Indica Books
Kathaka The Tradition
Jainism Before 650 BCE
Ancient history of India reveals that there were two parallel traditions in India, viz. Vedic and Sramanic. The Sramana Tradition includes Jainism, Buddhism and others such as the Ajivikas and Ajnanas. Jain religious tradition is one of the oldest living religions of India. Historicity of 24th Tirthankara Mahavira in sixth century BCE is well established. The Jain records mention the name of 23 tirthankaras before Mahavira. Among them Parsvanatha was the 23rd and Neminatha was the 22nd.
Advaitic Mysticism Of Sankara
This book attempts to elaborate and clarify Sankara's understanding of brahmannubhava, in all its aspects, relying exclusively on his own writings. For this, not only the commentaries, but also the prakarana granthas have been taken into account. In the final chapter, brahmanubhava is compared with what was said about the mystic experience by two of the most authoritative exponents of christian and Islamic mysticisms, namely st, John of the cross and Jalalu' d-Din Rumi, mainly to understand Sankara's position without any ambiguity.
Yama
In the Hindu pantheon, Yama holds a unique place. A counterpart, in the indigenous tradition, of AvestanYima, Egyptian Osiris or Greek pluto, he inspires terror in the heart of an average mortal: not only owing to his overlordship of the abode of the dead, but also for his identification with death itself. Yama's image in Hindu mythology, however, has come to have many variants - which Dr.Mehr's study tries to capture against their essential literary settinngs.
Chandragupta Maurya
Hindustani Sangeet And a Philosopher of Art
The book is decidedly the very first of its kind. It seeks to weigh some basic facts and concepts of Hindustani sangeet (music, rhythm and Kathak dance) against the art theories of Susanne K. Langer, an eminent aesthetician of the recent past; But now here without meticulious attention to the text of her writings. In the chapter on music, while discussing Langer's emphasis on 'commanding form' in a total performance, the author proposes a quit new defination of raga which seeks to integrate the various points in its traditional characterizations. The third chapter too, which deals with Langer's view of rhythm, is not merely explanatory, but ventures to propose a fresh and fairly defensible definition of rhythm.
Ancient History of India
Speaking of Dance
The book highlights how these time-honoured writing have contributed to the evolution of classical dancing in India. And, yet more significantly perhaps, the author ventures into a comparatively uncharted terrain seeking to explore the status of performing arts (including dance) in early Jain tradition. Focusing on the position of dancing in the contemporary cultural life of India, Mandakranta Bose shows how classical dance in India today has achived a creative blend of tradition and modernity, leading to a vigorous revival of a great heritage, a part of the larger effort towards 'nationalist rediscovery'.
Rasa in Aesthetics
The Indian tradition of criticism is over two millennia. And its rasa theory has, from the begining, essentially influenced authors, connoisseurs and art critics alike. First expounded sometime between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD in the eminet aesthetician, Bharata's Natyasastra, 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.
Art Beauty and Creativity
The book is an attempt, among other things, to bring together Indian and Western theories of art, and engage them in a constructive debate with one another. In recent philosophical thinking about art, it has been suggested that the concept of art is a local institutional concept. It is institutions located within a culture that determine-so the argument goes- whether and whether it is good or bad art. While this may be true ofthe concept of art, as it taken the shape in modern west, there is, surely, a larger, more global concept of art which links it with our concern, the beauty,which is common to all mankind.The book is an attempt, among other things, to bring together Indian and Western theories of art, and engage them in a constructive debate with one another. In recent philosophical thinking about art, it has been suggested that the concept of art is a local institutional concept. It is institutions located within a culture that determine-so the argument goes- whether and whether it is good or bad art. While this may be true ofthe concept of art, as it taken the shape in modern west, there is, surely, a larger, more global concept of art which links it with our concern, the beauty,which is common to all mankind.
Mind-Body Dualism
