OTHER REVIEWS
The
Philosophy of Advaita-By T. M. P. Mahadevan.
Ganesh
& Co. (
The
Philosophy of Advaita is the revised edition (1957) of the
doctoral thesis of Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan, Professor of Philosophy,
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 Pramanas or 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 sakshi
or witness as the real self of the Jiva,
the seventh with Iswara and Jiva and
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 Vivarana
school 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with introduction, notes and extracts from the unpublished commentaries.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.
Bharati in English
Verse–By S. 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.
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,
This
novel of rural life in Orissa was first published in Oriya twenty-five years
back, 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 background, 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 unity and 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.
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.