Reviews

Mahatma Gandhi and Comparative Religion: By Dr K. L. Seshagiri Rao. Motilal Banarsidass, Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-7, Price: Rs. 35.

This is a valuable addition to the many interpretations of the Mahatma’s religious outlook and his abiding faith in Truth as God. Apart from dealing with the utterances of the Mahatma on various occasions during his confrontation with devotees of other religious faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, etc., in a friendly spirit and his conviction of every religion bearing in its core some vital points of universal acceptance which could easily make for real seekers of harmony and understanding among the warring creeds and doctrines, the author has travelled widely to analyse the standpoints of each of the religions and show to us how Gandhiji reflected deeply on them, their unique individualities and their apparent differences and strove in his own unique way to harmonise them all. The excerpts from Gandhiji’s many writings and speeches have enriched the treatment of the subject.

But for an adequate study of comparative religions and a comprehensive grip on the inner meaning of the living faiths, no attempt could prove so effectively to convey to us the main sources of world’s religions and the solution which Gandhiji conceived as of immense help for people not to emphasise on the peculiarities in each of them but take up those basic contents which could form a good ground for all to tolerate insurmountable differences while gaining much from common tenets amidst so apparently a variety of beliefs.

The headings of the chapters as well as the copious references at the end of each chapter here, assure the earnest student that the clear enunciation of problems arising out of a study such as Conversion, Scriptural Interpretation, etc., would profit him by the treatment here in a scholarly manner.

The Foreword of Dr R. R. Divakar is eminently a necessary introduction to this durable thesis on Gandhiji’s mind as a spiritual influence on people of this age.

–K. CHANDRASEKHARAN

In Tune with the Millions – Sardar Patel: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smarak Bhavan, Ahmedabad. Price: Rs. 25.

This is the third volume in the series undertaken by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smarak Bhavan to commemorate the services of the “Iron Man”, as he was known, for his stern sense of duty. This volume is divided into seven parts and some of the utterances on significant occasions such as the unification of the various States, e.g., Baroda, Hyderabad, Cochin-Travancore, and how they were brought info existence. The man of action and not of words had also the capacity to express himself, though briefly yet with precision and purpose. Some ofthe sections like “That ever-vigilant Watchman”, “Meaning of Gandhiji’s Message for Today”, “The Legacy of the Mahatma” are so very meaningful of his sincerity and earnestness in following his great leader that we despair of such real workers to continue his consecrated life to the cause of Indian unity and prosperity.

With Appendices containing material of value and the illustrations of some of the events of those days when he participated in the administration of the country, the volume is a mine of information. The future historians may never be disappointed for authentic information on vital points of the New Bharat that came into being, by a perusal ofthis third of the Commemoration Volumes.

–K. CHANDRASBKHARAN

Nagarjunakonda (A Cultural Study): By K. Krishna Murthy. Concept Publishing Company, I, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, Delhi-110 006. Price: Rs. 150.00.

The cultural history of a country reveals itself not merely in its literature, music, dance, religion and philosophy but also in its architecture, sculpture and painting. Nagarjunakonda stands as an immortal monument of the history of Andhra culture revealed in stone.

“Nagarjunakonda” is a monumental work depicting the material culture of Andhras belonging to the 3rd-4th century A. D. of the reign of Ikshvakus. Greater emphasis islaid on art treasures, especially sculptures, by the author than on the other aspects, for all other aspects of the history of that period could only manifest themselves through the sculptures alone.

The author is a profound scholar, and not only a scholar but also a discerning connoisseur with aesthetic sensibilities. He has studied the history of art intensively as well as extensively. As to the distinction of the art of Nagarjunakonda, he writes:

“The art of Nagarjunakonda requires to be studied in the context ofthe Andhra School of Art. In the lower Godavari-Krishna Valley, during 200 B. C. and 350 A. D., many Buddhist settlements came up at places like Bhattiprolu, Jaggayyapeta, Ghantasala, Amaravati, Gummadidurru, Goli, Nagarjunakonda and other cognate sites. Their style, form, technique, theme and symbolism connect all these centres into an unified integrated school known as the Andhra School. The art of all these centres was on the same material throughout – a kind of fine grained greenish lime-stone – and was curved and modelled by the artists who were very familiar with Buddhist texts and legends but spiritually more in tune with the day to day life in the lower Godavari-Krishna Valley.”

