Author: Mahāśvetā Debī
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 68
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Book Description
With the ancient epic Mahabharat as her source, and the battle of Kurukshetra as a central motif, Mahasweta Devi weaves three stories in which we visit unexpected alleys and by-lanes of the traditional epic saga, and look at events from the eyes of women marginalized, dispossessed, dalit. Their eyes condemn the wanton waste and inhumanity of war. This Kurukshetra is not the legendary Dharmayuddha of the popular imagination but rather a cold-blooded power game sacrificing countless human lives. How do the women s quarters of the palace, a colourless place of shadowy widowhood, appear to five peasant women whose lives are no less shattered by the Kurukshetra massacre, but who are used to dealing with trauma in a more robust manner? How does their outlook on life and survival influence the young pregnant princess who is abruptly plunged into the half-life of uppercaste widowhood? How does a lower caste serving woman, who was brought in to service king Dhritarashtra when his queen was with child, view her half-royal offspring and his decision to perform the last rites for a father who never acknowledged him as a son? How does an ageing Kunti, living out her last years in the forest, come to terms with her guilt over her unacknowledged son, Karna? And, having finally voiced her shame aloud, how then does she face up to a crime she has not even remembered: the murder of a family of nishad forest dwellers? These tales, brewed in the imagination of a master story-teller, make us look at the Mahabharata with new eyes, insisting as they do on the inclusion, within the master narrative, of the fates and viewpoints of those previously unrepresented therein: women and the underclass. MAHASWETA DEVI is one of India s foremost writers. Her powerful, satiric fiction has won her recognition in the form of the Sahitya Akademi (1979), Jnanpith (1996) and Ramon Magsaysay (1996) awards, the title of Officier del Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres (2003) and the Nonino Prize (2005), amongst several other literary honours. She was also awarded the Padmasree in 1986, for her activist work amongst dispossessed tribal communities. ANJUM KATYAL is as an editor who has also translated several plays and short stories.
Author: Mahāśvetā Debī
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Bengali fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 92
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Book Description
Spoken In The First Person, These Reminiscences Of A Woman Whose Mother Was Rescued From A House Of Ill-Repute Construct A History Not Often Documented. A History That Runs Parallel To The Official Narrative Of India`S Modernism And Nationalism: That Of Women Outcast Because They Are `Fallen`. Starting From The Late Nineteenth Century, The Voice Of Bedanabala Bears Witness To The Experiences Of Many Women Who Find Themselves Outside The Safety Of Domestic Walls And Thereafter Make Their Lives In The Only Ways Open To Them In A Society Where Women Did Not Work Except As Domestic Servants-Entertaining Men, Developing Liaisons, Interwining Their Dreams And Passions With The Destiny Of A Country Struggling For Independence And Questioning Oppressive Time-Worn Social Custom. Bedanabala, Written In 1996, Seeks To Empathize With A Segment Of Society Condemned Even By Other Women As Beyond The Bounds Of Decency And Social Acceptance.
Author: Nilesh Nilkanth Oak
Publisher: Nilesh Oak
ISBN: 9780983034407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
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Book Description
In a drastic re-evaluation of astronomy observations from Mahabharata, using high-tech tool of modern astronomy and low-tech tool of the logic of scientific discovery, Nilesh Oak's extraordinary book presents ordinary theory of astronomy observations that would lead to a quantum jump in our understanding of the Mahabharata War: How a theory based on single unifying idea corroborates 100+ astronomy observations Where to search for the year of the Mahabharata War - Epoch of 6500 years & Compact time interval of 3000 years How a single observation, previously known but unexplained, falsifies 96% of all proposals for the year of the Mahabharata War Why does it matter how long Bhishma was lying on the bed of arrows How ancient is the tradition of meticulous astronomy observations. Acceptance of his theory leads to surprising conclusions about our current understanding of world civilizations, domestication of horses, dating of Ramayana or Vedas and antiquity of meticulous astronomy observations. Rejection of his theory would compel us to search for the likes of Newton and Lagrange, among the Sages of India, at least thousand years before Sir Isaac Newton & Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Praise for 'When did the Mahabharata War Happen?: The Mystery of Arundhati' "You have done a great job. I requested astronomers to consider if Arundhati had gone ahead of Vasisth in 1971, when I published 'Swayambhu' . But nobody cared. You are the first to do the great job " - P V Vartak (Author of 'Swayambhu' & 'Wastav Ramayana')--- "Grueling and unfaltering logic"--- I have to thank you for being the cause for a quantum leap in my own knowledge of general astronomy as well as Hindu astronomy / calendrical systems over a very short span of time. In some ways the effect of your book has some parallels with Rajiv Malhotra's 'Being Different', though in a very different context. RM never intended his book as a primer on Dharma / Hinduism - but nevertheless it introduced many aspects of Dharma in a light which would be new even to a practitioner. Similarly, even though I am sure you never intended your book to act as an exploration of key astronomical principles and Vedic astronomy - that has definitely been a key side benefit, at least from my perspective.--- "Indology" has been populated by linguists and my respect for their work has gone down by several notches when I look at the shoddy assumptions many are prone to make. Science and rigor the way Nilesh Oak has used seems to be unknown to these Indologists. I bet that not one of those horse bone chewers can understand what Archeo-astronomy means. Their awareness extends to looking at Archeo-asses and saying it was not Equus caballus.--- I am simply 'natmastak' to Shri Oak for the amazing piece of deductive reasoning applied by him in interpreting the 'Arundhati is leading Vasistha' remark. I think Shri Oak is not only on sound footing but also has clearly exhibited every 'lakshan' of a true seeker of knowledge in the finest Indian traditions. I cannot recall if he mentioned whether anybody else (other than him) thought of the EOA approach. If he is the first one, he deserves billions of thanks from all the Bharatiyas in the last 7000+ years. Oak saheb, aamcha maanacha mujra sweekar karava hee vinanti.--- It is interesting how all Indologists the world over talk about linguistics and horse, but never mentions archaeoastronomy Perhaps the focus of the national and international debate on Aryan Invasion/Migration Theory needs to change.--- I do not want to sound obsequious, but the work you have done is nothing less than tremendous. Thank you, and keep it up.--- I have verified Nilesh Oak's elimination of "errors." A bow Excellent --- Your rigorous methodology was simply a pleasure to read and that got me started off on my efforts to dabble in archeoastronomy.
