Reviews

Some concepts of Indian Culture–by Prof. N. A. Nikam. Published by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Rashtrapati Nivas, Simla-5. Pages 92. Price Rs. 10.

Bacon in his essay on the Unity of Religion points out the need for separating the essentials from the inessentials in religion so that fanaticism about the inessentials may not slash the garment into ribbons or fritters. In marriage is the exchange of rings as precious as the exchange of hearts? Diversities of ceremonies, Bacon writes, ‘do set forth the unity of doctrine and religion hath parts which belong to eternity, and parts which pertain to time.

Every religion like an avalanche carries in it and with it various accretions which may be valuable but have nothing to do with the truths of religion. I say ‘valuable’ because as Radhakrishnan states ‘the village pilgrim who spends all his earnings to have a bath in the Ganges...has an innate conviction that man does not live by bread alone.’ There is clamant need to highlight the basic concepts. For instance, Muslims confusing Hinduism with idols did irreparable damage to the beauty of temples; they little realized that the temple like the mosque was a concession to human weakness.

Hence the need for books like this of Prof. Nikam or of Prof. Sarma or Sri C. Rajagopalachariar on Hinduism. Of course, Prof. Nikam’s book is not as simple as those by Prof. D. S. Sarma or Sri C. R. Any page at random shows Prof. Nikam’s metaphysical acuteness, his exploration of the semantics, his acquaintance with epistemology and existentialism, his syncretist expertness in forging links between Kathopanishadand Martin Buber. As an example, his comment on ‘There is suffering’ will do: The word ‘is’ has no non-temporal meaning; ‘is’ means ‘arises’ and ‘arises’ means ‘arises because of’ and the ‘because’ is a cause; but every ‘because’ is not ‘a cause’... (p. 31)

The basic concepts of Indian culture are known in a popular way. What Prof. Nikam provides is the intellectual and metaphysical scaffolding for these concepts. A great classical scholar, Owen Barfield, remarks that a History of Thinking is needed more than a History of Thought. Prof. Nikam himself states that the incentive for this book sprang from the interest shown by the students of the Macalester College and the California State College in the basic concepts of Indian Philosophy, not so much in the history of Indian Philosophy. Of course, to know the one is to know the other properly. But a history does not explain what titikshais. If Mr. Forster understood Karma Yoga as explained by Prof. Nikam he would not have made the inept and jocular comment on the Gita in his The Hymn before Action (The Abinger Harvest): If to slat and be slain are the same, to be fled from and to flee are also the same.

It is important to note

that detachment is activity
that even sleep is a state of desireless awareness
that it is difficult to say. Atman is
that the philosophy of Indian culture passes from the Religion of Nature through the Religion of Man to the Religion of the Imperishable in Man
that prapattiis the highest form of devotion as man loses to gain (so vividly and rhetorically described in the Hound of Heaven)
that the concept of purusharthasunderlines the importance of human beings to forget which is to dash, in the words of Bacon, the First table against the Second; and so to consider men as Christians as we forget that they are men
that Dharma is ethical hedonism
that He is Being but he Becomes (in Time and History)
that Maya and Lila express the ultimate irrationality involved in the antinomial movements in the Absolute
that Ahimsa is paramo dharmah enshrined in the famous Rock Edict of Asoka XII: The faiths of others all deserve to be honoured for one reason or another. By honouring them, one exalts ones own faith and at the same time perform a service to the faith of others. For, if a man exalts his own and because he wants to glorify it, he seriously injures his own faith. (In this Gandhi Centenary Year this chapter in the book deserves careful study.)
that Karma is not Fatalism as largely misunderstood but a concept scientific in its rigour and precision as it is the application of ‘if p then q’ to human conduct (it is relevant to cite Maugham’s opinion that the Karma theory is the most intellectually satisfying explanation for the incongruities of the world).
that Yajna postulates the ethics of ‘die to live’ though this does not subtract: purnasya purnam adaya purnameva avasishyate.
that Indian thought is a dialogue,
that true individuality is liberation from namaand rupa,
that even the Gods are Rta-jata,
that according to Indian culture reason is not merely clarity in thought but nityaaniitya viveka,
that History is memory and hope,
that Fiction is a means to truth, and aesthetic experience brings us closer to Reality than any other and Reality is an indivisible Unity of sat Being, chit Awareness, Anand Delight,
that Indian culture affirms audaciously so’ham asmi I am He.

