Book Reviews

Integral Yoga Psychology: By V. Madhusudan Reddy, Institute of Human Study, 2-2-4/1, University Road, Hyderabad 500 044 Pp. 148, Rs. 80/-

Dr. Reddy is a senior Doctor of Philosophy with wide experience of teaching in India and abroad. He is a notable exponent of Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy and is an ardent practitioner of his Yoga. In this dissertation he examines the present position of Psychology in the West, what with a number of new schools of approach during the last fifty years. He lists the more prominent of them and pinpoints their limitations. He has a point in underlining the fact that the transcendent yoga psychology of the East is superior to the “transpersonal” currently so popular.

He first states the fundamentals of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of Life Divine and then proceeds to an exposition in depth of the Integral Yoga Psychology that is part of the Integral yoga. He writes: “While traditional Western psychology deals with mental and emotional as­pects of personality in the larger context of society, and modern psychology focuses on issues in the humanistic and transpersonal spheres, Integral Yoga Psychology postulates an evolutionary integral approach which includes man’s uniqueness, his transpersonal depth dimension, his transcendental, evolutionary and creative aspects. It is a psychospiritual and dynamic approach to the total phenomenon of man, to the universe and that which includes and transcends the universe.” (P 137) It is educative to read here how the Int. Psychology can be “of great help in the areas of clinical psychology, personal growth and mental and holistic health. Also, in the discovery and development of human potential, and in the treatment of psychiatric disturbances of all kinds.” This brief exposition brings to the fore the ‘experiential and experimental’ values of the Integral Yoga and the holistic application of the psychology underlying it. It breaks fresh ground in this field.

M. P. PANDIT

8686 The Self and its States: By Andrew O. Fort. Motilal Banarsidas, New Delhi 7. Price Rs. 225/-

This is an in-depth study of the concepts of chatuspad and turiya in the Advaita Vedanta, especially as developed by the Shankara school. The writer traces the origins of these key-expressions to the Purusha Sukta in the Rig Veda and studies their development in some of the earlier Upanishads, notably the Brihadaranyaka and the Chhandogya. He refers to the Maitri text also. He pinpoints the different interpretations of the turiya: earlier, it was treated as the substratum of consciousness and Shankara (and Guadapada earlier) came to confirm this reading. Later texts, however, treat the turiya as a state of consciousness, a high meditative state. The author refers to the Yoga Vasishtha and Minor Upanishads in support of this view. Mention of turiyatita, is taken to support the view that the turiya is not the ultimate.

There is an interesting chapter on the modern Transpersonal Psychology and Advaita. It is pointed out that both in the West and in India there is a tendency to generalise too facilely on the universality of the main concepts. It is forgotten that the same terms signify differently in Advaita and in the western psychology. The author is convinced that the approach to the subject of consciousness has been more comprehensive and also intensive in the Indian Yoga philosophy than in the West.

This volume in enriched with the author’s translation of the Man­dukya Upanishad and Gaudapada’s Karikas with Shankara’s commen­tary. The texts in Sanksrit are included. The treatment is precise and the translations accurate.

M. P. PANDIT

Hindu Culture and Civilisation: Hindu Faith and Religion: BY Dr. Pranab Bandopadhyay. Image India, 3 Middleton Row, Flat H-10, Calcutta 700 071. Price: Rs: 125/- each

Defining his terms, the author writes: “Culture is the medium of one’s way of life. Culture aims at accepting a complete man with his integrated personality, by fulfilling all of his shortcomings and improving upon his mental understanding ... Civilisation is not merely progress in technology, in accumulation of wealth and property, or in possessing the power to control the earth. It is a sort of aesthetic and moral discipline that an individual, a society or a nation must possess.” (P. 7)

“Hindu culture transmits spiritual ideals into life with a message by the entire human race.” Analysing the historical development of Indian culture which is centrally Hindu the writer traces the Vedic origins, Puranic modifications, Islamic influences and the modern western contributions. He describes the characteristics of art, sculpture, music, dance, religion, nationalism, under the broad umbrella of the universal spirit that inspires the Hindu mind. Dr. Bandopadhyay underlines the pervasive nature of the Hindu culture and cites the reply of Swami Vivekananda to Ralph Waldo Emerson who asked him if India had produced a Sage of Concord. The Swami promptly answered: “Yes, sir, at every ten miles!”

In the Hindu Faith and Religion, there is a succinct account of the thrust of Indian scriptures, Vedanta philosophy, Yoga, Sadhana, Tantric modes of worship and the contribution of the Vaishnava faiths. The role of Hinduism in the evolution of the peoples outside India is narrated in a separate chapter. The author quotes Arnold Toynbee: “The spiritual gift that makes men human is still alive in Indian souls. Go on giving to the world Indian examples of it. Nothing else can be much to help mankind to save it from self-destruction.”(P.6)

Both the volumes, written in easy style, are handy manals on the subject, balanced and adequate.

M. P.PANDIT

Knowledge Freedom and Language: By D. P. Chatopadhyaya, Published by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. Price: Rs. 400/-

The central theme of these fifteen weighty papers is covered broadly by the title Knowledge Freedom and Language. In the au­thor’s approach, scientific realism need not limit the area of human knowledge and creativity. He attaches importance to the human factor which is “clearly manifest in two basic traits of our nature, viz., language-use and freedom-seeking. Our freedom-seeking, like lin­guistic in-dwelling, is often inarticulate, even unconscious, and not externalised.” D. P. Chattopadhyaya is opposed to “static system building ignoring historical character.”

While on the subject of Knowledge, he quotes Sri Aurobindo: “if we insist in applying a finite logic to the Infinite ... Reality will escape us and we shall grasp which speaks of the Reality but does not express it. Our way of knowing must be appropriate to that which is to be known; otherwise we achieve only a distant speculation, a figure of Knowledge and not veritable Knowledge.” (Pp. 192)

The writer has some striking things to say on the subject of language, “If ordinary language resembles a family, scientific language forms a system. The familial relations obtained between different parts of language, written or uttered, are flexible; some what indefinite in their reference, and rich in their connotation, whereas the expressions of system-bound language are relatively definite, often operationally defined, lend themselves to logico-mathematical formalisation, and rigid in their infrastructural or intra-systematic relation.” (Pp. 85)

Speaking of Freedom, the writer points out that “human freedom is not a static totality. “Human personality is not an inert unity. Both are dialectically shot through and through by history, by change, i.e., the flux character of reality.” (Pp. 109)

The passages on Einstein finding no antagonism between science and religion (as a cosmic feeling) deserve special attention. (Pp. 100)

A very stimulating and satisfying discussion on themes that figure prominently in man’s life.

M. P. PANDIT

Interpreting Across Boundaries: Edited by Gerald James Larson an Deutsch. Published by Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, Price: Rs.150/-

Way in 1939, the first East-West Philosopheres’ Conference in Hawai had only 5 participants. The International Conference held at the same place in 1984 had 165 philosophers, from 14 countries discussing philosophical developments in different contexts, not only to sum up the position arrived at so far, but also to anticipate the direction in which the world-philosophy will be moving at the end of the century.

Here are sixteen papers by eminent authorities covering the fresh areas of inquiry in comparative philosophy and the points of departure from the traditional stand-points. There are plenty of warnings against generalisations in search of the holistic thought. The editor points out how F. Staal, Ninian Smart and Segaku Mayeda “focus attention primarily on the important differences that manifest themselves in a South Asian environment. Deutsch examines the distinctive tradition­-text complex that operates in Indian thought. Staal analyses the details of rituals and grammatical analysis. Mayeda examines the process of Vedantinisation and the manner in which the low caste movement of Narayana Guru appropriates the high caste Vedanta ... A.S. Cua focuses on the distinction between moral tradition and moral theory in the Chinese environment.” (p. 14)

The essays are grouped in to three categories: those dealing with comparative philosophy in search of new perspectives; those that take up comparatives issues within specific cultural contexts; assessments of developments in specific regions.

Dayakrishna rightly objects to attempts to dub Indian thought as simply a quest for Moksha. Writing on ‘Is there philosophy in Asia, F. Stall has no hesitation in stating that philosophy in Asia has mainly developed in India and China. Charles Hart Shorne deals with many essential problems as discussed by Shankara, Nagarjuna and Fa Tsang with some Western Analogues.

All in all, the volume offers sumptuous fare even to the general reader.

M.P.P MORAL DILEMAS IN THE MAHABHARAT Ed. by B.K.Motilal Published by Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi. Price: Rs. 95/-

The recent exposure of the Indian people to the remarkable Televisions serial on Mahabharat has revived interest in some of the age-long questions posed in the epic. Was Bheeshmas clinging to his vow-made under questionable circumstances-justified at the cost of ruination of the dynasty? In the words of Lord Krishna, had a vow greater claims than truth? Had Yudhisthir any right to stake Draupadi after he had lost himself in the gamble? What about the Charioteer’s subordinating truth to untruth in the interests of the larger good? To what extent is Dharma compromisable? These and many such legitimate questions have baffled the Indian mind and been the subject of many debates. The present selection of 13 learned papers presented at a colloquim at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, in 1988 focuses attention on issues arising out of these dilemmas. Peter Della Santina  discusses the concept of Dharma according to the Shrmana and the Brahmana. Dubey points to some integrity even in Duryodhana and the failure of Pandavas to conform to the high Ideal. Jani deals with the practice of polyandry instanced by the marriage of Druapadi. He draws attention to the fact that the system is still prevalent in some parts of India. Kantawala raises many moral implications of Niyoga. Agrawal quiestions how far Krishna’s answer to Arjuna was ethical. Is the obligation of Dharma perpetual? Is the observance of truth in speech always a must - these and other questions and dealt with by the authors of these stimulating papers.

Dr. Motilal’s brilliant introduction underlines the strong points and the weak in these presentations. Speaking of Krishna-ethics in the Mahabharata, he commends the flexibility and practical wisdom dis­cernible in his conduct which is in contrast with the Dharma of Rama which was very rigid, seldom bending.

A delightful collection to be dipped into again and again.

M. P.PANDIT

The Woman and Other Stories by Gangadhar Gadgil. Published by Sterling New Delhi. Price: Rs.130/-

It would be no exaggeration to say that Gangadhar Gadgil is the leading short-story in Marathi. He pioneered the Navakatha or the “new” Marathi short-story over four decades . In his long career as a scholar, teacher, journalist, and man of letters, he has published over fifty works, many of them collections of short-stories. The present volume brings together sixteen of his best-known stories, translated into English.

Each story in this collection is perfectly crafted. Professor Gadgil observes the frailties of lower-middle class, urban life with a surety and sharpness that are starting, and almost painful. The degradation of human life, the feeling of being cornered, trapped, and defeated comes out very well. Yet, his sympathies are always with the underdog - the harassed housewife, the orphaned waif, the honest old man from the country clinging to his values in a corrupt city. The satires are mostly in what one might call the “high mimetic” mode; that is, they use “realism” in its best traditions. The treatment of the characters is highly evocative and moving, reminiscent of the neo-realism of a film like De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. We can actually see the grime, the poverty, the sordidness of city life in these stories.

Though a detailed analysis of the book is not possible here, I must mention how absorbing, gripping, and challenging each story is. The collection may truly be termed “unputdownable.” Moreover, not all stories are in the same narrative mode. “The Truth of the Matter,” which seems to explore the psyche of a disturbed protagonist, mixes fantasy and reality in a novel, almost post-modern way. The story seems to draw attention not only to the perceiving self, but also to the flimisiness of reality so perceived.

The translations are competent throughout. Some of them are by I an Raeside of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. It is not clear who has done the rest. Such lack of information becomes somewhat inconvenient. For instance, the dates and original publication information of the stories ought to have been given. Any serious reading of the book would benefit from such information. Similarly, a little more apparatus, including perhaps an Introduction would have enhanced the value of the book. That would, perhaps, have brought its volume to 200 pages, not an unreasonable size at all. It would also have been more in keeping with the expectations from a hardcover edition. Otherwise, a book like this would be more saleable and readable if published in Penguin papers or some other such popular imprint.

