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1000 Full Moons is an anthology of 21 articles and poems, written by the students and admirers of Guru Muni Narayana Prasad like Swami Tyageswaran, Swami Tanmaya, Swami Vyasa Prasad, Scott Teitsworth, Deborah Buchanan, Andy Larkin and a few other bright minds/scholars, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It has serious philosophical essays, fond reminisces and a few poems along with some interesting photographs marking important events in his life. The book’s philosophical reflection is a continuum of the vision and teachings of Narayana Guru, a highly venerated spiritual guru, philosopher, visionary and social reformer, and his immediate successors, Nataraja Guru and Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati. Guru Muni Narayana Prasad, as the successor to Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, is an epitome of great wisdom, and is fully dedicated to Guruhood in general and to the life and teachings of Narayana Guru in particular.
The Paratrishika Vivarana, an extensive commentary by Abhinavagupta on the Tantra, is one of the most profound texts of Kashmir Shaivism, and of Indian philosophy and mysticism. The present work is an important contribution to studies and interpretations of texts on Kashmir Shaivism, its spirituality and philosophy.
The Paratrishika Vivarana by the great Kashmiri philosopher and mystic Abhinavagupta is an extensive commentary on the Paratrishika Tantra, and it is one of the most profound texts, not only of non-dualist Kashmir Shaivism, but of Indian philosophy and mysticism in general. The present work attempts to make this difficult text accessible, by culling out the important themes and offering an interpretation. The main focus is on the understanding of the Absolute (Anuttara) and the ways to realize it. The central theme of mantra also leads to a mysticism of language with its philosophical implications. All these reflections and practices are inscribed in the theory that everything is related to the totality, every part contains the whole of reality (sarvam sarvatmakam). It is this holistic vision of Abhinavagupta, based on the Tantras, which makes this work so relevant in our times of fragmented aspects of life and knowledge in search of integration. No doubt, in the view of the Tantra and of Abhinavagupta, language and mantra provide the key.
This fascinating book is an important contribution to studies and interpretations on Kashmir Shaivism, its spirituality and philosophy, and on Abhinavagupta in particular.
This book, a work on human doing, analyses and applies three central aspects of human life – Action, Freedom and Responsibility – in the wide spectrum of the Philosophy of Mind. Reflections on these issues and their interconnections have a significant effect on the Philosophy of Value and application of ethical theories in practical life. This book even reconstructs the conceptual connection between action and freedom, on the one hand, and that between freedom and responsibility, on the other.
It also puts the concepts of freedom and determinism to critical test and reinterprets them from different angles and perspectives. The conventional doctrine of karma, based on the teachings of the Bhagavadgātā, is relieved from its usual deterministic presentation and a logically reasonable explanation is offered.
Human actions and human agency are central concepts in the philosophy of mind and action. Free will and responsibility constitute the bedrock of the moral life of the human agents and the book pinpoints that freedom is meant to undertake the goal-oriented actions. It is, therefore, focused on the enquiry into the various aspects of philosophy of mind, as well as the philosophy of value.
The book aspires to do for Indian poetics what Hudson’s book, An Introduction to the Study of English Literature did for English literature, though in a totally different manner and style. It provides the student with the essential knowledge about almost all aspects of Indian poetics. Based on the original Sanskrit sources, it presents the necessary information lucidly in precise and clear terms. Each chapter is self-contained and complete in itself, with explanatory notes, and a bibliography of relevant works. The Sanskrit terms used in the text are invariably explained or provided with English equivalents.
For quick reference, “A Glossary of Sanskrit Literary Terms” is given in the Appendices, which contain also “A List of Noted Indian Poeticians (including commentators) and Their Works” and “Notes on Major Texts in Indian Poetics”.
This handy volume, with its unique features, will prove invaluable to those who are going to embark on the study of Indian poetics, especially the ones who have no Sanskrit background. To a devoted student, it will prove a useful companion during his/her further studies.
The book aspires to do for Indian poetics what Hudson’s book, An Introduction to the Study of English Literature did for English literature, though in a totally different manner and style. It provides the student with the essential knowledge about almost all aspects of Indian poetics. Based on the original Sanskrit sources, it presents the necessary information lucidly in precise and clear terms. Each chapter is self-contained and complete in itself, with explanatory notes, and a bibliography of relevant works. The Sanskrit terms used in the text are invariably explained or provided with English equivalents.
For quick reference, “A Glossary of Sanskrit Literary Terms” is given in the Appendices, which contain also “A List of Noted Indian Poeticians (including commentators) and Their Works” and “Notes on Major Texts in Indian Poetics”.
This handy volume, with its unique features, will prove invaluable to those who are going to embark on the study of Indian poetics, especially the ones who have no Sanskrit background. To a devoted student, it will prove a useful companion during his/her further studies.
The centuries-old exchange of ideas, knowledge systems, resources, skills and materials among the people of the Asian continent left a lasting legacy in various spheres of human experience. This was a dialogue that involved rich exchange of religious, literary, aesthetic and artistic ideas and forms across the regions of Asia. The general impressions of an art, which is spiritual and magical in character, highly charged with literary myths and legends, and presented through a seemingly improvised styles in various art forms, provide us with a clue of an understanding of the fundamental foundations of the arts in Asia.
