REVIEWS
Heroines
of Tagore by B. B. Majumdar.
Published by Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay,
The
book comprises the lectures given by the author under the
Yogendramohini Lectures Scheme at the
The
French literary historian, M. Taine’s familiar dictum
points out three factors vitally responsible for literary creation: the race,
the milieu and the moment. The people, the place, the
point of time–it is the ineffable fusion of these three
elements that results in great creative writing. The writer is thus very
largely the product of his time, and the tone of his work is determined by the
pulls and pressures around him. The great writer, however, not only portrays
the variegated life around him faithfully and forcefully, but looks into the
future and casts the shadows of the coming order. Tagore was the universal
poet, Viswakavi and the Gurudev, who educated the society of his
times and inspired them with new ideas. He pinpointed
the several maladies in the so called customs and traditions and paved the way
to their eventual elimination. The injustices to women were in particular
highlighted by him and his progressive thinking went a long way in transforming
the Bengali (and the Indian) woman (he created as many as two hundred and
twenty-eight women in his short stories, novels, dramas and narrative poems).
Mr.
Majumdar divides the poet’s career into four epochs:
from 1881 to 1897 is the first period; the second period of maturity ranges
from 1898 to 1913; from 1914 to 1926 is the third period, the age of the
rejuvenation of the poet and his revolt against the conventional society; and
the age of glorious and picturesque sunset is from 1927 to 1941.
In
the first period, none of the heroines has any college education. They meekly
submit to the oppression and injustice meted out to them. In Shasthi (punishment,) the heroine chandara courts her own death sentence as the only way of
punishing the husband, who foists on her the murder of his elder brother’s
wife. Didi (The Elder Sister) is again the
tragic story of a lady who protests against her husband’s intrigues to cheat
her child-brother and meets with murder, the death being explained away as due
to cholera. Tagore had to turn to mythology and create characters like Chitrangada and Devayani to show
that women were not mere passive instruments of pleasure but human beings with
a personality of their own.
While
many of the stories of the first period have the rural side as the scene of
action, those of the second period are mostly located in
In
1913 Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize and this ushered in an era of
rejuvenation in the poet’s life and vision. The World War was a rude shock to
him and he raised his voice against conventional and complacent living. The
spirit of revolution is predominant in the poet’s creations of the third
period. Haldar-Goshthi (The Haldar Family), Haimanthi
and Streer Patra
(The Wife’s Letter) he portrays the individual protesting against a
diseased ethical order of the society and against the woes of the joint family
system. In Chaturanga the caste system,
untouchability and religious hypocrisy are ridiculed. The unrelenting cruelty
of capitalism and imperialisn is powerfully shown in
two symbolic plays, Rakta Karavir (The Red Oleanders) and Muktadhara
(The Current).
In
the final period, the poet tried to synthesise the
best of ancient Indian culture and Western scientific culture. He laughs at
people imitating the externals of Western living in Shesher
Kavita (Farewell My Friend). All the heroines–Labanya, Ela, Bansari,
Bibha, and others–are highly educated. They assert
themselves and a few of them are even economically independent. Some are drawn
into the vortex of political revolution. A new era of equality between the
sexes and of peace and understanding between the peoples of the world–this is
the dominant note of the work of the last period.
In
the chapter, “The Economic Background”, Mr. Majumdar
traces the changes in the social environment due to the gradual economic
transformation, and these changes are noticeable in the characters created
during the period. Similarly, in the chapter devoted to the social background,
the author points out how Tagore reflected the changing attitudes to social
customs and institutions. No other writer could be more trenchantly critical of
the contemporary social ills. In the next chapter, “The Religious Background”,
the tensions in religion are discussed with apt quotations from novels like Gora. “The Political Background”, the fifth
chapter, deals with the political ferment of the times, and here the
interesting fact is that although there are a number of revolutionary
characters, heroes or heroines who practise
Satyagraha are few and none of them is depicted favourably.
