Book Reviews

THE PRESENCE OF SIVA: By Stella Kramrisch. Motilal Banarsi­dass, Delhi - 7. Price: Rs. 225.

Who is Siva really? There are conflicting legends and stories of his doings. Scriptures, mythological accounts, spiritual ex­perience give different versions of this God who is reputedly a great destroyer. And yet the Veda lauds him as the supreme Healer. Is the Siva of the Puranas different from the Siva of the Tantras? The author, who is well-known for her researches in Indian Temple Architecture, Art and Sculpture, applies herself to a thorough exploration of the rise and development of the concept of Siva right from the Vedic – even pre-Vedic – origins. Of course the Name differs from age to age, from people to people. There is even a development of the figure of the Almighty from the original “Wild Hunter” who confronts Prajapati on the eve of his adventure of creation, to the “Hound of Heaven”, to the Cosmic Dancer who combines the rush of movement with immutable calm in his being, to the Healer of disease – not the physical only. The author narrates in detail the evolution of this Master-Vision of the Indian Spirit, delving into the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas, the Puranas, astronomical texts, the epics. The documentation is accurate and scholarly. She warns: “The myths of Siva have many levels. They have to be entered all at the same time, or else the total, multiple perspective of each is lost sight of. Crazed beggar, saviour, necrophiliac, voluptuary, ascetic, he is wholly on the plane where he acts, while on another plane he is Sadasiva, the eternal Siva, who lays out his presence in his five faces of which the fifth, invisible in principle, is part of the Panchamukha Linga, Siva’s concrete, monumental symbol.’ P. 428.)

Illustrated with 32 plates and a special chapter on the Cave of Siva at Elephanta, this volume is more than a scholarly treatise; it is a Siva-Experience.

 

M. P. Pandit

 

INDIA’S INTELLECTUAL TRADITIONS: Ed. Daya Krishna. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi - 7. Price: Rs. 75.

Arising from a seminar at Jaipur to examine the relevance of India’s intellectual traditions in different fields, these learned papers relate to Arthasastra, Natya andManusmriti (mainly). As the sponsors point out, there is a general recognition of India’s traditions in the quest of the Spirit and Arts but very little is known of the original thinking that has gone into in­tellectual pursuits. The writers of these papers underline the deep perceptions of the Indian mind in these lines of enquiry, e.g., Drama, Rasa, Dhvani, Jurisprudence, Sociology. The discussion is scholarly andtakes into account the developments in the West in these fields, dating from Aristotle, Plato, Aquinas and others.

Patankar analyses Madhusudan Sarasvati’s Bhaktirasayana in order to ascertain the relation between Bhaktiyoga and Bhakti­rasa, between Bhakti and Kevaladvaita in his treatment. Incident­ally a distinction is drawn between the rasa of the Upanishads and the rasa as elaborated by Bharata. (P. 187)

K.J. Shah’s discussion on the concept of rasa is exhaustive and it includes the question–how far a work of art needs to have a moral lesson. As one would expect, Dr. Krishnamoorthy’s paper on Dhvani is brilliant. He observes: “The Dhvani theory is a sound aesthetic principle to explain beauty not only in poetry whose raw material is language, but also other arts like music, painting, sculpture. No other theory in India is as comprehensive as Dhvani.” (P. 155)

The papers on Natya Sastra are stimulating. Manu’s conceptions of man andsociety are shown to have a perennial relevance to sociological thought. One hopes more such studies will follow.

M. P. Pandit

MAN’S ORIGIN AND DESTINY: S. V. Ganapati, Kalakshetra Publications, Madras - 600 041. Price: Rs. 20.