This volume contains the papers of the panel on ‘Asian Aesthetic Theories and Art Forms’ in first two sections. This panel was a part of the international conference on “Asian Encounters: Networks of Cultural Interaction” held in New Delhi. The volume reaffirms that the Indian theory of art as a creative process and creative expression is broadly true for entire Asian theory of art and aesthetics and it opens up a pan-Asian theory of art and aesthetics.
‘Representation of Asian Art in Asian Museums’ was another panel of the conference. The volume contains three papers from that panel also and the transcript of the dialogue held on ‘Cross Cultural Frontiers in the Study of the Past’.
This book, published on the auspicious occasion of the rising of Atthi Varadar, contains a concise account of the Sthala-Puranam, the role of many Srivaishnava Acharyas. architecture, sculptures, inscriptions paintings, music, prasadam and festivals of the ancient and sacred temple of Varadaraja Perumal in Kanchipuram.
This book is a celebration of India through Hindu eyes. Those eyes are of sages and kings, artists and artisans, potters and poets, rasikas and bhaktas. In that journey we remember the almond-shaped eyes of Shrinathji, the round eyes of Jagganathji. Those are human eyes through which we have received the darshan of our gods and goddesses and also the blessings of our elders and teachers. Those eyes are ancient and have witnessed magnificent kingdoms and trackless empires. They have watched the creations of monumental temples as well as charming havelis. They have travelled through the pages of history and chronicled the glory of the raja and the praja. Hindu eyes see the past even when they watch the present for they guide us through linear time but when we close our eyes we contemplate in circular time. Our eyes delight in asserting the finite but they rest when they find the infinite. They rejoice in the various akritis but they direct us to our sanskriti. They have been witness to our love stories and heroic sagas. They have smiled and spoken, invited and whispered. Hindu eyes belong to our mind which is buddhi pradhan but they throb with our heart which is bhava pradhan. They are the eyes of a people for whom adornment is beautiful but the serenity of ananda is blissful, for those eyes are the windows of our atman forever seeking the Brahman. Join us in this celebration.
Chinese philosophy is highly unique in its profound sense of moral thinking. The fundamental thesis of Chinese thinking is interdependence and mutual relationships between entities, human and natural. For great thinkers like Confucius and Lao zi a human being is a relatively constituted and situated self. What is important in social living is correlative thinking and resonance, complementary approach to differences, action guiding nature of judgment and the effective appropriation of naturalness and spontaneity in the interrelations between individuals, human beings and nature. The book is a prelude to study the significance of personal excellence and social harmony embedded in Chinese philosophical tradition.
This book analyses Chomsky’s philosophy of language in the context of its difference from Wittgenstein’s account of language, and also other views of language which are in line with Wittgenstein explanation. And it aligns with the philosophy of Wittgenstein and his colleagues.
This volume endeavours to get at Chomsky’s philosophy of language in the context of its difference from Wittgenstein’s account of language, and also other views of language which are in line with Wittgenstein explanation. Since Chomsky’s preference is grammatical or structural approach to language, which is innate, he interprets knowledge of language as knowledge of rule-governing sentence formation. Obviously, Chomsky approves of Private Language with no concern for the theory of communication which is rooted in the use of language. In other words, Chomsky is not interested in successful communication which takes place only in social practices. But, according to what we have discussed in this book, successful communication or speech act is possible by what people normally do according to social convention.
In short, since Chomsky depends upon the structure or innateness of internalist approach to language, he cannot be accounted for social interpretation of language, which is needed for successful communication. As in this book, we are committed to public or socially approved language of Wittgenstein and his colleagues which is essential for communication, we walk away from Chomsky’s structural or mentalistic or innatist interpretation of language.
Cinema Through Rasa discusses the important works of the world cinema in the light of Rasa Siddhānta of the Indian classical aesthetics. Rasa Siddhānta was first mentioned in Bharata Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra – the ancient treatise on dramaturgy. This book catalogues the major cinematic works in the light of Abhinavabhāratī – a tenth-century commentary on the Nāṭyaśāstra by the great Kashmiri Śaivite philosopher Abhinavagupta. Further, it outlines the links between puruṣārtha, the cultural value system of life pursuits in Indian tradition, and aesthetics while citing examples from the works of major directors such as Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky, Alfred Hitchcock, Carl Dreyer, Charlie Chaplin, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Bresson and Satyajit Ray.
Using contemporary scholars’ interpretation of non-dualistic Kashmir Śaivism tradition, Cinema Through Rasa aims to serve as a tribute to Abhinavagupta’s genius, a commentary on important ideas such as rasa, nature of emotions, cinema and beauty along with a tryst with the masterpieces of the world cinema. The meaning of this book is summarized by this verse – na hi rasād r̥te kaścid arthaḥ pravartate – the medium of cinema, though modern, should be seen as resting in the power of rasa without which nothing makes any sense.
This book is a translation of the original Hindi book Abhinava Cinema, which was first published in 2016. Abhinava Cinema was lauded as innovative, path-breaking and a must-read for students of literature and cinema studies by scholars and critics.
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