This is not difficult to understand because Tagore never believed in the philosophy
of Satyagraha.
In
the three chapters, “Maidens”, “Married Girls and Women” and “Widows”, Mr. Majumdar points out how the changing conditions of women
brought about corresponding changes in the features of the heroines–age,
educational background, attitude, etc. While in Mahamaya
the young maiden is prepared to marry even a dying husband,
in the two poems, Amrita and Durbodh,
we come across heroines who are far more independent and assertive. In the
pre-war stories the girls marry before they reach their teens. In many early
poems and stories Tagore gives a picture of the tribulations girl-wives–the
lack of understanding between husband and wife, their insignificance in a joint
family, their silent suffering, but, by the time we come to works like Chaturanga (Broken Ties–1914, 15), Shesher Kavita (Farewell
My Friend–1928), Bansari (1933), and Laboratory
(1940), we notice all the development in the attitude to love and marriage,
which is the response to the changing time spirit. While in the earlier stories
and novels we come across wives who exist on the sufferance of their husbands
not knowing what love is, we find in the later situations that true love need
not always culminate in marriage and even that marriage with somebody else need
not effect the loyalty of love. Tagore again should
get the credit for exposing the miseries of widows and for creating a climate
for widow remarriage. While in an early story, River Stairs, he showed
the tragic end of a widow heroine, Kusum, in Chaturanga the fascinating widow Damini marries Sribilas. Widows remarry in Naukadubi
(The Wreck) and Shesher Kavita too.
Mr.
Majumdar then considers the epic heroines of Tagore
and shows how the characters receive enrichment at his hands. Bald
episodes from the epics–as in Chitta–are moulded by him into powerful works of art. Themes from the
Buddhist legends are borrowed by Tagore and transformed into moving dramatic
creations. The dance-drama Chandalika is
an eloquent example. In themes with a medieval background also, Tagore
contrasts the old ethic and the new–as Sri Aurobindo does in Perseus the Deliverer–and rouses the society
to an awareness of the dangers of the conventional and orthodox order. There
are brilliant heroines of symbolic writings like Sudarsana
in King of the Dark Chamber and Nandini
of Red Oleanders.
The
war had its impact on Tagore’s heroines and Mr. Majumdar
devotes three chapters to this. In The Home and the
World. Bimala stirs out of her home with
its Zamindari seclusion and participates though indirectly,
in the affairs of the ‘world’. She, however manages to
return home before she is lost. Four Chapters, the last novel of
Tagore, deals with revolutionary politics and Ela is
a veritable enchantress with all her bravery and brilliance.
Mr.
Majumdar discloses in a brief chapter–this does not
quite fit in with the rest of the book–the inaccuracies of critics who do not
try to understand Tagore properly, and many noted names are on the list drawn
up. In the concluding chapter, he sums up saying that Tagore is the fulfilment of Raja Rammohan Roy
in many ways. Mr. Krishna Kripalani too says in his
monumental biography of Tagore that in many respects he anticipated Gandhi and
that his contribution was “subtler and deeper, for it released and fed the
hidden fountains of creative activity in fields which the politician is
powerless to exploit.”
Tagore’s
world is indeed ‘God’s plenty.’ He was a unique blend of realism and idealism,
and even while his creative genius grew wings of fancy, his feet were firm on the
terra firma. The majestic mountain peaks have, after all, their
basis in solid earth. It is wrong to think of the poet of lyrical beauty alone
and forget the pioneer of social reform. Mr. Majumdar
has done great service in showing that Tagore’s works really and truly hold the
mirror up to his times and draw the graph of the evolution of the society. The
book is a rewarding guide for students of Tagore and a valuable addition to Tagoreana. One has, however, a feeling that the material
could have been organised in a more close-knit and
integral manner.
–L. S. R. KRISHNA SASTRY
The Vision and the
Work of Sri Aurobindo by K. D. Sethna.
Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry-2. Price: Rs.
