About the Book :-

This book is primarily intended to be an investigation into the meaning and religious significance of the important Vedic term dhi, which has been variously and often inadequately translated. The author has tried to determine its central meaning or semantic nucleus from which the various contextual connotations were derived. This central meaning is vision, not only in the literal sense (faculty of seeing), but in the Vedic texts mainly in the sense of mental vision, supranormal vision establishing the contact with the transcendent sphere or world of the divine powers from which the poets obtained their inspiration and their insight into the higher supersensuous truth and reality which they endeavoured to express and formulate in their poems. The author elaborately describes the relevant processes and the activity of the poets and adds chapters on related subjects, e.g., the heart as the organ of these mental processes, poetical inspiration in post-Vedic literature, contemplation and meditation, the Buddhist ideas on vision as well as the term pratibha "flash of intuition.

About the Author :- Jan Gonda, born 1905, was professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands 1932-1976. He is the author of many books and articles on Sanskrit, Indian religion and literature, among them Aspects of early Visnuism, Sanskrit in Indonesia, Die Religionen Indiens, The Dual Deities in the Religion of the Veda, Triads in the Veda, Vedic Literature, The Ritual Sutras, Medieval Religious Literature in Sanskrit. He is honorary member of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and other Indian Academies and Institutes of the Royal Asiatic Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences etc.

Cover : Hard Cover
Edition : 1985
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 81-215-0076-1
Language : English
Pages : 372

From the Jacket :- In the present volume which deals with the studies on the religious systems of ancient India the term historiography has been used to denote the history of researches on various system both in its heuristic and interpretative aspects. It is against the background of the academic activities of the last 200 years that Prof.

Bhattacharyya has dealt with the contents of the major works of every decade, the perspectives and theorizations of their authors, their methodolology, assessment, criticism and interpretation, the dominant outlook of various ages by which the approaches of the authors are conditioned and many allied features: It is a stock-taking of the earliest work on Indian religion, of the varied developments in the study of the description of its formal structure and also in that of the methodological principles of interpretation and of the canons of assessment put forward by modern schools of academic disciplines necessary for the purpose of a better understanding of the multi-dimensional character of Indian religious systems.

About the Author :- Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya does not require any special introduction in the field of Indological studies. Through religious history in his forte he walks in equal ease in diverse branches of ancient Indian history and civilization.

His important publications include Indian Puberty Rites; Indian Mother Goddess; History of Indian Cosmogonical Ideas; Ancient Indian Rituals and Their Social Contents; History of Sakta Religion; History of Indian Erotic Literature; Jain Philosophy; Historical Outline; History of Researches on Indian Buddhism; History of Tantric Religion; Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Early Medieval India; Ancient Indian history and Civilization; Trends and Perspective, Glossary of Indian Religious Terms and Concepts; and Buddhism in the History of Indian Ideas.

He has edited R. P. Chandas Indo-Aryan Races and N. C. Bandyopadhyaya's Development of Hindu Polity. He has also edited Medieval Bhakti Movement in India, a collection of papers by eminent scholars published on the occasion of Sri Caitanyas Quincentenary and Prakrit and Jain Studies, a collection of essays in honour of Prof. J. C. Jain.

Bhattacharyya teaches in the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta. He presided over the Ancient Indian Section of the Indian History Congress in the 52nd session held at Delhi in 1992.

Cover : Hard Cover
Edition : 1996
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 8121506389
Language : English
Pages : 418

Preface :- The intimate connexion which has fo long fubfifted between this country and the con- tinent of India, naturally renders every Englifh- man deeply interefted in all that relates to a quarter of the globe which has been the theatre of fcenes highly important to his country; and which, per- haps, at the moment when he perufes the defcrip- tion of it, may be the refidence or the grave of fome of his dearefl friends.

It is only matter of furprize, that, of a country fo nearly allied to us, fo little fhould be known. The public is, indeed, greatly indebted to the learned labours of gentlemen, who have refided there, for the information which they have afford- ed concerning the Laws and the Religion of the Hindoo tribes; as well as for correct and well di- gefied details of the tranlactions of the Mogul go- vernment. But of the face of the country, of its arts, and natural prod uctions, little has yet been faid. Gentlemen who have refided long in India lofe the idea of the hrft impreffion which that very curious country makes upon an entire ftanger: the novelty is foon effaced, and the mind, by a common and natural operation, directs its views to more abftract fpeculation ; reafoning affumes the place of obfervation, and the traveller is loft in the philofopher.

To fupply, in fome :flight degree, this hiatus in the topographical department of literature, is the immediate object of the following pages. It will, I flatter myfelf, not be difagreeable to my readers to be informed, that they conlift of a few plain reprefentations of what I obferved on the fpot, ex- preifed in the fimple garb of truth, without the fmalleft embellifhment from fiction, or from fancy. They were chiefly intended for my own amufe- ment, and to enable me to explain to my friends a number of drawings which I had made during my rcfidence in India, fome or which accompany the prefent publication. The apology is trite; but in this cafe its truth, and the refpectability of the name to which I refer, muft plead my excufe-it was owing entirely to the influence and perfuafion of my moft juftly efieemed friend, Henry James Pye, Efq. Poet Laureat, that thefe obfervations have been fubmitted to a tribunal, which I have ever regarded with awful refpect-THE PUBLIC.

Cover : Hard Cover
Edition : 1999
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 8121505682
Language : English
Pages : 163 (with engravings and maps)

From the Jacket :-

Not a few of the specialists in the field of the history of Indian philosophy are of the opinion that the philosophical significance of the Bhagavadgita has often been overestimated. But even they cannot deny that it classes among the most important Sanskrit texts in terms of the history of ideas and the influence exercised by it even on outstanding intellectual figures of pre-independent and modern India and that it is perhaps the most frequently read work of the whole of Sanskrit literature, in India as well abroad. Therefore the necessity of making again available Prahlad C. Divanjis Critical Word-Index to the Bhagavadgita hardly needs justification, all the more as it is based on a number of different editions of the Gita. There is no tool like this index, of equal importance both to the professional Sanskritist as well as to all those interested in this text and wishing to read and understand the original itself.

Cover : Hard Cover
Edition : 1993
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 8121505453
Language : English
Pages : 406

From the Jacket:

The Vedantasutra of Badarayana is one of the great philosophical works of India. It deals with those fundamental questions concerning mans existence, that still remain an enigma despite all attempts of eminent philosophers and religious leaders both past and present, of this world at unravelling its mysteries. The teachings of the Vedas, the doctrines of contemporary philosophers and the purport of important passages from Upanisads are its subject-matter. It is at once a repository of all earlier knowledge, a genesis for further philosophical speculation and an evaluating scale for new metaphysical ideas. Its scope being universal and timeless, Badarayana resorted to a terse and aphoristic style for compressing a vast body of knowledge into such brief statements that could easily be memorized. The sutras are something more than an aphorism; for each, though brief to the point of being obscure, is so pregnant with meaning that interpretation has become difficult and resulted in the growth of an unending line of commentators, both Indian and foreign, spanning centuries from Sankara the earliest, passing through Bhaskara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Srikantha, Nimbarka, Sripati, Vallabha, Suka, Baladeva to Radhakrishnan the latest.

This book, known as the Govinda Bhasya, is the commentary of Baladeva, who was a disciple of Sri Caitanya (AD 1485-1533) the famous Vaisnavite saint of Bengal. Its approach is theistic and based on the teachings of Madhva and Caitanya. The English translation is faithful to the original.

Cover : Hard Cover
Edition : 2002
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 9788121510585
Language : English
Pages : 900

About the Book:- History of Indian Literature is a classic work covering the entire gamut of Indian secular and religious literature including epic, Iyric, dramatic and didactic poetry, as well as narrative and scientific prose. It includes not only the large number of works of religious literature - hymns, sacrificial songs, incantations, myths and legends, sermons, theological treatises, polemical writings, manuals of instruction on ritual and religious discipline but also the Iyrical and dramatic works, including the two great epics, the fairy-tales, fables, prose-narratives, the belles-lettres and works on various sciences.

The inclusion of this vast material, covering almost three thousand years of literary activity, could not be compressed into a single volume. Hence this was divided into two volumes by the author. Volume I includes, besides an introductory chapter, the Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Tantras, while volume II deals with the Buddhist and the Jaina literature with an Index at the end of each volume.

From the Jacket

Brahmasutras and Their Principal Commentaries is a vigorous, animate and thought-provoking treatise on the interpretation of the Vedantasutras of Badarayana. Dr. Sharma has delved deeply into the three principal traditions of their interpretation established by acaryas: Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva.

This is the first work on the Sutras to give parity of treatment to all the three principal traditions of interpretation by placing them in their own milieu and bringing them into close thematic relation with one another, allowing full scope for each one to speak in its authentic voice. The exegetical, the expository and the analytic aspects of the interpretations have been given the fullest attention in a coordinated form, for the first time.

Besides the bhasyas of the acaryas, we are here treated to a sumptuous feast of the niceties and nuances of their exposition and reinforcement by their distinguished subcommentators like Vacaspati Misra, Amalananda, Sudarsana Suri, Jayatirtha, Vyasatirtha, Vadiraja, Raghuttama, Raghunatha, Raghaendra Swamin, and others whose works are not available to us in English translations. The disquisitions from these unexplored classics of the Vedanta system are sure to regale the tarkarasikas among students of philosophy in the East, in the West, and in the Far East.

It is only such a thoroughgoing study of the Sutras and their classical commentaries that can help us in our voyage of discovery to where the Sutras of Badarayana intend to lead us.

Dr. B.N.K. Sharma was a distinguished Sanskrit scholar and retired as Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit and Ardhamagadhi, Ruparel College, Mumbai. His other important works are: Madhva’s Teachings in His Own Worlds; Philosophy of Madhvacarya; and History of Dvaita School of Vedanta and its Literature.