            The Woman and Other Stories is a significant addition to Marathi literature in English translation. Certainly, it is compulsory reading for anyone interested in the modern Indian short story and therefore a necessary acquisition to any good library in the country.

Makarand Paranjape

            Statistics and Truth (Putting chance to work) By C.R.Rao Publisher: CSIR, New Delhi, India, (1989). p.143

The book comprises three pictures (called Ramanujan Memorial Lectures): I. Uncertainly, randomness and creation of new knowledge, II. Principles and strategies of data analysis, III. Statistics: An inevitable instrument in search of truth.

In the preface Prof. Rao states: ‘When I was a student, statistic was in its in fancy and I have closely watched its evolution over the past 50 years as an independent discipline of great importance and a powerful tool in acquiring knowledge in any field of enquiry.’ Further: ‘I have chosen to speak on the foundation, modern developments and future of statistics, because of developments and future of statistics, because of my involvement with statistics over the past 45 years as a teacher, research worker and consultant in statistics, and as an administrator managing the academic affairs of a large organisation devoted to statistics’. There is no doubt that Prof. Rao was the most suited person for the job which he has been called upon to do.

The Chief merit of the book is that you can start reading if form any page you like. Started on the last page, last para: ‘The following anecdote shows how disastrous the use apriori information can be! The prince traveling through his domains, noticed a man in the cheer­ing crowd who base a striking resemblance to himself. He beckoned to him over and asked:

Was your, mother ever employed in my palace? The man replied: No sir, but my father was.

The book is full of such scintilating pieces of honour but then Prof. Rao is making an important point on inductive inference.

Again on P. 137: Let us consider some concrete examples of the kind of problems that arise in real life situations.

(i)                  Ten witnesses say that the accused committed a crime and two say that he did not. Did the accused commit the crime?
(ii)                A woman says that a particular person has fathered her child and that person denies. How do we resolve this case? (see 2.13, P. 115).
(iii)               Will it rain tomorrow?
(iv)              Which of the two alternative theories of a scientific phenomenon is more appropriate? (See 2.18, P .123).

Many interesting case studies are presented and it is shown how the truth (or perhaps, statistical truth) is arrived at in each case using appropriate statistical techniques (See 2, Truncation, P.68)

On P .132, investing information is given about the chronological events in the development of statistics in India from 1895 to 1951. The year 1931 (Founding of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)) and 1933 (Starting of Sankhya (The Indian Journal of Statistic)) stand out as the most important ones.

An investing question is posed on P.20 (From, Mark Kac, Enigmas of Chance, Pp. 74-76. About a photographic tracing of Brownian motion in an experiment conducted by kappler in 1931, Kac says that it can be mimiced by a deterministic function.

for a sufficiently parsen, choosing a sequence of numbers and a scale factor. Kac asks: So what is chance? With the benefit of hindsight one might say that it is a ‘fractal’ a word coined and put to correct use by Mandelbrot in a number of interesting situation’ (Also see, Weierstrass Mandalbrot fractal function, M.V.Berry and Z.V.Lewis, Prof. Roy. Sol. Lond. A 370, P.P. 459-484 (1980)).

The author has briefly touched upon his own research work in statistics in Lecture II there is enough material to convince the reader that many abstract concepts can be put to use with a little imagination.

Summing up, I can say that the book is a brilliant analysis of what statistics is all about, the book is strongly recommend to both, the specialists and the non-specialists; the former will get to know a number of things about their own specialists which they might have missed, while, the latter will ask. Why they did’nt study such a fascinating subject earlier.          
I would urge the readers of this review to spare a couple of saturday afternoon to go through this book (Ten than 150 pages) and assure them that the study shall be highly rewarding.

Prof. Nigam

“Reconsidering Socialist Man”
B.P.R. Vithal, IAS. (Retd.)

Review
Prathapa Ramasubhaiah

In the above - captained treatise on perestroika and glassnost, the illustrious author extols them as a ‘resumption of revolution with new dynamism’ reminiscent of Bolshevik Revolution. He suggests that both Russia and U.S.A ‘by showing a greater compacity for understanding and accommodating each other, are especially responsible for the safety of the future world with both as guarantors. He advises that just as the soviet union has ‘realised its mistakes and is correcting itself’ Capitalism also must see its own inadequacies and adopt some features of socialism’. Here the author evidently ignores the basic facts of irreconcilability between capitalism and Marxian socialism and suggestively arrives at a conclusion that by mutual accommodation, most of the contradictions could he happily solved in the larger interest of the entire humanity. In wishful thinking he argues ‘following the logic of Gorbachev’s proposals, the live will have to he drawn beyond femin, beyond even conventional marxism? Paying fullsum tribute to him as seen to belong to the ‘new-breed of humanist marxists’, in support of Gorbachev, he warm of the speetre of nuclear annitulations haunting humanity lending relevance to the concept of human values impelling Gorbachev to break from the conventional Marxist approach to a generic concept such as human values. Quoting Gorbachev, “We have fought a deeper understanding of the inter-relationship between working class interest and those of humanity as a whole”, an idea built into Marxism from the outset’; this led us to the conclusion that common human values have a priority in our age, this being the core of our new political thinking – the moral values that have had over centuries been evolved by nations and generalised and spelled out by humanity’s great minds” (Sarve Janasukhino Bhavanthu), the writer stresses that the new historic task of the summit powers should he to find a common basis for humanity’s survival. Let us remind ourselves of past history how human society transformed into irreconcilable classes and denominations with dearly antagonistic in Lorests. And yet Gorbachev pleads to honour those common human values? It is a tragedy Gorbachev and his its most sight of the Marxism Leninism on whose foundations the great Bolshevik Revolution he came victorious leading to the establishment of Socialist State. It is equally strange how he speaks the language of philanthropic humanism probably drawing inspiration from M.N. Roy, a stal heart of the bygone communist International.

Taking we from Gorbachev, Sri Vithal argues that the theory of Marxism-Leninism has got to be ‘humanised’ so as to make it adaptable to the emerging world situation when capitalism and socialism must learn to co-exist as twins. That the international situation has so markedly changed warranting radical revision of the out-dated Marxism has of late become the pet slogan of intelligentsia. What is the material change that occurs in the lives of the general mass of people? The ever widening disparities between classes and communities, the tribal wardness and exploitation, the religious, linguistic, ethnic and cultural animosities, the degradation of moral and ethical Values, the all-pervading rampant corruption, the oppressive national debt problem, the sky-rocketing inflation and cost of living, the wretchedness of grinding poverty and destitution and destitution and the ever-present cases of molestation of women - all these persisting grave evils are barely demanding immediate Marxist - Leninist solution.

What Gorbachev emphasised in his own books on ‘mutual accom­modation’ need be carefully heeded to: ‘It goes without saying that no socialist country (meaning Russia) can successfully move forward in a healthy rhythm without understanding solidarity and mutually ben­eficial co-operation with the other ‘fraternal nations’ (implying the newly fraternised western countries). Is this not bidding good bye to the Leninist slogan of self-reliance! In one of his recent books Gorbachev is more explicit about his leanings on the west where he says! ‘I have explained on many occasions that we do not pursue goals inimical to western interest. We know how important the Middle East, Asia, Latin, America, South Africa and other third world regimes are for American and West European economics in particular for raw material sources. To cut these links is the last thing we want to do and we have no desire to provoke ruptures in his forically formed mutual economic interest.’ Is this not again prostrating before class enemy cutting one’s own throat! What more glaring testimony is required about Gorbachev’s anti Marxist approach in handling international re­lations! Another piece of clear and unambiguous testimony is found in the Pamphlet published in millions of copies dated 10th June 1989 for free international consumption by ‘Pravda’ appealing ‘To Iraq Rus­sia’s international relations into the realm of ideological polemics is meaningless. Whatever the magnitude ideological, economic and other diver genies between the western countries and ourselves, we are all the common children of Mother Earth; Our common objective is one and the same’. Is it not patent enough how narrow self-seeking nationalism replacing Marxist-Leninist internationalism is taking deep roots both in the Russian communist Party and its body politic beyond the pale of Marxism-Leninism?

In line with Gorbachev’s declared formulation, the secret agreement between the Botha’s South African Government and Russia (di­vulged in the English language Press) reveals the fact that both the countries would mutually co-operate in exploiting the mineral wealth in their countries to their ‘greatest mutual advantage. This is how the double tongued ‘Socialist’ State holemoles with the rapacious racial South Africa in jointly fleecing the flood of black labour!

Thanks are due to the author who unequivocally commented on the diabolical Russian policy. He says! ‘Obviously then it is not the nature of imperialism that has changed but the attitude of the socialist state to the needs of imperialism that has changed.
When all the fundamental tenet of Marxism-Leninism and its prac­tice are thrown to winds and acquisition of private property, renuncia­tion of class and look and communist party’s leading revolutionary role, balancing of socialist interest with those of capitalism, relinquishing protestarian dictatorship and solidarity with world working class are constitutionally legitimised, to call perestroika a revolution is highly contradictory to Marxist - Leninist practice.

On the raging and controversial problem of stalin’s personality cult, the reputed author rightly says that the strong subjective element of make suspicious, fear and insecurity got sharpened as he became rather isolated in his position of eminence resulting in traffic human consequents from which lessons have to he drawn. There is thus a dilemma facing the communists the world our posedly stalin’s internal contradiction between the ideological line and his warped personality. He was a split personality, a peculior combination of strength and weakness, hitherto unknown and unheard in the amals of international communist leadership. While uncompromisingly resisting reformision he lagged behind in the application of dialectical materialism in carrying forward some of his polices in crucial times. The cult of personality attributed to stalin stemmed party from his domineering postures and partly from the over bearing glorification of his heroic role by his coterie ‘In situations when subjectivism gamed upper hand in him, he exhibited it in such an imperious way that he appeared to he separating from the people and taking a narrow view in judging the nature of contradictious every where, resulting in confusion to find out a solution of intriguing and intricate problems.

The author’s opinion that there is an element of truth in the view expressed else where that the ‘stalin phenomenon’ was an unevitable consequence of the concept of the role of the Communist Party and of the dictatorship of proletariat is groundless. On analysing his overall personality and performance, one may just finally and reasonably conclude that in carrying out his most overous and oppressive responsibility in those abnormally critical times as head of the state, as the general secretary of the party, as the leader of Com­munist International and as the generalissemo in the Rilearation war, Stalin developed an element of extreme subjectivism often to the fun­damental precepts of Marxism. But not withstanding, these serious shortcomings, while assessing Stalin’s role. Sympathisers of Marx­ism - Leninism should reasonably take a balanced and historical view and unbaisedly judge his outstanding revolutionary role in building the socialist state, in confronting revisionist and conspiratorial groups, in guarding Marxism - Leninism as apple of the eye and his most in­spiring, disciplined and heroic lead in the liberation war. One of the brightest points on his side was his ever-penetrating revolutionary activities with those of the world working class.

In the depressing and degenerating social scenerio described in Gorbachev’s own words, and in a situation where the whole Russian society has transformed into several economic, social and political stratas, the problem posed by the author as to which class is to fight against which class needs an answer. The direct and the only answer is whichever class is subjected to economic, Political, Social, intellectual, cultural and spiritual exploitation should resolutely fight to the finish against such exploiting class.

Regarding the momentous convulsion thats book the East Euro­pean people, the author appropriately assessed them as the tragic outcome partly of the corrupt and unforthy satellite leadership and partly of Russian polices which un politically imposed socialism down the throats of the unprepared masses who were strange to revolu­tionary traditions. The result to day is their contempt and out past of frustrated anger enlininasing in the forcible overthrow of the discred­ited leadership who overnight changed colours and filled the ranks of western social democrats.

