Other Reviews

The Philosophy of Advaita-By T. M. P. Mahadevan. Ganesh & Co. (Madras) Private Ltd., Madras–17. Price Rs. 12.

The Philosophy of Advaita is the revised edition (1957) of the doctoral thesis of Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan, Professor of Philosophy, University of Madras, submitted to the University in 1935. It is, in the words of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, “a masterly survey of the Advaita doctrine, as set forth in the writings of Vidyaranya.”

In his Preface to the first edition, Dr. Mahadevan makes it clear that he does not approach his subject as a believer in Advaita philosophy, for he feels that such believers need no argumentation. As the Darsanas are not mere faiths but philosophical systems as well, he proposes to survey the Advaita doctrine from the angle in which its intellectual virility and argumentative skill are revealed.

In the first two chapters the epistemological position of Advaita is very interestingly dealt with. It is clarified that though the Advaitin accepts the six Pramanasor the means of valid Knowledge, he is of firm belief that the final court of appeal is Scripture. To him the knowledge of Brahman, which is the result of Scripture, is final and ultimate. Therefore, Truth, according to him, is that Knowledge which cannot be ever contradicted, and error is born of Avidya. In the three succeeding chapters the author convincingly explains the definition of Brahman as existence–intelligence–bliss. The sixth chapter deals with sakshior witness as the real self of the Jiva, the seventh with Iswara and Jivaand their mutual relation, the eighth with Maya from three different levels, and the ninth and the tenth with the way and the goal.

The uniqueness of the work lies in this fact, that it is the first systematic attempt made to present the philosophy of Advaita as expounded by Bharati Vidyaranya and to assign it to the Vivaranaschool in particular and Advaita metaphysics in general.

In the revised edition no appreciable changes are made by the author. It goes without saying that his conceptions of Advaita are almost confirmed and settled in his mind; yet his rich imagination does not accept stagnation, for after the publication of the present work he has contributed two other studies on Advaita known as “Gaudapada: A Study in Early Advaita” and a translation of Suresvara’s “Sambandha-vartika” with introduction, notes and extracts from the unpublished commentaries.

Dr. Mahadevan’s style is simple and sublime. It rightly expresses philosophic ideals in a language which every one can easily follow.

V. V. TONPE

Bharati in English Verse–ByS. Prema, B. A. (Hons.), Research Student in English, Andhra University, Waltair–Price Rs. 2. 00–available at Higginbotham’s (Private) Ltd., Mount Road, Madras-2 (Pp. 110)

This is a valuable addition to the meagre literature on Subrahmanya Bharati in English. As the author says in her Introduction, “he was a lord of language; he both liberated Tamil from the shackles that Punditry had forced upon it and rode the emancipation language as a master-horseman, bringing the best out of it.” Bharati’s standing as a herald of the Renaissance in Modern Tamil Literature, and its most versatile contributor, is beyond question. He was hardly 40 when he died after passing through years of poverty and persecution, but he left behind as a heritage to Tamil Nad not merely the most rousing patriotic songs by which he is most popularly known, but devotional lyrics, songs of Krishna, an epic fragment entitled Panchali’s Vow, an entrancing phantasy entitled The Cuckoo’s Song, besides miscellaneous writings in Prose and Verse, both in English and Tamil. He has been compared by seasoned critics to Shakespeare and Shelley. That a writer of such range and intensity should be hardly known beyond the borders of Tamil Nad is a tragic commentary on “narrow domestic walls” which we have put up round our linguistic areas. The present work is, therefore, a most welcome contribution to the cause of better understanding of this great Indian man of letters.

The author tells us in her Preface how she came to undertake the task of translating Bharati’s verse into English, while working as a Research Scholar in the University. The author is modest in her claims: and though the work is in the nature of a juvenile literary exercise, the talented translator has done her task with care and competence. Though the English rendering preserves the Verse form, it has wisely avoided the attempt to adhere to rhyme-schemes or other requirements of prosody. The thought-content of Bharati’s Verse is well brought out in faultless English though, as is inevitable, one misses the glow and swing of the original. It is difficult to say whether this translation can ‘create trust and it can stimulate interest’–to apply the criterion laid down by Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, the father of the author, who has been extensively quoted in the Introduction. It is possible that readers unacquainted with Tamil may skip through the 41 pieces of translation without their interest being stimulated further to know more about this wonder-poet of Tamil Nad. Even so, the fault is not the translator’s who has done her best.
K.S.G.

TELUGU

Matti Manushulu–A Novel in Oriya of Sri Kalindi Charan Panigrahi–translated into Telugu by Sri Puripanda Appalaswamy. Published by the Visalandhra Publishing House, for the Sahitya Akademi, Delhi. Cr. 8-Vo size. Pages 176. Price Rs. 2.25.

This novel of rural life in Orissa was first published in Oriya twenty-five years , and won for itself considerable popularity and a name for the author, who has ever since been one of the prominent figures in the literary field in Oriya. The picture of life presented here is remarkably realistic and yet inspired by the idealism of the Mahatma, whose visions of perfect social organisation based on co-operation and non-violence were always conceived in the context, and against the ground, of the small communities of rural India, persisting through the ages, till recently, in their pristine purity and simplicity, and still capable of revival and reconstruction, so as to serve as models of social organisation for future humanity.

The theme is the power of love to conquer selfishness and separatism and to contribute to the health of the community; and this ennobling theme is exemplified here in the simple story of a small joint family of two brothers. The characters are drawn clearly and vividly, in firm outline and warm colours of life, and their development sketched with shrewd psychological insight.

Translations of this kind, of typical and popular novels of one regional language into another, are well calculated to contribute to mutual understanding and foster national unityand are well worth the attention of our Sahitya Academies.

The translation is accomplished with remarkable success by Sri Appalaswamy, himself a writer with an established reputation, and serves to familiarise the people of all the different parts of Andhra with the spoken language of the region bordering on Orissa, and thus incidentally to foster mutual understanding among the Telugu speaking people of the different regions within Andhra too.

M. SIVAKAMAYYA

KANNADA

Gamaka Kavya Manjari–Edited by Asthana Vidwan Pandita Ratnam B. Shivamurthi Sastry: Price Re. 1, Pages VIII+112.

Gamaka, the art of musical reading or recitation of poems, is being revived and getting to be widely practised in Karnataka. The Kannada Sahitya Parishat has been organising classes for the practice of the art, and been conducting examinations and issuing diplomas to those who have shown competence. This publication is mainly intended as a handbook to those who are learning the art. It contains extracts from old and modern authors, extracts from the classics like the Kannada Bharata and Jaimini Bharata, the songs of Vaishnava and Shaiva devotees, as also modern lyrics. The Editor, who is the President of the Parishat, has written a useful Introduction, and added an Appendix giving briefly informative notes about the authors, and about Kannada prosody. This is a book that will also interest the general reader.
K. S. G.