Formerly Nagarjunakonda was called Sriparvata Vijayapuri ruled by the Ikshvaku kings who succeeded the Satavahnas of Amaravati (Dhanyakataka). These Andhra Ikshvakus were quite different from those Ikshvakus of Ayodhya. According to the author the Andhra Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by Vasishtiputra Chantimula by usurping a portion of the Satavahana kingdom towards the decline of the latter in the first quarter of the 3rd century A. D. The author says that the name Nagarjunakonda is of medieval origin; he denies the existence of any archaeological finds able to establish the association of the celebrated Nagarjuna of the Madhyamika School of Mahayana Buddhism, with Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda).

The names of four rulers stand out in the Ikshvaku dynasty who reigned Nagarjunakonda: Vasishtiputra Chantimula, Mathariputra Virapurushadatta, Vasishtiputra, Ehuvala Chantamula and Vasishtiputra Rudrapurushadatta. During the period of their reign there used to be trade by sea with many a foreign land, both East and West, including Rome.

The book contains fourteen chapters, each chapter dealing with a separate subject. Architecture, costumes, personal ornaments, coiffure and head-dress, domestic vessels and other household objects, furniture, musical instruments, weapons, conveyances, toys, games and other amusements, miscellaneous objects and other items, royal insignia, and flora and fauna of that period are meticulously dealt with accompanied by pictorial demonstrations based on the sculptures of Nagarjunakonda, which represent all the aforesaid objects in detail.

The chapter on architecture deals with regal buildings, houses of the wealthy class, dwellings of the commonality, architectural peculiarities, religious structures, materials and masonry, etc. With the same detail the chapter on costumes deals with various types of apparel worn by people of different strata of the society.

The author states:

“In another panel representing ‘the Nativity and Seven Steps’ some additions to a queen’s dress can be seen. The queen Maya is shown wearing an ‘antariya’ with its knot (nivi) at the front. References to such knots of the lower garments in literature are plenty. The lower garment of queen Maya is shown secured by a waist-band around her waist with its loop and ends falling on the left hip. A narrow strip of cloth hangs in the front with its two ends attached to the ‘Kamarabandha’, thus making a broad loop.”

By the various descriptions of the objects used by the people in their everyday lives in those times provide us with evidences of the high and cultured standard of life lived by both the royal and the common men and women. Thus the author has spared no trouble in rendering the volume a magnificent one.

Comparing the art of Nagarjunakonda with that of Amaravati, the author states:

“The facial type at Nagarjunakonda is round whereas at Amaravati, especially that of women, is slightly oval. The sense of facial modelling at Amaravati is expressive, and comparatively, the round faces of Nagarjunakonda are dull and speechless in expression; but the lines that define the human frame in Nagarjunakonda are flowing and flexible.”

“Nagarjunakonda” is magnificent both in its scholarly yet expressive text and the numerous fascinating illustrations of the Nagarjunakonda sculptures. This volume enlightens and delight the reader critically and aesthetically respectively.
–SANJIVA DEY

The Samnyasa Upanishads: Translated into English by Prof. A. A. Ramanathan. The Adyar Library and Research Centre, Madras-20. Price Rs. 30.

Though the text of the Samnyasa Upanishads with the commentary of Brahmayogin appeared as far as in 1929 under the auspices of the Adyar Library, the renderings in English are published now for the first time. All the 17 Upanishads–including the Narada-parivrajakopanishad (which is the longest) – dwell upon the subject of renunciation, fitness for entering that stage of life, the rules that apply to the different categories of Samnyasins, their modes of conduct, their graduation from stage to stage.

There are, says the Narada-parivrajaka, six orders of ascetics: “Kutichaka, a hut dweller, who has a tuft of hair and sacred thread, an emblematic staff, a water pot, and who takes food in one place.

Bahudaka, remaining in a holy place of sacred waters, having accoutrements similar to the former and subsists on eight mouthfuls of food, secured as alms from householders, bee-like.

Hamsa, wearing matted hair and loin-cloth, living on five mouthfuls of food secured at random from five different houses.

Paramhamsa, who has shaven head, wears no sacred thread, lives on food similar to that of a Hamsa, secured from five houses, without an alms-bowl, has an emblematic staff of a single bamboo, is smeared with holy ashes and has no possession.

Turyatita, who receives food consisting of fruits into the mouth or other food as alms from three houses, is unclad and his body just alive.

Avadhuta, who has shaken off all worldly attachments, is bound by no duties, takes food as it comes (like a python) from anyone without caste distinction and is ever absorbed in meditation.”

There are certain pre-requisites for Brahman-realisation. They include, explains the translator, “Discriminative knowledge of the eternal and non-eternal, the necessary control of the internal organs and the external senses, indifference towards enjoyments here or hereafter and a burning desire for liberation.”

