Reviews

ENGLISH

Gautama the Buddha.–By Sir S. Radhakrishnan. (Annual Lecture on a Master Mind; Henriette Hertz Trust of the British Academy.)

Anything proceeding from Sir S. Radhakrishnan is sure to grip the mind of the reader. His masterly style, originality of treatment, his unique capacity for incisive utterance, the uncanny sense to grasp the fundamentals of any subject and to express them in the language of modern thought, and, last but not the least, his broad and tolerant outlook coupled with a sense of the realities of life, always carry the reader with him. The encomium said to have been pronounced by the President of the Lecture at the end of the proceedings, that "this was a lecture on a Master Mind by a Master Mind," is certainly not an exaggerated or conventional eulogy. None will dispute that the lecture was about a Master Mind, and those who have followed the career and writings of Sir S. Radhakrishnan will hardly deny that it was by a Master Mind. There have been many distinguished people who have written and spoken about the Buddha, and in modern times a great deal of investigation has been carried on about his life and teachings. Great progress has also been made in the matter of publishing and editing many Pali texts and Sanskrit works on Buddhist Philosophy. A modern speaker or writer on the Buddha. is certainly in a position of greater advantage than the early pioneers like the Rhys Davids and Edwin Arnold and it is easier now-a-days to view the Buddha’s life and teachings in the proper historical perspective. It is truth to say that "in Gautama the Buddha we have a Master Mind from the East second to none so far as the influence on the thought and life of the human race is concerned, and sacred to all as the Founder of a religious tradition whose hold is hardly less wide and deep than any other," and that "he is undoubtedly one of the greatest figures in history." In the land of his birth, when the heat of controversy and prejudice had subsided in the course of time, the Hindu religious thinkers and leaders with a rare, dispassionate and tolerant judgment recognised him as one of the Avatars of Vishnu. An honoured place is given to him in the series of Incarnations which, the Hindu scriptures declare, the Lord takes for the welfare and salvation of mankind. The poets of India loved to describe him as the unique figure of renunciation, compassion and love.

It is well to recognise the fact that the Buddha profoundly influenced Hindu thought and culture and left the indelible impress of his personality and teachings on the course of Hindu religious history since his time. At the same time, readers and followers of Buddhism must also admit and appreciate the fact that the ground of the core of Hindu thought very largely shaped his teachings and, in some respects, his system was a logical evolution from some of the speculative tendencies of the Hindu thinkers. Sir S. Radhakrishnan, therefore, has done well in emphasising both these aspects in his lecture. It is only if the truth of both these aspects is realised that we will appreciate the essential unity of the culture of Asia and recognise the stamp of India’s higher thought on that culture through the personality of the Buddha. "Buddha has suffered," Sir S. Radhakrishnan says, "as much as anyone from critics without a sense of history." "Great minds make individual contributions of permanent value, but they use the inadequate ideas and concepts of tradition to express the deeper truths towards which they are feeling their way. Thought makes no incongruous leaps. It advances to new concepts by the reinterpretation of old ones."

