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Ramayana a Critic...
Ramayana a Critical Appraisal
by: Ramendra Narayan SanyalWritten in a simple and lucid language, this book discusses the major events of the Ramayana, analysing and interpreting them from different angles. This volume should fascinate readers who want to gain a fresh perspective on the glorious Ramayana tradition.
$26.00
ISBN: 9788124605516
Year Of Publication: 2010
Edition: 1st
Pages : xv, 271
Bibliographic Details : Index
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23
Weight: 550
Based on the Valmiki Ramayana, this book discusses the major events of the Ramayana including those in the Uttara-Kanda, analyzing and interpreting them with a fresh approach. Written in a simple and lucid style, the work deals with the birth of Rama, his destruction of rakshasas accompanied by his brother Lakshmana, of Dasaratha, Ramas exile, the many developments that led to the war between Rama and Ravana and the later events like Ramas coronation, his abandonment of Sita and the last journey of Lord Rama. It brings out the many qualities of Rama like virtuousness, courage, compassion, equanimity of mind, devotion to duty and truth, and selflessness that make Rama a glorious, divine figure and the story in the Ramayana an unparalleled epic of the world. It also discusses the controversial acts of Rama like his killing of Vali and humiliation of Sita after her rescue. It underlines the importance of the example of Rama and the teachings of the Ramayana in the contemporary world.
The volume will fascinate a range of readers general readers as well as scholars of Indian religion and culture who want to gain a fresh perspective on the glorious Ramayana tradition.
Preface
1. Preliminary Observations
2. Birth of Rama
3. Rama with Brother Lakshmana Accompanies Sage Vishvamitra to Janasthana and Destroys
the Raksasas
4. Descent of Ganga on Earth
5. Fight for the Nectar of the Sea between Devatas and Daitya-Danavas
6. Rama Breaks Haradhanu and Wins Sita
7. Ramas Exile to the Forest
8. Death of Son of Blind Sage and Death of Dasharatha
9. Analysis of Ramas Exile
10. Rama Settles in the Forest and Bharatas Efforts to Bring Him Back
11. Humiliation of Shurpanakha
12. Shurpanakhas Exposition of Spy-policy and Rajadharma before Ravana
13. Abduction of Sita by Ravana
14. Search for Sita in the Forest
15. Alliance of Rama with Sugriva
16. Death of Vali
17. Rama deputes Lakshmana to Kishkindha to Remind Sugriva to start Search for Sita
18. Sugrivas Vanara Soldiers Begin the Search
19. Hanuman Crosses the Sea and Meets with Sita in Lanka
20. Valiant Deeds of Hanuman in Lanka and Collection of Vital Intelligence about Rakshasa Army
21. Ramas Lanka Campaign
22. Ravana Reviews War Situation and his Differences with Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna
23. Vibhishanas Surrender before Rama
24. Collection of Intelligence by Rakshasa Spies
25. Vanara Soldiers build Bridge across Sea
26. Spy Shuka Reports to Ravana
27. Ravana Deputes More Spies to Collect Information about Vanara Army
28. Ravana Devises a Novel Plan to Win over Sita
29. Ravana Rejects Last-Minute Advice of his Well-wishers to have Peace with Rama
30. Battle between Rakshasa and Vanara Armies
31. Death of Kumbhakarna
32. Death of Indrajit
33. Death of Ravana
34. Sitas Ordeal by Fire
35. Rama Leaves Lanka for Ayodhya
36. Ramas Inhuman Behaviour with Sita on her Rescue Some Observations
37. Rama Arrives at Nandigrama and Meets with Bharata
38. Ramas Coronation and his Establishment of a Righteous Society
39. Abandonment of Sita
40. Death of Brahmana Boy
41. Sitas Entry into Patala
42. The Last Journey
Conclusion
Index
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Lalita-Sahasranama A Comprehensive Study of One Thousand Names of Lalita Maha-Tripurasundari $50.00
In the Hindu sacred literature, Sahasra-namas: the texts embodying literally “the Thousand Names” of a deity, constitute a genre in their own right. And Lalita-Sahasranama (LS) is a veritable classic in the traditional writings of the kind — a classic widely acknowledged for its lucidity, clarity and poetic excellence. A medieval work of unknown authorship eulogising Shakti: the Mother Goddess, this Sahasranama is not just a masterly exposition of Shri Lalita’s cult, but also sets out the deity’s diverse epithets — like, for instance, Kundalini, Nirguna, Saguna, Parashakti or Brahman — which continue to evoke reverence as mantras with ‘mystic powers’. Also included among these names are the goddess’s other panegyric descriptions that have come to have profound, esoteric connotations in tantric practices — epitomizing, thus, the fundamental tenets of tantrashastra. Here is a brilliant critical edition of Lalita-Sahasranama meticulously analysing, for the first time, each of Shri Lalita’s thousand names — by a variety of themes, like the Goddess’s conceptual representations, anthropomorphic forms, disposition, abodes, kinships/consorts, ritualistic worship, and her supremacy in pantheonic hierarchy. Also explaining and interpreting anew these thousand names on the basis of time-honoured commentaries, Dr. Joshi under-scores the high importance of Lalita-Sahasranama in philosophy, tantra, yoga, sahasranama literature, and rituals of various descriptions. The book includes the original Sanskrit text of LS, its romanised transliteration and, additionally, an Appendix listing Sri Lalita’s thousand names in the A-Z sequence.
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Rasa in Aesthetics $40.00
The Indian tradition of criticism is over two millennia old. And its rasa theory has, from the beginning, essentially influenced authors, connoisseurs and art critics alike. First expounded sometime between the 1st century bc and the fourth century AD in the eminent aesthetician, Bharata’s Natya Shastra, rasa theory deals with the ‘emotive content’ of a work of art — how it is depicted, inferred and transmitted. Dr. Patnaik’s book is a unique effort that demonstrates, with diverse examples, the universality of this ancient theory and its applicability to modern Western classics. Elucidating afresh the concept of rasa and all its nine primary kinds largely on the basis of Natya Shastra of Bharata and the commentaries of the tenth-century aesthetician, Abhinavagupta, the book investigates the validity of rasa theory as an aesthetic, more specifically, a literary theory, and how its canons are applicable to modern Western literature as well as Chinese love lyrics and Japanese haiku poems. Dr. Patnaik’s transcultural exploration, thus, covers all major genres of literature — poetry, drama and fiction; and also major writers — Lawrence, Mayakovsky, Kafka, Camus, Conrad, Hemingway, Faulkner, Marquez, Eliot, Hesse, O’Neill, Ionesco, Beckett, Lorca, Neruda and several others. In emphasizing the universal validity of the rasa theory, the author considers certain modern problems relevant to text, meaning and readers’/audiences’ response as well. Very few are the examples of applied rasa theory even in Sanskrit and other Indian literatures, leave alone its application to Western creative writing. This book, with its bold framework and lucid style, should, therefore, fascinate the scholars of Indology, Indian aesthetics and, above all, comparative literary criticism.
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Kautilya Arthashastra $34.00
कौटिल्य-अर्थशास्त्र प्राचीन भारतीय आर्थिक परम्परा का आधारभूत ग्रन्थ है। भारत का प्राचीन आर्थिक इतिहास सामाजिक संरचना, राजनीतिक मान्यताओं इस ग्रन्थ में जो प्रतिनिधिक वर्णन मिलता है, वह किसी भी अन्य ग्रन्थ में दुर्लभ है। सत्ता एवं शक्ति, न्याय एवं दण्डनीति, वार्ता एवं आन्वीक्षिकी, नगर-जनपद-ग्राम्य की संरचना से लेकर सुचारू अर्थव्यवस्था, स्वर्ण-नीति, मौद्रिक-नीति एवं लोक-कल्याणकारी तथा निष्टकण्टक राज आदि सिद्धान्त, कौटिल्य-अर्थशास्त्र को विश्व के आर्थिक इतिहास में महत्वपूर्ण ग्रन्थ के रूप में प्रतिष्ठित करते हैं। कौटिल्य के अर्थशास्त्र में विषय-वस्तु की गहनता एवं ऐतिहासिक कालक्रम में उनका इदम्प्रथमतया प्रणयन कौटिल्य को विश्व में अर्थशास्त्र का पुरोधा घोषित करते हैं।
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Rasa in Aesthetics (PB) $24.00
The Indian tradition of criticism is over two millennia old. And its rasa theory has, from the beginning, essentially influenced authors, connoisseurs and art critics alike. First expounded sometime between the 1st century bc and the fourth century AD in the eminent aesthetician, Bharata’s Natya Shastra, rasa theory deals with the ‘emotive content’ of a work of art — how it is depicted, inferred and transmitted. Dr. Patnaik’s book is a unique effort that demonstrates, with diverse examples, the universality of this ancient theory and its applicability to modern Western classics. Elucidating afresh the concept of rasa and all its nine primary kinds largely on the basis of Natya Shastra of Bharata and the commentaries of the tenth-century aesthetician, Abhinavagupta, the book investigates the validity of rasa theory as an aesthetic, more specifically, a literary theory, and how its canons are applicable to modern Western literature as well as Chinese love lyrics and Japanese haiku poems. Dr. Patnaik’s transcultural exploration, thus, covers all major genres of literature — poetry, drama and fiction; and also major writers — Lawrence, Mayakovsky, Kafka, Camus, Conrad, Hemingway, Faulkner, Marquez, Eliot, Hesse, O’Neill, Ionesco, Beckett, Lorca, Neruda and several others. In emphasizing the universal validity of the rasa theory, the author considers certain modern problems relevant to text, meaning and readers’/audiences’ response as well. Very few are the examples of applied rasa theory even in Sanskrit and other Indian literatures, leave alone its application to Western creative writing. This book, with its bold framework and lucid style, should, therefore, fascinate the scholars of Indology, Indian aesthetics and, above all, comparative literary criticism.
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Atreyashiksha $32.00
Atreyashiksha is one of the Shiksha texts of the Krishna-Yajurveda, Taittiriya school. This text has been critically edited and translated consulting two palm-leaf manuscripts which are currently the only discovered manuscripts of this text in public libraries. Shiksha texts deal with phonetics and phonology of the Vedas and the method of proper pronunciation and recitation. The Atreyashiksha is well-structured in terms of arranging its topics of discussion.
When compared to the other Shikshas of the Taittiriya school, the Atreyashiksha, in keeping its focus on the discussion on the different methods of Vedic recitation, namely, word-reading (padapatha), sequential reading (kramapatha), tangled reading (jatapatha) and the five varieties of the reading of the phonic sequences (varnakramas), holds a unique position in the corpus of the Shiksha literature. A close reading of the text shows that the main aim of the text is to explain the practical aspects of the different ways of Vedic recitation, in whose connection it describes the theoretical elements of Shiksha too.
The book, therefore, serves as a practical guidebook to Vedic reciters who recite the above-mentioned readings of the Taittiriya Krishna-Yajurveda along with the continuous reading. While describing the methods of recitation, the Atreyashiksha gives enough emphasis on the theoretical nuances. The phonological rules, most of which are expressed in the Taittiriya Pratishakhya, are also illustrated in this text. This book consists of a detailed introduction, the critically edited text in Devanagari script, its Roman transliteration and an authentic English translation.