To the pertinent question the author put to himself why alleviation so deep and widespread in Russia to-day after 70 years of Communist hegemony, the answer he himself gave that ‘nationalism is capable of overcoming alternation more effectively than economic and social structural changes’ is wrong and misleading (with due respect to the author’s sentiment). The very East European Communist leadership which the reputed author castigated and the inefficient and half­-baked post-Stalin Communist leadership are solely responsible for the sorrowful alienation of those people from the path of Marxism-Leninism and it socialist practice. Not these nationalism but nationalism which should identify itself with and incorporated in internationalism as practised by dedicated communists, would certainly go a long way contributing to overcome alienation.

Foreseeing the degenerating development Lenin often stressed the need for the unceasing classpaggles under the dictatorship of proletariat with new weapons. He could also foresee that the struggle against revisionism would become sharps with the consolidation of socialist state while the sorrowful spectacle now is, let alone the consolidation, even the concept of such struggle.

The author seems to be sincere in commending ‘Indian Marxist’ approach (an idea probably derived from the policies pursued by Communist and Marxist) in solving the ills and imbalances in the socialist world. Perhaps he might also be inspired by Gandhian method of peaceful evolutionary process through which his conception of socialism might be achieved. Many high intellectuals contribute to this conception which militates against class-based and class-oriented Marxism-Leninism. There is nothing like Indian Marxist approach, or Chinese Marxist approach Russian Marxist approach. No trade mark or no brand in attached to Marxism-Leninism. The ideology is strictly universal and its application much necessarily depend on the particular country’s distinct and peculiar circumstances failing which adverse result would ensue. In the author’s view the ‘Indian Marxist’ approach might be synonymous with Gandhian non-violent one. Marxists and Leninists look at it in a manner that it deserves.

Foreseeing the degeneration of Marxism, Lenin often stressed the need for the unceasing class struggles under the dictatorship up pro­letariat with new weapons. He could also forecast that the struggle against revisonism would become sharper with the consolidation of socialist state while the sorrowful spectacle now is, let alone the consolidation, even the concept of such struggle vanished into thin air and the socialist edifice built with tears, sweat and blood of millions is crack­ing before our eyes. From the apprehensions expressed by Lenin, it may be rightly concluded that more the world bourgeoisie, more than the right and left deviationists and adventurists, the centrists, the national chauvinists and more than the German and other Western social democrats and saboteurs of all sorts, if is the all-pervading re­visionism born out of the womb of world Communist movement and the upholders of perestroika that have proved more dangerous to the survival of communism and real world peace in Marxist - Leninist terms.

It is the mighty force of the combined and fortified Marxist and Leninist ranks that have to take up the challenge and resurrect and resuscitate the international Communist movement and fulfil the be­hests of the founders and perpetrators of Marxism-Leninism to its eternal glory and the glory of humanity.

WORDS OF THE MOTHER - By the Mother Parts 1 & 2 (Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry - 605002. 1989 Rs. 18 each)

It is the Guru’s presence that provides the transfiguring touch for man who aspires to live the Divine life. But not all are blessed to live in the immediate presence of such a loving Guru. For them, the Guru’s message is the life-giving nectar, the sustaining light which transforms humdrum human life into a tension-less divine existence. Full of common sense wisdom, the words of the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram have been a firm guiding spirit for millions of aspirants all over the world.

The Mother’s writings, lectures and conversations have been collected into twenty volumes and more. The two parts of "Words of the Mother" bring us choice sentences from her works to help us gain an immediate entry into the world of yoga sadhana. Handy, beautifully-produced, these two slim volumes are an all time treasure that kindle a sacred yearning in us:

“There is a love in which the emotion is turned towards the Divine in an increasing receptivity and growing union. What it receives from the Divine it pours out on others, but truly without demanding a return. If you are capable of that, then that is the highest and most satisfying way to love.”

“Let us work as we pray, for indeed work is the body’s best prayer to the Divine.”

“My Lord, make the consciousness clear and precise, the speech thoroughly true, the surrender complete, the calm absolute and transform the whole being into an ocean of light and love.”

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT AND THE STATUS OF WOMEN: A case Study, of Virasaivism By Leela Mullatti (Abhinav Publications, E-37. Hauz Khas, New Dehi - 110016. 1989 Rs. 110) 

The paradox in our social reality is painfully obvious. Womanis revered as the Adya Shakti, the Mother, the Great Queen, the Goddess of the Superb Throne. But in every-day life she is treated as a drudge, a second-class citizen, an expendable item in the familial context. Leela Mullatti’s thesis is to prove that Karnataka’s bhakti movement which gave birth to the Virasaiva religion freed women of that community from the shackles of social disabilities sanctioned by tradition.

Dr. Mullatti chose women from one hundred Virasaiva families (rural, semi-urban) for her interview and has bravely analysed their answers inspite of being confronted by something akin to silence from most of them. There was definitely a change for the better with the advent of Basaveshwara as women were now given an honoured place in the society and were not shunned during the so-called pollution periods (menstruation, post-natal month) nor rejected when they lost their husbands. But such has been the pressure of societal mores that the Virasaiva ladies do not lead enviable lives in spite of the fact that nearly sixty women Shiva Charana poetesses have a high place in Vachana literature. Alas, even today the female children receive a raw deal in education:

“They (the women interviewed) explained that ‘schooling’ is not and cannot be the whole ‘occupation’ of their girls. This implied that, in their household ‘work setup’, they cannot afford to spare girls for schooling. As a matter of fact, they really do not see any great need for educating their girls as they have to be, after all, married and become housewives, mothers and farm workers.”

Some of the Virasaiva wedding customs which appear forward-­looking for Dr. Mullatti (the prospective groom going to the girl’s home for ‘bride-seeing’) are not special to the community. In any case when we come down to brass-tacks we see the additional indignity imposed upon Virasaiva women by the widely prevalent ‘sororal marriage’ which allows a man to marry the younger sisters of his wife with ease. The evils of dowry and prostitution are also present in this community. The rural woman is exposed to a harsh life-time and the only silver lining is that the life of a Virasaiva widow is not rendered intolerable.

Dr. Mullatti’s volume is welcome to Women’s Studies in India as in the microcosm of the Virasaiva women we are able to have a clear view of the disabilities suffered by the macrocosm made up of our long-suffering female population.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

STUDIES IN SRI AUROBINDO by V. Madhusudan Reddy (Institute of Human Study, Sri Aurobindo Darshan, 2-2-4/1. University Road, Hyderabad-500 044 - 1989. Rs. 110.)

The use of the preposition ‘in’ for the title by Prof. Madhusudan Reddy is significant in symbolic terms. One can never analyse ex­haustively the Aurobindonian world-view. But an earnest student can always dip in here and there, choosing a particular angle for the occasion. Which is what Prof. Reddy has done in this extremely readable volume. With his enviable command over the subtleties of world philosophies, he saves us from slipping into any intellectual whirlpool though confronted by awe-inspiring phrases like ‘metaphi­losophy’ and transformative synthesis’. We learn with ease that Sri Aurobindo’s Supeman posits the idea of the highest self-manifestation of the Spirit in Matter. Not destruction but transformation is the Au­robindonian message:

“Yoga has a key part in the divine plan, in the unfoldment of life’s concealed Truth. The unfoldment of the Spirit, its Light and Power and Joy in and through the mind, heart, life and body of man, Yoga chathushtaya, is part of the great plan and the purpose of human creation.”

The ‘transformative synthesis’ moulds together the ways of Works, knowledge, Devotion and Tantra. With a sincere surrender to the Guru, the miracle of transformation is made a common rite. Prof. Reddy’s in depth absorption in the epic Savitri makes him describe the poem as a cosmic computer that makes available the data of all time.

Prof. Reddy’s ‘The Vedic Action’ is a partial explanation of the termless fascination that draws us to Sri Aurobindo. The Vedic roots of the Aurobindonian philosophy are immediately ‘felt’ by the Indian psyche inspite of having been battered by the Western whirlwinds for the last two centuries. The Vedas form the immovable foundations for Sri Aurobindo whose intuitive mind swiftly enters the core of the Vedic vision. The Vedic vision is one of action, the transformation of the hearer and the reciter of the Vedic word:

“The Vedic vision is born out of a secret identity with the Divine, and its action is the direct result of the self-conscient knowledge of the seers. It is this self-conscient knowledge of the Veda which informs and initiates the total action of the universe into self-fulfilling channels. In fact, it is this self-conscious action of Truth which determines the law of Nature and sends the cosmos spiraling into the super-nature of the Divine.”

Sri Aurobindo with a Guru’s solicitude has revealed to us our spiritual heritage, the treasures gathered by our ancient seers. There are no adequate words to express our gratitude to this modern Rishi. ‘The Spiral of Human Perfection’ brings up the rear of this philosophically energising bunch of essays marked by Prof. Reddy’s unswerv­ing optimism that man shall yet overcome Ignorance and Death to achieve knowledge and Ananda.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

SELECTED POEMSBy Mahadevi Varma Translatted from Hindi by L.S. Sinha (Writers Workshop, 162/92, Lake Gradens. Calcutta 45. 1987. Rs. 100)

Hemrani Devi’s love for the devotional poetry of Surdas and Mirabai, and Govind Prasad Varma’s progressive outlook resulting from his strivings as an English teacher are both reflected in their daughter’s work. Mahadevi Varma is the first example of tradition and newness in modern Hindi literature.

Born in 1902, Mahadevi took her post graduate degree in Sanskrit and worked as the principal of the prayag Mahila Vidyapith for thirty years. Teacher, editor, poet and politician: Mahadevi contained multitudes. She received the Jnanapith Award in 1981.

Mahadevi is best known as a chayavad poet. Along with Jayashankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant and Surya Kant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, she con­tributed a great deal for changing the sound structure of the Hindi language. Gone was the harshness of the Dwivedi Age. The mood of the poet inter-acted with the nature around and the phrases smiled through tears. In his excellent introduction, L.S. Sinha analyses some passages of Mahadevi with reference to the chayavad style. Human­ism and romanticism revolutionised even the concept of bhakti. In one sense, chayavad tended to idolize platonic love. However, with Mahadevi we rise even beyond mere platonic love and enter the realm of the spirit.

“she has lifted human love to a high degree of divine love where the lover or the devotee can see nothing but her beloved or lord who manifests himself in everything observable.”

Most of the poems for this collection have been called from Neehar (The Mist), Neerja (The Lotus), Sandhya Geet (Evening Songs) and Deep Sikha (The Flame of Lamp.) Together they form an anabasis, a searching journey for the meaning of life. The purpose of this journey is understood only when the vision of the Lord is vouchsafed to the wayfarer. For, it is that nameless Presence, that formless Divine, that limitless Being which pervades creation as the blue of the sky, the emerald of the leaves, the glow of the lamp and the opacity of darkness. The vision is possible, and we can come face to face with the Divine provided we made a decisive movement of the will and break the shell of egoistic separativity that encloses us. Then all is God, and even the inevitability of death becomes something one doesn’t dread anymore.

“The melody is the soft wick
and every note burns as a delicate flame,
the vibrations of the strings, moist with my love,
spread all over like light,
let me turn this hour of death into a festival of light”.

The movement towards God thus become the goal. “My path has become my salvation”. Studded with gripping images (the rush of the mountain stream, the lines marked on the sand), Mahadevi’s poetry in L.S. Sinha’s version is balm to the concrete-cabined mind in the throes of a deep spiritual dislocation. This is poetry that makes life a worthwhile adventure.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

ANIMAL WELFARE AND NATURE: HINDU SCRIPTURAL PERSPEC­TIVESBy G. Naganathan (Theosophical publishing House, Adyar, Madras-600 020. Price and year of publication not mentioned)

At the dawn of civilization, even as man learnt the valuable art of living together with his fellow human beings, he noted that nature and animalia could also be brought into this mandala of cooperative endeavour. The blue sky above the head and the green turf beneath one’s feet signified the holy temple of Sakhambari. Man instinctively realised that he should not fritter away the innumerable gifts placed at his service. He had been endowed with a mind and was thus at the topmost rung of the evolutionary ladder. Alas, this mental power has brought arrogance in its wake in the recent centuries and modern man has been engaged in a macabre dance of destruction. Faster and faster move his gory steps as the environment is sullied beyond repair through man’s avaricious greed for enjoying life at the cost of the life around him.

