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Book Review |
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Practical
Vedanta from Sri Krishna to Ma Anandamayee. |
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Well,Vedanta is practical. If it had not been so, it would not have survived a couple of millennia and more. Ever since Western education made philosophy an academic subject, our problem has been seeing philosophy and actuality as two different things. But Vedanta has always been practiced as a life-enriching science. Acharya Bireshwar Gangopadhyaya has done well in listing our Vedantins from Krishna to Ma Anandamayee. His scholarship in our traditional lore is deep and wide, and has always been tuned to watching the efffect of Vedanta on everyday life. And when he writes of his personal encounters with the spiritual luminary, Ma Anandamayee, he makes it clear that universal love alone can ensure human unity on earth. |
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A string of quotes from our ancient texts, a chapter-wise summary of the Gita and references to modern personalities like Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo could be expected in a title like the present one. But the Acharya knows how to surprise us by stoking our curiosity, leading us to new modes of thinking, as when he speaks of a ‘prosumer economy’ (where the producer is full or part consumer) and the clash of civilizations in a world grown small. Come to think of it, I would rather light another candle of hope along with the Acharya than swing with the pendulum of the doomsday clock: ‘Demassified electronic cottages will supplement the exploitative gigantic factory system and the building up of prosumer economies will make the economic system more rational and less exploitative. The Gandhian welfare economics of cottage industries was anachronistic in the second wave of civilization, but will be the appropriate technology for the third-wave civilization, except for the infrastructure and defence industries. This will restore the dignity of labor and "the small will really be beautiful"’ (31). |
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There is a comparative study of Vedanta and Tantra and the manner in which Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi applied Vedantic concepts to everyday living. But the most striking essays in the book deal with the Acharya’s experiences as a disciple of Ma Anandamayee for three decades. He finds in her a fusion of Vedanta and Tantra, the Gita and the Devi Mahatmya. According to Ma Anandamayee the destruction of Mahishasura did take place in ancient times. But it is also a continuing phenomenon, she says, for Durga is constantly engaged in slaying the asuras and will do so in the future as well by manifesting Herself again and again. This is how She will guard Her children without fail. This guardianship also includes leading the children on the path to the life divine. As the Acharya rightly concludes: "The function of God’s incarnations is not merely to destroy evil forces, but also to give new impetus to the Dharma Chakra (wheel of righteousness) and this latter aspect is amply demonstrated in the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna in the nineteenth century and Ma Anandamayee in the twentieth century" (172). |
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Dr. Prema Nandakumar |
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© "Prabuddha Bharata" (March, 2006) published by Advaita Ashrama, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014. Email: pb@advaitaonline.com. Reprinted with permission. |
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