But it has always been a difficult problem for scholars to separate the original teachings of the Buddha from the systematised thought of the Pitakas and Suttas and of the later schools of Buddhism, and Professor Radhakrishnan has endeavoured in this lecture to give us a conspectus of what one can gather to be the fundamental teachings of the Buddha separated from the encrustations and ramifications of later thought. The great Hindu philosophers who came long after the period of the Buddha have taken as the basis for their criticism the teachings of the Buddha as embodied in the writings of his disciples and followers. As far as one can see, they have not taken the trouble to investigate what would have been the original teachings of the Buddha. To some extent, the modern researches in Buddhism enable us to find out in a rather rough outline what must have been the teachings of the Buddha himself, bereft of the interpretation put on them by his disciples and followers. One great point made by Hindu philosophers against the teachings of the Buddha was what they called his conclusion of Nihilism, the extinction of the ego at death. It has also been pointed out that the Buddha remained silent as regards the problem whether there is anything real and positive in the universe in the individual and in the state of liberation. Professor Radhakrishnan explains the motive for the Buddha’s silence. The Buddha felt that "the interest in the supernatural diverts attention and energy from ethical values." "The supremacy of the ethical is the clue to the teachings of the Buddha." "He discouraged doctrinal controversies as prejudicial to inward peace and ethical striving." It is wrong, therefore, Professor Radhakrishnan argues, to conclude that the Buddha was a sceptic or agnostic. Professor Radhakrishnan also points out that "it is difficult to get canonical support for the view that Nirvana is annihilation." "When the Buddhist scriptures speak to us in eloquent terms and give us ecstatic descriptions of the state of holiness, perfection reached by the ethical path, it is not of death that they speak." To assume an attitude of silence is only to indicate that the absolute being is above all determinations. Even in Hindu philosophic teachings there is frequent reference to such an attitude deliberately taken by the sages. "The Upanishads rarely try to cramp the Divine within the limits of logical descriptions or stringent definitions." In the eyes of the philosophers, Kumarilabhatta and Sankara, the greatest wrong committed by the Buddha was his denial of the authority of the Vedas. It is true that the Buddha discouraged the value of rituals and sacrifices based on the authority of the Veda and insisted on "an avoidance of all speculation and belief on mere authority." But it is to be remembered that the Hindu thinkers themselves, even though they postulated the authority of the Vedas, still largely gave free play to reasoning and speculation and insisted on actual experience and realisation rather than on mere adherence to verbal authority. Even in Upanishadic thought we find the tendency to discourage the undue emphasis that was earlier laid upon sacrifice and ritual. It has therefore to be recognised that the teachings of the Buddha were only the extreme form of enunciation of the reaction that had already set in against rigid formalism and ritualism. Perhaps, the concrete way in which the masses felt the difference between the teachings of the Buddha and their own life and thought was given expression to by the Tamil Saints of both the Saivite and Vaishnavite Schools in Southern India. They criticised the denial by Buddhism of the existence of a personal God and the absence in it of all emphasis on the deep personal loyalty, passion of love and intimate dialogue between soul and soul resembling closely in its expression ‘Earthly Love.’ Hence arose in Southern India the great reaction against Buddhism. By far the greatest contribution of the Buddha to the world of thought was his emphasis upon Dharma or righteousness as the driving principle of the universe, and the supremacy of individual effort and the dignity and perfection of the human personality by the extinction of all desire and passion. It is this which led to the great revival of art and culture wherever the Buddha’s teaching was broadcast. Moreover, the greatest praise is also due to the way in which Buddhism was spread throughout Asia. There was no conversion by compulsion. It was only done through a mission of love and peace. It has been pointed out by Sir S. Radhakrishnan that there was never an occasion when the Buddha flamed forth in anger, never an instance, when an unkind word escaped his lips; he had vast tolerance for his kind. Hence we notice the wonderful phenomenon that, though the Buddha was more definitely opposed to Vedic orthodoxy and ceremonialism than was Socrates to the religion of Athens or Jesus to Judaism, yet he lived a peaceful life till eighty and was venerated and loved in his own life-time. His countrymen never treated him in the manner the Greeks did Socrates or the Jews Jesus.

Professor Radhakrishnan’s lecture has done the greatest service to the cause of the dispassionate and true understanding of the Buddha in the proper historical perspective by Hindus as well as Buddhists.

K. BALASUBRAHMANIA AIYAR

Vedantam: The Clash of Traditions.–A Novel by V. V. Chintamani. (Heath Cranton, Ltd., Fleet Lane, London, E.C. 4. Price Sh. 7/6 net.)

Here is a novel which does not move you to the core of your being, in spite of its very sad and tragic conclusion. But the narrative has not thereby suffered much in its sustaining interest. The author has not been very ambitious in the selection of his theme. The usual transformations in the social habits and mental outlook consequent on our contact with the West have formed the staple of this book. We recognise in Vedantam, a brilliant Indian niversity product, the legitimate urge to forsake the ancient calling of his forefathers and seek his coveted place in the Indian Civil Service. We follow with sympathy and understanding the alternating hopes and depressions of his fond parents–themselves strangers to urban life and Western education–about their only son’s stay in England. We are taken through the normal reactions that English life produces upon Indian youth when thrown suddenly in the midst of a society totally different from the confined one to which they have been accustomed in their own country. We are ultimately convinced also of the author’s purpose in making the characters natural and the story simple.