Some of the commentators on the Taittiriya Upanishad differ on the question whether the anandamaya purusha, self of bliss, is the ultimate self or is itself a kind of encasement for the core-self. The Katharudropanishad is unambiguous on the point: “The self of bliss is pervaded by Brahman, the witness, the innermost of all. Brahman is not pervaded by anything else.” (26)

Among other interesting observations is one in the Narada-parivrajaka which calls the person who turns ascetic even when he has attachments, degraded. (13) One is entitled to renounce only when desirelessness arises in the mind. (12)

The commentary on the same Upanishad explains the symbology of the tridanda, three-fold staff of the mendicant ascetic: “Philosophically the three Dandas (restraints) are: vagdanda, restraint in speech, kayadanda, restraint of the bodily senses and manodanda, restraint of the mind.”

The Samnyasopanishad makes an interesting distinction: “Advancement in the spiritual path is two-fold – that of the she-cat and the she-monkey. Those who practise spiritual wisdom (Jnana) are like she-cats; the secondary way is like that of a she-monkey. The note on this verse (120) explains: “Those who pursue the path of the attributeless Brahman become one with Brahman simultaneously with that realisation, just as a cat realises its aim by thinking for a short time. Those who attempt to realise Brahman with attributes (saguna brahman)do so gradually as does a monkey with its grip in the course of its climb.”

It may be mentioned that in another tradition, of prapatti(surrender), the baby-cat analogy applies to utter surrender: the mother-cat holds the young one firmly. The baby-monkey stands for personal effort: the babe has to tightly hold on to the body of its mother.

The translations, notes and the editing are to the point and accurate.

–M. P. PANDIT

The Seventh Gate (Autobiography): By Peter Greave. Penguin Overseas Ltd., 706, Eros Apartments, 56 Nehru Place, New Delhi-24. Price: 90 p.

Peter Greave was born in Calcutta on the twenty-ninth of October 1910. His father, the senior Mr. Greave, an orphan at the age of four, had an indifferent education, and had joined the British Army, which brought him to India, where he prospered as a businessman. Interestingly enough, Peter Greave’s difficulties also began at the age of four, when his parents left him entirely to the care of an ayah and left on a business tour. The family’s fortunes fluctuated, and Greave had no regular education continuously. At the age of 14 he found himself in “a shoddy boarding school on the outskirts of Darjeeling”, his mother having entered a convent as a destitute. The most graphically described event in the book is Greave’s running away from that school, scared of repressive life, to seek refuge with a friend of his mother’s, one Mrs. Sprague, who lived in Silchar. It reminds one of David Copperfield’s adventures at a similar stage of life. Describing his adolescence, Greave says: Fantasies of love and pain dominated my imagination, and a single sentence in a book, or the momentary sight of a pair of graceful legs, would produce a violent erection, which was the source of recurring embarrassment. “This was the period when I read every book I could lay my hands on. He lived in a world of fantasy, and took long walks in the Indian countryside. On one occasion he had a significant experience. He entered a deserted Hindu temple, dark and strangely chill inside. On the mottled wall was written the message in Urdu: “He who enters the Seventh Gate may not retrace his footsteps.” The young Greave “felt inexplicably shaken, even a little afraid, as though this enigmatic warning was directed specifically towards myself...” He emerged out of the temple and sat looking at the sunset. “My contact with reality suddenly dwindled…What followed is difficult to describe, but in the course of the next few minutes my brain achieved a sensitivity, an intuitive awareness of the future which was not unlike a clairvoyant experience…a clear intimation of what awaited me in the years that lay ahead suddenly tore me apart. At that moment I knew the meaning of ‘The Seventh Gate’ and I glimpsed what for me would lie beyond it...regions of indescribable terror and happiness.” Greave refers to his sensuality and leprosy, a combination of two factors that made his life, “close to hell and within touching distance of heaven.” However, the prophetic vision had not been specific enough about the disease; had it been, that young boy might have “stepped forward into the long drop to the rocky gorge below” and ended his life.

