The Dance of Shiva: Fourteen Indian essays with preface and introduction

The classical Vedic texts that deal with large-scale sacrificial ritual and those writings that deal with domestic ritual have traditionally been treated as unrelated. The former are devoted to the explication of rituals that are dominated by wealthy male elites; the latter concern humble private ceremonies more open to famale participation. Reflections on Resemblance, Ritual and Religion argues that there is in fact, a fundamental connection between these two large and important bodies of Indic religious literature.

Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879 to 1950 A.D.)

Venkataramana was a lad in his teens in Madurai in South India. Urged by an inner call, the body played the truant, slipped away from home and soon found himself in the solitary caves of the Arunachala Hills. There he forgot the world, and, insensible to hunger and thirst and reckless of the ravages which crawling creatures wrought on his body, he immersed himself in concentrated meditation.

After a number of years of his phenomenal tapas, incredibly unrelieved by any break whatsoever, he emerged with the realization of the Supreme Reality and of the identity of his Self with it. Liberated by that realization from the chains of finitude, he became a Jivanmukta. Proclaimed a Maharsh from that time, Bhagavan Ramana, as he was reverently adored lived ever after in his ashram at Tiruvannamalai in Sahaja Samadhi, always established in the Spirit and overlooking the things, of the World with a smiling serenity.

A living witness to Advaita anubhava, Sri Ramana spent the remainder of his days conveying counsel through his unparted lips and providing comfort by the beam of his gracious eyes to the countless disciples and devotees who sought refuge at his holy feet from their ills of mind and body. ‘Know thy Self and the world will not torment thee was the central teaching of this modern edition of Vamadeva of yore.

About the Book
Candipatha, a part of the Markandeya Purana, which is one of the eighteen major Puranas, is its most important segment. Apart from Sridurgasaptasati, which forms the core of Candipatha, there are, preceding and succeeding it, several hymns of equal importance and, in the course of its ritual performance, all these hymns, as an integral totality, have to be recited as indicated in this book.

Candipatha celebrates the Feminine Power, Durga – Sakti – with her innumerable names, across in this sacred text, represents the quintessential woman. She is the source, substratum and ultimate Life Force. All the gods, men, birds, animal, even demons, all the elements, all moving and stationary objects are but Her fragmental particles. The universe is Her playground as well as Her play. At will, She creates, sustains and dissolves it. In Candipatha we see Her in Her full glory, majesty and splendor. As the Mother, She loves and protects Her children and as the invincible Kali, She decimates the forces of evil when they threaten righteousness, peace and Her devotees in the world.

The present publication includes, in addition to Sridurgasaptasati and the other associate hymns, a detailed Introductory Essay, which besides discussing the contents and importance of this work and its symbolism, provides a panoramic view of the Mother worship through the millennia. The four appendices include (i) Names, Adjectives, Incarnations, Epithets, etc., of the Mother Goddess (ii) Weapons mentioned in the text and their functions (iii) Glossary of important terms and (iv) the First-line index of Sanskrit verses, chapter-wise.

About the Author
A.P.N. PANKAJ, an alumnus of D.A.V. College, Amritsar and St. Stephens College, Delhi, taught Sanskrit for some years in the former before joining State Bank of India where over a period of nearly thirty-five-years, he held a range of assignments and retired from its staff College at Hyderabad. These years gave him an opportunity to pursue his interest in the management and behavioural sciences. Since early days, he has been writing and giving lectures on the subjects related to the Indian culture, philosophy and religion and has deeply studied the Upanishads, Bhagavadgita, Pauranic literature and, especially, Sri Ramacaritamanasa of Gosvami Tulasidasa. He has translated more than half a dozen works from / into English / Hindi / Sanskrit. Besides writing a book on the asrama – system of the Hindu society and editing / writing nearly a dozen books on the medieval Hindi poets, he has also written and led discussions / symposia on the value – based system of education and the concept of development in Indian tradition.

BHAVANA PANKAJ, after studying English literature and Mass Communication at Punjab University, Chandigarh, spent some years as a journalist and television anchor. She currently pursues her love for the written word by writing, editing and translations on subjects ranging from Indian classical and dance to health care and education. An occasional film- maker, Bhavana has written books for children, on Vinoba Bhave and two books on a hospital in Jaipur. With equal felicity in Hindi and English, she also lends her voice as sutradhar on stage. Poetry is among her hobbies and she writes / translates poems in / from Hindi / English. 