15.
There
are in all 22 articles collected in this volume. Most of them have had the seal
of approval of the Master. But apart from this sacred “Seal” of Sri Aurobindo
for any particular writing of the author, it may be safely asserted in general,
that all and every writing of Sri Sethna exhibits
prominently his luminous, though dialectical intelligence, invigorating
straightforward mentality always wide awake. In Aurobindonian
terms we may say, Sethna’s intelligence gave
expression to whatever it received from the highest heights through the Grace
of the Master.
This is “The Vision and Work” of Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo had the vision–the Vision of Transforming or Divinising human nature. But he was never a visionary in any sense of the term. He was not a man of unpractical ideals or fanciful beliefs. His vision is Universal and Transcendental and at the same time brilliant and clear, Intelligible and perspicuous, unequivocal and unmistakable. The visions and ideals of his spiritual reality, every one of them was constantly put into practice in the reality of world-matter. He acted his Dreams and worked his Visions. In their Divine laboratory which they chose to call the ‘Ashram’, Sri Aurobindo and Mother have undertaken the most sublime and profound experiment in the evolution of spiritual matter, in the conscious evolution of mortal man on the Earth, the Earth-Man in ignorance evolving and transforming into the Heaven-Man in Gnosis.
This
book will enable the inquisitive reader to get the all-round mental picture of
the vision and the work.
The Philosophy of Integralism by Harldar
Chouduri. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry-2. Price:
Rs. 7-50.
This
is another original contribution to the “Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo.” In this
book the author gives the metaphysical synthesis inherent in the teachings of
Sri Aurobindo.
The
Author is well known in the world of philosophy. “On the approval of Sri
Aurobindo he went to the Academy of Asian studies in Sanfrancisco
as professor of philosophy.” This according to Fedric
Spiegelberg guarantees “Chauduri’s
authenticity as a foremost interpreter of Sri Aurobindo’s
system.”
But
one should not forget that Sri Aurobindo, did not claim to be and has not been
a ‘Philosophy,’ an exponent of any system. On the other hand, he is an
originator of philosophy, leaving it to professors of Sri Chauduri’s
mental calibre to spell out such philosophical
“system” as could contain in his teachings. And Sri Chauduri
very aptly coined phrases like “Philosophy of Integralism”
and “Dynamic Integral Non-dualism” to describe the “system.”
This
book is an attempt, and that a very courageous, able and excellent attempt, to
capture, translate, and systematize Sri Aurobindo’s
Supra-Mental vision into mental philosophical language and to give it a
metaphysical shape and definition. But a word of caution is necessary in
understanding the terms used in this book. Chauduri’s
application of “Ockham’s Razor” to arrive at an
irreducible minimum of categories may be useful for the purpose on hand and may
very well help Western intellectuals to familianse
themselves with such words as Brahman, Atman, etc. But among the Eastern
thinkers and the like of them, it may cause not a little confusion and disturb
some of their familiar notions. The four words Brahman, Iswara, Parmattna, Sachidananda do not
mean the same, even in Sri Aurobindo’s use of the
expressions. Similarly in the writings of Sri Aurobindo, as well as in the
ancient Indian philosophy one cannot be sure that the words Jivatma,
Antarattna, Chaitya Purusha do mean the same or that their meanings are
conveyed by the single expression “Self.”
For
instance, take a passage like the following in the Life Divine:
“The
true soul secret in us–subliminal, we have said, but the word is
misleading…, this veiled phsychic entity is
the flame of the God-bead always alight within us, inextinguishible
even by that dense unconsciousness of any spiritual self within which
obscures our outward nature. It is….the Daemon of Socrates,….an indestructible
spark of the Divine. Not the unborn Self or Atman,……it is
yet its deputy in the forms of Nature, the individual soul, Chaitya purtlsha……These
other person-powers in man, these beings of his being,
are also veiled in their true entity, but they put forward temporary
personalities which compose our outer individual and whose combined superficial
action and appearance of status we call ourselves……” etc. (Life Divine.