The title of the book derives from that experience. (Pp. 123-124) In the remaining sixty pages, however, the reader does not get what he is led to expect; the heaven and hell; the human relationships and what Greave made out of them; there is nothing whatsoever, except some details about his unemployment, his dependence on his father, how his father finally dismissed him, etc. Greave spent the major part of his youth in India, but there was no emotional entanglement on his part with anything Indian, either places or men. He discovered he was a leper in August 1939. The World War began in September. “My world had been so recently destroyed that it hardly seemed surprising that everything familiar and secure should also be shattered into fragments.” His single thought now was to get to England, though he had no friends or relatives there. In 1946 he received a letter from Dr. Riley, to whom he had written, that he could depend on treatment and care if he went to England. He had to approach his father, as a last resort, for passage money. With Greave standing on the deck of the ship bidding farewell to India, the book ends. The book is disappointing in more than one respect. In an autobiography, the author has to be frank and Greave is not. Although Greave is aware of the central theme of his book, “The Seventh Gate” experience and what it implies, he evades talking about that vital subject in the book. If autobiography was not a suitable medium for the theme, he could have expressed himself more purposefully and effectively in a novel. Except giving some scrappy details about his later life, he has failed to make a book about what was spiritually most significant. The early chapters are better in coherence and detail. The work lacks form. And it has no special interest to Indian readers, though the location is India. The Englishman in Greave never gave up his insularity.
–R. S.

The king who said his wife: By Syed Amanuddin;
India in English fiction: By D. K Chakravorty;
The yesterdays of my life: By Perin C. Mehta. All published by Prayer Books, Calcutta. The former two are priced Rs. 25, while the last is priced Rs. 20.

Transmuting an ancient myth into a modern drama in English is not so easy at it sounds. Mere translation would be banal; if we take liberties in interpretating the result could be grotesque. Satya Harischandra is a favourite of the Indian theatre and has gripped the sophisticated as well as the un-sophisticated consciousness through the centuries. Syed Amanuddin has chosen this tale, no doubt influenced by the recent trend in Indo-Anglian drama. According to the blurb, Dr. Amanuddin has tried to project Harischandra as possessing the flaw of hubris in his excessive pride as one wedded to truth. However, this has not been done in a convincing manner, and the king remains wooden to the end. The chorus of the “young man” is an artistic failure. Willing to innovate as a Girish Karnad, Dr. Amanuddin is yet afraid to make a bold transformation. We end up with a rather prosaic play with the protagonist and antagonist unbelievably verbose, and neither exhibiting any noble trait. The terrifying moment when Hardy’s Henchard sells his wife is totally absent and this is because the dramatist is bent upon explaining the action. Obviously he has no experience in writing for the theatre. However, if we only want to spend an hour merely reading the play, there’s plenty of showy philosophy to keep us thinking. Here is Harischandra pontificating to Chandramati at the cremation ground:

“Chandramati, you don’t know what you are talking about. God’s ways are mysterious. His mercy shines forth at unexpected moments. He tests those he loves best to make sure His loved ones love Him too. Our misery is but a temptation to lure us away from Him. Let us not despair in his mercy.”

Dr. D. K. Chakravorty has tried hard to get away with very limited reading on his chosen subject. It is surprising that he has not heard at all of the 1971 Andhra University publication, India in English Fiction! The familiar names flit through the slim volume: Kipling, Forster, Myers, Maugham and Mrs. Steele. As one continues to read, an undefined suspicion grows in one’s mind that we have read this before. And so we have. I took up K. R Srinivasa Iyengar’s The Adventure of Criticism and found that Dr. Chakravorty has presented much from Iyengar as his own in the chapter on Myers Names, quotations, phrases and points of view carefully jumbled, are all from the essay on Myers in The Adventure of Criticism, a clever but silly trick played upon the unwary reader. Scholars who have made a deep study of Kipling, Forster, Maugham and Orwell might find the truth about the other essays. For us one sample is enough.

Which brings us to the light essays of Perin C. Mehta. These brief articles try to recapture those elusive moments of humour and tragedy that occur in one’s life. She has an observant eye and a generous heart; hence The Yesterdays of my Life gives pleasurable bed-side reading.
–Dr. PREMA NANDAKUMAR

Justice and Development (In the Indian Context): Edited by Thomas Paul. Published by Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Alwaye-3. Price: Rs. 8.

This volume containing eleven lectures in honour of Fr. Zachrias is the second in the series and has been a very useful compilation. The lectures deal with the economic, social and religious growth in the developing countries, especially India. The first of the lectures, “Poverty in the midst of Plenty” indicates how the country with vast economic resources has not gained much, in spite of Five Year Plans and the Public Sector’s endeavour towards industrializing the entire Union in such a manner as to ensure ere long greater income per capita and a general raising of standard of comfort and living. It has been pertinently pointed out how the very economists planning for the prosperity of the country only deal with the economic growth instead of the all-round development. Lately a new awareness has dawned which chooses to think of development of a comprehensive nature inclusive of social justice, structural reforms in socio-political and socio-economic realms as an integral part of development.

Dignity of man forma the theme for another of these lectures, emphasising the fact that man must make himself a “person” and live so truly and really himself. His dignity should rest on liberty. Naturally not merely the right of equality should redeem him but the duty of equity, failure of which would be punishing him.

