tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post113393089201660408..comments2024-03-29T15:45:04.867+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Roberto Calasso and the frig vedas (sorry, couldn’t resist!)Jabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-53975561028343632152016-11-03T15:29:21.877+05:302016-11-03T15:29:21.877+05:30Says more about the reviewer than about the book. ...Says more about the reviewer than about the book. Was there a storm after all?<br />In the last 16 years I have read all of Calasso's translated works and enjoyed them immensely although I am your conventional Indian.bmniacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-36642515074172316892008-01-10T10:37:00.000+05:302008-01-10T10:37:00.000+05:30I've written a brief review of Ka, if there's any ...I've written <A HREF="http://dannyreviews.com/h/Ka.html" REL="nofollow">a brief review of Ka</A>, if there's any interest in what a non-Indian with only an academic knowledge of Hindu mythology makes of it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06404058672200313347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1134065126899102362005-12-08T23:35:00.000+05:302005-12-08T23:35:00.000+05:30I really doubt that the source material is Vedic. ...I really doubt that the source material is Vedic. It may be Puranic. As far as I know, the Vedas are a collection of hymns/invocations to the gods/elements (and all these gods have a psychological symbolism). The Puranas, which came much later, are the stuff of what Amar Chitra Katha was made of.wildflower seedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08524758486095224055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1134063906625420312005-12-08T23:15:00.000+05:302005-12-08T23:15:00.000+05:30It's like one of my friends so succinctly put it: ...It's like one of my friends so succinctly put it: Our ancestors were veeery loving people. (I'm sorry that loses a bit in the translation, but it still fits.)<BR/><BR/>BTW, another very loving text is the Vikram & Vetal thingy. The day I found it was the day I started loving my school library. A 'pair of upturned pitchers' is still one of the most vivid descriptions I can imagine.Aditya Bidikarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17799184995636004373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1134049959567471652005-12-08T19:22:00.000+05:302005-12-08T19:22:00.000+05:30Sonya: sorry, I goofed up there! But no, Ka isn't ...Sonya: sorry, I goofed up there! But no, <I>Ka</I> isn't one of those obscure tomes written only for reviewers/researchers. It's an acclaimed, well-known work (widely regarded one of the major interpretations of Indian mythology) and Calasso himself is a leading Italian author/scholar.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1134031378050700402005-12-08T14:12:00.000+05:302005-12-08T14:12:00.000+05:30:)This, as well, is tangential....The funny thing ...:)<BR/><BR/>This, as well, is tangential....<BR/><BR/>The funny thing that I have noticed is that, over the ages, there have always been sets of believers ( in whatever might be "IN" at that particular moment in history ) who have looked down upon others, not realising that they share the same kind of life and fate. There isn't much to distinguish one from the other.<BR/><BR/>There is something to be said for traditional rituals though ... some kind of an emotional attunement that one undergoes as you immerse yourself in them. Yes, one needs to have undergone a particular kind of upbringing to be able to sense what I am linking to here. ( It is also amazing to note that a lot of devotional music has the ability to make a listener transcend his troubles, for some time at least ). Though I am not making a case for divinity here, I feel that one needs to be circumspect before dismissing mythology ( and particularly Indian ) out of hand. Yes, some of those stories are fabular and do not need to be taken literally. Yet those who trash them also run the risk of doing so on precisely the same basis - taking them literally. There is a lot to be said for the metaphorical and the metaphysical subtext. Its a bit like reading <B>Alice in Wonderland</B> as a child and then subsequently as an adult... ( I have not yet met anyone who could discuss it this way, other than a few pages on the net. )...WillOTheWisphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17519824840694799244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1134029075856521972005-12-08T13:34:00.000+05:302005-12-08T13:34:00.000+05:30hey I did'nt mean your review - that was actually ...hey I did'nt mean your review - that was actually very interesting reading <BR/>Reading your review "Ka", the book seems to be in the genre of those awfully well intentioned, massively researched somewhat meandering volumes one encounters.<BR/>And I often wonder who reads these books ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133978047818656322005-12-07T23:24:00.000+05:302005-12-07T23:24:00.000+05:30Wow..that was thought provoking..its absurd how th...Wow..that was thought provoking..its absurd how there r so many things we take for granted or just plainly ignore.<BR/><BR/>Liked your toungue in cheek style of writing this account.<BR/><BR/>Although I don't think there would be much of a furor on this one.Mystic Bardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05418532544254967520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133973847331551622005-12-07T22:14:00.000+05:302005-12-07T22:14:00.000+05:30*runs a trident through your blasphemous, culture ...*runs a trident through your blasphemous, culture hating, little body*Aishwaryahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12871059152281065272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133970690409311102005-12-07T21:21:00.000+05:302005-12-07T21:21:00.000+05:30Marauder: "Astounded, repelled, fascinated" - yup,...Marauder: "Astounded, repelled, fascinated" - yup,<BR/>that's the gamut alright.<BR/><BR/>(BTW, ask your hub what he thinks of the frig veda bit - it comes directly from our days at the Today copy desk together!)<BR/><BR/>Donkey: absolutely, they certainly aren't just about sex, but they're certainly much more relaxed about the subject than most of us are.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133970236867543662005-12-07T21:13:00.000+05:302005-12-07T21:13:00.000+05:30Sonya: thanks. Idealistic though it sounds, if I r...Sonya: thanks. Idealistic though it sounds, if I really feel like writing about something I go ahead and do it. Any readership is a bonus. (In this case though, there's an added incentive. I'm also writing about the Calasso interview for work - so writing this provides the raw material for the article.)<BR/><BR/>Cheshire cat: ah yes, the dead horse and the king's first wife under the sheets together. Thought I'd leave <I>something</I> for readers of the book to discover for themselves!<BR/><BR/>Nina: those are good points, thanks - especially the "opium of the masses" bit. Guess I'm just prejudiced against the whole edifice. <BR/><BR/>Willothewisp: very true, very true, nothing can ever be truly comprehended until the Day of Reckoning, when Siva will spill his last seed.<BR/><BR/>Cinephile: hmmm.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133967079157836452005-12-07T20:21:00.000+05:302005-12-07T20:21:00.000+05:30There can be no religion without dogma, so obvious...There can be no religion without dogma, so obviously religions promote it. How else then do you get followers to conform?<BR/>I don't condone dogma, but most people are perfectly willing to accept what they're told to think. Most don't care, and many don't know any better.<BR/>Blind faith can't be good, but when religions demand it, what can people do? <BR/>As an atheist, watching people perform rituals that are mostly meaningless to them merely out of a sense of duty bothers me too. But if it's helping many, then why not? Religion is, afterall, the opium of the masses.<BR/>That said, the extent to which some people will go in the name of traditon/religion, the lack of moderation is quite appalling. Especially when religion seeps out of temples to form national/local policy.Ninahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12250985574818105792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133963298156855212005-12-07T19:18:00.000+05:302005-12-07T19:18:00.000+05:30Just an aside -But an even bigger problem in my vi...Just an aside -<BR/><BR/><I>But an even bigger problem in my view is the blind faith people have in traditions <B>as they have been handed down to them</B>.</I><BR/><BR/>I really do not see how else would 'faith' work but be blind. ( I sense a redundancy here ). And it is true of many of the 'beliefs' that we have today. Take, for example, the question of 'capitalism' and 'free markets'. We just seem to have faith in the belief that they would work and work well in the long run. Consider the spirit of scientific enquiry - it could be argued that people have nothing else but a similar 'belief' in its efficacy and meaningfulness in the long run. There seems to be a distortion somewhere, a kind of compression and decompression of the timeline. The present tends to skew any notion of scale that we might have, to be able to appreciate what happened, when, how and why. Communism was thought to be a radical 'solution' once upon a time. One state has collapsed and another is on the verge of altering its national identity now...<BR/><BR/>I guess the point that I am trying to make is that we just do not know well enough how good or 'enlightened' our beliefs / faith might be ( and in the context of what ), to be able to hold water through the ages. Not too many people question / investigate / examine / understand the notions of 'liberty' or 'freedom' these days. These are, likewise, a-given. We have had bloggers crying themselves hoarse over notions such as 'freedom of expression / speech' and the like ( and fighting over them :). But we just do not know if they are meaningful terms in the long run and how they would morph into something else with age. For all you know, these could be the 'sacred cows' of the future.<BR/><BR/>The game is way too big and complex for us to be able to assimilate or comprehend adequately...<BR/><BR/>RegardsWillOTheWisphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17519824840694799244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133961812435603972005-12-07T18:53:00.000+05:302005-12-07T18:53:00.000+05:30hmmm I personally think the culture vultures mista...hmmm I personally think the culture vultures mistake some Victorian values for ancient Hindu values.<BR/><BR/>Soundaryalahiri, is a composition by Adi Shankar. And some years I read an English translation by Ramakrishna Mutt Publication.<BR/>The description of the Goddess didnt just stop with her breasts.<BR/>Similarly when I read the translation of Gita Govind(??)Ashtapathi by Jayadev, I was suprised.<BR/>It doesnt mean that these are just about sex.<BR/>But to me it does show that some centuries ago, many werent uncomfortable about sex.<BR/><BR/><BR/>oh i wont be suprised by a minor storm.wise donkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02084116949920234832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133955281282276612005-12-07T17:04:00.000+05:302005-12-07T17:04:00.000+05:30You are so right about people not knowing what the...You are so right about people not knowing what the lingam represents. I came to know only in my mid-teens, and then, ironically, through a Raj-era novel by a British author, which had sterotypical descriptions of 'village women praying to the erect phallus of Lord Shiva'. For quite some time, I couldn't even figure out what the author was referring to, and when I did, I was by turn astounded, repelled and fascinated. And then angry that nobody had ever told me this, though I grew up in a neighbourhood where women kept strict shivaratri fasts were generally quite in awe of the shivalingam.The Marauder's Maphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05691114757718617846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133942225075874082005-12-07T13:27:00.000+05:302005-12-07T13:27:00.000+05:30"... and stilts their sense of humor."Right, that'..."... and stilts their sense of humor."<BR/><BR/>Right, that's very dangerous, it's not a huge leap from that to the Taliban?<BR/><BR/>BTW, I'm surprised you didn't mention the Ashwamedha Yagna. Sex is commonplace (the birds do it, the bees do it, the flowers are it), but bestiality? Tsk, tsk...Cheshire Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463645065346922684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133942050216149222005-12-07T13:24:00.000+05:302005-12-07T13:24:00.000+05:30What meaning could a tradition have apart from the...What meaning could a tradition have apart from the meaning it accumulates as it is handed down?<BR/><BR/>What happens when history meets faith? One must imagine that. Imagine that, imagine, those who have faith are free to imagine.Cheshire Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463645065346922684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133935961477131862005-12-07T11:42:00.000+05:302005-12-07T11:42:00.000+05:30Jai interesting analysis fascinating reading, incl...Jai interesting analysis fascinating reading, including your graphic metaphor of interviews spilling over !<BR/>I never know how to respond to these interpretations and commentaries - many of them seem to be such labours of love. Every now and then you dig up some fasinating tid bit but then that's all - who reads them ? ( besides reviewers ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com