P. 207 )
This
passage would be unintelligible to any reader if he is told that all the
expressions used therein (italicised by us) could be
comprehended by the single expression the individual self or just the self
(Atman) as all of them are only “various dimensions of being.” We believe, Sri Chauduri’s comment–“Words often prove misleading by
conveying the impression of separate metaphysical entities corresponding to
them”–does not apply to such words as above used by Sri Aurobindo in his
writings.
On
the whole the work is an authentic interpretation of, and an excellent
introduction to, Aurobindonian philosophy, well
appealing to the students of philosophy eager to penetrate into the heights or
Sri Aurobindo’s Supramental
Vision.
–V. VENKATARAMA
SASTRI
Shining Harvest by
M. P. Pandit. Published by Ganesh & Co. (Madras)
P. Ltd. Madras-17. Price: Rs. 10.
Though
this book is said to be a collection of Reviews, it is more than that. These
reviews are digests of about 30 priceless books Yoga, Philosophy and Mysticism.
Yogavasishtha, Tripurarahasya,
Narada Bhakti Sutras, Pratyabhijna
system, Nada Yoga, The Natha tradition,
foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, spiritual heritage of India, Svetasvetaropanishat, Swami Vivekananda, The Tarot, The Teachings of Mystics, Spiritual
Experiences and the conscious mind, are but some of the books reviewed and
subjects dealt with. Thus a seeker after self-realisation, who cannot wade
through a labyrinth of books, can find to his complete satisfaction, a
plentiful predigested fare served to him in this book. Any reader of this is
sure to be richly rewarded.
Glory of the Divine
Mother (Devi Mahatmyam). Published by S. Shankara
Narayanan. Distributors: Ganesh & Co. (Madras)
Pvt. Ltd. Madras-17. Price: Rs. 12.
The
unique greatness of this edition lies in the valuable introduction of the
editor Sri Sankara Narayanan, an experienced Sadhaka, and a close disciple of Sri Kapali
Sastry of Aurobindo Ashram. The introduction draws
much upon the works of Sri Kapalisastry and teachings
of Sri Aurobindo, and throws a flood of light on occult and esoteric meanings
of the story of the Devi Mahatmya, otherwise known as Sri Durga Saptasati.
Sri
Sankara Narayanan declares that the worship of Sakti is the life-breath of our great Dharma. Devi Mahatmya is a
practical science that teaches us how to approach and win the favour of the Goddess Sakti. It
is highly occult and a repositary of Mantra. Audible
recital of this text is considered to be a Sadhana par
excellence. According to Sri Kapalisastry what
Manu is for Dharma, Vatsyayana is for Kama, and Bhagavadgita
for Moksha that Devi
Mahatmya is for Artha
all ends of life.
The
Suggestion of the story is explained as follows. “The story of Suratha and Samadhi proves that
an aspirant can reach the goal by following any of the famous two paths, Dakshina and Vaama
margas, in the Tantric Siddhanta.” The three battles between the Divine and
anti-divine forces described in the three Charitas
represent the battle of life. “In the battle or life the Sadhaka
has to ally himself with the Divine forces of Truth and Light and face a
relentless battle with anti-divine forces. Even a small short- coming in the Sadhana, chink in the armour, is
enough to make hostile forces hold sway. But there is no cause for despair. The
Divine is ultimately victorious and Truth alone triumphs.”
The
occult side and the esoteric meaning of the story is explained in detail. Brahmi represents primordial Nada-Omkara and creates the universe with her Nada and
it is Vaishnavi that gives it a shape, Maheswari holds the puppet show of the universe Kumari represents the force of aspiration of the evolving
soul. Varahi is the all-consuming power in the
universe. Indrani is the eternal
vigilance of the Divine and a manifestation of the Mother. Chamunda
is the great Kali. Chanda is the fierce fire in Muladhara and Munda represents
the head, the Moon in the Sahasrara centre which is the seat of illumined mind. Raktabija represents the incessant mental activity.