Of course, there is scope for disagreement here and there. For instance, the title of the very first chapter The Pathetic Fallacy and the interpretation that follows that Hindus delighted in personification can be objected to. If Prof. Nikam appreciated Ruskin’s well-known comment on the famous Homeric line about Castor and Pollux or Max Muller’s semantic formula that the Tree of Life was earlier than the Tree of Knowledge, he would have realized that to speak of personification or Pathetic Fallacy is to look at the Ancients, Hindus or Greeks, through the wrong end of the telescope; it Is to damn them as scholars like Barfield and C. S. Lewis point out, with a trite figure of speech. To understand the mental make-up of the Ancients one has to steep oneself in a line like Wordsworth’s that the sky rejoiced in the morning’s birth; to call this personification is silly. What has happened is the ousting of the animistic conception of the universe by the mechanical. In the words of C. S. Lewis: Man with his new powers became rich like Midas but all that he touched had gone dead and cold. (English Literature in the 16th Century, p. 4)

At a lower level one finds a number of printer’s devils and errors in transliteration: lightening p. 8, turth p. 22 and 25, dayata p. 27, stitaprajna p. 78, dukha p. 81...The book was written on the heights of Simla; it is a Sermon on the Mount. All lovers of Indian culture will do well to study it. The I. I. A. S. and its Director should be thanked in enabling an eminent scholar like Prof. Nikam to give us ‘interesting and suggestive ideas.’
–K. VISWANATHAM

Sanskrit Plays from Epic Sources–by Henry M. Wells. Publishers: The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Baroda. Pages 258. Price: Rs. 15.

Ever since the manuscripts of thirteen Sanskrit plays were discovered in 1910, there has been a lively controversy among scholars as to their authorship–whether all of them are from one hand or they are really products of different periods in the literary history of India. Currently they are all ascribed to Bhasa though very hesitatingly. Dr. Wells who is well-known for his indefatigable work in the field of Sanskrit drama, has selected for rendering in English verse five of these play’s which deal with certain episodes during the tragic war between the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata. Whether they are to be treated as five acts of one play or five independent plays is still an open question.

Introducing his translation Dr. Wells notes:

“The five Bhasa plays presented here are clearly in sequence, some minor non-sequiturs notwithstanding. The Five Nights introduces us to the great feud, raising ironic hopes that peace may finally be won. Everywhere, from the first moment to the last, the issue is between peace and war, reconciliation and violence. In the end, violence prevails and tragedy results. The happy ending of The Five Nights is, theatrically speaking, a necessary mirage, similar to that provided by the first act of Shakespeare’s Othello A descent into unhappiness is moving only when it is precipitated from a considerable height of happiness.

“This play, or episode, is followed by the parallel scenes wherein, despair turns much for the worse, peace is viewed at least as a possibility. In the first scene, Potsherd as Envoy, a manifestation of Krishna, arriving at the Kuru camp, pleads for peace in vain. In the second scene, The Embassy, essentially the same action takes place but with the further intensification that envoy is abruptly transformed into his celestial manifestation and the allegorical weapons of war enter and clearly portend the battle to follow. These two plays may be described as a theme with variation. Two make the ironical, frustrating and tragic point far more forcefully than one. The fourth episode, up to this stage of the drama the most intense in emotion and vivid in realisation of poetry, depicts the manner in which a true hero faces violence and war. Karna’s Task, as its title indicates, relates to the hero, Karna, but the dominant thought is in fact that of the Bhagauad Gita;  it is essentially a philosophical drama, based on the most celebrated philosophical episode of the great epic. In other words, this is Bhasa’s Bhagavad Gita. Karna here ironically taking the place of his adversary, Arjuna, as depicted in the earlier poem. The final play presents the denouement of the epic, the death of Duryodhana, leader of the Kurus, and, in close relation to this event, the destruction by mutual enmity of all leaders in both factions. In short, fratricidal war (the phrase is Bhasa’s) terminates in destruction and annihilation. The problem posed by The Five Nights is thus resolved on the note of tragedy.”

Also included in the volume are translation of Kalidasa’s Vlkramorvasiyaand the Uttararamacharitaof Bhavabhuti. The renderings are neither too literal nor too true. Translation of verses are given in bold type. Though not striking, they are faithful.