Education which is a vital concomitant of any progress, contributes to the personality of man and as such science and religion must become complementary to each other. The part of revolution in the process of development is discussed in a further lecture and pragmatic solutions suggested to bridge the yawning gulf between the haves and the have-nots.

Search of social justice forms the main topic for another lecture and the speaker points out how many of the aids from foreign nations through governments only benefit the better-off peasants and never touch the core of the problem, of grinding poverty of the masses.

In the next one on “World Justice” the changed circumstances due to the unsettled conditions caused by the “Oil” countries in the international sphere, affected the original status of many of the Western powers. With sufficient illustrations the matter has been discussed.

New efforts made are also dwelt upon to ensure the aid from developed countries to the developing countries. The role of rich nations for maintaining the claim of “justice” of poorer countries has been stressed adequately.

The role of religion, especially of Hinduism, has a place in the future development of India. Prophets such as Sri Narayana Guru have been mentioned as helpers in the rejuvenation of a casteless society, though one has to demur at the speaker’s statement about the folly of the attempt to instill the “idea of transformation of the Jiva into abstract Atma.” The concluding chapters complete the comprehensive survey taken up in these lecures.

It is a very useful volume and needs must find a place in the libraries of publicists of this country.

–“SAHRIDAYA”

Fables and Fantasies for Adults: By Manoj Das. Orient Papers. 36-C, Connaught Place, New Delhi-1. Price: Rs. 5-50.

Under the veil of fables and fantasies, this bunch of very resting stories provide a lot of amusement to the readers. No doubt they are satires upon the ways of men and women in society as well as the so-called publicists whose activities often conform to the ridiculous as proved in the three fables Panchatantra for Adults. With remarkable facility for sustaining the story interest throughout, the author would relieve any tedium to which an indolent reader may be subject. The humour consists in the manner of the apparent stupidity which encircles some of the dialogues purposely introduced. The old, old method of Panchatantra in making the animal and bird life respond to the intimations of the humans, has a catchy effect upon a sophisticated modern world as ours with its pompousness of highly ensconced power and unfeeling exclusiveness of self-imposed importance.

–“SAHRIDAYA”

Call for Freedom: By Pranab Bandopadhyaya. United Writers, 70/2 Belighata Main Road, Calcutta-10. Price: Rs. 20.

Call for Freedom lives up to the reputation of Pranab Bandopadhyaya as a poet of Indian life and confirms his status as a poet. The title poem “Call for Freedom” etches out the lonely figure of a poet, “standing here on this land by the hospital as the moonlit night overtakes shrouded by hazy curtains of fog.” As his beloved Kamala dies in that dreamy desolate night, he becomes disconsolate and wishes to die. The call for freedom is thus a call for Death–“an escape from the mortal tie/for the soul to rest in peace in the blessed land /away from the indifferent arrogant world.” We are not told how the world was “indifferent” and “arrogant” to him, but we are to assume the world, the war-torn civilization of today, has something to do with the death of his beloved, thus making the death of Kamal synonymous with the death of love in this world, which lifts the individual incident to the universal level. The cry of the poet then is the cry of the modern man against the crushing marauding march of civilisation. As a protest the poet “loves to get my flint stone, forsaking matchbox.” This, indeed, is the primitivism of modern poets like D. M. Lawrence. The idea of the poet’s alienation from the work-a-day world, the image of the world as hospital wherever everybody is ill, (a Freudian) death wish, a yearning for primitive life–a regression made more explicit in the second poem “The Curbe” where he cries:

O Life, why was I not closeted
with my childhood days alone?

A flower in undying spring
me the happiest king on earth– 

give the poem an air of post-war poetry of modern Europe. Though it is a success on artistic plane, its authenticity of emotion is rather doubtful. But in the later pages the poet deals with typical Indian situations and sentiments and pours out his heart’s feelings without any attitudinisation.

The poems “Journalist” and “Robin” come off well and deserve a special mention. They wring our hearts with pity and engender a sympathetic understanding of the world around. Lines such as the following haunt our memory long after the book was closed:

It’s only the arithmetic of the flood
that’s carried in the morning papers (p. 18)
A trader of years in the market of news
bought and sold,
alas, the father of news has no news value at all (p. 20)
Robin was a bachelor with a big family (p. 28)
The car had both the headlights on (p. 28)

The poem “Return from the airport” is in the vein of metaphysical poetry. The following lines don the Donna-like quality of wit: The lone airport–a transition /and not a crematorium: /a sacred place from where / good souls take off” (p. 25)

“In wherever you go” the poet gives vignettes of Indian life. He is at his best in such descriptions.
–Dr. G. SRIRAMAMURTY

When the Shoe Fits: Lectures of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Rajneesh Foundation, Poona.