Cover: Hard Cover
Edition : 2008
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 9788121500357
Language : English
Pages : 1835

It is a faithful presentation of personal experiences of a devoted man who has been throughout his life of 76 years searching for receiving an answer, an understandable logic behind those mystic events before which logic stands spell bound. This personal records-secret, mind-boggling, enigmatic-none the less reserve for the reader an unfailing touch of reliance. Man stands here face to face with the mystery, which takes the mind above matter, and wonderment gasps although the Hamlet like assurance comes in time to point out confidently to more things between heaven and earth. Chapter by chapter, the author unfolds layer after layer the secrets of the Tantra world, as he has found himself in, at times to satisfy his quest, at times as just a beam of blessing.

The personal note of these pages, together with the lessons in Tantric practices, some sweet and startling, some horrid and blood curdling, make this book an addition to the authentic report of this much maligned but equally intimate world. Those who want to profit and learn of and about what could be held in store by Tantra will find The World of Tantra a secret mind of relevant information at first hand.

About the Author : B. Bhattacharya, born in 1910 in Varanasi, received his first education in traditional toles in Sanskrit and further did M.A. (English) from Allahabad University. He spent the best period of his life as an educationist in Guyana and Trinidad (West Indies). His other works, Saivism and the Phallic World, 2 vols. (1993) and Varanasi Rediscovered (1999), both published by us are well known. The present work shows the range of his reach in the mystic sphere of Tantra. Preface

Cover : Paperback
Edition : 2014
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
ISBN : 9788121509688
Size : 8.5 x 5.5
Page : 476
Weight : 580 gm.

Ananda Coomaraswamys Hinduism and Buddhism, like all his writings, is a masterpiece. In this work he sets forth his ideas with his usual depth and insight to discard the wrong notions about the divergence in the basic philosophies of these two major religions that have been propounded by European scholars and by Indians trained in our modern skeptical and evolutionary modes of thought. In Hinduism and Buddhism Coomaraswamy has tried to show that the essentials of these religions are the same and form what may be called as the Philosophia Perennis or the Eternal Philosophy. His contention is that Hinduism and Buddhism are not contradictory but the one is a development out of the massive foundation of the other. It is only to those who have made a superficial study that Buddhism seems different from Brahmanism; the more profound is the study, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish Buddhism from Brahmanism.
Hinduism and Buddhism is divided into two parts with copious notes added to each part. In the first part, dealing with Hinduism, Coomaraswamy has examined in detail the fundamental concepts like karma, maya, reincarnation, the darsanas, the sacrifice, social order, etc., and in the second part, dealing with Buddhism, he shows that in essentials it was the same as Hinduism and that Buddha did not strive to establish a new order to restore an older form. In sum, the basic philosophy of great religions is drawn from a common fount and the new religions are but the recognition of the common thought manifested under different forms.

Cover:Hard Cover
Edition : 1996
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 9788121500371
Language : English
Pages : 96

Yogasutrabhasyavivarana of Sankara Vivarana Text With English Translation and Critical Notes Along with Text and English Translation of Patanjali's Yogasutras and Vyasabhasya (2 Volume Set)

If you are looking at the literal translation of the yoga sutras. this is a good translation and thesis. But the title by Sankara is misleading and the author denies this is the authorship of Sankaracharya, though many commentators seem to think this is Sankaracharyas (Adi Sankara). So if you are interested in Adi Sankara's commentary you will be disappointed. This is not an advaitic text, rather a commentary on yoga sutras.

Cover: Hard Cover
Edition : 2001
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 978-8121509084
Language : English
Pages : 619

From the Jacket:

The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, on the basis of its order, style and theme belongs to the genre of Mahapuranas, in spite of its exclusion from the original list of the Mahapuranas. It is to the Saktas what Srimad Devi Bhagavatam is to Vailavas. Opinions about the date of its composition vary; however it can be safely said that it attained its present shape sometime during the eleventh century AD. Its ideas trace source from all the major works of ancient India-the Vedas, the Epics and the Puranas. The translation of the voluminous text of the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam by Swami Vijnanananda is a landmark in the translation of ancient texts. This shall prove to be an invaluable boon to the students of ancient Indian history and to those interested in the study of Saktism and Tantrism in particular.

From the Jacket

The Mahabharata in its present form is equal to about eight times as much as the Illiad and Odyssey put together. The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the great war of eighteen days fought between the, Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. In this great Kurukshetra battle were involved almost all the kings of India joining either of the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and their party, and Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign monarch of Hastinapura, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. But the progress of the years new matters and episodes relating to the various aspects of hanuman life, social, economic, political, moral and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired the present shape.

This very fact that the Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than one single and unified work, and contains so many and so multifarious things, makes it more suited than any other book of afford us an insight into the deepest depths of the soul of Indian people.

About the Book

In the world of classical literature the Mahabharata is unique in many respects. As an epic, it is the greatest-seven times as great as the Illiad and the Odyssey combined, and the grandest-animating the heart of India over two thousand years past and destined to lead humanity for thousands of years in future. It is the mightiest single endeavour of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the mind that conceived it is itself a liberal education and a walk through its table of contents is more than a Sabbath day's Journey.

