REVIEWS
Annie Besant by
Sri Prakasa (Published by Bhavan’s Book University, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
Bombay.Pp. LXIII plus 173. Price Rs. 1-12-0)
“May
we prove, in the present, worthy of those who have gone before; and discharge
our own duties and responsibilities to the full, as trustees of those who are
to follow.” It is on this note of idealism that Sri Sri Prakasa closes his
sixty-page Introduction to the second edition of his book of reminiscences of
the great Dr. Besant. The first edition was published in 1940 by the
Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar; while India was yet struggling to be
free. The author, a leading Congressman in his home-Province, was then
preparing to court imprisonment in the campaign of individual Satyagraha,
launched by Gandhiji during the second World War. Since then, the situation has
undergone a complete change, and at the request of Sri K. M. Munshi, Sri Sri
Prakasa has brought the book up-to-date, and added an admirable survey of
events since the passing away of Dr. Besant. It is interesting to note that
this survey was written in Raj Bhavan, Madras. Here dwelt a former Governor of
Madras, Lord Pentland, who ordered the internment of Dr. Besant and her
colleagues, Dr. G. S. Arundale and Sri B. P. Wadia, for their activities in
connection with the Home Rule movement of 1916. Times have changed!
The
author was a child of four years when Dr. Besant came to
India and started her work as a Theosophist in collaboration with the author’s
father, Dr. Bhagavan Das, the illustrious savant and leading
citizen of Banaras. That sacred city became Dr. Besant’s home till 1907, when
she moved to Adyar, Madras, as President of the Theosophical Society. ‘Shanti
Kunj’ (Abode of Peace) was dear to her, and here she lived and
shaped the destinies of her adopted Motherland. The Central Hindu College was
an embodiment of her dreams; it was also the means of gathering round her a
band of devoted workers. Dr. Bhagavan Das was Honorary Secretary of the
Committee, and served in that capacity till the College became the nucleus of
the Hindu University.
The
friendly and life-long association of Dr. Besant with the author’s family forms
the background of this biography. Sri Sri Prakasa has a powerful memory; his
narration of incidents spread over forty years makes this book as interesting
as a novel of contemporary life. His affection for “the Great Madame” was unbounded,
and as he watched her at work and at play, on the platform and in the Committee
Room, his reverence for her grew, till it became the dominant
influence in his life. The men who were born in the nineties of the last
century, and were at school and college during the early years of the present,
came under the spell of Dr. Besant’s personality. To them, she was the prophet
of a New India in the making, as well as its architect. In 1920, however, they
came to be associated with Mahatma Gandhi and his movement for the liberation
of India through peaceful but ‘illegal’ activities. That generation now
occupies the seats of power in free India. It looks back to Dr. Besant and
Mahatma Gandhi as the greatest formative forces in their lives. In many ways,
Dr. Besant was a forerunner of Mahatma Gandhi; their methods differed, but they
were moved by the same vision. Sri Sri Prakasa rightly
emphasises the view that the presence of Republican India in the Commonwealth
is, in a sense, the fulfillment of Dr. Beasant’s hope of “Britain and India
hand in hand; but an India free as is her, right.”
There
is tenderness, grace, and eloquence in this book. It is an intimate revelation
of Dr. Besant’s personality, and of the author’s too. This is a book to read
and cherish.
K. R.
The Call of the Vedas by
A. C. Bose (published by Book University, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. Price
Rs. 1-12-0)
It
is true, though rather strange, that while the Upanishads have attracted wide
attention, the Vedas which are admittedly their sources have been more or less
sealed books. The layman, especially the English-educated layman, even in India
has absolutely no idea of the contents of the Vedas, apart from the Upanishads.
The Editors of Bhavan’s Book University therefore deserve the
thanks of the public for presenting in a handy volume an account of
the Vedas and their contents, along with numerous extracts with translations
and comments. The author has very wisely confined his anthology to such verses
as have caused no serious differences of opinion, in respect of interpretation,
between the orthodox scholars, and the Orientalists, European and Indian,
though in his translations he adopted, in the main, the work of the
Orientalists. He has shown the same wisdom in refraining from following the
Orientalists in their anthropological approach to the Vedas.
In his comments he professes to have aimed at indicating the
poetical and spiritual content of the Mantras and that in assessing their
spiritual and religious significance he has drawn upon the Indian sources,
including the work of Indian spiritual leaders.
In
a fairly long Introduction the author has attempted to view the Vedic religion
in the historical perspective, to define its spiritual attitude and to study
some of its more salient aspects. The author is to be congratulated therefore
upon the wisdom with which he has set the limits to his subject and the care
with which he has attempted to render the volume interesting and attractive to
the layman.
Hinduism–Doctrine and
Way of Life by C. Rajagopalachari (Published by the
Hindusthan Times, New Delhi. Pp. 120. Price Rs. 3)
Sri
Rajagopalachari, our distinguished elder statesman, all through his brilliant
career of politician and administrator, has been well known for his
essentially spiritual outlook and cultural interests and attainments. It is not
surprising therefore that, increasingly with his gradual retirement
from active political life, he should be engaging his brilliant intellect in
philosophical and literary pursuits. The result is the publication of a number
of books in English as well as Tamil, very popular and very much appreciated
for their inspiring and elevating themes, and elegant and attractive style and
treatment–Mahabharata, Bhagavadgita, Upanishads and Vedanta. The volume under
review, “Hinduism, Doctrine and Way of Life.”, is the latest in which he sets
out to give the reader a clear idea of the philosophy of the Hindus and the way
of life flowing from it, the spiritual and ethical doctrines that have given to
India its way of life. The irrepressible optimist in him believes and hopes
that a spiritual and cultural basis for the regulated co-operative economy to
which the world is tending, in preference to individual competition on one side
and totalitarian dictatorship on the other, will be found only in the ethic and
culture rooted in vedanta. It is a consummation devoutly to be wished but only
a remote possibility at present.
But
there is no doubt that the book will prove of great value immediately to the
English-educated Indian youth in danger of subjection to secularism and
materialism and to the craze for higher standards of life and amenities of
modern civilisation. In his simple, elegant, and engaging style and with his
lucid, analytical, argumentative exposition, the learned author presents the
spiritual and moral doctrines of our ancient culture, and endeavours to
convince the reader that Vedanta is a faith as suitable for modem times as for
ancient and that it can create, better than any other political or
social philosophy, a conscience for social obligations in our modern conditions
of life. The book deserves the earnest attention of every Hindu, especially the
youth.
Aradhana (A
monthly religious magazine. Inaugural number, Feb. 1955. Published from
Masulipatam under the auspices of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments
Dept., Andhra. Annual Subscription Rs. 12. Single copy Re. 1)
History
tells us that temples in our country played in the past a vital part in the
cultural life of the Hindu community, by serving not only as places of
religious worship and spiritual endeavour but as centres of cultural and
artistic achievement and enjoyment. But most of the temples in our villages are
now forsaken, neglected and lifeless. There is no doubt that it is necessary to
renovate them and restore them to their former status.
The
new Journal, obviously intended to serve these purposes, is therefore a welcome
addition to the all too few cultural magazines in the country. The inaugural
number, with articles in English and Telugu on a wide variety of subjects
connected with temples, provides every reason to hope that it will contribute
substantially to the revival and rejuvenation of these valuable institutions of
cultural life, our temples. The official auspices under which the Journal is
launched, let us hope, ensure for it a long and useful career.