The Naraka Cycle


Book Description

Meet Ravan, the teenage crown prince of Asurapura on the continent of Naraka, moments before he must face the dangers of the Aranya jungle as part of the Trial of Seven Days. Almost two weeks later, he emerges from the Aranya and returns to his palace in the city Lanka, triumphant but emotionally drained. His completion of the Trial, however, brings about more complications than he could have imagined. Unlikely alliances with half-snake, half-human Nagas and ten-foot Rakshasas, and shocking discoveries about his own family push Ravan to his limit... “With ‘Ravan’s Trial’, Sundar Nathan has written an epic fantasy story with memorable characters from the great Indian epic, the Ramayana. The story is gripping, familiar characters in new roles with new destinies. Sundar has also done extensive research on the setting for his story. I enjoyed it a lot.” – Viswanathan Anand, Five-Time World Chess Champion “Nathan pieces together an incredibly deep and thoroughly developed realm and breathes life into his main character Ravan, beginning the book with a restrained unpeeling of family plot drivers through the individual days of Ravan’s Trial of Seven Days and a devastating setback. Shifting points of view provide first-hand rich visuals through the eyes of shapeshifters, battle-hardened warriors, lovers, loyalists, enemies, and family as Nathan weaves together an adventure, coming-of-age saga with intricacy to rival “the threads of Harsha’s Song.” – Jamie Michele, Reader’s Favorite




The Concept of Bharatavarsha and Other Essays


Book Description

This exploration of key terms related to social and political order, found in early Indian texts, challenges the idea of a unified ancient India and a unified national identity at that time. This collection explores what may be called the idea of India in ancient times. Its undeclared objective is to identify key concepts which show early Indian civilization as distinct and differently oriented from other formations. The essays focus on ancient Indian texts within a variety of genres. They identify certain key terms—such as janapada, desa, var?a, dharma, bh?va—in their empirical contexts to suggest that neither the ideas embedded in these terms nor the idea of Bharatavarsha as a whole are “given entities,” but that they evolved historically. Professor Chattopadhyaya examines these texts to unveil historical processes. Without denying comparative history, he stresses that the internal dynamics of a society are best decoded via its own texts. His approach bears very effectively on understanding ongoing interactions between India’s “Great Tradition” and “Little Traditions.” As a whole, this book is critical of the notion of overarching Indian unity in the ancient period. It punctures the retrospective thrust of hegemonic nationalism as an ideology that has obscured the diverse textures of Indian civilization. Renowned for his scholarship on the ancient Indian past, Professor Chattopadhyaya’s latest collection only consolidates his high international reputation.




Bhomantaka


Book Description

The Bhomantaka, or the Death of Bhoma, is a wide-ranging tale of the sweet romance of Samba and Yajñawati, of the defeat of the demon Bhoma by King Kresna and his minions in a truly monumental battle, and many more incidents and descriptions, a product of the sophisticated literary tradition of early Java. The poem is written in Old Javanese (composed by an author who does not mention his name or that of his king), in an idiom that presents many difficulties for the modern reader. This book contains an edition of the text, a translation, and an extensive explanatory introduction—enough to make the work accessible—and was produced by a team of two, both senior scholars of Old Javanese and experienced in producing readable English translations. It will become apparent in the course of reading that there are still numerous philological problems attaching to the text and its interpretation, but on the other hand it is also a fact that it contains many a passage of delightful poetry, philosophical teaching and other cultural information. As a result we get a glimpse of what Java was like perhaps eight and a half centuries ago, and of the thought-world of the Javanese of that age a world where legendary, mythological or divine beings do battle, and kings march out to restore the welfare of the realm. This publication takes its place in a long line, from the author via the copyists, in Java and in Bali, who faithfully and lovingly transmitted the work, down to the first edition of the text in 1852 and then the first translation in 1946. In this way a literary tradition of great value has been preserved for the future, and the KITLV Press now offers this contribution to coming generations of students of Old Javanese and to scholars of comparative literature around the world.










Sanskrit-English dictionary


Book Description




Prince of Naraka


Book Description

5 Stars, Reader's Favorite Recommended, US Review of Books Endorsed by Dr. Deepak Chopra, pioneer in integrative medicine & personal transformation Recommended by Vishy Anand, 5-Time World Chess Champion




The Great Indian Corridor in the East


Book Description

Commemorative volume in honour of late Hariprasanna Das, b. 1924, Indian geographer; contributed articles.




Historical Researches Into Some Aspects of the Culture and Civilization of North-East India


Book Description

This book deals with various facets of cultures and civilization of north-east India. It contains valuable information about the pre-historic megalithic cultures of the hill tribes, the genesis and growth of tribal culture, their exposure to civilization Aryanisation and Sanskritization, especially in the valley of Manipur. The book also deals with growth of Hinduism and Buddhism among the tribal people and all other related cultural facets in a lucid style.




The Kālikāpurāṇā


Book Description