The translation was completed and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi. The original edition was out of print within the lifetime of Mr. Ganguli, and is made available once again.

About the Author

Kisari Mohan Ganguli completed the translation of Mahabharata and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi.

Ganguli preferred public anonymity till compilation. But from the very beginning though anonymous to the general readers, the authorship of Ganguli was not secret to the numerous oriental scholars and patrons of the enterprise, Indian and foreign with whom he was constantly linked through direct contact or correspondence. The then Central Government also recognised the services of Ganguli as the translator of this great work by conferring the C.I.E. titles and awarding the first Honorary Literary Person for life to him.

From the Jacket:

The Mahabharata in its present form is equal to about eight times as much as the Illiad and Odyssey put together. The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the great war of eighteen days fought between the, Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. In this great Kurukshetra battle were involved almost all the kings of India joining either of the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and their party, and Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign monarch of Hastinapura, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. But the progress of the years new matters and episodes relating to the various aspects of hanuman life, social, economic, political, moral and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired the present shape.

This very fact that the Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than one single and unified work, and contains so many and so multifarious things, makes it more suited than any other book of afford us an insight into the deepest depths of the soul of Indian people.

About the Book

In the world of classical literature, the Mahabharata is unique in many respects. As an epic, it is the greatest-seven times as great as the Illiad and the Odyssey combined, and the grandest-animating the heart of India over two thousand years past and destined to lead humanity for thousands of years in future. It is the mightiest single endeavour of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the mind that conceived it is itself a liberal education, and a walk through its table-of-contents is more than a Sabbath day's journey.

The translation was completed and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi. The original edition was out-of-print within the lifetime of Mr Ganguli, and is made available once again.

About the Author

Kisari Mohan Ganguli completed the translation of the Mahabharata and serially pub- lished it in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi.

Ganguli preferred public anonymity till compilation. But from the very beginning. though anonymous to the general readers. the authorship of Ganguli was not secret to the numerous oriental scholars and patrons of the enterprise. Indian and foreign with whom he was con- stantly linked through direct contact or correspondence. The then Central Government also recognised the services of Ganguli as translator of this great work by conferring the C.I.E. title and awarding the first Honorary Literary Person for life to him.

About the Book

This edition is revised and enlarged to update the material and impart more depth to author's strikingly original interpretations. Especially those relating to Narayana and Vasudeva-Krsna. It questions the general assumption that the sentiment of personal devotion or bhakti formed a basic component of pre-Aryan aboriginal cults from which it was borrowed by later sectarian religions.

The author argues that religious consciousness being an ideological reflex of man's real life process its structure also undergoes changes in conformity with the changing social relations. The adoption of the principle of ahimsa and of vegetarianism in Vaisnavism is explained in its social context. It is shown how Puranic Vaisnavism envolved in the process of revitalizing brahmanism through assimilating a number of orthodox non-conformist and tribal elements; the absorption of Mother-goddess Sri-Laksmi in the Vaisnava pantheon is a case in point. The revised edition throws fresh light on the Narasimha incarnation of Visnu and the romodelling of some Vaisnava rituals. Finally, it highlights the social role of this religion and indicates the extent of its influence- in post-Maurva and Gupta times.

About the Author

Suvira Jaiswal took her MA from the university of Allahabad in 1953 and received her doctorate from Patna University and joined the Centre for Historical Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1971 as Associate Professor and retired in 1990 Mrs Jaiswal was made President of the Ancient India Section of the thirty-eighth session of the Indian History Congress held at Bhubaneshwar in 1977. Currently she is engaged in research on social history of early India and has prepared a historiographical survey of the work done on the subject under a scheme sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research.

Preface

The scope of the work is limited to the history of Vaisnavism in post-Maurya and Gupta periods, although I had to go back often to earlier times to explain the rise of certain cults, rituals and doctrines in the period under study. It largely embodies my thesis approved for the degree of Ph.D. at the Patna University in 1963. It was sent to press early in 1964; but due to the non-availability of certain diacritical marks in the press, the publication was much delayed, and even then the sign m could not be printed properly in most cases. I crave the indulgence of my readers on this score.

I want to express my deep sense of gratitude to Professor Ram Sharan Sharma, Head of the Department of History, Patna University, who has supervised my work. His inspiring interest and exacting standards of scholarship have gone a long way to make the work what it is. I am also under obligation to Dr. Yogendra Misra, who guided me during the absence of Professor Sharma in England and gave me sound advice on several technical matters. My examiners, Professors A.L. Basham and D.C. Sircar offered me some very helpful criticisms and suggestions; to them my' most sincere thanks are due. I am deeply beholden to late Professor D.D. Kosambi, who during his last visit to Patna in 1964, found time to look through the typescript and gave me valuable advice. It is a matter of deep regret to me that the book could not come out during his lifetime. I am obliged to Professor Tan Yun-Shan, Director, Visva-Bharati, Cheena Bhavan, Santiniketan, for sending me a copy of a relevant passage found in the Chinese Tripitaka along with its English rendering. I also wish to thank Dr. Mrs. Vina Mazumdar, my erstwhile colleague and now Education Officer, University Grants Commission, for her keen interest in my work. My discussions with her have been stimulating and thought-provoking. I have also the pleasure of expressing my special thanks to Sri S.M. Karimi, Reader, Department 'of Geography, Patna University, for preparing the map and to Sri Radha Krishna Chaudhuri, Dr. Bambahadur Mishra and Dr. Dvijendra Narayan Jha for extending their help to me in various ways.