A useful publication that projects the genius of the Sanskrit dramatist in the English world of letters.
–M. P. PANDIT

Mahakavi Pampa–by V. Sitaramiah. Published under the auspices of the National Book Trust, Delhi, by popular Prakashan, 35-cs Tardeo Road, Bombay-34. Price Rs. 20.

This is perhaps the first full-length study of any Kannada poet presented in English; and it is a matter for gratification that it is done by a scholar well-versed both in Kannada and in English who brings to bear on his tusk the modern critical apparatus in respect of literary study and appreciation. The present book deals, fortunately, with the first great Kannada poet, Pampa, who lived exactly a thousand years ago, and whose reputation as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, has endured during all these centuries in the Kannada country. This study seeks to justify that reputation and analyses the elements of that greatness in a scholarly way.

Pampa’s forebears came from the Vengi region (the modern Godavari district in Andhra) where the Western Chalukyas–an offshoot of the Western Chalukyas of Badami in Karnatak–had set up a dominion in the seventh century. Pampa’s father embraced Jainism, which was then a religion exerting great influence in the land. Pampa attached himself to Arikesari, a feudatory of the Rashtrakutas, who ruled from Malkhed (near modern Gulburga) and succeeded in dominating over the largest portion of India such as no South Indian dynasty has done before or since. The Rashtrakutas had wrested power from the Western Chalukyas of Badami in the middle of the eighth century. But the scions of the Chalukya family survived as chieftains or feudatories ruling over small regions from Andhra to Gujarat, and Arikesari was one of these ruling from Vemulavada, near modern Karimnagar. He was a great warrior, a great patron of learning and a man of many Parts. He gifted an Agrahara, Dharma uru, identified with Dambal near Gadag in the Dharwar district, to Pampa’s family. Apparently Pampa lived in this ‘heart of Kannada land’ and knew intimately also the Banavasi country (North Kanara), judging from the loving praise of these regions in his works. In addition to being a poet, Pampa was a warrior, a comrade-in-arms of his friend and benefactor, Arikesari.

The author, in his introductory chapter, describes this historical setting and the information available about the life of the poet. He also deals with the doctrines of Jainism, as they form the substance of Pampa’s Adi-Purana, the life of Vrishabha, the first of the 24 Tirthamkaras of the Jaina religion.

The other work of Pampa, on which his fame chiefly rests, is Vikramarjuna Vijaya better known as Pampa Bharata, written at the instance of Arikesari who gave him a year to finish the task.

The author provides a fascinating summary and critical analysis, high-lighted by English translations of dramatic passages from Pampa Bharata.

The author has chosen to append at the end of the book in Roman transliteration illustrative passages in prose and verse–60 from Adi Purana and over 70 from Bharata. Whether readers ignorant of Kannada can get at the power, the rhythm and the flow of the Kannada composition through these is more than one can say. For Kannada readers it is a superfluity, a list containing chapter and verse of the passages being enough for them.

Sri V. Sitaramiah writes with enthusiasm, vigour and confidence, and has set an example which might well be followed by other scholars of Indian literatures.
–K. SAMPATHGIRI RAO

Mystic Approach to the Vedas and the Upanishads–byM. P. Pandit. Ganesh & Co. P. Ltd., Madras-17. Pages 126. Price Rs. 3.

Vedas are an ocean of knowledge, and it is left to the seekers after knowledge to dive deep into it and have their desired catch, according to their abilities. Thus ritualists, geologists, biologists, historians and man, others studied the Vedas and gave their own interpretations of the Vedic texts. According to Yaska, an ancient etymologist, Vedas mainly admit of three kinds of interpretations, “as related to the Rituals, gods the cosmic powers, and life of the Spirit.” Of these the third kind of interpretation is not available to us and Sri Aurobindo and his disciples took upon themselves the task of revealing the spiritual meaning of the Vedas.

The author, in the introductory part of this book, establishes the fact that the Vedas are not “notes written by insane persons and preserved by psychiatrists,” as conceived by Western Sanskrit scholars, but are “pre-eminently scriptures of the knowledge and practice of the Art of God and Science of the soul” Then he expounds in a lucid, logical and authentic way the symbolic meaning of the “Vedic Soma” and the “Sunassepha legend,” “Vedic Soma” is not merely a plant or juice of that plant but in reality the sap of delight in life obtained from the Hill of Existence rising from its base on Earth to the divine summits above,” The stone used in the Soma sacrifice represents Indra’s word-power, Vak, the ten fingers for the subtle powers of thought, and the two platters for the twin principles of knowledge and action in the human system. Thus Vedic Soma ritual symbolises Inner Sacrifice or Antaryaga.