Without getting into the prevailing controversy concerning the activities of Bhagwan Rajneesh, by objective reading one can find much illuminating material in the book under review.

One of the early Chinese Master-Philosophers is Chuang Tzu. His stories have sublime philosophical implications. Based on the English translations of his stories in Thomas Merton’s book “The Way of Chuang Tzu,” Bhagwan Rajneesh gave a series of lectures at his Poona Ashram expounding the spiritual and philosophical implications of the stories. The book under review comprises ten such lectures (given by Bhagwan Rajneesh during the Autumn of 1974 from October 11 to October 20) entitled, ‘When the Shoe Fits’, ‘The Tower of the Spirit’, ‘Flight from the Shadow’, ‘Fighting Cock’, ‘Money Mountain’, ‘Symphony for a Seabird’, ‘Autumn Floods “ ‘The Turtle’, ‘Duke Hwan and the Wheelright’ and ‘Man is Born in Tao.’

Discussing the philosophical symbolism of the stories, Bhagwan Rajneesh presents the essence of all religions and interprets the stories in terms of universal religion for the salvation of man. His interpretations are replete with Vedic and Upanishadic and Gita echoes and are flooded with profound statements of illumination: for example– 

Everything unnatural has to be avoided …
the more a man is cultured the more dangerous he is. (p. 9)
inside you is the eternal, the immortal...
the invisible tower is the spirit. (p. 60)
So a frog has a frog mind. (p. 235)
Happiness depends on others...
bliss depends just on you, it is independent. (p. 242)
Whatsoever you give, you will receive.
Whatsoever you sow, you will reap.
God comes to you the way you reach Him. (p. 370)

The shoe fits only when the foot is flexibly suitable: when the soul becomes detached and disentangled, rid of ego and selfishness, then shall it fit blissfully into the bosom of the Divine – the merger of Aatmanwith Paramaatman. That is the essential message which Bhagwan Rajneesh conveys in his lectures.

In the book, each story of Chuang Tzu in its English translation is first given, and then follows the illuminating interpretation of the story. One outstanding feature is that Bhagwan Rajneesh’s explanation has poetic felicity; and aptly the lectures are printed in the pattern of vers libre. Hence the book affords a pleasing and spiritually rewarding reading. The contents and the format and the get-up of the book are all excellent.
–Dr. K. V. S. MURTI

Vignanalahari(Price not quoted). Esoteric Wisdom. Price: Rs. 5. Time for Sane Living. Price: Re. 1. Cosmo Social Dynamic. Price: Rs. 4. By Subramanya Iyer, Narasimha Bhavan, Bhadravati. Karnatak.

All the four books deal with a variety of topics and each in the quartet is an echo of the other. The expectation of the author on Paratatva, Purusha and Prakriti, the inorganic and organic phases in evolution, different planes of existence – Tri-gunas, Pancha Bhutas, Purusharthas, Law of Dharma as the “Cosmic Legislator.” Law of Karma as the “Cosmic Executor” etc. is simply superb. There isclarity of thought, brevity of expression and grip of the subject in the presentation. The goal of all Yogas, whether it is Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga or Jnana Yoga is realisation of Ananda and sacrifice (Yajna) of lower self to higher self. This is amply borne out by the immortal triad: Asatoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityoma Amrutamgamaya.
–K. SUBBA RAO

Your food and you: By K. T. Acharya. National Book Trust, New Delhi. Price Rs. 5-50.

Nutrients, that foods contain, balanced diets, food-patterns prevalent in India, food fads and taboos, daily allowances needed for pregnant women and nursing mothers, infant foods, deficiency, diseases, ailments caused by contaminations and pollution are some of the subjects discussed in this work with 16 illustrative tables appended. And it goes without saying that except the top brackets those who fall below the poverty line are badly under-nourished and cannot afford to have a daily intake of required calories.

Some popular beliefs about cereals, hot and cold foods, and misconceptions about pregnancies and lactation are viewed in detail and held unscientific and not quite in agreement with latest nutritional knowledge. Pan-boiled rice, raw vegetables, pressure cooked foods, steamed products, pan-fried items and combination foods are recommended so that the body could have the nutrients without any loss, necessary for its upgrowth and proper maintenance. But these luxuries are beyond the reach of the poor and realisation of Menssana in Corpore sano is to them, a distant dream, a haze and not a reality.

–K. SUBBA RAO

Developing good study habits: By R. Srinivasa Rao. Department of Education, Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Price: Rs. 6.