For financial assistance, I am grateful to Dr. G. Jacob, the then Vice-Chancellor of Patna University, for granting me a sum of Rs. 1000.00 to meet a part of the expenses involved.

Finally, I would like to thank my husband; Sri B.P. Jaiswal, for his constant encouragement and co-operation without which it would have been impossible for me to accomplish the task.

Foreword:

I deem it a privilege and also my duty to write a foreword for D. N. Shukla's book on Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting which forms Vol. IX of the Bharatiya Vastu- sastra Series. Dr. Shukla himself planed out the series and he has already published five volumes of it. Of these as many as four are in Hindi, the fifth one on Hindu Canons of Painting being in English. This shows the bulk and magnitude of the work already done by him and he intends to follow it up by bringing out Volumes on Hindu Canons of Architecture, which will constitute the remainder of the series. It has been possible for this comparatively young scholar to do so much work of this highly technical character for he has combined in him a very intimate knowledge of Sanskrit with a first hand experience about the architectural, iconographic and pictorial remains of ancient and medieval India. This is a combination rarely to be found among scholars engaged in the pursuit of similar studies, and I am sure he will be able to throw much further light on this branch of Indology. I have long been acquainted with the progress of his work and I can say without any hesitation that he has all along been sincere and conscientious in his scholarly researches. His treatment of the carious topics connected with his subject has always been critical and his appraisal of the views of previous writers has been fair and just. I have no doubt that the Government of the Uttar Pradesh and the Government of the Indian Union will extend to him their full patronage in the matter of the publication of his further researches.

It should be emphasized in this connection that he is not only advancing the bounds of our knowledge in this fascinating branch of Indology but he is also enriching the technical side of Hindi literature by writing many of these books in the Rashtrabhasha.

In fine I can only observe that the present work on the Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting is one of considerable merit and I am sure it will receive attention and appreciation from the world of scholars which it so thoroughly deserves.

Introduction

This work-Vastusastra Vols. I & II –Vol. II being published first, originally conceived as one of the series of a ten-to-fourteen-volume- project, under the general caption ‘Bharatiya Vastusastra' instituted by me some years back, can now be said, a complete English version of my D.Litt. Thesis-"Foundations and Canons of Hindu Iconography (both sculptural and pictorial)"-the two parts i. e. Canons of Icono- graphy (I) and Canons of Painting (III) wherein could also be sub- mitted, along with my already published works -.Pratima-vijnana, Pratima-laksana and Citra-laksana.

The author, primarily a student of Vastu-sastra, when got enchanted with this fascinating lore of Silpa-sastra, has to say a word on the wide scope of Vastu-sastra where Silpa-sastra, the science of sculpture, and the canons of painting (the Citra-sastra) are also included in its broader purview.

The Vedantasutra of Badarayana which codifies the teachings of the Upanisads is acclaimed by all as the fundamental source book for the system of Vedanta philosophy. Nevertheless several schools of thought such as the Advaita of samkara, the Visistadvaita of Ramanuja and the Dviata of Madhva have been developed from it, each one differing from the other in respect of major doctrines. This makes it difficult to determine the specific nature of the Vedanta philosophy as enunciated by Badarayana in his classic sutras apart from what is claimed by the respective commentators.

Dr. Chari's scholarly work attempts to brig out the views of Badarayana on the philosophy of Vedanta as enshrined in the sutras. He discusses comprehensively and in a systematic manner with reference to the selected sutra, the five fundamental doctrines of Vedanta namely, the nature of Brahman, the nature of the individual soul and its relation to Brahman, the nature of the universe and its relation to Brahman, the nature of the means to attain Brahman and the nature of the Supreme Goa. On the basis of an objective evaluation of the comments of three principal exponents of Vedanta, he has conclusively established that the Vedanta , he has conclusively established that the Vedanta philosophy of Badarayana is theistic monism, upholding the oneness of the Ultimate Reality as organically non-sentient cosmic matter. The book which is the first of its kind seeks to provide a deeper insight into the Vedantasutras.

