowing readers are very much indebted to the author for his very fine portrayal of their beloved poet Pothana, and they eagerly expect many more similar kavyas from the author, who had already earned a high place among the Telugu poets of the present century.
–BHAVARAJU