Socio-Literary and Cultural Study of Indian Society: Ancient to Modern Period

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. The Vedic Tradition of Knowledge and World Civilization. 2. Jiva, Atman and Brahman. 3. The Upanisads: The Oneness of the Limitless. 4. The Ramayana: The Voice of India. 5. The Mahabharata and the Notion of Dharma. 6. The Literary Legacy of the Medieval India. 7. Traditional Indian Theatre Practices: A Comparison with Japanese Kabuki Theatre. 8. Abhinavagupta: From Kashmir Saivism to Rasadhvani in Theatre. 9. The Vitality of India and the Contemporary Challenges. 10. Bhupen Hazarika: A Conflex of Poignancy, Humanism, Indian Literary Culture and a Human of Global Times. 11. Aesthetics: The East and the West. 12. The East–West Dialogue and Cultural Fusion. 13. The Crisis in Nationalism: A Search for a Resolution in Tagore and Gandhi. 14. The Continuity of an Art Tradition: Harmony, Dissonance, Transcendence and Tagore’s Notion of Art. 15. Always Historicize. 16. The World of Poetry: Rabindranath Tagore, Aime Cesaire and Pablo Neruda Reinventing Humanism for Global Times. 17. The Formation of Tagore’s Spirituality and the Evidence of It in His Artistic Endeavour. 18. Mahatma Gandhi and Indian Literature. Bibliography. Index.

The Socio-Literary and Cultural Study of Indian Society from Ancient to Modern is a search for India’s heritage: Hindu, Sufi and about Nationalism and India’s freedom from her colonial past. It is analytical but not learnedness. The author believes as Iqbal, the famous Urdu poet, said: ‘Transcend your reason because though it is a glow, it is not your destination; it can only be the path to the destination show.’ People, both Indian and foreign, who want to understand Indian heritage from Ancient to Modern in a simple, agreeable style and friendly manner, is the author’s destination. In this volume, he has tried to demolish many myths like dharma is religion, Vedas are Sruti though the Almighty ordered six rsis to write them down. A Hindu is just not emotional in mind, he also believes in analytic discussion (tarka). Upanisads are not just created by rsis but also by a revolution unfolded by the students by barraging questions after questions. By explaining about the vitality of India and many other subjects, the book elucidates many things about the idea of India in an authentic manner. The readers will find here many varieties of theological explication, ultimately leading to the celebration of life while searching for the divine and realizing the self.