Author: Aditya Iyengar
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
ISBN: 9788129134752
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
It is the tenth night of the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Bhishma, the venerable patriarch of the families, lies fatally wounded on the plains of Kurukshetra. On his deathbed he offers Radheya, his nemesis, a chance to rule the Kuru kingdom by capturing Yudhishthira. In the Pandava camp, Yudhishthira, a reluctant warrior, tries desperately to hold his allies together and escape capture without appearing to be a coward. Meanwhile, his young and impulsive nephew, Abhimanyu, a warrior prince, dreams of glory and yearns for a chance to save the Pandava cause. The lives of these three warriors, Yudhisthira, Radheya and Abhimanyu, collide brutally on the thirteenth day. A story of how stories are created, how fact becomes fiction, how history becomes mythology and how men become legends, The Thirteenth Day re-imagines India's greatest epic like never before.
Author:
Publisher: Arihant Publications India limited
ISBN: 9326191796
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
Author: Meena Arora Nayak
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199091838
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 435
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Book Description
Good and evil, loyalty and treachery, faith and doubt, honour and ignominy—the Mahabharata has served as a primer for codes of conduct to generations of Hindus. Over time, the epic has also fascinated those who love a tale well told. In its telling, however, the story has lost much of its richness and nuance, and the characters have become one-dimensional cut-outs—either starkly good or irredeemably evil. In this reinterpretation, Meena Arora Nayak analyses how the values espoused in the Mahabharata came to be distorted into meagre archetypes, creating customary laws that injure society even today.
Author: Alf Hiltebeitel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317238761
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224
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Book Description
In Indian mythological texts like the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, there are recurrent tales about gleaners. The practice of "gleaning" in India had more to do with the house-less forest life than with residential village or urban life or with gathering residual post-harvest grains from cultivated fields. Gleaning can be seen a metaphor for the Mahābhārata poets’ art: an art that could have included their manner of gleaning what they made the leftovers (what they found useful) from many preexistent texts into Vyāsa’s “entire thought”—including oral texts and possibly written ones, such as philosophical debates and stories. This book explores the notion of non-violence in the epic Mahābhārata. In examining gleaning as an ecological and spiritual philosophy nurtured as much by hospitality codes as by eating practices, the author analyses the merits and limitations of the 9th century Kashmiri aesthetician Anandavardhana that the dominant aesthetic sentiment or rasa of the Mahābhārata is shanta (peace). Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent reading of the Mahabharata via the Bhagavad Gita are also studied. This book by one of the leaders in Mahābhārata studies is of interest to scholars of South Asian Literary Studies, Religious Studies as well as Peace Studies, South Asian Anthropology and History.
Author: Brig K Kuldip Singh
Publisher: Lancer Publishers LLC
ISBN: 1935501933
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455
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Book Description
The title aspires to present a panorama of India’s yet to be fully discovered martial heritage, denoted by its unconquerable ancient epoch, a critique of the generally misread medieval age vicissitudes, followed by a survey of the contemporary & post-independence travails and triumphs. Not a historical narrative, it attempts to define what constitutes India’s natural-born military mind, how it evolved and breasted the world-conquering armies, followed by critical glimpses of the past ordeals, besides its uncelebrated defiance & conquests. The venture culminates in defining the nation’s prospective defence and development policy imperatives, for its emerging global role. It is rare in providing in one volume India’s scintillating perspective of the past, present and the future. The ardent quest, spanning over twelve years, is a reflective blend of a review of the Vedas, the Epics, relevant Shastras & other select material of help, with the author’s long years of rich military operational, planning and instructional experience. Poring over its pages answers many elemental questions, coming naturally to a lay reader, student, research scholar, man-at-arm, defence analyst and the policy maker. The thesis fills a gap by covering a wide range of archeological, historical, politico-military, socio-cultural and strategic and warfare issues, besides dispelling certain myths, which tend to demean India’s way of life and war fighting. The scrutiny of the post-independence wars comes to several untold finds. An exclusive study on ‘what motivates men in combat’ gives the subject an added depth. A lucid account of the nuances of the vital subject, bolstered by an unflagging perceptive probe, makes it an absorbing study.
Author: Mahāśvetā Debī
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Epic
Publisher: Rupa Publications
ISBN: 9789353336202
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The Great War is over. Kurukshetra lies barren. Is it the heroes who won and the villains who lost? The thin line between just and unjust, fair and unfair, deceit and loyalty, and betrayal and duty, has never been questioned. The answers to these unasked questions lie buried in the ruins of history. Dharmakshetra resurfaces these buried questions and allows the legendary characters of this tale an opportunity to tell their side of the story for the very first time. In a post-apocalyptic trial held in Maharaj Chitragupta's court, the seeming villains, 'Kauravas', are allowed to accuse the so-called heroes, 'Pandavas', and vice versa, in an attempt to justify their actions. Upon hearing all the arguments made by the prosecution and the defence, Chitragupta must deliver his final verdict. What shall it be?