G. Naganathan’s slim book is a timely warning to us. Binding a sprig of carefully chosen quotations with his thought-provoking sentences, the author persuades us to listen to the voices of the past before it is too late to save this earth, this space-ship Sakhambari. These voices are meant to engage us into action. A good beginning would be the virtue of Ahimsa extolled by the Mahabharata and even the Panchatantra:

“The holy first commandment runs not harsh but kindly be - and therefore lavish mercy on the louse, the bug, and the gadfly.”

Not that it is an easy commandment to follow, as Sri Naganathan makes it clear: “My murderous tendencies end with swatting a mosquito and prompt remorse thereafter!”

Sri Naganathan does well to point out that Hinduism did not advocate animal sacrifice. Thus the Mahabharata: “The penances of a man that abstains from cruelty are inexhaustible. Just by his existence he is performing always sacrifices. He is father and mother to all creatures.”

Long, long before J.C. Bose, the Vedic rishis recognised that the plant kingdom too possessed consciousness and hence trees were considered divine. The cutting down of green trees for firewood was considered a sin and Manu has laid down rules on how to expiate this sin. The ancients frowned upon meat-eating as well.

Dharma is the foundation on which Hinduism is placed firmly. This Eternal law - Sanatana Dharma - gives importance to the spirit of the word and thus no legal quibbling can allow a sinner to go scot­free. It is this interpretation that is signified by the term Rita that could well-serve as the creative mantra for our ecologists the world over. Here is a passage from the Rig Veda:

“For one that lives according to Eternal law,
The winds are full of sweetness.
The rivers pour sweets.
So many plants be full of sweetness for us.
Sweet be the night and sweet the dawns.
Sweet the dust of the earth.
Sweet be our Father Heaven to us.
May the forest trees be full of sweets for us.
And full of sweetness the Sun.
May the kine be full of sweetness.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

CDMMENTARIES ON THE DHAMMAPADA By The Mother (Sri Au­robindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1989. Rs. 12)

There are three incandescent handbooks in India that have helped man live the good life: The Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit, The Tirukkural in Tamil and The Dhammapada in Pali. These ethical scriptures have applied the needed correctives to our culture in times of tension and stress. They have inspired people through the ages and have made India the Guru of the world.

Ever since Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia captured the imagination of the West, Buddhism has become a growing force in the Occident. The Dhammapada received further ovation thanks to the Theosophical Movement. Though Buddhism does not positively accept the existence of the God-idea, the life of Buddha and the enormous Buddhist literature in Pali have become the fond treasure of humanity. It is in this context that the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry decided to give a series of talks on The Dhammapada to a group of students and members of the Ashram in 1957-58.

One of the finest intuitive commentaries to date, the lectures are themselves a lesson on how to go about teaching in a classroom. Prime importance is given to the actual text on hand. Each chapter is read out and absorbed. The Mother is never violent even when she disagrees with the Buddha. But she lingers for a brief while in such places to help the Aurobindonian sadhak on his way. For, faith in a Supreme Power is the basis of the Aurobindonian world-view.

Though there are no references to earlier commentaries, it is very clear that the Mother brings a wide reading to her analysis. Her own no-nonsense approach tempered by her finely cultured sensibility keep the student alert all the time. There is a palpable closeness between the listeners and the teacher. And she herself leads them in meditating upon The Dhammapada in the light of what has been said in the class. Here is a verse from The Dhammapada:

“He has insulted me, he has beaten me, he has humiliated me, he has robbed me’. Those who nourish thoughts such as these never appease their hatred.”

Pointing out how the Buddha is inculcating mental discipline in this chapter of twin-verses, the Mother says:

“... the Dhammapada will give us examples, but examples are only examples. We must ourselves learn how to distinguish thoughts that are good from those that are not, and for that you must observe, as I have said, like an enlightened judge – that is to say, as impartially as possible; it is one of the most indispensable conditions.”

As an ethical document The Dhammapada takes care of man’s purity in word, speech and action. However, being the testament, of a prophet, the words also carry lessons for our advancement in ‘the spiritual path, For instance, the Mother points out that when The Dhammapada speaks of faith, it is not a belief in some religious dogma. According to her, what the Buddha wants us to have is “faith, in one’s own possibilities, the certitude that whatever the difficulties, whatever the obstacles, whatever the imperfections, even the negations in the being, one is born for the realisation and one will realise.”

The Mother’s commentaries read by themselves form a new Dhammapada in the light of Sri Aurobindo’s vision. Like the Buddha’s, words, her words also pursue us into silent meditation. Old age is not the amassing of years but “the incapacity to grow and progress”; “If you are vigilant, you change each circumstance of your life, each action, each movement into an occasion for coming near the goal.”; “one must be good for the sake of being good”; “the true Nirvana is the disappearance of the ego into the splendour of the Supreme”; the true victory must be won in life itself.”

The Mother’s commentaries close-with a benedictory statement full of prayerful humility:

“We are grateful to the Buddha for what he has brought for human progress and, as I told you at the beginning, we shall try to realise a little of all the beautiful things he has taught us, but we shall leave the goal and the result of our endeavour to the Supreme Wisdom that surpasses all understanding.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

ACROSS THE FALLING SNOWBy Baldev Mirza (SL Publications, Kothi Zamirabad, Raghubirpuri, Aligarh-202001. 1989. Rs. 40)

SELECT POEMSBy A. Padmanabhan (Poets Press, Madras-42. 1988. Rs. 15)

STEPPING STONESBy T.M. Raghuram (Poets Press, Madras-42. 1988. Rs. 15)
TAMASO MAA JYOTHIRGAMAYABy A.P. Mukundan (Samakeelan Prakashan, New Delhi. 1990. Rs. 30)

Baldev Mirza’s Across the Falling Snow tops the bunch as the best production in terms of printing and format. A couple of sketches by Sar­fraz and Erich Novosel give the volume a special dignity. Metaphorical statements that could madden the makers of the Alankara Shastra make interesting reading:

“When night wrings
its wet cloak on
the floor of darkness
the dying flames leap up
there wake up snow-white angels
and clamour for shadows
holding golden bowls
in their hands.”

A. Padmanabhan’s prolific pen is generally employed in favour of the under-dog and it is good to have this selection from his published poetry. ‘Sixty Summers’ from his recent poetry stands witness to the poet’s faith in a Guiding Power from above, brought to us through a striking image in ‘The Creeper and I’.

Stepping Stones is quite another cup of tea. Dark humour hangs like a pall on most of the poems. A melancholy grace marks ‘A Sepa­ration’ and ‘Rocks’, ‘Five Star Subculture’ lashes out at the inhumanity of ‘the social animal’:

“this is the twentieth century
palace of illusions
a citadel of currency notes
a glittering concrete temptress
enticing the passing pedestrian
into believing and disbelieving
such unattainable luxury
is just a stone’s throw
from their humdrum existence.”

We breathe easier with A.P. Mukundan who takes us away to the creative past, the great dreams, achievements, symbols and images of literary art.

The Matsya avatara, Shiva-Rudra sporting the crescent moon and the serpent, Dante’s Beatrice, and characters from the Ramayana appear in these poems giving them a specific tonality betraying the poet’s unexceptionable Sanskrit scholarship. Incidentally, he exploits with creative verve the moon symbol which is also the poetic damozel, Mymoona. One is reminded of Robert Graves and his obsession with the White Goddess.

It is also heartening to note that the poet’s soft touch integrates a nation divided by religion. Of the Ramayana TV serial, then:

“It was not temple or mosque but television set
It was not ballot box but a balloon shop
Beards, turbans, tufts, purdahs, crosses
Could for an hour forget their differences.
A fatal hour that knelled the
Mortality of social morality
Founded on differences...
Mymoon was still wiping a tear, a new drop
Memories had run

A new tear drop that cleansed
the cloud on memory.”

CONVERSATIONS 1929, 1930-31 THE MOTHER(Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1989. Rs. 18)

The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was a ‘complete’ mother. There was no aspect of the ashramite’s life in Pondicherry that was beyond the ken of her notice. She tended with loving care the physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual aspects of the sadhak’s personality. There were the sundays in which she meditated with the disciples and answered their questions with deep understanding. She had a beautiful way with parables too and the sadhak entered the high seriousness of yoga in almost an imperceptible manner. Fortunately for us, these conversations have been recorded. The ideal teacher quietly takes us in hand and leads us on the path of life divine and we fare well and fare forward.

The three years chosen here deal with a variety of subjects. At every step there is an important lesson for our day-to-day life. The only demand of the Mother is that we consecrate all our actions, thoughts and speech to the Divine. Even yoga is to be performed for the sake of the Divine:

“Yoga does become dangerous if you want it for your own sake, to serve a personal end. It is not dangerous, on the contrary, it is safety and security itself, if you go to it with a sense of its sacredness, always remembering that the aim is to find the Divine.”

Religion, for instance, belongs to “the higher mind of humanity.” But we lose its help in approaching the Divine if we choke it with man-made dogmas:

“The articles and dogmas of a religion are man-made things and, if you cling to them and shut yourself up in a code of life made out for you, you do not know and cannot know the truth of the Spirit that lies beyond all codes and dogmas, wide and large and free. When you stop at a religious creed and tie yourself in it, taking it for the only truth in the world, you stop the advance and widening of your inner soul.”

            Conversations is an amrutha surabhi for the receptive heart. We learn how to tame our anger, overcome nameless fears, receive spiritual sustenance from music and dance (“art is nothing less in its fundamental truth than the aspect of beauty of the Divine manifestation) and the cultivation of the Power of Right Attitude. If we meditate on the Mother’s advice and try to follow it, there will be no more any place for sorrow, depression, inferiority-complex, self-pity and frustration in our lives. All life will then become yoga.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

Contemporary Indian English Love Poetry (An Anthology) - Edited by Dr. I. H. Rizvi; pp:88. Price: Rs. 70 (paper ) & Rs. 100 (hard­bound).

Wandering Fragrance - by Dr. I. H. Rizvi; pp 80 price: Rs. 40 (PB) Both books are published by PRAKASH BOOK DEPOT, Bara Bazar, Bareily- 243 003 U.P.

What Sri Aurobindo had said of ‘Humour’ – “the salt of existence” ­- holds true to ‘love’ too. Planet Earth would have had her doomsday long , had there been no ‘love’ at all. What then is ‘love’? ‘Love’ like ‘poetry’ cannot be properly defined. Every one has his or her own definition to give. And who can define ‘Love Poetry’?

Dr. I. H. Rizvi, a widely published poet with several volumes of poetry and edited anthologies to his credit, has made an attempt to define ‘Love Poetry’. In this ‘Preface’ to the book of love poetry, he writes:

“Love is the palace of many-coloured glasses. It takes numberless forms. True poetry springs from the fountain of the heart of a poet who loves, has loved and perhaps lost. And poetry which has won the hearts of the largest number of its lovers is love poetry. Man may die, but the song of love will survive.”

Thirty four poets who have a good standing in the realm of poetry join Dr Rizvi to define love in all its variety. Very frank in their ex­pressions these thirty-five poets (including the editor) provide a feast to the readers who may find love which is “earthly, celestial, sensu­ous, sensual, sexy, hesitant, carefree, abandoned, charged, yielding, denying, lovely, deserted, disarmed, accepting and forgiving.”

