MY favourite book is actually a book of poems called Speaking of Shiva, translated byA.K. Ramanujan. This is a book of vachanas or 'sayings' of four of the most significantsaint-poets of the Karnataka region-Basavanna, Allama, Dasimayya and Akkam Ahadevi. Theyrepresent the beginning of the Veerasaiva movement, a kind of 'protestant' Hindu awakeningperiod where a deliberate attempt was made to make religion accessible to everyone. Thevachana poetry in the book spans the 10th to the 12th century A.D. Far from beingdogmatic, the poems are a celebration of the love for the divine. But unlike Vaishnavpoetry, they are extremely profound and complex in their understanding of human longingfor spirituality and meaning; they also lack the stiffness of Sanskrit slokas. Ramanujan'stranslation is musical, resonant, brilliant in its simplicity and free of antiquatedterms. I urge litterateurs, better read than I, to consider this the book of themillenium. Perhaps it will restore people's faith in 'Protestant' Hinduism and save itfrom the savages.
My Book of the Century
My Book of the Century
![info_icon](https://img-2.outlookindia.com/outlookindia/2024-02/f1727220-a815-47b8-941e-2f69bceb7c19/info_icon.png)
-
Previous Story
'The Palestine Laboratory' Book Review: How To Make Friends, And Influence People, Israeli Style
- Next Story