This book is a record of Seminar proceedings, conducted by the Post-graduate Department of Education, Venkateswara University, Tirupati, on the subject: Developing good study habits. To study is to get educated and reading with comprehension alone is true study which when developed into a habit pays good dividends in life. The Seminarists and Group Rapporteurs conclude that Seminars, Tutorials, Team Work, Group Discussions and. proper services of librarians engender and strengthen the study habit provided the physical, emotional and environmental factors contribute their bit of co-operation. But the habit sustains itself when the interest of the educated happens to be innate and merits got out of habits acquired and moulded lack sparkle and cannot outshine talents, aptitudes and abilities that come by birth. The so-called drills and skills designed to instill into impressionable minds the advantages of study befit plodders and low achievers and not sharp intellects who can on their own garner, marshall, organise sequence and integrate facts without any adventitious aids. Some of the discussion papers are critical of the present day system of education on the ground that it helps mere memorising and regurgitating of what is learnt by rote. But memory is not an endowment to be slightingly by-passed or relegated to the ground. Even originality without it cannot wash. Good study habits are commendable enough if the knowledge gathered thereof is properly utilised to the benefit of society. On the contrary knowledge is losing humanism in its practical aspect and glories in its perversion and its dynamism boosts self-agrandisement at micro-and macro-levels (individual and national). Social welfare isreduced to a pious hope and a receding aspiration. The purpose of the monographs brought out by the Department of Education will beat be served ifthey tend to educate man to love his suffering neighbour and prevent his lapse into square No. 1 ofhis arboreal state.
–K. S. RAO

Sankara Digvijayam: By Madhava Vidyaranya. Translated by Swami Tapasyananda. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras-4. Price: Rs. 10.

There are quite a good number of biographies of Acharya Shankara. The present one is by the celebrated Vidyaranya who was the chief minister of Vijayanagar Empire in his purvashrama. Swami Tapasyananda, in his elaborate introduction, shows a deep knowledge of the extant biographical material and sifts between history and legend. Discussing the date ofthe Acharya, he is inclined to place it between the 5th and the 7th century A. D. He thinks it is much earlier than the end of the 8th century, the usually accepted date by modern scholars.

Writing on the historicity of Shankara, he points out that despite the many differences among writers on certain important details of his life, the main outlines of it stand proved. His impress on most of the temples and holy places in India, his great commentaries on the prasthana traya, and above all his continuing inspiration dynamising the ancient Order ofSannyasins under the banner of his name are unchallengeable.

The translation is free and selective without omitting passages of descriptions of Nature, etc., when they are highly poetical. The translator brings a modern approach to bear on the material before him and exercises his discrimination in choosing only those facts that are not mixed with fiction, however devout. His remark that the custom of calling the heads of all Shankara Maths as Shankaracharya has caused much confusion in this field. Also the fact that many a lesser author has passed off his work or works under the name of “Shankara”, works which clearly could not have been penned by the pristine author of the Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras.
–M. P. PANDIT

KANNADA

Svarajyasiddhi: By Gangadhara Saraswati. Editor: B. R. Modak. Karnataka Visvavidyalaya, Dharwar. Price: Rs. 18.

Written in the style of the other siddhiclassics in Advaita literature, this work in Samskrit deals with the attainment of svarajya, the freedom of the Self. The first chapter (54 verses), adhyaropa prakarana, deals with the question of bondage due to super-imposition. This can be destroyed only by the direct knowledge of the Atman, the Reality. Concepts of Avidya, Maya, Adhyasa are explained. The second chapter (66 verses), apavada prakarana, dwells upon the higher order of Reality which yields the highest beatitude that man can reach. The third (47 verses), kaivalya prakarana, concludes with the ways to attain the Atman and the state of the Jivanmukta. The last few verses are a veritable Jivanmukta Gita.

The treatise is a summary of the Upanishads and also a metrical exposition of the Brahma Sutras in essence. It has been here translated into English and Kannada, with relevant notes. The text of the verses is in Kannada script. The work is intelligible and reads fluently in Kannada.
–M. P. PANDIT

Sri Vishvakarmanvaya Pradipika: Edited and commented upon by G. Jnanananda. Jnana Bhandar, BEML Nagar. KGF 563 115. Price: Rs. 20.

