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What is the Nature of the social order that unquestionably produced
one of the greatest and longest lasting civilizations known to
humankind? Alain Danielou, distinguished Orientalist, musicologist,
and linguist, reveals the foundations of India's culture and the
four aims of human life as they are viewed in the traditional Hindu
society: virtue on a moral plane; success on the material and
social planes; pleasure on a sensual plane; and liberation on a
spiritual plane. Coexistent with these aims are the four stages of
life: quest for knowledge, family life, retreat into the forest,
and renunciation.
A four-fold division can be found in all traditional societies
throughout the world, symbolically representing the progression of
creative consciousness into physical reality. In India, this
division is reflected in the caste system, a social order that
differs profoundly from those accepted in the contemporary Western
world. Exploring he fundamental concepts of the caste system, the
author addresses issues of race, individual rights, sexual mores,
martial practices, and spiritual attainments. In this light, he
exposes the inherent flaws and hypocrisies of our modern
egalitarian governments and shows how the shadow side of the
ancient caste system persists, disguised and unacknowledged,
beneath contemporary economic regimes. Danielou explains how Hindu
society has served as a model for the realization of human
potential on many levels, addressing sociological and human
problems that are both timeless and universal.
Revealing the influence of Saivism on the Western world, this rare
collection of articles offers an in-depth look at the many facets
of the Samkya, the cosmologic doctrines of the Saivite tradition.
An oftentimes poetic discussion of sexuality, the science of
dreams, and polytheism, the book illuminates the relationship
between Saivism and the Western world. "Revelando la influencia del
Shiva en el mundo occidental, esta unica coleccion de articulos
ofrece una detallada exploracion de las doctrinas cosmologicas del
Shivaismo. Una discusion poetica de la sexualidad, la ciencia de
los suenos y del politeismo, el libro ilumina la relacion entre el
Shivaismo y la cultura occidental."
Never before translated into English, the Manimekhalai is one of
the great classics of Indian culture. A second-century Tamil verse
epic, it is a sequel to the Shilappadikaram (New Directions, 1965),
which was also masterfully translated into prose by the acclaimed
musician and scholar of Hinduism, Alain Danielou. Rich with details
of the period's arts, customs, and religions, the Manimekhalai
provides an extraordinary picture of an age that suddenly comes
back to life. It is the story of a beautiful young dancer who
decides to forego her looming career as a courtesan in order to
dedicate her life (with the aid of gods, demigods, and a magic bowl
called the Cow of Abundance) to charity and to attaining the
"bright light of knowledge."
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