Every Indian is proud of India & art and culture. He shall wax eloquent on how it has assimilated the invader, and how they lost their own identities and became Indians. But if asked what exactly brought about this metamorphosis, he is bound to struggle for an answer; for the history he has read had enlightened him about the rise and fall of many dynasties both Indian and foreign - but kept him almost dark on their artistic and cultural achievements. Thus the catalytic agent responsible for this unusual phenomenon eluded his grasp. This book The Culture and Art of India by Radhakamal Mukerjee, answers the long felt need for a work on India art and culture in a lucid style. It brings in perfect focus that, the state, politics and conquest are far less significant in India than metaphysics, religion, myth and art as factors in social integration and it is these that have welded middle, East and South-East Asia for several centuries into one spiritual community

This a revised edition of the book, first published in 1995. It deals with crucial though controversial question in Buddhist art: the origin of the Buddha image– its transformation from aniconism to anthropomorphism– and the iconography of the Buddha images.

The earliest Buddhist art of Sanchi and Bharhut is anicionic; the Buddha is represented in symbols only. In the later Buddhist art of Gandhara and Mathura, the Buddha is represented in human from; he is the principle subject of sculptural art. The book seeks to explore the geographical area in which the image of the Buddha first emerged and whether ideology of the Buddhist doctrines–Hinayana or Mahayana –had anything to do with this transformation and whether anthropomorphism of the Buddha image is of Greek inspiration.

The Buddha image, as developed eventually at Sarnath, became the model for the Buddha images in whole of Asia–Southeast, Central, and Eastern.

The iconographic features of the Buddha images are superficially an aberration, being in apparent conflict with the doctrine. The Buddha had cut off his hair at the time of his renunciation; the rules of the order enjoin that a monk must be tonsured and must discard and eschew all ornamentation. However, in his images, the Buddha has a luxuriant crop of hair on his head; later he also came to be endowed with a crown and jewels which, strictly speaking, are a taboo for a renunciant.

After an exhaustive examination of the views of various scholar, the book answer these questions and resolves the controversies on the basis of literary, sculptural, numismatic, and epigraphic sources. More importantly, it makes use of the valuable evidence from the contemporaneous and parallel religious tradition–Jainism and jaina art: aniconism of early Jaina art and the iconographic features of later Jaina images. The implications of this study are also important: does India owe idolatry to Buddhism? Was this of foreign inspiration, Greek to be precise? Was the Buddha image fashioned after the Vedic Brahma and whether the Buddha’s usnisa and Buddhist art motifs are rooted in the Vedic tradition?

The book is profusely illustrated and provides rich and stimulating fare to students of Indian art in general and of Buddhist art in particular.

About the Author : Y.Krishan is a scholar in Indology –Indian history, religion, philosophy and art. He has published over 150 research papers on these subjects in leading journals in India and abroad.He has also published a book Audit in India's Democracy.

From the Jacket

The primal spiritual of the Vedic tradition, which is the subject dealt with in this volume, contains the central ideas of the philosophy perennis - the One as the source and support of the many, the spirituality of matter, and the divinity of all living beings. Its outlook is holistic as it integrates beings with the primal Being. It has a long history of five millennia spanning pre-axial, and modern periods. It has been renewed from time to time through a series of renaissance - first through the Upanisads, again through the epics and the bhakti movement, and then through the modern renaissance leaders. Hence, it is vibrant in spite of its age, modern in spite of its antiquity. Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharsi and Jagadguru Candrasekharendra Sarasvati are some of the exemplars of the primal spirituality.

About the Author

A specialist in Advaita, Phenomenology, and Existentialism, R. Balasubramanian is at present Hony. Visiting Professor, Sri Aurobindo School of Eastern and Western Though, Pondicherry University and President, Afro-Asian Philosophy Association. He was Director, Radhakrishnan Institute for Advanced Study in Philosophy, University of Madras, for a number of years. He was Chairman of Indian Council of Philosophical Research. He has a number of books and papers to his credit. Some of his publications include Personalistic Existentialism of Berdyaev (1970), The Taittiriyopanisad-bhasyavartika of Suresvara (1974-1984), A Study of the Brahmasiddhi of Mandanamisra (1983) and The Tradition of Advaita (editor) (1994).

About the Book

While the Bhagavad Gita is an acknowledged treasure of world spiritual literature, few people know a parallel text, the Isvara Gita. This lesser- known work is also dedicated to a god, but in this case it is Siva, rather than krsna, who is depicted as the omniscient creator of the world. Andrew J. Nicholson’s Lord Siva’s Song makes this text available in English in an accessible new translation. A work of poetry and philosophy, the Isvara Gita builds on the insights of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra and foreshadows later developments in tantric yoga. It deals with the pluralistic religious environment of early medieval India through an exploration of the relationship between the gods Siva and Visnu. The work condemns sectarianism and violence, and provides a strategy for accommodating conflicting religious claims in its own day and in our own.

About the Author

Andrew J. Nicholson is Associate Professor of Hinduism and Indian Intellectual History at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. His primary area of research is Indian Philosophy and intellectual History, particularly medieval Vedanta and theistic yoga philosophies and their influence in the modern world. His first book, Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History and was awarded Best First Book in the History of Religions by the American Academy of Religion. This book is Professor Nicholson’s second work and is an annotated translation of an eighth century Pasupata Yoga text.