Sri S.V. Ganapati’s book Man’s Origin and Destiny makes an absorbing reading. The author tries to explain man’s origin and destiny from an angle entirely different from that of modern science. Not that the author undervalues science and its achieve­ments, but that science cannot find right solutions for the eternal problems of life and death since it is on the wrong track above. The right clue is to be found in the Vedas. But Vedic views, alas, are ignored or misinterpreted by some of our saints and sages. The author is bold enough to challenge some of the traditional ideas firmly entrenched in Hindu Philosophy for cen­turies together. The author explains the aim of his book as follows, in his preface to the book. “This little work was under­taken because of many refreshingly new ideas having come to light from the ancient Vedas”. “The concept of the Vedas is that ideas alone constitute knowledge and give rise to every kind of activity in the universe and its creatures. Ideas rule the world. Everything in the world is a form of ideas. All radiation, light, heat, sound, electricity or magnetism and all matter are forms of ideas. Ideas can explain about the matter; but matter cannot explain about the ideas. The purpose of their co-ordination in existence is explained in this book.” It is, indeed, a thought-provoking book, which shakes off our com­placent attitudes towards cosmic and microcosmic problems, based on an all-efficient science. In the absence of documenta­tion and rigorous logical treatment (deductive though it be) of the subjects, the book is no more than a bunch of respectable opinions, all assorted. Nonetheless, the book is most welcome.

Dr. G. Srirama Murty

HEADING EAST AND CRACKING UP: By Donald T. Nigli. Writers Workshop, lake Gardens, Calcutta - 45. Price: Rs. 40.

There used to be a group of poets in England called “Sons of Ben”; today we have in India some poets whom we may call “Sons of Eliot”. Donald T. Nigli is one among them. His latest volume of poetry Heading East and Cracking up consists of two parts. Each part is ably introduced by Prof. Eugene D’vaz and Prof. S. Albert, respectively, to help the average reader to grasp the poems in their correct perspective. The first part in which the poet attempts to give a graph of man’s physical growth and spiritual decline seems to be an artefact. The Bible, The Bhagavatgita, The Tirukkural, Shakespeare and Milton, American pop songs and Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas, mix and mingle in the poems giving it an admirable texture a la the Wasteland. The image of a spiritual journey towards the final inertia is also there.

The poet’s use of vernacular Tirukkulam is interesting. To call the body “the embodied self within the city with nine gates” is a typical Indianism. But to explain “Sahasrara” as the “soft part on the child’s head” does not appear to be accurate. “Sahasrara” is a Chakra. It is not a physical reality, whereas the Brahma Randhra (the hole of Brahma) is a part of the anatomy of a child. The reference is to Brahma Randhra, not to Sahasrara.

The second part is poetry in the raw as Prof. S. Albert explains in his foreword, Albeit, it is also difficult as the ex­perience, though authentic, gets frozen under stylistics. However, it is indeed a pleasure to read poems like Reminscences of a High School Boy/Girl contemplating a teacher. The Tale of a Tramp, Autopsy and Cracking up.

Dr. G. Srirama Murty

KENA UPANISHAD: - By Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo Ashra­mam, Pondicherry. Price not mentioned.

This slender volume throws a flood of light on the Kena Upanishad. What is the propelling force behind the workings of the mind, life force (Prana) word, and sight etc., is the main question raised by this Upanishad which also answers ‘that there is such a greater existence behind, which is to the mind and its instruments, to the life force and its workings and gods, what they are to the material world”. It is mind to the mind etc., Sri Aurobindo explains in separate chapters on a rational and scientific basis how that supreme is mid to the mind etc. Conclusions arrived at in the Kena and Isha Upanishads are compared. Significance of words “Patati” etc., in the sentence “Kena inshitam patati manes”, is explained for the first time on a scientific and psychological basis (P. 108). Similarly dis­courses on the meanings of the words Samjnani, Prajnana and Ajnana, Vidmati and Vijanimch, Akshitam Sravati and Yuktah are noteworthy. A statement, “the Vedic use of the Mantra is only a conscious utilisation of the secret power of the word” is explained in detail (p. 34). He proclaims that the Upanishads are “not the record of ideas, but are a record of experiences.” (P-108).

According to Sri Aurobindo, “the Upanishad does not assert the unreality, but only the inferiority of our present existence.” An incomplete commentary is reproduced in the appendix, and the second chapter therein must be studied for a proper and scientific understanding of this Upanishad. This review cannot do full justice to the work. It is only to be read to be enjoyed and enlightened.

B. Kutumba Rao

LETTERS OF WISDOM TO VASANTI RAO: By B. Sanjiva Rao. Dipti Publications, Pondicherry: Price. Rs. 30.

This book is an edited collection of letters covering a period of seven years (1958-1965). The writer, B. Sanjiva Rao (d. 1965) was the second of the four Benegal brothers, rail of whom achieved distinction in their respectivespheres of life. Sanjiva Rao gave his whole life to the cause of education in India. Early in his career, when he was a lecturer at the Central Hindu College, Benaras, he fell under the spell of Annie Besant, who encouraged him to devote himself to education. He was invited to join the Indian Educational Service and held several distinguished positions during his long innings. But his greatest contribution was the foundation of the Rajghat School at Benaras, which he esta­blished at the behest of J. Krishnamurti. He served this insti­tution for thirty years, almost single-handedly ensuring its success despite enormous difficulties. The recipient of the letters, Ms. Vasanti Rao is a long-standing sadhika and resident of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

These letters present a most remarkable record of a spiritual life in practice. This is the first time that the story of how the Rajghat school was established has been made known to the public. It is a truly marvellous story of the mysterious work­ings of higher powers in human life. It is a story of how action should be performed if it is to bear fruit. In the process we also get very valuable insights into one of the outstanding personalities of this century, Annie Besant, and also a memorable picture of Krishnamurti. This book, however, is most valuable as a spiritual record. The author has distilled in it the kernel of his experience of life.

The true valueof such a book is better experienced than described or analysed. Ms Vasanti Rao, the sponsor, and the publisher of the book deserves our thanks for placing before us such a record. A book like this can change one’s life; and if one’s life has already been changed, it can confirm one’s faith.

Dr. Makarand Paranjape

ECONOMICS NATURAL OR INTEGRAL ECONOMICS: By J.N. Mukherjee. Sri Aurobindo Books Distribution Agency, Pondi­cherry - 605 002. Price: Rs. 75.

Man’s proclivity for material comforts, together with law levelof ecological awareness, has led to a cataclysmic crisis in the form of fast depletion of scarce natural resources. In their anxiety to achieve a high rate of economic growth, modern societies are paying scant attention to ecology resulting in misuse and devastation of land; squandering and depletion of non-renewal resources like petroleum and minerals and disrup­tion of ecological balance. Capricious exploitation of natural resources has smudged the quality of life, particularly in developed countries. A high rate of economic growth has only increased the incidence of poverty and inequality in a climate of exploitation.

Technology is an instrument which has to be handled carefully. It should be essentially self-supporting, should minimise wastage and should make maximum possible use of renewable materials.

It is not possible to build a viable economy out of imposed concessions and subsidies. The anti-poverty schemes and other populist programmes cannot provide any permanent panacea to the poor. On the other hand, they may prove to be burden­some, and even counter-productive, in the long run. Hence, the author has advanced a case against the concessional system.

The message of the book is very clear: the integration of economics with ecology is possible only when man gives up conspicuous consumption and wasteful expenditure and learns to live with nature. There is a kernel of truth in the author’s statement, “Economy and ecology should be closely integrated, one in tune with the other, one to promote the other.”

The four appendices of the book contain a methodology to integrate ecology with economic development. This work will be read with considerable interest by all those who are paying attention to the ecological dimensions and high social costs of economic development.

Dr. I. Satya Sundaram

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IDEAS OF KANDUKURI VEERESA­LINGAM: (A Study in Political Thought): By Major P.A. Raju, 34 Service Selection Board, Selection Centre East, Allahabad. Price: Rs. 90.

Mr. P.A. Raju, the author of the book, at present holds the rank of a Major in the Army Educational Corps, and evinces, as is evident from his avidity for acquiring academic degrees, (he holds two M.A. Degrees and a doctorate) a Keen interest in pursuit of educational topics and writing about them in his own way. The present work was the dissertation he had submitted to the Marathwada University for his doctorate.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu, the redoubtable champion of social reform in Andhra and an outstanding literature of a high order, has been hailed as the Father of Renaissance in this part of the country, as Ram Mohan Roy of the South (it was Mahadeva Govinda Ranade who paid this compliment) and the first investigative journalist in Telugu, who wielded his pen as sword not only to lop off blind superstitions and evil social practices of those days, but to put down corruption in high places and civic life, with a heavy hand and uncompromising severity and rectitude.

Like Agarkar in Maharashtra, Viresalingam concentrated more on social reform and regeneration, the pressing and urgent needs of the day, than turning his attention to political emanci­pation of the country from the foreign yoke (it is interesting to note that he attended the First Indian National Congress Session as a delegate). Mr. Raju delved deep into the writings of Viresalingam and others who wrote about him and his mission in life, and produced a volume with valuable source material packed into it under several heads and chapters, Mr. Raju concludes, on the basis of his persevering study and painstaking research, that Viresalingam was a liberal in Politics, with a steadfast adherence to dignity of the individual, freedom of conscience, and to human values,–a utilitarian in practical life, an opposer of revivalism in religion and ritualism, and a nationalist with a difference. Though some of the opinions and views expressed by Major Raju do not find agreement with the cognoscenti, and some of his conclusions are not correct and sound in the assessment of Viresalingam’s personality and purposiveness of his movements and mission, it should be admitted that Mr. Raju, with his unremitting zeal and unstinted efforts, has now brought out some less known facts about Viresalingam’s work as social reformer and political thinker, into light, thus giving an opportunity for those interested to pursue the matter, discuss and debate the issues raised, and probe further into the political philosophy of Viresalingam Pantulu as adumbrated in his writings and activities in life in the cause of social upliftment.

Pothukuchi Suryanarayana Murty

SALT SATYAGRAHA IN THE COASTAL ANDHRA: By Dr. Ch. M. Naidu. Mittal Publications, Delhi. Price: Rs. 75.

The author of this book, Dr. Naidu, is a Reader in History in the Andhra University. Delving into old journals and books of the times, and interviewing some surviving freedom-fighters and eliciting a good fund of factual (and opinionated too) information from them, he has brought out the book describing the genesis and progress of Salt Satyagraha in the Coastal Districts of Andhradesa, highlighting the eventful episodes and important personalities leading the movement with courage, conviction and consecrated devotion to the cause at the clarion call of Mahatma Gandhi, in the wake of his famous march from Sabarmati to Dandi on April 6, 1930.

Collating the information garnered from various sources, the author has put it in the form of a book, dividing the chapters district-wise. There are repetitious renderings of events here and there an account of the individual treatment given to each district, and these could have been neatly avoided on careful revision. The author’s painstaking research into aid records and perseverance are commendable and he has brought out in a nutshell and in one place the less known facts and events of the Salt Satyagraha days - a glorious period in the Freedom Movement which attracted in its magnificent stride the common folks too in good numbers.

The presentation of the copious source-material gathered by the author could have been in better and appealing expression and style, as the book abounds in solecisms, (grammar, idiom and syntax), an eyesore to a punctilious reader or a stickler for right usage of language. Errors are also committed in giving the names of persons (as well as their surnames) – in spelling as well as in correct description – and these could have been avoided, if only adequate attention was paid to proof-reading. Apart from these defects, the book fills a void that had been there in the history of the Freedom Movement in Andhra in so far as the Salt Satyagraha, the real springboard for positive and affirmative mass action, was concerned. One should be beholden to the author for bringing out the material from the dark limbos of the archives.

Pothukuchi Suryanarayana Murty

THE SOVIETS AND AFGHANISTAN: By Cyriac Maprayil. Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi. Price: Rs. 130.

This is an interesting book in many ways. Seventeen pages of introduction, what the author calls “An historical perspective”, refer to the strategic position of Afghanistan and the “designs” of Russia and Britain on the region are followed by four small chapters. The impact of Bolshevism on Afghanistan, the Soviet-­Afghan Friendship, Anglo-Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan and suggestions for a basis for settlement are discussed lucidly. In the postscript the author observes that “there is an undeclared Superpower conspiracy to keep the Afghanistan conflict out of the lime-light to avoid open criticism of the war in their res­pective countries.” This is part of the “game” the superpowers have been playing during the last four decades. Much water has flowed under the bridge since Dr. Maprayil brought out this book. Yet there is no denying the fact that it provides a very useful ground against which the Afghan crisis can be studied. Strange indeed that this small book contains in all 72 pages of the author’s original work (including the references) including 17 pages of introduction. The other 45 pages contain appendices, index, etc., and the price is a staggering figure of Rs. 130!.

Dr. A. Prasanna Kumar