From the Jacket

Makhan Lal Sen's The Ramayana of Valmiki is a modernized version in English prose of the great Sanskrit epic Ramayana. The appeal and freshness of epic poems transcend all limitations imposed by time, space, age, caste, creed, society, and language. All, irrespective of their age, succumb to the charms and fascinating personalities of its heroes, who have inspired countless men of different generations and spurred them on to perform almost superhuman task. Modern civilization owes most of its dazzling achievements to such inspiration.

Valmiki's Ramayana is something more than an epic. No one has built shrines in honour of Homer's heroes, to worship them as God. In contrast, from the time of its composition to this day, Valmiki's hero never lacked devotees. The reason for this strange phenomenon lies in this: in the Greek epics the cause is ambition, and the effect is the valour of its heroes; in Ramayana the cause is the moral welfare of society and the effect is the ideal conduct of its heroes under the most trying circumstances that destiny can weave. Rama is a personification of all that is expected of an ideal son, ideal brother, ideal husband, ideal prince, ideal ally, ideal commander, and an ideal king.

Translation of epics and rendering them in prose, is, at the best of times, an hazardous and arduous job. Here, the translator has done his best to capture to a remarkable degree the grandeur of the epic, the loftiness of its thought, the simplicity and elegance of its diction, and the freshness of its enduring beauty. This book, being one of those rare ones which elevates one's soul, should find a place under every roof.

About the Book

Makhan Lal Sen's The Ramayana of Valmiki is a modernized version in English prose of the great Sanskrit epic Ramayana. The appeal and freshness of epic poems transcend all limitations imposed by time, space, age, caste, creed, society, and language. All, irrespective of their age, succumb to the charms and fascinating personalities of its heroes, who have inspired countless men of different generations and spurred them on to perform almost superhuman task. Modern civilization owes most of its dazzling achievements to such inspiration.

Valmiki's Ramayana is something more than an epic. No one has built shrines in honour of Homer's heroes, to worship them as God. In contrast, from the time of its composition to this day, Valmiki's hero never lacked devotees. The reason for this strange phenomenon lies in this: in the Greek epics the cause is ambition, and the effect is the valour of its heroes; in Ramayana the cause is the moral welfare of society and the effect is the ideal conduct of its heroes under the most trying circumstances that destiny can weave. Rama is a personification of all that is expected of an ideal son, ideal brother, ideal husband, ideal prince, ideal ally, ideal commander, and an ideal king.

Translation of epics and rendering them in prose, is, at the best of time, an hazardous and arduous job. Here, the translator has done his best to capture to remarkable degree the grandeur of the epic, the loftiness of its thought, the simplicity and elegance of its diction, and the freshness of its enduring beauty. This book, being one of those rare ones which elevates one's soul, should find a place under every roof.

Schopenhauer is widely recognized as the Western philosopher who has shown the greatest openness to Indian thought and whose own ideas approach most closely to it. This book examines his encounter with important schools of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy and subjects the principal apparent affinities to a careful analysis. Initial chapters describe Schopenhauer's encounter with Indian thought in the context of intellectual climate of early nineteenth-century Europe. For the first time, Indian texts and ideas were becoming available and the belief that they could bring about a second Renaissance-an "Oriental Renaissance"-was widespread. Schopenhauer shared in this enthusiasm and for the rest of his life assiduously kept abreast of the new knowledge of India. Principal sections of the book consider the two main pillars of Schopenhauer's system in relation to broadly comparable ideas found, in the case of Hindu thought, in Advaita Vedanta, and within Buddhism in the Madhyamika and Yogacara schools. Schopenhauer's doctrine of the world as representation, or a flow of impressions appearing in the consciousness of living beings, is first considered. The convergence between this teaching and India idealism, especially the doctrine of illusory appearance (maya), has long been recognized. Schopenhauer himself was aware of it, emphasizing that it was the result not of influence but of a remarkable convergence between Eastern and Western thought. This convergence is subjected to a much more detailed examination than has previously been carried out, undertaken in the light of twentieth-century Indology and recent studies of Schopenhauer. The second main pillar of Schopenhauer's system, the doctrine of the world as will, is then examined and its relationship to Indian thought explored.