The
editor explains how there are four but not three Saktis
referred to in the text, the fourth being Maheswari.
All
material required for a regular recital of the text, both at the beginning and
at the end is completely furnished with English translation. The whole text is
translated verse by verse into English Devi Sukta with English translation is also added at the end the
text. Edited by an experienced Sadhaka, this edition
of Devi Mahatmya
is a real boon to all Sadhakas.
Kalidasa (A
People’s poet) by G. K. Rao. Sree Pada
Seva Sangham, Bangalore 4.
Price: Rs. 2.50.
This
is a collection of three lectures on Kalidasa delivered by the author. As Sri
B. R. Sarma has pointed out in his foreword
to this book, the author has attempted to bring the salient features of Kalidasa’s poetry in a nutshell. The first lecture is
devoted to general appreciation of Kalidasa while the second and the third
lectures deal with the appreciation of Kumara Sambhava
and Meghaduta, with apt quotations from the original.
The
fourth chapter is highly valuable in that it contains important sayings from
all the works of Kalidasa. This is a book to be read and preserved by every
student of Sanskrit literature.
Sri Sankara Vijayam :
Published by Ganesh & Co. Pvt. Ltd. Madras 17.
Price: Rs. 1.50.
This
book gives in a nutshell the life and achievements of Sri Adi
Sankaracharya. The last 20 pages are devoted to a
discussion regarding the place where Sri Sankara left
his mortal coil. The author says “Sri Sankara settled
at Kanchi towards the close of his life and ended his earthly career there.”
–B. KUTUMBA RAO
Call it A Day: A
Selection of Modern Indian Stories edited by M. C.
Gabriel and Gwen Gabriel. Siddhartha Publications
(Private) Ltd., Deihl. Price: Rs.
8.40.
“The
general indifference to worldly values and ambitions, the lack of domestic
privacy and personal freedom, the often trying climate and sometimes inadequate
diet might well have combined to militate against the creation of a sustained
narrative prose fiction (In India).”
–The Modern
Indian Novel in English by M. E. Derrett
If
such amusing views are expressed by reviewers abroad even today, it is because
no organised effort has been made to present the
contemporary Indian creativity before the eager world-readership.
Naturally,
only the stress on the fact that India was the birth-place of story while the
East as a whole was its nursing ground would cut no ice. Hence any effort
towards the presentation of the modern Indian story in an international
language is to be welcomed and the volume under review is a felicitous effort
at that.
As
the editors put it, “The stories included in this selection have been taken
from those that appeared in Thought between 1949 and 1965–a period of
seventeen years. The number of stories published during this period totaled to
over 700 excluding novelettes and translations from foreign languages. Out of
these a preliminary selection of 100 was made. A further review reduced the
figure to a little more than 50; after the final weeding we were left with the
choice that appears in this book.” So, we cannot expect the anthology to be
representative of stories in various Indian languages since the scope of
selection has been limited to the embrace of a magazine. The catalogue of
authors contain only a few ‘top’ names. A number of these twenty-eight authors
have resorted to English as their original medium of writing. Yet the
interesting glimpses of the varied Indian life are very much there and no less
the impact of the historic tragedies and developments that have affected the
national life. And in a few stories, more than a presentation of life, there is
successful attempt at its interpretation too.
–MANOJ DAS
Contemporary Indian
Short Stories Volume 2: Edited by Bhabani
Bhattacharya. Published by Sahitya Akademi, New
Delhi, Price: Rs. 8.
Short
stories have always been loved and read avidly at all times and in all climes.
With demand supply has caught up, while with taste talent has improved. Not
that every story emanating from every pen treasures up to vigorous standards.
On the contrary, the mass of short fiction (and, for that matter, full-length
novels) is substandard and this is why there is need for selection.