This novel treats of the life of a youth born of ordinary parents in a village in South India, being educated in an English school and, as a result, fired with the enthusiasm for a ‘career.’ Marriage into a rich family, with influence and a fashionable modern outlook, leads him on to pursue his further studies in England with the financial help given by his father-in-law. This makes the story only too faithful to what is happening in our midst today. Vedantam’s success in the Civil Service examination and his triumphant return to India after an eventful stay in England are counterbalanced by the series of bereavements that overtake him in the deaths, in quick succession, of his loving parents and his devoted wife. In the end we are left with nothing to dwell upon in this strange piling up of misfortunes.

But for this, there is nothing overdone for the sake of effect. The contrast in characterisation which is so very essential to a good novel and the light and shade worked out with delicacy, make it very engaging. If Vedantam falls in the way of temptations, only to emerge "even more pure as tempted more," there is Champak, a widow blighted so early in her marital life, experiencing love in the freer atmosphere of England. If Sir and Lady Narasimham forcibly remind us of our own high-placed men and women searching for prospective I. C. S’s to wed their daughters, the picture of Kamala, the sensible daughter of an ultra-fashionable household, also proves beyond doubt what modern education combined with true Hindu culture could make of a fine slip of a girl.

The story suffers in a few places for want of effective dialogue and efficient handling of situations. The; dropping out of Champak’s relations in the middle is unconvincing and some-what unnatural in a book so well conceived.

Though a first attempt, the book may be acclaimed as a piece of enduring portraiture of South Indian middle class life. The author reveals his powers of mature thinking and facility for writing English, no less than his commendable object of making the West and the East understand the difficulties in the way of a happy fusion of their cultures.

K. C.

Specimens of Sanskrit Dramatic Poems.–ByV. Sriramulu, M.A., (Narasaraopet, Guntur Dist., Price Re. 1.)

The earlier part of the introductory essay on ‘Our Classical Plays’ appeared in the pages of Triveni; and the latter part is its natural sequel. The dramas illustrated in the body of this book are, (1) Bhasa’s ‘Pratima’ (2) Sudraka’s ‘Mrichchakatika’ (3) Kalidasa’s ‘Sakuntala’ (4) Sri Harsha’s ‘Priyadarsika’ (5) Bhavabhuti’s ‘Uttara Rama Charitam’ (6) Visakhadatta’s ‘Mudra Rakshasa’ and (7) Bhatta Narayana’s ‘Veni Samhara.’ An Act from each play has been chosen for being rendered into English. In the introductory notes about each author and his play, the progress of the story, Act by Act, is briefly told and illuminating comments made both on the style of the author and on his excellences as a dramatist. For example, we are told that Bhasa’s style is ‘perspicuous and clear’ and his manner of narration ‘rapid and direct,’ and that he is a master of characterisation. The choice of the Acts rendered into English reveals Mr. Sriramulu’s grasp of the essential beauties of the Sanskrit Drama in general, as well as of the particular excellences of each master-artist. They serve also to bring home to the reader the fact that the best illustrations of the Sanskrit Drama are also the best examples for elucidating the theory of Rasa so fundamental in Sanskrit dramaturgy.

Mr. Sriramulu rightly emphasises the evoking of a dominant Rasa or emotion as the primary purpose of a ‘Nataka,’ the other Rasas or emotions being entirely subdued and subsidiary. In a good ‘Nataka,’ as he points out, the idealistic atmosphere, the development of the plot, the characters, the fascinatingly subtle cadences of poetry–all harmonise in and contribute to the fostering of the predominant Rasa.