Sunassepha’s legend and the ritual Purushamedhain the Vedas, have nothing to do with human sacrifices in ancient India, as construed by Indologists. Aditi in the legend is the “Infinite consciousness, the creatrix of the universe”, and Sunassepha is the Jiva embodied in man. “He yearns to go to Her from whence he came, and desires to be liberated from the three bonds by which he is tied to a tree,” The tree here represents the entire physical living substance known by the term matter. The three bonds are nothing but the well-known three knots or “grandhis called after Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra.” The gods to whom he prayed, liberate him. Thus this legend is symbolic of the agonies of a Jiva in bondage, his prayers, and his liberation. Purushamedhais but “an offering to the Supreme of all that belongs to Him, his full entire being.”

According to Western scholars, it is a far cry from Vedic thought to Upanishadic thought. But Sri Pandit, in his masterly way, shows how “Upanishads continue the Vedic tradition and how they are invaluable manuals of Sadhana.” This book deserves to be a text book for students of Indology, Sanskrit literature and Indian culture.
–B. KUTUMBA

Ancient Jewish Literature–byKrishna Chaitanya. Published by Orient Longmans. Pages 132. Price Rs. 5.

This is the fourth in the series of volumes on the history of world literature. It deals with the Ancient Jewish (or Hebrew) literature. The Jews are an old race whose paths crossed with those of Assyrians and Bahylonians, Egyptians and Greeks, and it is fortunate that a record of their travails through centuries is available. They survived the ravages of man and time by sheer endurance.

The earlier belief that in patriarchal times Israel did not have any literature is now given up. The code of Hammurabi is proof positive that in the age of Abraham himself the art of writing was widely spread and that chronicles of events were preserved. The Jehovistic code of the 9th century, the Elohistic code of the 8th century, the book of Douteronomy of the 6th century and finally the priestly code chiefly found in Leviticus of the 4th century are all sources of ideas which are presented by the prophets in poetic form. The vicissitudes and changing attitudes of the race are recorded. God is first viewed as righteous will and later as an unfathomable well of love. Still later the evolution of the society is considered as the gradual working out of a predestined divine process. Some of the Psalms of the Old Testament are memorable for their lyrical richness, and, as the author suggests, recall the Vedic hymns. Similarly, the Song of Songs is comparable to Gitagovindaboth in form and tone. The author concludes his short study with a chapter on Jesus, who, according to him, is the dramatic fulfilment of all that is precious in the Jewish tradition.

The book is helpful as a brief and beautiful survey of ancient Jewish literature and of particular interest are the author’s suggestive Indian insights.
–L. S. R. KRISHNA SASTRY

The Poetry of W. H. Auden, The Disenchanted Island–by Monroe K. Spears. Oxford University Press, London. Price: Rs. 18-75.

Auden is one of those rare creative phenomena of our time wherein are recorded all the stirs and vibrations of the age as well as the mystique that transcends any given span of time. The feeling of aloneness that has been one of the cardinal expressions of the modern time–of which writers and poets like Synge and Housman were distinctly premonitive and the latest version of which is to be found in the philosophy of the nouveile vague school of French writers striving to restore man to strength through making him completely independent of the world since “man looks out at the world and the world does not return his glance” and hence only by refusing communion man could refuse tragedy, finds expression in Auden thus:

Aloneness is man’s real condition,
That each must travel forth alone
In search of the essential stone...,

And it is the same Auden who believed in the mystic–subtle factors behind the material manifestations–that even a physical disease was only morally symbolic, that a sore throat could mean that the sufferer had been lying, cancer could mean refusal to make use of one’s creative powers and rheumatism could mean obstinacy.

Auden, like Frost, has succeeded in evoking various attitudes to him from his readers. He has been looked upon as the authentic voice of conscience of generation, and also as one who betrayed (after he left England for U. S. converted to Christianity from his somewhat Marxian-Freudian interests).

