The Birth of the Maitreya

"These words of Chanak, a scholar from Gandhara, are prescient. Like the Buddha, Chanak advocates the Rajsangha, a peaceful union of states, in place of an aggressive empire. Such revolutionary ideas, many stirring events and unexpected resolutions are depicted in Bani Basu\'s new Jataka, which by its very nature must focus on a particular birth of the Buddha.

Long established states like Gandhara and Madra are in decline while Magadha, the middle country, a new comer, is on the rise. Classes and castes too are in upheaval with the wealthy merchants increasing their power and status at the expense of Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Freedom is in the very air for men and women, but will it bear fruit? Are renunciation and immersion in spirituality advocated by that extraordinary God-like being, the Buddha, the way forward? Or are \'life and spiritual joy\' opposed to each other?

In a tale grapples with history, there is a huge cast of people: the Buddha and the members of his Sangha, King Bimbisara and his patricidal son, Ajatashatru, as well as some who could have been \'real\'. There are many female characters like Bishakha, a brilliant, independent young woman, her remarkably wise and capable mother, the Lady Sumana, Queen Kshema who joins the order of Buddhist nuns, learned and respected courtesans Amrapali and Jitasoma, to common folk. Translated for the first time into English from the original Bengali, Basu\'s portrayal of this brilliant age with the Buddha as its tragic heart will dazzle and move the reader." (jacket)