What Rasa means is explained clearly in the latter part of the introductory chapter. To enjoy and appreciate a ‘Nataka,’ the spectator must have led a rich emotional life. Rasa evocation is personal and subjective and is based on previous emotional experience, which, whether its original effect was grief or pain, or terror or laughter, produces, on its artistic rebirth or reappearance, only a sense of supreme bliss.

Two of the plays chosen are based on the Ramayana story, two on the Mahabharata, two other plays are original, while the seventh is a historical play. But all the seven of them– differing as they do from one another in style, in manner of presentation, and in several other features,–agree in this: that they keep in view the dominant Rasa and superbly fulfill the essential object of evoking that Rasa in all its ramifications in the cultured audience.

A word about the English renderings. They are faithful to their originals and are so transparent that the Indian reader can easily see the originals through them and appreciate their beauty as fully as in the original Sanskrit, the translations having succeeded in exhibiting all the elegances of the Sanskrit language in an altogether alien tongue.

The book forms an easy, pleasant and proper introduction to a just appreciation of the masterpieces of Sanskrit Drama which constitute our glorious heritage. A book of such outstanding merit ought to have been printed and got-up in better style.

V. NARAYANAN

TAMIL

Bharata Mani.–A Tamil Weekly. Edited by K. S. Venkataramani. (7 North Mada Street, Mylapore, Madras. Annual subscription Rs. 3.)

The object of this new Weekly is to harness the forces of nascent nationalism to rural reconstruction. Venkataramani has been a believer in rural regeneration from his college days; and he has dedicated all his literary skill for the primary purpose of emphasising the duty of the educated Indian to go to the village. He has recently started a rural centre at Tirukkadaiyur in Tanjore district; and he has started this Sunday paper to enlist men of thought on his side and to spread their ideas among the common folk.

The first number was published on the day of the Sarasvati Puja; and the nine issues relating to October and November, 1938, are before us. The journal started under good auspices and with words of welcome from Tamil leaders, both political and literary. Four poems have appeared from the prolific pen of Sri Suddhananda Bharati of Sri Aurobindo Asram. There are other poems from a new school of poets who dare to write in dialect and to experiment with new modes of thought and expression. We have, besides, short stories, original and translated, skits, cinema and book reviews, and topical notes dealing with prohibition and public health, with Veena Dhanam, Shanta Apte and Kamal Pasha. Sketches of Tamil poets, composers and artists like Dandin, Dikshitar and Pushpavanam are occasionally added to the weekly fare. The comments of the Editor ‘By the Way’ done in his characteristic racy style furnish the reader with regular food for thought. And although the journal shows a definite bias against ‘city life’ and ‘civilisation’ its interests are happily not parochial; as it provides a welcome medium not merely for propaganda about rural life but also for new artistic and literary expression in the Tamil land.

Dhinamani Annual, 1938. (Published by the Dhinamani Office, George Town, Madras. Price As. 8.)

This annual number provides its Tamil readers with sumptuous fare. The present epoch in Tamil literature may be aptly styled ‘the Bharati epoch.’ More than a dozen poets of the new school have followed Bharati in their efforts to enrich the literary contents of this issue. Some of their poems appear to be ‘poor pale shadows’ of the Master’s creations; but there is still much that is of value. There is an unfinished and unpublished short story from Bharati’s pen. Kuvalai-k-Kannan, an old friend of his, speaks to us wistfully, looking on those palmy days that are no more. We are given an interesting life sketch of Sri Alasinga Perumal, an early admirer of the Poet and the discoverer of the greatness of Swami Vivekananda. There are short plays, short- stories, sketches, skits and some good renderings from the sister-languages of India. To the glamourous details of Chola history, which form a legitimate source of Tamil pride, are devoted a few articles from experts like Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, S. R. Balasubrahmanya Iyer and T. N. Subrahmanyan. No better or further proof is needed than this well got-up and profusely illustrated annual number to illustrate the liveliness, vigour and vitality of the present renaissance in Tamil, which, although it does not derive its strength from contacts with her glorious achievements in the past, serves yet to envisage a glorious future for her.

V. NARAYANAN