And
when a sober and fastidious literary body such as the Sahitya Akaderni does the selection, the winners must natural be
such as to be capable of catering to the refined tastes of readers.
The
book under review is the second in the series of short story anthelogies published by the Akademi.
The stories cover a broad spectrum of Indian sentiments–from the rude to the
refined, from the dolose to the delicate
Of
the 22 short stories, two are originally in English while the remaining are
translations from the major Indian languages. Mainly written between 1930 and
1950, the different stories inevitably reflect the ethos of the respective
times, although the basic human attitudes, failings and foibles do not change
markedly from general to generation. In any case some of the themes outlined in
stories like R. K. Narayan’s Another Community (Engliish) are of as much validity today as when they were
written.
Some
finely sensitive (and not lackadaisical) touch is afforded in a few stories
such as a Defective Coin (Assamese) by Rama Das and Wet and Shine (Marathi)
by Kusumavati Deshpande.
Kabir by
Prabhakar Machwe. Price: Rs. 2-50 and
Iswarachandra
Vidyasagar by Hiranmay
Banerjee. Price: Rs. 2-50.
Published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
The
average educated young man of today is woefully ignorant of even the names of
many luminaries who adorned the Indian firmament a few generations ago, not to
speak of their lives and works. This makes the so-called generation-gap all the
more acute. Sahitya Akademi is doing a great service
to the nation in undertaking works like these monographs which
should serve to bridge the hiatus between the past which is
being rapidly forgotten and the present whose values are utterly different.
Even if a small fraction of our youth cares to scan these pages the impact is
going to be considerable.
In
Kabir, small as the book is, the controversy about his birth, caste and
life is treated fairly exhaustively and with admirable simplicity. To
discerning readers, the account given of Kabir’s
philosophy is particularly appealing. In a country which is still infested with
religious fanatics, both of Hinduism and Islam, it is necessary that occasional
“injections” of sense are made available in one form or other. Kabir should
serve this purpose albeit in a modest measure. “Called by any name you remain
the same”’ cries Kabir. “Kabir’s god transcends both
Islamic monotheism and Hindu polytheism. He is Allah and also Ram, and also
more.”
Kabir’s rationalism,
however, is less well-known. He is forth-right in his criticism of external
ritual. “If by wearing a holy thread a person could be called twice-born, why
not call the iron-wheel in the well that always wears a rope a Brahmin?” And,
“Why does the Kazi shout so loudly, standing on the
top of the minaret at his morning prayer? Has Allah gone deaf?” The hypocrisy
of adoring people when they are dead is equally forcefully exposed. “The old
while alive are always abused and cursed; when dead, there is the ceremony of
showing honour and respect (Sraddha).”
In
the monograph on Vidyasagar also, besides the
biographical account and achievements of the titular hero, one comes across a few
less well-known facts-and this makes the work very interesting. For example,
while it is common knowledge that Macaulay was
instrumental in introducing English education in this country, few are aware
that, in doing so, he bad a sinister motive. In a letter to his father, an
excerpt from which is given in The Background, Macaulay
observes: “No Hindu who has received an English education ever remains
sincerely attached to his religion…And this (conversion) will be effected
without my efforts to proselytize….” Events, however, proved otherwise. While
English has opened the window on the world, it has not turned all the millions
of Indians into Christians. Our Anglophobes would do well to read this passage
and the lines about the great reluctance on the part of Englishmen to introduce
English in this country just to realise what a
precious gem they want to be jettisoned.
Again,
while most of us associate Vidyasagar (which term
incidentally, is a title conferred on him for his excellent academic career)
with widow-remarriage reform, not many are aware of his methodical approach to
the problem. The only weapon, he realised, which
could convince and silence orthodox opposition would be an authoritative
sanction in the Sanskrit texts universally approved. To this end, therefore, he
made a dilligent study of the texts and discovered
such a sanction in the parasara Samhita. It allows remarriage for women “when the husband
turns insane, dies, turns an ascetic, becomes impotent or an outcaste.” Legislation
would have been very difficult but for such an authority.