Originally written in Samskrit by Sri Varaha Narasimhacharya, the present work is its rendering in Kannada along with elaborate explanations and a critical introduction. Based upon a study of the ancient literature–Vaidic and popular–the Puranas and history and tradition, this scholarly book attempts to trace the institution of the Artisan in the Indian society direct from the Vishwakarman, the Architect of the universe. It seeks to explain their customs and mores with reference to the srutiand smriti. An important addition to the extant literature on the classification of the Hindu society.
–M. P. PANDIT

SAMSKRIT

Samskrita-kavi-Samiikshaa: By Dr Amaranaatha Paandeya. Published by Choukhamba Orientalia, Varanasi-1. Price: Rs. 12.

For the first time we have, in this work under review, a concise history, critical appreciation and estimate of fifteen Samskrit poets and dramatists, from Valmiki to Sriharsha, in about 225 Samskrit verses of different metres. Bare text is given at first. Then each verse is again given and commented upon in Hindi. The text in verses highlights the salient features of each poet and his works. The commentary discusses the date of each poet. Poetic or dramatic merits as the case may be of each work pointed out in the verses, are illustrated with suitable examples from the texts. Defects are not left without notice. The author makes out that there is a suggestion ofthe doctrine of “Pratyabhijna” in Kalidasa’s Shakuntalam. Cloud in the Meghadutais suggestive of a Saadhaka. “Hamsa” in Sriharsha’s Naishadhiya-charitam stands for jnaana. Some such points are hinted here and there. Verses in appreciation of the fifteen poets found in Samskrit works are collected in the first appendix. An introduction in Hindi describes the main characteristics of Samskrit literature. The author has done a commendable job. This work is a good introduction tothe study of classical Samskrit literature.
–B. KUTUMBA RAO

TELUGU

Silpa Darsanamu: By Dr Konduru Veeraraghavacharyulu. Gandhinagaram, Tenali. Price: Rs. 12.

Though not included in the list of famous Darsanas, Silpa – which mainly denotes sculpture, architecture, village and town, planning and vehicles, etc., –may also be treated as a Darsana because the main teachings of Silpasastra were based on the visualisations of our seers in their Samaadhis.

All credit goes to Ananda Coomaraswamy, Ganguly, Havell and a host of other art critics for having interpreted our art and sculpture in their proper light, in their valuable writings in English. The versatile scholar-poet and philosopher Dr K. Veeraraghavacharyulu did signal service to Indian sculpture and architecture by writing this book on Silpa in charming Telugu. The first edition of this work won encomiums from eminent scholars. In this second edition of the work five more chapters are added. The whole gamut of Silpa in India from Vedic times up to now in its various aspects is presented here. This can easily be acclaimed as a mini-encyclopaedia on Silpa in Telugu.

The book contains 22 chapters. Philosophy of Silpa, and process of creation. Importance of name and form, Visvakarma and Silpins ancient and modern, Images and their measurements, Significance and symbolism of some images and temples, Yantra Silpa, Works on Silpa ancient and modern, are some of the important topics dealt with and all these chapters deserve a close study. Information from rare and most valuable works like ‘Manasara’ in Samskrit and modern works in English is given in this book. Photos of paintings in Ajanta and Ellora and of sculptures at Ramappagudi and Alampuram, are another attraction of this book. Any student of Indian art and architecture cannot afford toignore a close study of this work. Students of ancient Indian culture and heritage have much to learn from this book packed with rich information on the subject.
–B. KUTUMBA RAO

Kannada Sahitya Charitra: By Dr. R. V. S. Sundaram. Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi, Saifabad, Hyderabad-4. Price: Rs. 5.

This is a concise history of Samskrit literature divided into six periods–ancient and modern and those that are named after the names of the poets Pampa, Basava and Kumaravyasa and a Royal poet Chikkadevaraya. Political and religious conditions of those periods also are described. The author has no quarrel with those who consider Pampa’s ancestors to be Telugus. Many characteristics of Telugu Prabandhas are found in Pampa’s Bharata. Deviations from Vyasa’s Bharata in Pampa’s Bharata are noteworthy.

Beauties in Basavanna’s poetry are illustrated. Besava’s influence on Saiva Sahitya in Telugu the author says deserves a special study. The three prominent Acharyas of Kannadigas were Telugus. To have a clear understanding of poetic talents of Nannechoda, the author points out, an acquaintance of Kannada literature is essential. Kumara Vyasa’s Bharata is as popular in Kannada as Potana’s Bhagavatam in Telugu. Individual traits of Purandaradasa and Kaoakadasa are briefly illustrated. Close affinities developed between Telugu and Kannada literatures in the age of Kumara Vyasa. Chikkadevaraya and Mummadi Krishnaraja, both were kings, poets and patrons of Telugu poets also. Services rendered by prominent Andhras to the progress and enrichment of Kannada region are mentioned in the concluding chapter.
–“SANDILYA”