Introduction

The Isvara Gita ("Lord Siva's Song") is a philosophical poem that conveys the teachings of the Pasupatas, a group of Siva worshippers who would have a profound and lasting influence on the development of Hinduism. Since its composition in the eighth century CE, it has been an inspiration to generations of philosophers, devotees, and yogis in India. Like its famous predecessor, the Bhagavad Gita ("Song of Lord Krsna"), it goes beyond mere philosophical theory to describe a regimen of spiritual exercises to achieve self-transcendence and absolute freedom. These spiritual exercises, the "Pasupata Yoga," are a regimen of ethical discipline, breath control, physical postures, and mental concentration through which the yogi attains divine knowledge, power, and liberation. Pasupatas are not content just to know god. The ultimate goal of Pasupata Yoga is to become god-to attain Lord Siva's majestic power and wisdom in this very lifetime through mental absorption and union with him, the Lord of Yoga.

This book is a pioneering study on the contribution of Eastern Chalukyas to the art and architecture of Andhradesa. Bikkavolu is located in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh where a group of six fine temples are existing. The Bikkavolu temples though not included in the pancharamas, form the earliest group and typical examples of the Dravidian style of architecture in the heart of coastal Andhra. The three temples located on the outskirts of the Bikkavolu village form the early group, with cognate architectural features and the other temples located within the village belong to a later group. On a comparison of the art and architectural features the Early Chalukya and Rastrakuta temples the early group of temples is dated to late ninth century AD, particularly to the reign of Gunaga Vijayaditya (AD 848-92) and the later group to late eleventh century AD, particularly to the reign of Rajaraja Narendra (AD 1022-61) or Vijayaditya VII (AD 1061-75). The work is fully based upon field study of the temples, profusely illustrated with photographs of the temples, the architecture sculpture and iconography along with the ground plans. Printed Pages: 157 with 58 b/w plates.

About the Author:

Dr. S. Nageswara Rao took his M.A., Ph.D. degrees in Ancient History and Archaeology from the Andhra University in 1976 and 1983 respectively. After serving a brief period (1982-85) in the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, he joined the teaching faculty of History and Archaeology of Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam in 1985. He is at present Associate Professor and a member of the P.G. Board of Studies in History and Archaeology. His specialization includes Indian Art and Architecture and Conservation and Museology.

The Hindu poet-saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar describes herself as a demon, accompanying the god Siva as he dances in the cremation grounds. She is believed to be the first to write devotional poetry to Siva in the Tamil language and is considered the first of the sixty-three Tamil poet-saints. Written in the sixth or seventh century, her beautiful poetry presents the path of love and service that brings liberation. In Siva’s Demon Devotee, Elaine Craddock provides a historical, literary, and ethnographic exploration of Karaikkal Ammaiyar and her work. An annotated translation of the poet-saint’s 143 verses is included along with an introduction to the Tamil literary tradition. Craddock’s analysis of this poetry in its ancient context and of the narrative tradition that developed around the life of Karaikkal Ammaiyar centuries later reveals cultural tensions concerning women’s roles and the devotional path. Printed Pages: 205

About the Author

Elaine Craddock is Professor of Religion at Southwestern University George Town, Texas (U.S.A). She has contributed several articles to leadings journals around the world.

Introduction

Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the "Mother from Karaikkal," was probably the first poet to write hymns to the god Siva in Tamil, in approximately the mid-sixth century, when the boundaries between Siva's devotees and competing groups were just starting to be articulated in a self- conscious way. Speaking to god in one's mother tongue, rather than Sanskrit, was pivotal to the triumph of Hindu devotionalism over the religions of Jainism and Buddhism that reached the apex of their popularity in South India during the fifth and sixth centuries. The Tamil Saiva tradition considers Karaikkal Ammaiyar the author of four works of poetry. Her powerful poetry is what Indira Peterson calls a "rhetoric of immediacy," as it speaks to a particular community defining itself in a context of competing religious allegiances (1999, 165). Along with the hymns of the later saints, her 143 poems envision a world where devotees can dwell in perpetual bliss with Siva, ridicules those who cannot see that Siva is the only truth, and points to the sophisticated philosophy that would be systematized as Saiva Siddhanta centuries later.

In the southernmost Indian state of Tamilnadu, Saiva Siddhanta developed over many centuries to become the dominant philosophical, theological, and ritual system associated with the god Siva. The tradition was systematized between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries but draws its devotional perspectives from the stories and hymns of the nayaumars, or "leaders," the sixty-three devotees of Siva who were canonized as saints in Cekkilar's twelfth-century hagiography, the Periya Puranam. Seven of these saints wrote poems to Siva between the sixth and ninth centuries. Along with the Alvars who sang to Visnu, these poets were part of the bhakti or devotional movements that began in South India and spread the emotional worship of a personal god throughout the Indian subcontinent.