Through ‘Love’ is defined in all its aspects here the physical attraction between the opposite sexes is given a predominant place by almost all the poets, perhaps to denote that love takes its genesis from there. A peg of eroticism added at times serves as appetiser.

Dr Rizvi deserves a pat on his for gathering together the best love poems by Indo-Anglian poets. And the book is an excellent candidate for anyone’s reading.

To Rizvi, ‘Love’ is a continuing process. Innumerable are its forms. He carries on this concept to his fourth collection of poems titled WANDERING FRAGRANCE, which contains 99 new poems and 25 odd ones reprinted from his first volume Failing Petals. “My heart melts like wax at different sights – something beautiful, something touching, something that makes the heart, something that acts like manna dew, ambrosial drink and perennial source of inspiration,” avers the poet in his ‘Preface’.

True to his words, Dr Rizvi has a sharply observant eye. Not only is the garment of a gypsy girl meticulously described, but also the sorrow that grips the heart of a widow. He laments over the missed opportunities and is jubilant about the cherished dreams. He has a message to the living and the dead. He has one even for the unborn too. In fact he envies the unborn in these lines: “Don’t regret not to have seen light/Of this so called delightful world./It’s good fortune not to be here/That only few, like you, enjoy.”

Rizvi’s subject matter ranges from a hair to the battlefield. He does not hesitate to make a dig at the ‘Godman’ who is “on the look out/for a ‘godwoman’/to make a suitable match”. He reflects on “What is wrong on this fair earth?” Only to find that “...truth is crippled, twisted, maimed,/ And falsehood boasts of mighty gain”. He unravels to the readers the ‘Secret of Life’; but is flabbergasted by the ‘Race of cheats’ and racks his brain over the questions: “Why on earth prospers race of cheats/ And why their mills for ever grind?”

Fifteen years have passed since the publication of his first volume of poetry and now the poet in him has become a philosopher. The poems included in this volume are reflections of a thinker who is capable of seeing the world both through his physical and inner eyes. These carefully thought out, and carefully crafted poems are serious to the core. But it need not be construed that the poet has no sense of humour. Here is one titled ‘Sparing the Trouble’ to make you smile and then ruminate over:

“I am a masculine figure.
I wish I were made of
Transparent fibre glass
So that the straining fem’nine eyes
Might be spared the trouble
of underssing me in thought.”

P. RAJA

A Village Girl (A Collection of Short Stories) - by S. P .SHARMA. Published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta. Pp:59. Price:Rs.50 (HB), Rs.30(PB).

The fate of Indian women - be she child, or a bride or even an old mother-in-law is admirably portrayed in many of the eleven short stories included in this collection. The author, S.P. Sharma, while showing their plight makes a dig at the society, of course in a very subtle vein. The best in the whole lot is the last story titled ‘Death of Bride’. It tells the story of kamla, who at first was welcomed with fun and fanfare into her conjugal home by her in-laws only to be tortured and brutally murdered. When the criminals are caught, one among them – the cruel mother-in-law – confesses that she had collected one dowry article after another, only to satiate the dowry hunger of the prospective parents-in-law of her daughter. All was done with the good intention of saving her own daughter from death, in the hands of in-laws.

‘A guarded Secret’, ‘Village Wisdom’, ‘Impish Thought’ and ‘Vil­lage Justice’ can easily pass for children’s stories of wit wisdom; and the third among this four is a very delightful story of a beggar who likes to be whipped more in order to drive away the impish thought of getting a horse from a Prince who had already given away his blanket to him. ‘Headgear Trik’ is yet another interesting story of an untouchable who by his sheer headgear tricks, gets appointed as the supervisor of the untouchables. What is certain is that this story is written not only to tickle the readers to a belly - bursting laughter, but also to highlight the inhuman attitude of the high caste Hindus towards the untouchables.

A satirist to the core, S.P. Sharma allows many of his characters to speak in abusive terms and they come alive in his blemish less language. These eleven short stories are mere explication of what a character in a story ‘A Typical Teacher’ utters: “There is no meaning in life for anyone of us”. And that is the reason why these well-executed stories continue to haunt our memory.

P. RAJA

A VISIT TO THE ZOO Poems by Lila Ray. Writers. Workshop, 162/92, Lake Gardens, Calcutta-45. Price: Rs.20.

Here are a few sensible nonsense rhymes with wackily funny impressions of animalia.

“What does a hedgehog do?
A hedgehog hugs a hedge”.

There is the mouse that drives his car, the alligator who rides an elevator, the elephant who crinkles his nose and the whale who is grumpy. There are a complex of cerebral poems (“A Little Grove in a Big Sky”) but that does not matter in this charming creation of Lila Ray that is a fine gift for all seasons. Children are sure to cherish it.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

THE COLOUR OF WOMEN: By Ruud Lohman. Writers Workshop, Lake Gardens, Calcutta-45. Price: Rs. 60.

An ordained priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Ruud Lohman was a wide traveller. Much of his active life was spent in India and he was involved in building the Matrimandir of Auroville, the City of Dawn envisioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. An original thinker with a mystic turn of mind, he wrote short stories off and on. All the stories in The Colour of Women are about the phenomenon of death and the facets of an interpenetrating universe that has but a very thin line dividing the worlds of the living and the dead.

Exploring the layers within dark matter and grey psyche, Ruud Lohman comes up with some rare combinations. It is the fictional world where long ago Oscar Wilde travelled in The picture of Dorian Grey. As sinister, true-to thoughts, provoking. “Shifting Frames” and “The Modern” are even thematically reminiscent of Wilde’s masterpiece, can creative art reflect the truth wholly and even take away a slice of that truth to robe itself in realism? The life-force of a mortal being can be transformed to the canvas; such is Lohman’s implied insinuation.

Tinkering with the phychic world to cause a death or overcome physical dissolution is the subject of stories like “The Art of Deathless­ness”, “Fatal love” and “The Art of Dying”. Use of psychic phenomena to upset mundane calculations, again, is demonstrated with twilight realism in “Akhnaton” and “Clementine”. “Line” is a cute short story of what happens when man becomes too curious in the course of research investigations. An enjoyable collection which reminds us that “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”.

Dr. PREMA NANDAKUMAR

POEMS 1985: By R. Rabindranath Menon, Garuda Printers & Pub­lishers, Cochin, 682024. Price: Rs. 30.

There was never any doubt about Rabinddranath Menon’s intel­lectual engagement and his several volumes of verse have elicited a dignified profit of creative thinking. For him this engagement has been a safety value:

“To be sensitive is to suffer
and to those in pain poem-vents offer
a liberation. To see and hear
and feel, yet suppress, is sheer suffocation ...”

For the sensitive person, life can, of course, be one long frustration. Irritations stab you on all sides. The long waits in airports:

“By the time you retrieve baggage
Add an year to your own age.
A lesson in patience, a chapter of strife
Comes free with the ticket, you need it in life.”

Mosquito: casteism: the farce of examinations. There are com­pensations too. A 35-year old marriage: “We can now boast of a challenge won”. The sunshine of promise seen in a child of three is matched by the author’s own welcome to retirement in old age:

“Rest is best when you’ve still the zest
for quest in life; the search, not the finding,
is alone important, and the real test”.

Dr. PREMA NANDAKUMAR

JANE AUSTEN: THE DIALECTICS OF SELF-ACTUALISATION IN HER NOVELS: By T. Vasudeva Reddy. Sterling Publishers Private Ltd., L-10, Green Park Extension, New Delhi - 16 Price: Rs. 95.

I had always considered Jane Austen a novelist to be read and enjoyed and quoted. Not really the stuff for academic dissertation. Not certainly for those dissectional critical terms like the dialectics of self-actualisation and dynamics of manners. It seems I was wrong. One lives and learns. Under the aegis of Sri Venkateswara Univer­sity T. Vasudeva Reddy was awarded a doctorate for his thesis on Jane Austen, submitted privately without a guide. All by himself, Dr. Reddy has triumphantly entangled the eminent story-teller in the steel-wires of “the characterology of the deluded self” (Northanger Abbey), “the adumbrations of the romantic self” (Sense and Sensibil­ity), “the acumination of the passional self” (Pride and Prejudice), “the predilections of the travelled self” (Mansfield Park), “the travai1s of the Narcissistic self” (Emma) and “the dynamics of the restituted self” (Persuasion).

Quite a cartload of ponderous verbiage to drag around when dealing with the unclouded voice that poured life into the all- time favourities: Elizabeth Bennet, Fanny Price, Emma Woodhouse.

Fortunately for us, Jane Austen triumphs over her doctoral tor­mentor. Except for isolated sentences, Dr. Reddy contents himself with retelling her stories and introducing the characters. And Jane Austen is what she is: a firm upholder of sheer commonsense in one’s approach to life. It is not money, status or flamboyance that can assure us of happiness in married life. A sound character, a sen­sitive approach to the sorrowing heart and steadiness of purpose can surely establish a heaven on earth and bring the entire load of spring’s bounty to the threadbare home of genteel poverty. Dr. Reddy’s attempt is to mark how Austen gets this message through by projecting the transformation in her characters like Catherine and Emma, Elizabeth and Darcy. The movement is from the nonsense of sentimentality, pride and prejudice to the sense of pragmatism, self-respect and critical intelligence. It is, of course, a happy ending always, bless the lady working on “the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory”, and we turn away, happier and wiser common readers all.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

MEENDUM BHARATI K. Stalin (Annam Private Ltd., 2, Sivankoil South Street, Sivagangai, 623560. 1987. Rs. 7/-)

Subramania Bharati’s poetry contain a multitude of different ideas connected with India’s national resurgence. At the turn of the century, he saw around him a slave nation and this was cause enough for his severe depression in poems like “Nenjil Uramum Inri”. At the same time, he detected the forces of renaissance in the heroic warriors of the political arena like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Sri Aurobindo and V.A. Chidambaram Pillai. So he suffered, prayed and hoped for a free country where people would not be blood-sucker tyrants or lack-lustre slaves.

Freedom came in 1947. Forty years after, the question arises: did Bharati’s dreams of a resurgent Bharat come true? K. Stalin imagines Bharati as surveying this land of broken dreams and betrayed promises in a conversationally tight poem. He has so given an English translation (somewhat sloppy) to help the non-Tamil reader.

The cruddy socio-political environment in contemporary Tamil Nadu succeeds in victimising Bharati himself. He is now a business proposition, a convenient launching pad for politicians, academicians and book publishers. Stalin is all biterness when with justification he spumes:

“You have shot films
Not on stories
But on actress’ flesh ...
You have named
The voluptuous weeklies
The family magazines ...”

And dare we refuse to listen, when he spits out:

“When are you going
To name the toddy shops
After Gandhi”.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

SELECT POEMS by A. Padmanabhan (Poets Press, Madras-42.· Rs. 20)

THE CUT-OFF POINT by Keshav Malik (Abhinav Publications, E-37,. Hauz Khas, New Delhi-11 0016. 1988.

TO THE STONES OF HALEBID by Kaninika Bhatnagar (Writers Work­shop, 162/92, Lake Gardens, Calcutta-45. 1989. Rs. 60)

In this world of escalating violence, poetry appears to have no place at all. That there are thousands of quill-scratchers who continue to publish is a matter for deep astonishment. Perhaps this is one patch of sanity left for man to hide his tired being. Certainly poetry has been the shady corner to relax for a busy IAS officer like A. Padmanabhan. He does not lose himself in buzzing bees and dripping honey but wields a socially relevant pen. The artless simplicity of a recent poem on the Tiananmen Square tragedy conveys spirals’ of suggestion regarding on the soulless destruction of promising lives; but Padmanabhan is not without the humanising touch of hope:

“The flowers have fallen:
But the Fragrance of Freedom lives on.
The Goddess of Democracy lies destroyed;
But the spirit of Democracy lingers on
For both, this is the beginning,
For the Second Long March”.

