This selection of stories from the Indian classics - Panchtantra, Kadambari, and Kathasaritsagara-encompasses myth, legend, mystery, and fantasy. Offering a fascinating glimpse of life in ancient India, these are presented in a lively, fluent style, and are marked by an amazing diversity of atmosphere, situation, attitudes, and characterization.
An exciting realm of fact and fantasy, these tales reveal the continuity of Indian tradition through the centuries, and convey the unique, distinctive flavour of Indian life and culture.
Vishwanath S. Naravane, born in Allahabad, received his Ph.D. from Allahabad University and taught there for twenty years. In 1965, he was appointed professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy, Pune University. He has lectured in various countries and worked as a visiting professor at several colleges and universities in the US. In addition to philosophy and religion, Dr Naravane taught courses in Indian history, art and literature.
India is the original home of fiction. It was fiction, rather than poetry or drama, which first put India on the literary map of the world. Centuries before Kalidasa and Valmiki were heard of outside India, stories of Indian origin were told and retold in distant corners of Asia and Europe. They were picked up by the Persians and the Arabs, who passed them on to the Turks. From the markets of Constantinople this precious, though invisible, merchandize was forwarded to Venice and Naples. Many a tale in the Decameron owes its central idea to some episode in the Jatakas or the Kathasaritsagara. From Boccacio to Chaucer, from Chaucer to Cervantes and Shakespeare, right down to Le Sage, La Fontaine and Voltaire - what a wonderful journey in time and space. Ancient Indian fiction offers a diversity of theme, atmosphere and. situation unequalled in world literature. Some of the stories are saturated with the spirit of piety and religious devotion; others reveal a refreshingly secular and objective attitude to life. Some are products of pure fancy, and show an insatiable love of invention for its own sake; others are realistic, and their shrewd practicalism provides a healthy corrective to the mystical excesses of the Indian consciousness. Some are profound, weighty, deep; others compensate by their vigour, their uninhibited freedom. Some are soft and delicate like the pulp of ripe pears; others are sharp like pineapples - their texture is far from tender, but the flavour is full bodied.
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist