The Ramayana Revisited

The Ramayana Revisited
Author: Mandakranta Bose
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2004-09-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 019516833X

14 leading 'Ramayana' scholars examine the epic in its myriad contexts throughout South and Southeast Asia. They explore the role the narrative plays in societies as varied as India Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. The essays also expand the understanding of the 'text' to include non-verbal renditions of the epic.

Ramayana Revisited

Ramayana Revisited
Author: Vipul Maheshwari
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2020-10-18
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 9389351073

Rama, Maryada Purushottam, the king of Ayodhya, banished his beloved queen, in whose chastity he had complete faith, simply because his subjects disapproved of his accepting a wife who had spent a year in the house of her abductor. The king submitted to the will of the people though it broke his heart. Was his stand justified? Could Manthara be held solely responsible for the banishment of Rama and the subsequent death of Dasharatha? Was Ahalya an adulteress or a victim of sexual assault? Did the actions of the serial molester Ravana stand legal scrutiny? Was Lakshmana, a prince of Ayodhya, legally justified in mutilating Surpanakha? Was his elder brother Rama an accomplice in that action? It was said in ancient India, a king who, after having sworn to safeguard his subjects, failed to protect should be executed like a mad dog. Such a provision indicated that sovereignty was based on an implied social contract, and if the king violated the traditional pact, he forfeited his kingship. So, a king had to be just as justice trickled down from the crown. What happens though if the events of yore are retold and characters made to stand trial in today's time? Here is an attempt, unexplored so far, to retell the significant happenings narrated in the Ramayana through the legal prism of the Indian Penal Code. Each chapter comprises a prosecution version, citations of relevant provisions from the IPC, deposition of witnesses and the defence argument. Ramayana Revisited succeeds in bringing in all alternative perspectives, leaving the final judgement to the discretion of the reader.

Nexus

Nexus
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
Publisher: Signal
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2024-09-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 077101967X

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive? Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence. Information is not the raw material of truth, nor is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.

Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire

Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire
Author: Mary Ellen Snodgrass
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2010
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1438119062

Examines the world's greatest literature about empires and imperialism, including more than 200 entries on writers, classic works, themes, and concepts.

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VI

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VI
Author:
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 1680
Release: 2009-07-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1400833264

The sixth book of the Ramayana of Valmiki, the Yuddhakanda, recounts the final dramatic war between the forces of good led by the exiled prince Rama, and the forces of evil commanded by the arch demon Ravana. The hero Rama's primary purpose in the battle is to rescue the abducted princess Sita and destroy the demon king. However, the confrontation also marks the turning point for the divine mission of the Ramavatara, the incarnation of Lord Visnu as a human prince, who will restore righteousness to a world on the brink of chaos. The book ends with the gods' revelation to Rama of his true divine nature, his emotional reunion with his beloved wife, his long-delayed consecration as king of Kosala, and his restoration of a utopian age. The Yuddhakanda contains some of the most extraordinary events and larger-than-life characters to be found anywhere in world literature. This sixth volume in the critical edition and translation of the Valmiki Ramayana includes an extensive introduction, exhaustive notes, and a comprehensive bibliography.

India: the road ahead

India: the road ahead
Author: Mark Tully
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2012-02-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1446490947

Since the Indian economy was liberated from bureaucratic, socialist controls in 1991, it has developed rapidly. A country once renowned for the backwardness of its industries, its commerce and its financial market is now viewed as potentially one of the major world economies of the twenty-first century. But there are many questions which need to be asked about the sustainability of this rapid economic growth and its effect on the stability of the country. Have the changes had any impact on the poor and marginalised? Can India's democracy contain the mounting resentment of those left out of the new economic order? Can a high growth rate be sustained with India's notoriously corrupt and inefficient governance? Can the development of its creaking infrastructure be speeded up? How is India going to feed itself unless agriculture is reformed? This timely book will answer these questions through interviews with industrialists and cricketers, God men and farmers, plutocrats and former untouchables. Full of fascinating stories of real people at a time of great change, it will be of interest to economists, business people, diplomats, politicians, as well as to those who love to travel and who take an interest in the rapid growth of one of the world's largest countries, and what this means to us in the West.