Keshav malik needs no introduction to the Indian reader and his latest volume of verse adds to his stature as a thought-provoking sculptor of significant verse. The very first poem, ‘New Era’. Shows how man is today celebrating the Black Mass in honour of the desecration of civilisation:

“The mortal state reordered
by this extraordinary hand or that –
­hands that know only themselves.
No Sun more upon altar,
service and mass given-but given the mirror
that images yet another empty mirror”.

The dilemma of the intellectual caught in a sociopolitical maelstrom is the subject of to surrender all. “Call”, “Janus” and “Mind, at Mid­noon. However, there are those rare, rare moments which help the poet cling to a hope that all will be well, yet:

“a dim hunch forming
into the clean outline of the though,
that beyond the laws
is the turning wheel of the eternal law”

To the Stones of Halebid is a chaos of sentiments presented with an instinctive charm. Kaninika is young and her poetry beings the freshness of spring to jaded hearts. She babbles on about the spirit of the woods, of “memories” tangled “web”, of relics of the dead, of laughter, of love and of the sculptures that enrich the vast spaces of our land:

“a living symbol
for all who believe in the spirit-immortal
for all who believe in man invincible,
for all who believe in life eternal
- a poem crystallized in stone’.

Dr. Prema Nandkumar.

THE TRAGIC VIEW IN THE PLAYS OF J.M. SYNGE by P.C. David (Prakash Book Depot), Bara Bazaar, Bareilly-243 003 1988 Rs. 90)

HENRY JAMES AND THE QUEST FOR AN IDEAL HEROINE by Tem­sula Ao (Writers Workshop, 162/92, Lake Gardens, Calcutta 700045, 1989 Rs. 150)

Reading Synge has always meant an entrance into the world of tragedy. His sense of atmosphere is unique. We cannot engage in cerebral analysis when actually listening to Nora’s words of loneliness or Maurya’s keening to lament her dead children or Chirsty’s outrageously imaginative talk. P.C. David is a reliable guide who makes us see beyond the depression and despair. Here are characters who have been shaped by the Occidental tradition of tragedy on the Irish earth. They have an illimitable strength to endure. Even the humour of Synge is tinged with the touch of tears in mortal things.

Dr. David is no cold analyst. His warm approach to this difficult playwright helps us regard the choice quotations from new angles of understanding. The insightful summing-up of each play is a delight to the lover of good literature. The plays are related to their historical context, their origins revealed and the story-lines paraphrased for our benefit. All the plays exemplify “the brave and stoic acceptance of reality”:

“One may call Synge unnecessarily morbid, lacking in sophisti­cation of expression – but through all this shines the suffering face of humanity nobly battling and heroically dying in the teeth of over­whelming odds. In this respect Synge is part of that ancient and reputed team of sensitive souls - Sophocles, Shakespeare, Racine, Arthur Miller - who did not hesitate to feel deeply and to display that feeling publicly, to love humanity and to use that love creatively, to admire Man for his nobility of temper and to put that admiration into words of undying charm and effectiveness.”

From Nora and Maurya of Synbge to Daisy and Isabel of Henry James is a big leap across. Yet they all belong to the gender that has suffered and struggled in time, the eternal woman. Dr. Temsula Ao’s is the more difficult subject for James was prolificity incarnate. 22 novels, 112 tales, essays of criticism, pieces for theatre. And the Jamesian woman is everywhere in this vast output!

The heroines of James have a high moral sense which ties them up often in complex knots as they come out of their American homeland to the older civilization of Europe. So much ‘goodness’ and ‘purity’ can never blossom splendorously in a materialistic society. Dr. Ao methodically goes through the several Jamesian situations in the major novels - Daisy Miller, Washington Square, Portrait of Woman, The Wings of the Dove - to trace the steady chiselling of the ideal heroine culminating in the figure of Maggie in The Golden Bowl. She is now no more ingenuous, romantic, ethereal, an easy prey to exploitation. Maggie Verver comes to terms with life without getting engulfed in psychic confusion or exterior hysteria. This self assurance will be a protective armour that no one, not even the grasping Amerigo, can destroy. Maggie will be no passive sufferer like Isabel Archer. Strangely enough this is what makes her the most humane of James’s heroines. As Dr. Ao rightly says,

“Maggie, therefore, personifies the new world-view which states that material and social privileges need not necessarily be incom­patible with moral consciousness and that the chasm between the conditions of life and art canbe bridged with a bit of accommodation for human limitations.”

Critical studies like the ones reviewed above help us keep faith in the art of criticism as a lamp of enlightenment.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

MISS PATANGIA IS BEAUTIFUL A Collection of Essays by Udai Bhanu Pandey (Rs. 60)

DISCONTENTS OF A CULTURE: THE INDIAN MALAISE ANALYSED Essays by Avijit Pathak (Rs. 80)

(Both books published by Writers Workshop, 162/92, Lake Gardens, Calcutta-45)     
Udai Bhanu Pandey has the lithe touch that makes an essay memorable. No profundity here, but we will always reserve a fond niche for Pandey’s Devdas, Jhapatram and Charpo Engti. Charming vignettes of Assamese life, all.

Avijit Phatak seeks to have something more difficult to chew in his essays. A sensitive soul must needs feel depressed by the cultural scenario in India today. And what a sterile and socially irresponsible culture this is. Vulgar exhibitionism is enthroned everywhere. There are the secular rituals like our Independence Day. Emphasis on wrong priorities has doomed the thinking man. He is no more capable of great achievement:

“At best, he can play video games, watch TV serials and read glossies and best sellers. Everything he does is designed to serve only one purpose. It must fill up the void and make him forget that the is sufferer, a victim, tragic hero. It is almost like a sleeping pill.”

What kind of spiritually civilising culture is possible in this atmo­sphere of corruption, violence, consumerism, political skull drudgery and stage-managed utsavs? There is then the mockery of secularism. Since secularism is a negative concept, the result is an inevitable religious revivalism:

“Its manifestations are many: from Khomenei to the Hippie move­ment. What is frightening is that religion in our times may prove to be a distortion, merely a reaction to a modern world-view. As a result, it may turn into fundamentalism, a form of violent orthodoxy. In that case, religion would be deprived of its sacred meaning - its humanness, flexibility and tolerance. Then, religion, far from being a noble experience, would appear to be an instrument of oppression.”

When Pathak concludes that “it is becoming increasingly difficult not to be sold” we have no proper word in our dictionaries to contradict him.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

PRAYER MOTIFS IN INDIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH With speical Ref­erence to Ramanujan, Kolatkar, Ezekiel and Daruwala by M. Sreerama Char (Writers Workshop, 162/92, Lake Gardens, Calcutta-45. 1988. Rs. 200)

SYMBOLISM IN THE POETRY OF SRI AUROBINDO by Syamala Kallury (Abhinav Publications, E-37, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-16. 1989. Rs. 130)

For all its rich variety, English literature still lacks the devotional strain. Except for the “Song of Solomon” and John Donne’s meta­physical lucubrations, the prayer motif is conspicuously absent. How­ever, when the English language came to be handled by Indians, the rich prayer poetry nurtured since vedic times exerted its pressure and suddenly there were poetic presences like Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu and Dilip Kumar Roy. The Aurobindoan stream flows rich still with iridiscent poets like Tehmi, K.D. Sethana, Nirodbaran, K. D. Deshpande, V.K. Gokak and K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar.

There is also the Lal group. They are not the type of prayerful poets who draw symbolism as well as spiritual sustenance from the God-idea. In fact, much of their poetry is descratoryin character. Is then sreerama Char engaged in searching for snakes in Iceland? It is evident he is a very close student of the Ramanujan - Parthsarathy group. He is also a dispassionate observer and the present study exhibits chunks of in-depth scholarship.

According to Mr. Char, these poets may talk expansively but they cannot deny their tradition for in their tradition lies their identity. For instance, Ramanujan’s Prayers to Lord Murugan is replete with “the notes of ironic acuity and the mocking acerbity of a cool realist.” This way the poet conveys best the modem angst”. The other poets are not radically different either.

Because of the cerebral use of the English language these poets invite comparison with the Metaphysical poets. Mr. Char’s analysis of Ezekiel in this ground makes this hunch plausible. Desecratory diction is another distinguishing trait of these poets. Phrases like “prostrate darshan of amorphous stone” (Daruwala) and “God is the word and I know it wards” (Kolatkar) are supposed to sting us into consciousness. In his enthusiasm, Mr. Char finds such spittle-­drizzelrs to be adepts in making creative use of sanctioned religious vocabulary. Fortunately, in this world of human affairs nothing fails like excess.

Symala Kallurys subject is ideal for writing a doctoral disserta­tion. Among Indian poets in English, Sri Aurobindo was the most prolific. He has written scores of sonnets, plenty of narrative poetry, numerous lyrics, dramatic verse, an unfinished epic (Ilion) and the sumptuous Mahakavya, Savitri. Since he was a practising yogin, and wished to convey his spiritual experiences through poetry, the lan­guage is necessarily symbolic. Besides, he was heir to the Oriental and Occidental traditions. His symbols have roots in the Vedic, the Upanishadic and Greek literatures. It would indeed be a formidable task to analyse this material and come up with cogent criteria and tabulated concepts.

Unfortunately Dr. Kallury (or her guide, he is not named) has taken it easy. Nothing could be more fatal when approaching the works of Sri Aurobindo. It is then not surprising that the book under review serves no purpose. Even the familiar details are not repeated with accuracy. For a student of English literature, Dr. Kallury wields a painfully inappropriate pen. For instance.

“On 5th December 1950 he (Sri Aurobindo) left his body and attained ‘Maha samadhi’. The body was said to have remained intact for four and a half days.”

Sentence structures and grammer often leave one gasping: take any page at random P. 23 or 32, 77 or 78. Again, Dr. Kallury appears to have no clear idea about the content of several works. Surely ‘The Rishi’ is not a verse drama to be listed along with Perseus the Deliverer and Vasavadutta. The Mahabharata does notcontain any upakhyana on Pururavas and Urvasi. When Dr. Kalury takes up individual poems to reveal their symbolistic nuances, she has no critical stamina to proceed and is satisfied with an indifferent paraphrase. Savitri is (mercifully) excluded from this study, Hence Symbolism in the Poetry of Sri Aurobindo doesn’t have any value except as the catalytic agent that got for the author a doctoral degree.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar

Panneerayira-p-padi - A study: By Dr. M. Varadarajan, Published by the Author, 60, Padmavathipuram, Tiruchanur Road, Tirupati - 517502 Rs. 70/- pp 383 July 1989.

The book under review is a doctoral thesis of the author being a critical study of Panneerayira-p-padi-a para-phrase commentary of Nammalvar”s Tiruvaymozhi. Heavy material in eight chapters with twelve appendices on the commentary by Vadikesari Alagiya Man­avala Jeeyar, is a fruitful study with a thoroughness quite useful to a student of Srivaishnavism. This study helps one to delve in research on Aarayirappadi, and others culminating in Muppattarairuppadi - the Eeedu, besides the interpretation of Periyavachchanpillai, the emperor of exposition of the Four. Thousand of the Alvars. The Commen­taries are in the manipravala style of a mixture of Sanskirt and Tamil and Panneerayirappadi toes the same method. Besides the devel­opment and growth of commentaries vis-a-vis Vaishnative devotional literature, the author deals in detail about the Jeeyar’s life and service and the literary, religious and unique position the commentary holds. While the scholarly treatment of the commentary extorts one’s admi­ration, equally useful are the appendices in the book, verily a guide to students desirous of undertaking a study of Panneerayirappadi. The author richly deserves the appellation of Upaya Vedanti - simultaneously Vedantin of both Sanskrit and Tamil - in having brought out a dependable treatise on the Twelve Thousand of Alagiya Manavala Jeeyar.

