King Nala's life is idyllic - until a cunning cousin tricks him out of his kingdom. Can the love of his beautiful Damayanti survive such a calamity? Will they be able to win bISBN: happiness? Full of twists and turns, the story of this ideal couple is told in the Mahabharata.
The tale of Nala and Damayanti is a complex mythological romance that predates the epic Mahabharata. Narrated by the sage Vrihadaswa in the Vana Parva (Book of the Forest) of this epic, it has woven a magical spell on readers down the ages with its narration of: Golden-winged, celestial swans... Shape-shifting gods vying with humans to wed the most beautiful woman ever... Demons loading the dice to wreck a union blessed by the very gods... A serpent's venom transforming a king into a misshapen dwarf... Two lovers driven apart, and later reunited, through an unheard of second swayamvar (self-choice of a husband) by a renowned princess, in Indian history. It's regarded as the greatest love story ever told and retold down the ages in almost every regional language of India. Historians, Poets and Dramatists the world over have waxed eloquent about the love of Nala and Damayanti: "His thoughts were with a face his dreams had seen Diviner than the jasmine's moon-flaked glow, He listened to a name his dreams had learned Sweeter than the passion of a crooning bird." - Sri Aurobindo, The Tale of Nala (incomplete) 'Suddenly, in human language, the swan spoke: "Damayanti, in Nishadha, dwells the noble king - like the Ashwins in beauty, peerless among men is he..".' Reverend Henry Hart Milman - Historian, Poet and Dramatist "The story of Nala and Damayanti is without doubt one of the most beautiful stories in the world..." - Norman N. Penzer, Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, London
Read this fascinating myth from India recounted in this fabulously produced book. From wise sages to demonic asuras, beautiful river deities to arrogant kings, wayward gods to brave princes, each e-singles edition brings alive these enchanting and magical stories from Indian mythology, beautifully retold by noted author Anita Nair. With stunning full-colour illustrations, this story recreates the fantastic world of gods and demons like never before.
In this ambitious volume, Yunfei Bai delves into the creative adaptations of classical Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan literary texts by four renowned nineteenth- and early twentieth-century authors in France and Argentina: Theophile Gautier, Stephane Mallarme, Victor Segalen, and Jorge Luis Borges. Without any knowledge of the source languages, the authors crafted their own French and Spanish retellings based on received translations of these Asian works. Rewriting the Orient not only explores the so far untapped translation-rewriting continuum to trace the pivotal role of Orientalism in the formation of a singular corpus of world literature that goes beyond the Anglophone canon, but also sheds light on a wide range of innovative discursive strategies that readily challenge traditional notions of cultural appropriation.
The Mahabharata preserves powerful journeys of women recognized as the feminine divine and the feminine heroic in the larger culture of India. Each journey upholds the unique aspects of women's life. This book analytically examines the narratives of eleven women from the Mahabharata in the historical context as well as in association with religious and cultural practices. Lavanya Vemsani brings together history, myth, religion, and practice to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the history of Hindu women, as well as their significance within religious Indian culture. Additionally, Vemsani provides important perspective for understanding the enduring legacy of these women in popular culture and modern society.
Beginning in the sixth century C.E. and continuing for more than a thousand years, an extraordinary poetic practice was the trademark of a major literary movement in South Asia. Authors invented a special language to depict both the apparent and hidden sides of disguised or dual characters, and then used it to narrate India's major epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, simultaneously. Originally produced in Sanskrit, these dual narratives eventually worked their way into regional languages, especially Telugu and Tamil, and other artistic media, such as sculpture. Scholars have long dismissed simultaneous narration as a mere curiosity, if not a sign of cultural decline in medieval India. Yet Yigal Bronner's Extreme Poetry effectively negates this position, proving that, far from being a meaningless pastime, this intricate, "bitextual" technique both transcended and reinvented Sanskrit literary expression. The poems of simultaneous narration teased and estranged existing convention and showcased the interrelations between the tradition's foundational texts. By focusing on these achievements and their reverberations through time, Bronner rewrites the history of Sanskrit literature and its aesthetic goals. He also expands on contemporary theories of intertextuality, which have been largely confined to Western texts and practices.
When travel writer Christopher Stewart arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala, India to meet Koman, Radha's uncle and a famous dancer, he enters a world of masks and repressed emotions. From their first meeting, both Radha and her uncle are drawn to the enigmatic young man with his cello and his incessant questions about the past. The triangle quickly excludes Shyam, Radha's husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that he has never been able to draw from her. Also playing the role of observer-participant is Koman; his life story, as it unfolds, captures all the nuances and contradictions of the relationships being made—and unmade—in front of his eyes. Booklist calls Mistress "Tempestuously exotic, Nair's intricately woven multicultural and multigenerational saga pulsates with passion and desire."