A Modern Interpretation of Goswami Tulsidas's RAMCHARITMANAS


Book Description

"What is the 'Ramcharitmanas'? It is Rama's story, or Rama's conduct, as narrated by Goswami Tulsidas. However, this doesn't quite explain what the word 'manasa' (mind) is doing in the title. The explanation given, in the 'Ramcharitmanas', is that this story was in Shiva's mind and came to Tulsidas via Parvati and Narharidas, Tulsidas's guru. It is no different with this volume by Professor Arun Tiwari. As a text, the 'Ramcharitmanas' is suffused with bhakti, and Rama's story and 'Ramcharitmanas' become what the reader, as a bhakta, take them to be, much more than with any other text. In this case, the bhakta is also a re-teller and re-interpreter, and bhakti is blended with Advaita Vedanta, although labels are best avoided. Goswami Tulsidas composed the 'Ramcharitmanas' rather late in life. Age brings wisdom. Through this book, Arun Tiwari too brings forth the wisdom that he now passes on, especially to the younger generation, in a novel and engaging way. - Bibek Debroy, Eminent author who translated Valmiki Ramayana into English and currently Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and Member, NITI-Aayog, Government of India."Profusely blessed, Prof. Arun Tiwari, the celebrated co-author of 'Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji' with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, has written a modern narrative of the timeless 'Ramcharitmanas' in the language and flair of the youth. God can be seen through the loving eyes of a devotee in the Murti and felt in the service of a Gunantit Guru. A must-read for people in a world overwhelmed by and overloaded with material pleasures and desires. The book provides a guiding path for the devout to connect with the Supreme. Jai Swaminarayan with deepest prayers! - Sadhu Swayamprakashdas (Pujya Dr. Swami), BAPS SWAMINARAYAN SANSTHA.







Valmiki's Ramayana


Book Description

Valmiki's Ramayana, composed as early as 500 BCE, remains a story that speaks to every generation and continues to enthral millions of people in the Subcontinent and beyond.The noble prince Rama is exiled from Ayodhya on his stepmother's whim, and his loyal brother Lakshmana and beautiful wife, Sita, follow him into the forest despite the many dangers it holds. But when Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, king of the rakshasas, Rama must go deep into himself to find the physical and emotional resources he needs to rescue her.Apart from exploring the fundamental human question of how to be good, the Ramayana is also the story of a god who comes to earth to establish righteousness. The tension between Rama's essentially divine nature and his all too human trials makes this one of the most compelling epics in world literature.




The Life of a Text


Book Description

The Life of a Text offers a vivid portrait of one community's interaction with its favorite text—the epic Ramcaritmanas—and the way in which performances of the epic function as a flexible and evolving medium for cultural expression. Anthropologists, historians of religion, and readers interested in the culture of North India and the performance arts will find breadth of subject, careful scholarship, and engaging presentation in this unique and beautifully illustrated examination of Hindi culture. The most popular and influential text of Hindi-speaking North India, the epic Ramcaritmanas is a sixteenth century retelling of the Ramayana story by the poet Tulsidas. This masterpiece of pre-modern Hindi literature has always reached its largely illiterate audiences primarily through oral performance including ceremonial recitation, folksinging, oral exegesis, and theatrical representation. Drawing on fieldwork in Banaras, Lutgendorf breaks new ground by capturing the range of performance techniques in vivid detail and tracing the impact of the epic in its contemporary cultural context.




A Modern Interpretation of Lokmanya Tilak's Gita Rahasya


Book Description

Lokmanya Tilak declared the purport of the Bhagavad-Gita as, 'the Karma Yoga founded on knowledge, in which devotion is the principal factor.' Author-Scientist, Prof. Arun Tiwari presents this new manifestation of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya written by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak with the objective to give the new generation a sense of purpose, determination, good moral values and a sense of duty & responsibility.




A.P.J. Abdul Kalam


Book Description

The definitive biography of India's most loved leader and scientist Aeronautical engineer, rocket scientist, missile man, visionary, teacher and the most inspiring head of state in living memory - Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was all these and more. Unquestionably the most revered Indian leader since Mahatma Gandhi, he transcended all the boundaries and obstacles that came his way in the course of a remarkable life; and he did so with grace and humility.Arun Tiwari tells Dr Kalam's life story with a deep understanding of his formative experiences and character and reveals him as a man personifying all the glory and paradoxes of his nation: secular and religious; exalted and humble; schooled and unaffected; dynamic and calm; scientific and spiritual - an Indian above all.




The Ramayana


Book Description

The greatest Indian epic, one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytelling A Penguin Classic A sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.




Tulsidas' Ramayana


Book Description




India Wakes


Book Description

The world into which India wakes is a nightmare decimated by a global recession, caused by the coronavirus pandemic originating in China and engulfing most of the world. Was the coronavirus a Black Swan event turned into an opportunity by China to dominate the world? Would the trust deficit heightened by China's ambushing Indian soldiers become a snowball or fade away? Has the US$ 5 trillion Indian economy dream become a mirage already? What all would fall into the fault lines of socio-economic inequality?Will there be a new Cold War between the United States and China, and if there is one, how can India avoid becoming collateral damage? Is it possible that the United States, India, and China build a new world order based on mutual needs and interests, or is a hegemon power already on the prowl? Anchored in hope, rather than adding to anxiety, and seeing present times as a teachable moment of human history, the book recalls the past and contextualizes it for the next politico-economic shift that is currently unfolding in the world. Every nation must find its bearing and position itself in the matrix of a de-globalized world.Historians may conclude that 2020 marked the end of the post-World War II era. This majestic work analyzes the post coronavirus world order and India's role in it. Will India pursue a regional strategy that can contain a resurgent China? What are the regional and global implications of India's turn to greater nationalism under the BJP? Has the United States lost its place as the indispensable superpower? What new trade alliances and trade patterns may arise? These issues and more are addressed by authors, who possess extraordinary credentials as students of these troubled times. I recommend this book highly, the first major study to consider the fate of the triad-India, China, and the United States-in the post coronavirus new world order.- Stuart S. Malawer, J.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Service Professor of Law and International Trade at George Mason University. Delegate on various Virginia gubernatorial trade delegations to India.India wakes in a world that is emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.The authors demonstrate how this disaster has accelerated trends already under way, including de-globalization, the rise of populist authoritarian leaders, and intensifying rivalry between China and the United States. They argue that India should take advantage of the opportunity that U.S. decoupling from China will provide, including supply chain movement away from China and into India. This sweeping, clearly written, and riveting magisterial study of India's role in the new world order is a must-read for students of the relationship between India, China, and the United States.- Richard W. Rahn, Ph.D., honorary Doctor of Laws, American economist, columnist, and entrepreneur. Current Chairman of Improbable Success Productions and the Institute for Global Economic Growth.




Ravana


Book Description

Contributed research papers.