The devotional movements contained elements of social as well as religious reform, protesting Brahmanical orthodoxy along with the heterodox faiths of Buddhism and Jainism, But this revivalist Hinduism was rooted in the temple, which depended on royal patronage. So, although the devotional ideology undercut caste and gender hierarchies in principle, in practical terms the patriarchal boundaries remained. Statistically, women are not very visible among the Tamil devotional movements: Antal is the only woman Vaisnava saint, and out of the sixty-three Saiva nayanmars, only three are women (Ramaswamy 1997, 120-121). However, the life and poetry of Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the only woman poet among the nayaumars, reveals a fascinating portrait of the localization of a pan-Indian god and the potential space for women in this emerging tradition.

I first became acquainted with Karaikkal Ammaiyar many years ago when I saw Cola bronze images of her in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. I was immediately attracted to her: Her beautiful face wore an expression of pure bliss; her mouth was open, singing her praises for Siva, her Lord. Her enraptured face seemed profoundly at odds with her skeletal, vaguely demonic form. Her striking image led me to read her poetry, and to discover that she indeed had a demon or pey form, in which she lived with Siva in the cremation ground. As I investigated Karaikkal Ammaiyar's life and work, it became clear that there is a continuing tension between the twelfth-century image of her created by Cekkilar and standardized in the ensuing centuries-that of a devoted wife whose love for Siva finally disrupts her domestic life-and the image she presents of herself in her poetry, a pey happily singing in the cremation ground, enraptured by Siva's dance. It turns out that the way I became acquainted with Karaikkal Ammaiyar is a common pattern even in South India, where most people know at least the outline of her story. Worshipers at temples to Siva in Tamilnadu see her image among the sixty-three saints recognized by the Saiva tradition. But not many people are acquainted with her poetry. The divergence between her poetry and her popular life story will be examined in detail in the following chapters.

The collection of essays by Ananda Coomaraswamy on Indian art and culture and other themes, published under the title The Dance of Shiva reflect the many-sided genius of this great savant. The fourteen essays in this collection critically deal with aspects of Indian ethos, art and aesthetics, philosophy, music and Indian women besides essays on Indian and Western and ancient and contemporary themes. Coomaraswamy's discussion on these wide-ranging themes with his mastery of the original source material bear the stamp of his understanding and thorough analysis. In the essay 'What has India contributed', Coomaraswamy has discussed the application of Brahmanical religious philosophy to the problems of sociology. In his words: 'the essential contribution of India is her Indianness.' He aptly sums up the fundamental quality of Indian music when he says that Indian music is essentially impersonal and a purely melodic art with elaborate grace. His essays 'Indian images with many arms' is an answer to the critics of Indian art wherein he has tried to show that what appears bizarre to an Occidental mind is because of lack of familiarity with Indian art traditions and not a sincere attempt to evaluate the works of art on own merits. His thoughts on diverse theme like 'Intellectual fraternity', Cosmopolitan view of Nietzsche', 'Young India' and 'Individuality, autonomy and function' show his awareness to contemporary situation and ideas. The present collection of essays epitomizes Coomaraswamy's greatness and should prove to be of sustained interest and permanent value to all interested in understanding of Indian art and ethos. Printed Pages: 196 with 34 illustrations.

About the Author:

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, the greatest among the Indian art historian, was born in Colombo on August 22,1877. After graduating from the University of London, he became the Director of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon. Between 1906 and 1917, when he joined as the Curator of Indian art and formed societies for the study of Indian art. In 1938, he became the Chairman of National committee for India's Freedom. His contributions on Indian philosophy, religion, art and iconography, painting and literature are of the greatest importance as were his contributions on music, science and Islamic art. He died on September 9, 1947.

The Upanishads are the central scriptures of Hinduism. They represent some of the most important literary products in the history of Indian culture and religion, both because they played a critical role in the development of religious ideas in India and because they are our greatest source for the religious, social, and intellectual history of ancient India. Composed at a time of great social, economic, and religious change, the Upanisads document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions. In the Introduction Olivelle provides a solid background for understanding these ancient documents. He examines both the social background of the Upanisads and their literary history: authorship, chronology, and geographical provenance. He describes the ritual practices and terminology, Vedic conceptions of the cosmos and of human physiology and psychology. Finally, Olivelle examines the central Upanisadic preoccupation of finding interconnections among the diverse elements of the universe. The copious notes present some of the most present philological and historical research on this material and give the reader detailed explanations of difficult passages. The list of names identifies all the major individuals and geographical names occurring in the Upanisads. Two charts present the texts of the Vedic corpus and the plan of the Vedic sacrificial arena. A map shows the geographical areas mentioned in the Upanisads and the places where the different Upanisads may have been composed. A detailed index of subjects is also provided. The first major English translation of the ancient Upanisads for over half a century, Olivelle's work incorporates the most recent historical and philological scholarship and presents the Sanskrit text and translation on facing pages. All major variant readings and emendations suggested by scholars are given in the notes, which, together with an informative introduction and detailed explanatory notes, make this edition ideal for both specialists and students of Indian religion and culture. Printed Pages: 699.

About the Author

Patrick Olivelle is the Chair, Department of Asian Studies, and Director, Center for Asian Studies, at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions