My Books Review: March '12

Sankara-Digvijaya – This traditional biography of Adi Shankaracharya is written by the saint Madhava-Vidyaranya. The original is in Sanskrit and is translated into English by Swami Tapasyananda of R.K.Mutt. In a rather lengthy introduction to the biography, the author has faithfully put forth the problem in elucidating the life of Shankaracharya owing to different versions of biography, problem in ascertaining correct dates of events, accuracy of some facts believed and so on. 

Shankaracharya is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva & many people that come in the life of Shankaracharya are mythological beings incarnated as humans in order to establish Dharma which faced threat from perverse doctrines of the day. The author maintains thus stated position throughout the book. 

Shankaracharya’s birth, his embracing of sannyasa, his meeting with his guru Govindapada, the incident with the untouchable, his commentaries on various Vedic texts, arguments with Mandana, Bhatta Bhaskara and a few more, his triumph over many scholars across the country, establishments of various mutts across the countries, the incident of parakaaya-pravesha, the coming of some disciples, accession to Sharada-peetha are lucidly presented.

The series of argument between Shankaracharya and Mandana(follower of Vedic ritualism), Shankaracharya and Bhatta Bhaskara (exponent of Bhedabheda doctrine) stand out among all the arguments. It’s a great exposition of intellect, reasoning and vast scholarship of both the parties. It’s a sure feast for the lovers of philosophy.

In the whole book, different schools of philosophy like Samkhya, Nyaya(school of Gautama), Vaisheshika, Purvamimamsa(School of Jaimini), Charvaaka, Jaina, Bauddha(realism and Nihilism) , school of Kanada are briefly discussed.

If we take out the mythological cloud surrounding Shankaracharya and see him as a human being, we can’t help but to respect his colossal intellect that at a very young age had done some near impossible tasks. He’s unarguably one of the greatest philosophers, scholars ever to walk on the face of Earth. The book in its concluding remarks, quintessentially describes him “The life of Shankara makes a strong impression of contraries. He is a philosopher and a poet, a savant and a saint, a mystic and a religious reformer. Such diverse gifts did he possess that different images present themselves, if we try to recall his personality…There have been few minds more universal than his ”!

Troy! And the train of thoughts that unfolded

A few days back I watched the movie Troy in its director’s cut version. To narrate the story shortly-it’s a story of war between the Trojans and Greeks for the queen of Spartans (Helen) who is abducted by the Trojans. I really loved the visual spectacle that the makers were able to create. Though it was criticized by many for its flaws like historical inaccuracies, poor acting by a few etc. it is one of the magnum opus projects post-2000. As a hard-case movie buff, I was discussing this with my cousin, yet another movie buff! 

Having seen many historical movies in Hollywood, I wondered why they didn’t make any significant movies about India despite the fact that India is the only continuous, oldest civilization on the earth which is replete with colorful history. Even if one were to discount the mythological stories of India still there was an ample scope of making great historical movies out of India. When you have a history of more than 5000 years, there ought to be many great historical characters, instances. For this my cousin nonchalantly replied that westerners or the people of the so-called 'first world' don’t want to see India as a land of heroes or in anyway positive (yes there are a few earnest movies like City of Joy but the numbers are very few).

There was truth in his statement. The first world still wants to see India as a land of snake-charmers and soothsayers. To satisfy their appetite for India’s portrayal as chaotic and effete nation, Hollywood churns out movie like Slumdog Millionaire which is so poor that no true Indian can like the unfaithful depiction of India. The makers have done a loathsome job of rag-pickers who have picked all the negatives possible: Drug mafia, human trafficking, prostitution, communal hatred and what not. An art-deprived movie which plays to the gallery by the over-usage of clichés, stereotypes wins Academy award for the best movie category!

Apart from the reason stated before, the other strong reason appears to be the proximity and proclivity that Hollywood has towards the Greek and Roman history. It is true both geographically and culturally. The European philosophy for instance is greatly influenced by the Greek philosophy. So, there is a cultural proximity and that doesn’t exist with India. For the west, India is still the ‘other’. To borrow a phrase from Samuel Huntington, each has been the other’s other.

Samuel Huntington in his landmark book “The clash of civilizations” explains two terms: hard power and soft power. “Hard power is the power to command resting on economic and military strength, and soft power is the ability of a state to get other countries to want what it wants through the appeal of its culture and ideology.” Soft power is power only when it rests on a foundation of hard power.

India as a country never lacked soft power. But soft power becomes a farce when it’s not supported by the hard power. India had both hard power and soft power before the advent of the British (it was the richest country in the world before 16th century). If Roman and Greek empires are remembered even to this day the reason is that the soft power comfortably rested with the foundation of hard power of military might. If the U.S is seen as the world leader today, it is because of its economic and military prowess. As India doesn’t lack soft power, in order to command respect of the west and the rest, India should work on hard power even harder.

My Books Review: February '12

1) Kavalu : The latest novel of  S.L Bhairappa. This talks about the changing value system of Indian society owing to the huge influences of the western societies. For more details, do check 
http://blogesha.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/ನಾನೋದಿದ-ಪುಸ್ತಕ

2) Inspire your child inspire your world: This small book just over 30 pages is a collection of a few questions related to bringing up the children and answers given by Sadhguru to them. In his inimitable style Sadhguru answers the questions emphasizing on inspiration over information, kindling the thirst for knowledge over just earning a living, uniqueness of individual over sickness of competition and so on. It is a good book which brings out many good points in upbringing of children.