Thus, Auden is a wide theme today, and he will remain so for a long time. His productiveness in 60s has aroused a new interest in him. The work under review is both an example of that interest and a satisfaction of the same. The discourses are chronologically ordered and the analyses are substantive. The author refrains from propounding any single thesis on the ground that it would be restrictive if not misleading. He is not anxious to come to a conclusion whether Auden deserves the title of major poet or not, for his motive is too broad for that: “Light, candidly personal, ever more rigorously devoted to the naked truth, theses are disenchantments we deeply need.”
–MANOJ DAS

“The Third Indian rear Book of Education”–Published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training. Price: Rs. 14-50.

Sporadic steps in educational research, initiated even in the pre-independence era, such as the Sadler Commission’s recommendation, were not pursued seriously and did not bear fruit. Any concrete work in this regard has only been done after independence, though it is by no means adequate in quality or output.

The present book, as the title suggests, is the third in a series of year books of education sponsored by N. C. E. R. T. An anthology of articles contributed by specialists in their respective fields, gives a factual appraisal of activities in educational research and honestly spotlights the deficiencies in each aspect of the study. Naturally, it gives a wealth of statistics to highlight the survey.

The reader is constantly reminded that this country has to cover a very large field in making research into and devising methods of improving the various aspects of this all-too-important arena of education.

An index of how far we are lagging behind is afforded by the fact that till as late as 1962, only 85 theses for Ph. D. in educational research were approved, 60 per cent of these between 1956 and 1961. And even this small number of investigations omitted some vital areas such as education and social change, guidance, legal education, and medical and technical education. The situation is hardly better in other areas. For example, while “hardly seventy investigations were carried out in the area of educational philosophy at the M. Ed. level in India during the period 1939-61”, the studies on the psychology of learning are of “a very elementary and amateurish character.”

And though some twenty-one universities offer post-graduate courses in child-psychology and developmental-psychology, these courses “continue to be looked upon as they-also-ran.” A lion’s share of all educational research of the past two decades, however, goes to examinations and evaluation. But here, again, the quality of work is all but satisfactory. Thus, for example, while colossal failure in examinations is a baffling challenge to educationists, “the many aspects of this mammoth problem have not been subjected to systematic study.”

Education became a state subject under the Government of India Act of 1919. As a corollary to this, educational policy is being shaped by politicians. A research scholar urges cordial relationship between officials and non-officials. One suggestion is that non-officials should be associated in drafting educational policies.

Finances are the sine qua non of everything, and education is no exception. Among the many suggestions by researchers in this regard are: (i) allocation of at least 20 per cent of the budget to education; (ii) levy of an educational cess by local bodies and (iii) private enterprize in education.
–K. V. SATYANARAYANA

SANSKRIT

Naishkarmya-siddhi of Sri Suresvaracharya: By Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati. Publishers: Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, Holenarsipur. Pages 461. Price Rs. 13.

Naiskarmya-siddhi, according to Suresvaracharya, means the realisation of the direct knowledge of the identity between Atman and Brahman following the study and meditation on mahavakyaslike tat-tvam-asi, That Thou art. This realisation lifts one beyond the range of all karma, action. To this end, the author has written a detailed exposition of the text tat-tvam-asi so as to conduce to the elimination of avidya, Ignorance, which veils one’s own reality from oneself. This work has been commented upon by Jnanottama in his chandrika. But Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati, the well-known expositor of the Sankara Advaita today, finds that the said commentary is influenced by the post-Sankara developments and hence does not accurately reflect the approach of Suresvara. To meet this shortcoming and to explain in more detail the thought of the Acharya, Swamiji has written a commentary of his own klesapahariniin Sanskrit which is now published along with the text of Naishkarmya- siddhi. In the words of Swamiji:

“The Naishkarmya-siddhioccupies an important place among the Vedantic works professing to explain Sankara’s teaching. While the Panchapadikaand the Bhamatitry to interpret Sankara’s system each in its own way, Suresvara’s work has the advantage of being the production of an immediate disciple of Sankara, who presents the central doctrine of the latter’s Vedanta in all its essential aspects and contrasts it with contemporary systems. In the course of the discussion, it is worthy of note that he refers to (1) the self-established nature of Atman as unchanging Pure Consciousness; (2) ignorance as the only obstacle to the knowledge of Atman; (3) the mutual super-imposition of the self and the non-self in consequence of ignorance only; (4) the distinction of the means of right knowledge and their objects, no less than the distinction of action, means of action, and the result of action, as merely the figment of Avidya or ignorance; (5) the enquiry into the nature of Brahman as a Sastra distinct and different from the enquiry into the nature of religious works; (6) the Vedantic texts like Tat-tvam-asi being the means of right knowledge solely because of their efficacy in removing ignorance; and (7) absence of anything to be done for one who has gained the supra-rational intuition of the self understanding through the right meaning of the texts.”