Non-Stop India

Non-Stop India
Author: Mark Tully
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2011-10
Genre: Economic development
ISBN: 0670083895

Non-Stop India By Mark Tully Jugaar can loosely be translated as muddling through, or making do. This is undoubtedly a valuable talent and has seen India through numerous crises which could have destabilised a country that is less adaptable - four wars, for example. But while jugaar can be seen to have served India well in the past, it has a downside. It has led to a dangerous complacency, the belief that as India has muddled through so many times before, there is no need for urgency in tackling the problems it faces. In Non Stop India veteran journalist Mark Tully draws on his unmatched knowledge of India, garnered from thirty years of living in, and reporting from, the country, to examine how this approach impacts on her much-touted prospects of becoming an economic super-power. From Maoist conflicts to huge industrial houses; from the Tiger project to farmer suicides; from the Ramayana to the remote valleys of the north-east, Tully examines India's myriad negotiations with modernity and her prospects for the next century and beyond. Today, India is likely to become one of the major economies of the twenty- first century. But many unresolved questions remain about the sustainability of such growth and its effect on the stability of the nation. Veteran journalist Mark Tully draws on thirty years of reporting India and travels the length and breadth of the country to find the answers. Have the changes had any impact on the poor and marginalised? How can the development of the country's creaking infrastructure be speeded up to match its huge advances in technology and industry? With a gift for finding the human stories behind the headlines, he looks at the pressing concerns in different areas of life such as governance, business, spirituality and ecology. In revealing interviews with captains of industry and subsistence farmers, politicians and Dalits, spiritual leaders and bandits, Mark Tully captures the voices of the nation. From the survival of India's languages and the protection of wildlife, to the nation's thriving industries and colourful public affairs, Non-Stop India is a testament to India's vibrant history and incredible potential, offering an unforgettable portrait of this emerging superpower at a pivotal moment of its history. About The Author Sir Mark Tully was born in Calcutta, India in 1935. He was the Chief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi for twenty-two years, was knighted in the New Year's Honours list in 2002 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005. Today, his distinguished broadcasting career includes being the regular presenter of the contemplative BBC Radio 4 programme Something Understood. His books include No Full Stops in India, The Heart of India, India in Slow Motion (with his partner and colleague Gillian Wright), and India's Unending Journey. He lives in New Delhi.

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VII

The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VII
Author:
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 1544
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0691182922

The concluding volume of a critical English edition of the monumental Indian epic The seventh and final book of the monumental Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki, the Uttarakāṇḍa, brings the epic saga to a close with an account of the dramatic events of King Rāma’s millennia-long reign. It opens with a colorful history of the demonic race of the rākṣasas and the violent career of Rāma’s villainous foe Rāvaṇa, and later recounts Rāma’s grateful discharge of his allies in the great war at Lankā as well as his romantic reunion with his wife Sītā. But dark clouds gather as Rāma makes the agonizing decision to banish his beloved wife, now pregnant. As Rāma continues as king, marvelous tales and events unfurl, illustrating the benefits of righteous rule and the perils that await monarchs who fail to address the needs of their subjects. The Uttarakāṇḍa has long served as a point of social and religious controversy largely for its accounts of the banishment of Sītā, as well as of Rāma’s killing of a low-caste ascetic. This seventh volume in the critical edition and translation of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa includes an extensive introduction and describes the complex reception history of the Uttarakāṇḍa, as well as exhaustive notes and a comprehensive bibliography.

The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess

The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess
Author: Mandakranta Bose
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2018-05-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191079693

The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess provides a critical exposition of the Hindu idea of the divine feminine, or Devī, conceived as a singularity expressed in many forms. With the theological principles examined in the opening chapters, the book proceeds to describe and expound historically how individual manifestations of Devī have been imagined in Hindu religious culture and their impact upon Hindu social life. In this quest the contributors draw upon the history and philosophy of major Hindu ideologies, such as the Purāṇic, Tāntric, and Vaiṣṇava belief systems. A particular distinction of the book is its attention not only to the major goddesses from the earliest period of Hindu religious history but also to goddesses of later origin, in many cases of regional provenance and influence. Viewed through the lens of worship practices, legend, and literature, belief in goddesses is discovered as the formative impulse of much of public and private life. The influence of the goddess culture is especially powerful on women's life, often paradoxically situating women between veneration and subjection. This apparent contradiction arises from the humanization of goddesses while acknowledging their divinity, which is central to Hindu beliefs. In addition to studying the social and theological aspect of the goddess ideology, the contributors take anthropological, sociological, and literary approaches to delineate the emotional force of the goddess figure that claims intense human attachments and shapes personal and communal lives.