K. C. KAMALAIAH

Karamat Ali Karamat: The Story of The Way and Other Poems, Kamran Publications, Dewan Bazar, Cuttack-753 001, Pp.80, Price Rs 60; $ 15; 8.

Orissa born Karamat Ali Kamarat is a well-known Urdu poet and the exponent of Azad Ghazal. A professor of Mathematics, he is drawn to poetry with a sense of rhythm and melody. The ghazal made immortal by poets like Bahadur Shah Zafar and Mirza Ghalib has had a long history of poetic imagination running rife flooding vales of delight with its brevity and emotional fervour. Kamarat drawing inspiration from his teacher Garrate to whom he dedicates this volume collaborated with Mr. Russell in translating twenty of his poems from Urdu into English. Mr. Russell has done the Urdu poet another service by enriching the collection with a long exegetic essay the poems have rich echoes from celebrated poems: like Tennyson’s ULYSSES in I GO WEIGHTLESS and Eliot’s JOURNEY OF THE MAGI in the title poem THE SOTRY OF THE WAY. This is just to say that the richer the reader’s experience of and exposure to the English poetry, the richer would be his enjoyment.

Dr. V. V. B. Rama Rao

KANNADA

Virakta Rastraka D.V.G. A biography of Dr. D. V. Gundappa in Kan­nada D. R. Venkataramanan. Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs Basavangnor, Bangalore-4, Price: Rs. 25/-

The book under review by Mr. D. R. Venkataramana, a close dis­ciple of Dr. D. V. Gundappa is indeed an anthology of the important events from the life of this doyen of Kannada literature, compiled from all the writings of the author, as humbly submitted by the writer in the foreward. However, the credit narrating the same in the style of a Bosewell, by making it not sound like a chronology of events but read like a fiction - entirely goes to the writer.

Dr. Devanahalli Venktaramana Gundappa, popularly known as D.V.G., is a softy star in the gamut of Kannada literary luminaries. He was a journalist, a visionary, a political writer, a social worker, a devout savant of world of letters, a genius par-excellence besides being a great poet. At the same time he was a humorist of a rare quality in fact he called his brand of philosophy “Goundya Darshana” that is a typical brand of Gundappa. Manku-Timmana Kagga, his magnamopus which was almost considered for awarding the prestigious Peeth ward contains the quintessence “Goundya Darshana”.

D.V.G.’s life, spread over a period of over eight decades, has been captured in the autobiography in its varied colours in an inimitable style. The book contains a lot of archieval material which throws light on various national and state events. The letters written by D.V.G. to important personalities in public are of such importance. D.V.G.’s personality as a writer, political thinker, social worker, a scholar of Kannada, English and Sanskrit are also well brought out in the volume. Photos from the album of the bygone era have made the book more attractive. Anecdotes D.V.G. concerning even T. P. Kailasam, another doyen of Kannada drama, have added spice to the biography.

Anand a-600 Kumara swamy in his Independence Day message has given a call to the countrymen to follow the path of the Mahatma, Abdul Kalam Azad, D. V. Gundappa and Ramana Maharshi. That is enough to prove how high D.V.G. was held in his esteem. It is apt that biography of such personality of lofty heights is brought out during the centenary celebration of D.V.G.

The book deserves a place in the book-shelf of every Kannadiga as it contains invaluable information about D.V.G. and his contemporaries.

G.K.KULKARNI

Shri Krishna Devarayana Dinachari (Kannada), Shri B.M. Memorial Foundation 54, Arvind, 3rd Street, Gavipuram Extension, Bangalore-19. Price: Rs. 10/-

Did the famous king of Vijayanagar Empire Shri Krishnadevaraya maintain any dairy? We may at the most believe that the king ordered for writing of his diary by Mukku Thimmayya and Madayyanavar mallayya, his court poets. True, the names of these poets are not heard in the annals of Kannada literary history. And that should provide enough material for research. But these compilers of the events, of day-to-day life of their royal patron have stated in the book that they did so at the explicit orders of the king. And indeed the lovers of Kannada literature and the students of history should be grateful for this “poetic” work in prose a unique literary piece.

The book gives an eye-witness account of the king’s rule of first ten years. The chronological events of the mighty king are narrated with the authenticity of mythology. The story of the founding fathers of the kingdom is summed up in the beginning, taking the reader to the period during which the sage Vidyaranya returned from Kashmir after his studies to found the Vijayanagar Kingdom. The biograpahic details of the wars fought by the king and the men and material in his army given in the diary almost agree with the figures elsewhere quoted in the history. Details of every war fought and won by the king is accounted for including the victory over Orissa after which the king was bound in the wedlock with the daughter of the ruler, Gajapati Prataparudra. Picture descriptions of landscape and cities. Voluminous information about the fabulous wealth of the mighty empire are also narrated with near accuracy.

“Amukta Malyada” the Kavya in Telugu written by Sri Krishnadev­eraya contains valuable information about the ways a king must gov­ern his kingdom. A summary of all this is found in the diary, providing food for research as to which of them is written earlier.

The book is of historical importance as all “Dairies” are. It could also be worth to study as to how many such “Royal Diaries” are found in Kannada literature. Perhaps it is then that the book could claim to be the only literary piece of its kind.

The publishers have done a commendable job in publishing such a rare manuscript. The index to names of persons and places, and meanings of difficult words given at the end are very useful to students of literature and also to common persons.

G. K. KULKARNI

Early Vijayanagara, Studies in its History and Culture. Edited by Prof. G. S. Dikshit. Published by B.M.S. Smaraka Pratishthana, 54 Aravinda, 111 Cross Road, Bangalore-19. Price: RS.50/-

On the eve of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Aithikasika Ratna, Sri S. Srikantaya, the B.M.S. Memorial Foundation organised a seminar on Early Vijayanagara History. It was a seminar of high order, being participated by eminent historians, who specialised in that period of history. The present volume comprises of the scholarly articles under the able editorship of Prof. G. S. Dikshit, retired Professor in History, Karnataka University, Dharwad.

This collection provides an in depth study of the early Vijayanagara Empire. The articles contributed on the subject, enhance the intrinsic value of the book. Srikantaya, whose memory was celebrated in a befitting manner, through the seminar, was a lawyer by profession but a historian by choice. Hailing from the heart of Hoyasala country, Sri Kantaya was naturally attracted to Hoyasala history as a child drawn to its mother. His association with Dr. S. Krishna Swamy Ayyanger, Edward Thomson, Father Tabard, etc., enriched his historical pursuits. In his articles on the founders of Vijayanagara, he put forward an important ideal connecting Hoyasala with Mysore Royal Family through the founders of the Empire, Hari Hara and Bukka Prof. Dikshit’s article on Srikantaya’s research, relating to the foundation of Vijayanagara, and his unique contribution that Sangama brothers forced to ally with Ballala III, forms the key-stone of research.

According to Srikantaya the city and Empire of Vijayanagara were founded by Vira Ballala III, the Sangama brothers and Vidyaranya. Though it was a period of Veerasaivism, early rulers of Vijayanagara Empire exhibited a rare degree of tolerance to other religious and Hampi became the hub of an activities attracting world wide attention.

Mention must be made of an interesting article with Historical data furnished about “Kannada and Telugu works of the Early Vijayanagara period” by Sri R. Sesha Sastri. While there is detailed knowledge furnished on the subject by the experts, it should be known that this book is of interest to the general reader as well as to the specialist. The plan of the city Hampi, and the several photos appended to the volume, serve the specific purpose of making the reader feel the milieu. It is an admirable book comprehensive, with new conclusion, with a blend of scholarship and style vividly presented on the interesting topic.

Mr. K. P. Naidu

TELUGU

Srimad Bhagavadgita-madhanamu- Sri Maha Bhagavata Navanitam - 2 parts by Sri M. Narasimham for copies. M. Krishna Mohan State Bank A.D.B. Anantapuram - Price Rs. 40 and 30/-

This work in two parts is in no way inferior to any thesis for a doctorate degree. This is a study of Srimad Bhagavata in the light of the teachings of the Bhagavat Gita and Bhakti in particular. While the Gita enunciates theories. Srimad Bhagvata, illuminates them through stories of saints and devotees who acted and lived up to those precepts. This is the main thesis. Incidentally allied subjects, like Karma, Jnan, Dhyana, Yoga, idol workship and Varnasaramas are also dealt with in detail. Exposition of the subjects throughout is analytical, comparative and critical and filled to the brim with citations, from Vedas, etc. and writings of modern saints. Every statement herein is thus, authenticated. Selected verses from Potana’s Telugu Bhagavatam, a literary feast transport a reader to ecstacy.

1.      Chapters of portions describing the Different definitions of the term Bhagavatam. Definitions of Karma, Bhakti, Jnana, Dhyanan and Yoga as found in the gita, and the Bhagavatamam and the reconciliation there of.
2.      Reconciliation of the doctrines of Dvaita, Advaita and Visistadvaita.
3.      Varieties of Karma and Bhakti in particular.
4.      Story Vritra and its symbolism.
5.      Asvattha Tree and the three gunas are highly scholarly, and in­formative. Pages 126, 127 of the 1st part should not be missed. The seventh chapter dealing with Dhyana is a wholesome cap­sule stuffed with practical hints. Pages 292-298, 303, 311-330 and page 14th of the 2nd part, dealing with TarakaVidya are a practical guide to Sadhakas Chapter on Bhakti is par excellent in all respects.

The second part contains the stories of Parikshit, Narada, Am­barisha Prahlada, Kuchela, Gajendra, Dhruva Marakandeya, Vritra, Narakasura Vadha, Bharat and Rudra. Prankas, sports and miracles of Krishna are also summerised. The lessons to be learnt from these the symbolism and messages there of are all pointed out. Delineation of Bhakti Rasa in Bhagavata. Six darsanas and the gita, varnasra­mas, Potana’s betic talents also find a place in this part. The author points out that Potana like Tikkana draws to distinction between Siva and Vishnu, and that Siva is Potana’s family god. Questions like, can one overcome destiny, is not cast system against nature is idol work­shop necessary etc. are answered. Many charts and tables in the text present a clear picture of the varieties of the subjects dealt with. We heartily commend this book a guide to the Theory and practice of spiritual science and Bhakti in particular not only to all seekers of Truth but to lectures also on Hindu Religion. Can we expect a sim­ilar book on Valmiki’s Ramayana and Vyasas Bharata also from the author?

SANDILYA

Telugu

Janakinamamu: By Vedula Venkata Sastry. Sadhana grandhamandali, Tenali-522 201. Price: Rs. 25/-.

This is a collection three works Baala Raamudu, Jaanaki Trisali, and the Adbhuta Ramayana all Telugu verses. The first one describes the sports of Rama in his childhood. It reminds us of Potana’s descriptions of Krishna’s pranks in his childhood. The second contains 300 verses in praise of Janaki. Bharati Raja overflows in each verse of mellifluous style and the poetic imagination and fancy are also charming. The last one is based on the Adbhuta Ramayana in Sanskrit and its importance lies in the fact that sita’s powers as sakti dominates the theme. We see an ardent devotee in the poet at every stage and his flawless poetic talents capture and move our hearts throughout. We command this work to all lovers of good poetry and devotees.

B. K. Sastri

Sanskrit and Telugu

Shatpadi stotramu: By D. Ramamurty, Sri Rama Bhajena Kovela, Allipuram, Visakhapatnam.

This is a pleasing Telugu exposition of the Shatpadi stotra by Sri Sankara in Sanskrit. It consists of six verses appealing to the mercy of Vishnu. The devotee requests to remove the nescienoe and dwell in his heart. Means for Jnana are indicates; and final liberation from the mundave world is the desired end. The significance of all words, and phrases is explained. Telugu translation in verses follows. Devi stotra of three famous stotras is also included in this and an elucidative Telugu commentary is there. The sentence “Aham ityeva vibhavaye Bhavanim can be interpreted as” I meditate up on Bhavani as “I am Bhavani” This handy book, it goes without saying, is useful to all devotees.