The
books are brief but pithy and give a good enough glimpse of the two great men.
–K. V.
SATYANARAYANA
M. P. Pandit 50th
Birthday Commemoration Volume: Edited by Prof. A V.
Sastri. Published by Kesavamurti, Sri Aurobindo
Ashram, Pondicherry-2. price Rs.
15.
Sri
Madbav Pundalik Pandit
belongs to that select band of Sadhakas of
Sri Aurobindo Ashram who have devoted their lives to the search of Truth.
Readers of Triveni and several other leading journals in India know Sri
Pandit as an oracious reader and prolific writer; but
only a few who have come into close contact with him know of his width of heart
as a lover of God and a “servant of those who serve God.” He has to his credit
about forty original books on Veda, Upanishads, Tantra
Sastra, Yoga and the teachings of
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, besides a dozen translations from Sanskrit which
include the famous works of his guru, Sri Kapali
Sastriar. He is a great linguist with command over
many languages.
Born
with a high heritage, Sri Pandit came under the influence of Sri Kapali Sastriar very early in life.
Under the tutelage of Sri Sastriar, Sri Pandit had
training in the study of ancient Indian scriptures of importance. After joining
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1939, Sri Pandit followed the guidance of Sri Sastriar in the spiritual sadhana
given by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Gifted with amazing powers of memory
bordering on Ekasantagraha, he has read
the Vedas and Sastras and continued the tradition of
his guru. Sri Pandit is one of the most ardent devotees of the Mother.
He says: “Every moment here has been a rich experience. In the Mother I have
found God. To realise Her fully is my one aim and
this identity grows with each day.”
It
is fitting that the Commemoration Volume should open with a section of tributes
to Sri Pandit. The remaining pages are replete with a rich variety of scholarly
essays by eminent Titers on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, as
well as articles on wider themes of the life of the Spirit. Here is a souvenir
brought out with taste, with a full fare of refreshing and elevating
contributions, which we heartily commend to the lovers of wisdom. “May this
half century of Sri Madhav Pandit’s
life reach out to the term of a full century culminating in the victory of his
Yoga.”
–BHAVARAJU
Kabira
Vachanavali: Kannada translation by
D. R. Bendre. Published by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Price: Rs.
6.00.
Though
there is a bewildering mixture of legend, history and folklore regarding Kabir
and his works, conscientious labour by a number of
research scholars has now determined the age of the saint to be the fifteenth
century (A. D.). It is also definite that he was born and brought up at Banaras in a family of weavers and was an heir to two
traditions, i.e., the Yogic path of the Nathas and
the organised religion of Islam. However, his contact
with the famous Saint Ramananda brought about a
revolution in his being and he rose over both the legacies into the reconciling
truth of the Lordship of the One Divine realisable by
Bhakti, one-pointed adoration.
Kabir
was not a litterateur in the modern sense. But he had drunk deep at the
fountain of his soul dedicated to its maker and his experience, his vision and
his direct knowledge found expression in innumerable sayings many of which have
come to be preserved through couplets and songs current among the peoples who
came under the influence of his teaching. Naturally all the savings that pass
under his name are not really his; scholars are still busy sifting the genuine
from the spurious. The book under review is a choice collection from the dicta
of Kabir, translated into chaste and fluent Kannada by Sri D. R. Bendre, the acknowledged prime poet of the day in
Karnataka.
The
book is divided into sections, the first containing renderings of Dohas, couplets, and the second of longer
utterances. They cover a variety of subjects as
comprehensive as life itself–material and spiritual–and have a message for
everybody, men and women, the classes and the masses,
believers and non-believers.
Kabir
broke through the sectarian barriers that abounded in his age at every level of
life and demonstrated the unity of all in the Godhead of love. The selections
comprising this volume are a standing testimony to this service of his to
humanity.
–M. P. PANT