Sarasvati's Gift

Sarasvati's Gift
Author: Mayumi Oda
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2020-11-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0834843250

The inspiring life story of pioneering feminist artist, activist, and Buddhist teacher Mayumi Oda told through her own words and original thangka paintings. Sitting in meditation in front of a statue of Goddess Sarasvati, Mayumi Oda heard her say in a loud voice, "Stop the plutonium shipment!" After taking a stunned breath, Mayumi replied, "I can't do that. I'm only an artist," and Sarasvati answered, "Help will be provided." This book is the culmination of a life devoted to responding to Sarasvati's call to cultivate a path of peace, justice, and compassion. Known as the "Matisse of Japan," Mayumi Oda is a painter, environmental activist, and Buddhist practitioner whose life reflects both the brilliance and shadows of modernity. Sarasvati's Gift explores her upbringing in Japan, her tumultuous marriage and the death of her son, her immigration to the country responsible for the destruction of her home, her inspiration for both her Buddhist practice and her art, and ultimately her commitment to the planet that gives her life both hope and meaning. This raw, heartfelt, and powerful memoir shares Mayumi's story of finding her place and her mission to transform the world.

Sarasvati's Gift

Sarasvati's Gift
Author: Kavita Kane
Publisher: Ebury Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2021
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780143452560

Sons of Sarasvatī

Sons of Sarasvatī
Author:
Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2018-09-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1438471858

Traditional Indian pāṇḍitya (scholarship) has a long and distinguished history but is now practically extinct. Its decline is remarkably recent—traditional pāṇḍitya flourished as recently as 150 years ago. The decline is also paradoxical, having occurred precipitously following a broad and remarkable flowering of the tradition between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The important questions this decline poses are the subject of much ongoing work. The intellectual history of the period is still under construction, and the present book represents a major contribution to the project. A notable impediment has been the lack of critical biographies of significant thinkers in this tradition. The importance of personal and social context for reconstructing intellectual histories is widely understood. In the classical Indian intellectual tradition, however, authors systematically exclude such context, making intellectual biography something of a rarity—very rare in English and sparse even in the regional languages. This book contains translations from the original Kannaḍa of the biographies of Garaḷapurī Śāstri, Śrīkaṇṭha Śāstri, and Kuṇigala Rāmaśāstri of nineteenth-century Mysore, all representing the highest echelons of traditional pāṇḍitya at this critical period of transition. Their fields are literature, grammar, and logic, respectively. The biographies focus on the personal lives of these scholars and their many contexts. These biographies are almost contemporaneous accounts, reflecting firsthand knowledge. The translations are accompanied by copious footnotes as well as appendices drawn from the relevant primary sources.

Saraswati’s Gift

Saraswati’s Gift
Author: Kavita Kane
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-07-26
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 9354920527

Sarasvati, the feminine force worshipped as the goddess of learning, is a household name, yet we barely know much about the goddess. She is known as a lost river and seen as a singular goddess, never as part of a couple, such as Shiva-Parvati or Lakshmi-Narayan. In Sarasvati's Gift, Kavita Kane brings to light Sarasvati's story-the goddess of art, music and knowledge-told in the voices of nameless celestials, powerful gods and lesser mortals. The book explores her relationship with her Creator, Brahma, and their unusual marriage-a union of fiercely independent minds and the most non-conforming, unconventional of the Triumvirate couples. As these peripheral figures and silent catalysts take centre stage, we get a glimpse of an extraordinary woman and her remarkable story, obscured and buried under myths and legends.

Sarasvatī, Riverine Goddess of Knowledge

Sarasvatī, Riverine Goddess of Knowledge
Author: Catherine Ludvík
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2007
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004158146

Drawing on textual and art historical sources, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the Indian riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvati from sometime after 1750 B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E.

Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty

Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty
Author: Anne Herbert
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2017-08-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1613320264

This modern allegory inspires taking joyful steps to end hatred and violence. In the playful style of twelfth-century Japanese picture scrolls, Mayumi Oda's art depicts humans as animals who lose their way when their leaders become confused and drawn to violence. It is up to each individual—the frog who plants a garden, the cat who supports an elderly neighbor—to create a better world through simple acts of kindness. This timeless parable for readers of all ages expands upon the idea that we can all become agents of goodness and beauty. Winner of the 2016 Independent Publishers Gold Medal.

Goddesses

Goddesses
Author: Mayumi Oda
Publisher: Volcano Press
Total Pages: 84
Release: 1988
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:

"I had a small shack in field next to the alder grove when I lived in Muir Beach. We called it the Goddess Factory. This was my studio where I printed so many of my Goddesses. It became the theme of my major work. People always ask me, "Why do you paint Goddesses?" I used to say, "Because I was born as a woman." Now I know that the time we live in needs much more femininity. In order to know that part of myself, I kept creating; big, small, medium Goddesses. Like the Buddhist bodhisattva images that I created, they reflect what I was experiencing or struggling with at the time in my life, sometimes gentleness, sometimes clarity. I was inspired by all Goddesses from many civilizations, not just Buddhist or Japanese." Mayumi Oda's biography of growing up in Japan and becoming an artist in the United States. This book is written bilingually in Japanese and in English with 33 colored illustrations.

The Sarasvati Civilisation

The Sarasvati Civilisation
Author: G. D. Bakshi
Publisher: Garuda Publications
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2019
Genre: India
ISBN: 9781942426141

Who were the Harappans? How are they related to present-day Indians? Was there never an "Aryan Invasion"? The Sarasvati Civilization: A New Paradigm in Ancient Indian History brings together evidence from satellite imagery, geology, hydrodynamics, archaeology, epigraphy, textual hermeneutics, and DNA research to place together ancient Indian history in the light of new discoveries and facts which were simply not available to colonial historians of the 19th century and have been overlooked thereafter. At the heart of the ancient Indian Civilization was the mighty Sarasvati river which was in full flow 5000-6000 years ago. 60-80 % of the so-called Indus Valley Civilisation sites which have been discovered are not on the banks of the Indus but on the course of the Sarasvati. The drying-out of the river is the most significant factor in the history and migrations of the ancient Indians. With new evidence, the time has come for a significant paradigm shift in Indology. This book breaks new ground to lay the foundation for an authentic Indian history.