BKR

Sanskrit

Sri Ramanama sahasra stotram, Sri Tyagaraja Sahasranama stotram, and Namavali: By P. Srirama Chandrudu, 7-1-3214, Begumpet, Hyderabad-16, free of cost, by sending 75 paise towards postage.

These sahasranamas have their specialty - Names for Sriramasa­hasranama were selected from Tyagaraja’s Kirtanas. Verses contain­ing 108 names of Rama were selected form Ramayana. Most names for Tyagaraja Sahasranama were based on the material collected from the biography of Tyagaraja written by Prof. P. Samba Murthy. Thus these Namas are bound to have a special sanctity and unfailing efficacy. All praise to the compiles of the names.

B.K.S

Tamil and Telugu

Arunachala Stuti Pancharamu in Tamil by Sri Ramana Maharshi Tel­ugu Translation by Ramachandra Kaundinya and Saptapadi in Tel­ugu by Ramachandra Kaundinya. Publishers Sri Ramana Adhyayana Kendramu, Eluru-534 002. Rs. 5/-

This is a collection of five devotional lyrics in praise of Arun­chaleswara, by Sri Ramana Maharshi, four of them in Tamil and the fifth in Sanskrit. All these are translates into Telugu verses by Ramachandra Kaundinya Devotion, and Advaita philosophy, sparked through out. Figures of speech also are not lacking. Saptapadi, the Telugu poem was written by Ramachandra Kaundinya after the sad demise of his wife. Pathos and devotion mingle here. An extract from Skanda Purana in Telugu, on Arunachala machatmya, is incorporated. At the very beginning of the work, Maharshi’s own commentary on a verse in the stotras is include. An extract in English form Day by Day with Maharshi is also there. A few miraculous powers of Arunachalas were are also namateet.

BKR

BHAAGAVATA KATHAA TATVAM Copies can be had from: K. Kishore Babu, 15-34. Vari Sadan, Vidyana­gar Colony, Nagar Kurnool - 509 209. Price: Rs. 50.

Sri Murthy needs no introduction to the Telugu literary world, since he has authored many books. After enjoying a few drops of the Bhagavatam juice, he took up the difficult task of describing its taste. For that, he has selected ten important episodes of Bhagavatam.

They are:- Kapila Deevahuuti samvaadam; Puranjanoopaa Khyaanam; Bharatoopaa Khyaanam; Ajaamiiloopaa Khyaanam; Naraayana Kavacham

Telugu

Hasa Gopalam: by D. Ramamurty for copies - Author 30-12-1939, Dabagardens, Visakhapatnam-530 020. Price As. 10/-.

Here in we have a poem in dialogue form: almost a novel venture. The subject matter is the different types of Child Krishna’s at different times. A Gopi asks him to explain why he laughed in a particular manner. Krishna at last answers her. Paramatman was at the threshold of gopis who failed to understand him and tried to bind and punish him. Their ignorance caused Krishna to laugh at them. Change in the metre of Gopi’s queries and Krishna’s answers is appropriate. Telugu sayings and idiom sparkle throughout. Santa and Bhakti dominate the poem though here and their sringara and Vatsalya show their face. The language herein is full of samasas. But once begun a reader cannot give up reading the poem to till he finishes. We commend the poet for his very novel concept of the poem.

B.K.R

Telugu and Sanskrit

Raaga Rochi by Aamachandra Kaundinya, for copies Dr. G. Ramachandrayya 50/A Ramana Nagar, Tiruvannamalai-606 603. Price Rs. 2/-

This slender book is a collection of 43 murtaka type verses in Telugu. Sringar, Samyoga and Viyoga is the main sentiment. It is written on the lines of the famous Gathasaptasati in Prakrit. The poet though wedded by nature to Bhakta and Vairagya is not only quite at home in delineating sringara, but at his zenith also. To some selected verses. The poet himself gave his own exposition. Many others also need such explanations. Throughout the work. Anubhavas, and sanchari bhavas also are suggested Vatsyayana’s Kamasutras also come to our mind figures of speech are there. Telugu idioms catch out heart. Mellifluous pure Telugu words grip our hearts. These Telugu verses are translated into lucid Sanskrit verses of different metres by Dr. Sri Ramachandrudu. Translation also is equally charming. Kudos to the two poets. One has to read this book to enjoy the poetic bliss.

B.K.R.

Telugu

Auchitya Prasthanamu - Surana Kavitvamu :- by Dr. U. Appala Narasimha Murty, for copies, Kurella Venkata Sastry, Advocate, Kurellavari Street, Vijayanagaram-531 202. Price Rs. 50/-

This Valuable work is a Thesis for the Doctorate degree of the Andhra University. It was Kshemendra who for the first time enthroned Auchitya, Propriety, in the status of ‘Prasthana’ in Indian aesthetics, and presented its varied forms with illustrations positive and negative. All credit goes to Dr. Narasimhamurty, who for the first time we believe, made an in-depth study of the “Auchity Vichara” of Kshemendra, and presented the various of that auchitya, to the Telugu readers also. Denotations and connotations of the word auchitya and it’s relationship with the terms like Silpa, Riti Paara, Vaichitri, Saundarya, and Kavyatara are discussed. Origin and development of the concept and importance of auchitya in its historical set up are traced out. Here all the works on alamkarasastra, with commentaries also there on are referred to opinions of occidental literary critics are above are compared with. Place of Kshemendra is discussed. All previous research works and papers are consulted.

The outstanding contribution is however treasured in the fifth chap­ter. Herein, he locates and illustrates all the varieties of auchitya in Surana’s Telugu poems. This is a job that only a scholar, who is at home both in sanskrit and Telugu, and who has an incising intellect can alone execute satisfactorily. Three cheers to the author who suc­ceeded in his endeavour marvelously. The, more out standing is his finding that auchitya is the life breath of Surana, and this is sub­stantiated by apt citations from his texts, where in the word auchitya is repeated. The most outstanding is his symbolic study of the story of sugatri and salina, where in the author’s sparkling intelligence beams forth. We learn that the second part of this thesis is still to be pub­lished and with that, we expect it to be the last word on this subject.

However we cannot withhold a caution here. Oflate , it has become almost a fashion to read a symbolic or philosophic meanings in many Kavyas and other writings. One has to notice whether that meaning is warranted, and whether it itself has any propriety either in the context of the Prabandha as a whole. Secondly, before pronouncing that a particular vasa is suggested in a verse, we must see that vasa is not made explicit - Vaachya = in the same verse, and whether it transcends the “sthaayi-state or not. We should also avoid reading too far and too much out of our zeal. Some auchityas may need more elucidation to avoid ambiguity, even in the original Kshemendra’s work. The author has come out with a fresh, substantial, critical and illuminating thesis, and we commend this to all students of literature and aesthetics.
-B.K.R.

DEESAM MEELKUNDI: A collection of four musical plays (operas) for children, written by Dr. Miriyala Rama Krishna. 1/8 crown, p.p. XVIII+100+28. Price: Rs. 12/- ­Copies available at all prominent bookshops of A.P.

The four operas in the book were written to meet the need of the AIR Studies of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam at different times.

The title of the second play is taken as the title of the book.

To write poetry to children is not an easy job as people ordinarily think. The author has to unlearn what all he has learnt and write in such a style that would attract the children. The writer has to identify himself with the children. He should not attempt, the idiom or language that is beyond their grasp. The flow should be spontaneous. Artificial expressions should never take place. Only such writings would never take place. Only such writings would inspire the children. DR. Rama Krishna is successful in such an endeavour.

The first play ‘Merupula raatri’ lit the night of lightning flashes, is about the festive day of deliverance to us, August 15, 1947. The second is ‘Deesam meelkundi’ lit. The country awakens is the longest in the collection, perhaps it is also the best of the four. This is about the recent history of our land. The narration is both interesting and inspiring. The soul of the nation, its ideals and aspirations are nicely projected.

The third one is ‘pagadaala ugaadi’ lit. The coral new year. This is the brilliant account of the beauty of spring and its natural bounty. Children have innate interest to see the beautiful nature and appreci­ate it. They should also be able to read the nature descriptions and appreciate the nature through poetry. This book gives such an opportunity.

The last one ‘Ratnaala Raatri’ lit the night of gems, projects the peremial potentialities of the nation in all fields.

On the whole, the book is one of the master pieces of Children’s literature in Telugu. The Headmasters and Telugu. Teachers should see, that such plays are being enacted at various functions. Then the latest histrionic talent and literary appreciation of children would be revealed. This is the proper reward to the writer, but not the opinions of the learned people that are incorporated in the book.

B.P.

The Bhagavadgita by Dr. Naga Raja Rao For copies Author 54, Rangachari Road, Mylapore, Madras - 4.

This is an indepth study of the Bhagavadgita, by a retired professor who is at home with both Indian and European Philosophies; Any reader cannot lay down this book, written in a crisp, flowery and gripping style, with oratorical flashes now and then, until he finishes a reading. Interided chiefly for the public interested in the pursuit of moral ideal religious values, and problems of human life and society. This work presents gita solution to all ills and problems of the modern world at large.

What do the words like sraddha (Faith) ‘Phalatyaga’, Karma, Svadharma, Samata, Bhakti, Yoga, Love and Sanyasa mean? What is their importance? Is there rebirth? Can we overcome destiny with will? Why should we meditate? Does gita preach inaction? Have morals a place? Is religion necessary? Is gita pessimistic? Does gita preach Fellow ship, Brotherhood and one world concept? These and allied questions are found answered here western thinkers, philoso­phers and poets also are quoted often Appending two records relevant gita verses on some important subjects, like Lord and his attributes, Nature of Bhakti ideal Bhakta, Karma, Yoga. The human predicament, sense, and self control, and Prakriti.

Is Krishna of the Gita the same as the Krishna of the chandogya upanishad? It is debatable we feel. The book consists of Two parts, divided into 13+8 = 21 chapters in all of these chapters 2,5,6, and 10 of the 1st part and 1,6, and 7 of the second part should not be missed.

B.K. Sastry

Tikku Giridhari: In Confidence dreams and dialogues, B.R.Pub. Corpn., Delhi-7 pp 50. Rs. 40/-

IN CONFIDENCE is a second collection of Professor Tikku’s poems. An academic teaching Asian and Comparative Literature, Tikku writes poetry both in English and Persian. The mystical element in his work has been given extensive exegesis by his former student and now of University of Hyderabad, Dr. Paranjpe. There are twenty-nine poems in this volume.

A Kashmiri by birth and exposed to a variety of cultures, native and alien, Tikku bears to bear on his poetry a stamp of authentic experience in terms of cultural understanding. He appears to be the little boy who offers the tiger-riding Durga a petal at her crimson feet and then he tells the reader:

Between us two
we created a third
a new trinity
and then I bowed
and touched her feet
and grasped her little finger
and the two of us
walked up and down this road
saw the world go by.

The Buddha’s bronze in the British museum in the poem of that title evokes this response: The river finds the drop: in itself. The speaker of the poem finds Buddha propounding the concept of abhinna:

I am it all
god, man and beast,
the sleeping river:
Yamuna, Ganges
and Saraswati (?)

And then this scene of aggressive violence and pride:

From

the many black-, some white-turbaned, long-gowned
gun-holding, walking ghosts,
now hissing, now shouting slogans
.......                 (ellipis mine)

Zindeh bad (long live), murdebad (death to ...)

jamhori (democracy), emperialim (imperialism).

Besides these, of course Nature, ‘The Himalayan Peak’, ‘The Ma­jestic Nile’; ‘the Hindu widow and the bystander on the Ganges’, ‘The Playful Game’, ‘No Straight Line’ - ‘Journey’s Inside’ and ‘Love and Hate, the Two Sides’ - the index promises a lot and delivers too plentifully.
-Dr. V.V.B. Rama Rao.