Very important and useful indices have been given at the end of the work, index of verses, subject-index of important words, index of verses cited from other authoritative books.

A notable addition to literature on Sankara Advaita.
–M. P. PANDIT

KANNADA

Vaidika Sahitya Charitre–byN. S. Anantarangachar. Published by Manasa Gangotri, Mysore. Pp. 520. Price Rs. 8-50.

We doubt if any history of Vedic literature so comprehensive and authentic as this work has appeared in any Indian language so far. The author’s first-hand knowledge of the tradition and his close study of the Source-texts are evident on every page of this valuable treatise which contains an incredible number of references and citations apart from a cogent and objective presentation of thesubject.

What are the origins of the Sanskrit language? Was it at any time the language of the people? What transmutations has it undergone since the Vedic period? Why are the Vedas considered a Revelation? Whyis the study of the Veda enjoined upon the student? These questions are answered in the course of a long and informative introduction.

Thereafter SriAnantarangachar deals methodically with the Rik Samhita, the arrangement of hymns therein, the characteristic features of the Deities and their functions in the cosmic scheme, secular contents of the hymns; the Sama Veda, its branches, the mode of recital etc.; the Yajurveda and its two major rescensions; the Atharva and its special features; the Brahmanas of each Samhita with an examination of their main contents; the Aranyakas; the Upanishads; and finally a descriptive enumeration of the various Vedangas. A very satisfying work.

The author presents all the major viewpoints in Vedic studies, though he does notindicate his own approach. The book would have been complete with a statement of his considered position. All the same, here is a work which deserves to be translated into other Indian languages and prescribed for general reading in the universities.
–M. P. PANDIT

TELUGU

Vikramorvasiyam–with Telugu translation and Telugu commentary by Dr. P. Madhava Sarma. Sri Parameswari Publications, Chikkadapally, Hyderabad-20. Pages 325. Price Rs. 5-00

Dr. P. Madhava Sarma has laid the students of Telugu literature under a deep debt of gratitude by his excellent Telugu translation of Kalidasa’s drama Vikramorvasiyam. The first portion of the text comprises of the original Samskrit text with Telugu translation. Samskrit verses are translated into Telugu prose. The second part is devoted to an exhaustive commentary. Prose order of the Samskrit verses is given. Word for word meaning comes next. Explanation of technical terms, wherever necessary, is given. Points related to characterisation, figures of speech and Rasa are also dealt with. In the introduction, Sri Sarma deals with the date and works of Kalidasa. The addition of a few more items like “Kalidasa as a Dramatist”, “his mind, art, and message” will certainly enhance the value of the book. We heartily commend this book to all the students of Telugu literature.
–B. KUTUMBA RAO

Rajaji Bhagavadgita translated into Telugu by K. Srinivasachari. The Little Flower Co., Madras-17. Pages 190 Rs. 3

Among the elder statesmen of India, Rajaji occupies the foremost place today. He wields his incisive intellect both in politics and in literature with equal skill and dexterity. There are many books to his credit both in Tamil and English. Here is a Telugu rendering of his popular book “Kaivilakku”–a commentary of the Gita in Tamil. The style adopted is simple and the presentation lucid. It is a welcome addition to the many commentaries on the Gita. The general reader would find it a good handbook on the Message of the Lord.

SrimadramayanaParayanam–Published by The Little Flower Co., Madras-17. Pages 250. Rs. 3-50.

Man has to face several problems and difficulties in life–physical, mental, economical and others. According to Hindu faith he can overcome the difficulties by reciting every day certain slokas of Ramayana. For example, for monetary gains he will have to recite the 32nd canto of Ayodhyakanda; for good health the 59th canto of Yuddhakanda; and for attaining Moksha cantos 65 to 68 of Aranyakanda. The book suggests the Parayana of various cantos which would be of great benefit to the devout Hindus.
–BHAVARAJU