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About the Book :
The book comprises twenty papers. The first seventeen papers are based on Vedic themes and the last three on non-Vedic themes. The first two papers deal with the aitihasika interpretation of the Vedas which was alluded to in the pages of Nirukta by Yaska. The author has advocated boldly that this type of interpretation will result in a decision of the date of Vedas also, at least approximately. Similarly, the other two papers, viz, the Battle of Hariyupiyu and Devapi Arstisena were also written with the same point in view. The author emphasizes the fixation of date of Devapi, whom he claims to be historically connected with Santanu, taking the Kali Era into account.
There are some papers like Indra and Trisiras, the Rbhus in the Vedas, Saranyu and Vivasvat, etc., which, according to him, are mythical accounts. But his reconstruction of the lives of Dadhyanc, Ucathya, Samvarta, Trita, Subandhu and his brothers, King Tryaruna appears to be convincing these men, he says, actually lived on this earth. The dialogue of Agastya and Lopamudra is dealt by him in the light of the narration found in the Mahabharata, but the dialogue of Yama and Yami could not be supported by Epico-Puranic sources. The two papers on humanism in Rgveda and the status of women in the Kalpasutras show the author?s interest in behavioural themes.
About the Author :
Professor THANESWAR NILAKANTA SARMAH (b. 1944) graduated with Honours in Sanskrit from the Pragjyotish College, Gauhati, in 1967. He obtained M.A. in Sanskrit-Pali as a National Scholar from the Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit (CASS), University of Poona, in 1970. He was awarded Ph.D. degree for his thesis The Bharadvajas in Ancient India in 1982.
Professor Sarmah worked in various academic institutions before joining ADP College, Nagaon, Assam, in 1970. He joined the Gauhati University as a Reader in Sanskrit in 1984 and became a Professor in 1997. He was elevated to the Head of the Department of Sanskrit in 2003. He retired from that post in 2004 but was re-employed in the Department in the same year.
Professor Sarmah is a prolific writer in Assamese. He has published as many as 31 useful books based on Vedic and classified themes including two histories of literature. His translation of ?Jataka? into Assamese in five volumes has added a new dimension to Assamese literature and it has been hailed as his magnum opus. He has also published about 30 papers in English in scholarly journals.
Contents :
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 The Aitihasika School of Vedic Interpretation : Its Significance
2 Itihasa Puranabhyam Vedam Samupavrnhayet
3 Indra and Trisiras Visvarupa
4 Rbhus in the Vedas
5 Saranyu and Vivasvat
6 Dadhyanc Atharvana
7 Ucathya Angirasa
8 Samvarta Angirasa
9 Trita Aptya
10 Subandhu and other Gaupayanas
11 King Tryaruna and Vrsajana
12 The Battle of Hariyupiya
13 Devapi Arstisena
14 The Dialogue of Agastya and Lopamudra: A Reappraisal
15 The Dialogue of Yama and Yami
16 Humanism as Reflected in the Rgveda
17 The Status of Women as Reflected in the Vedic Kalpasutras
18 Interludes in the Plays of Kalidasa
19 From Pragjyotisapura to Guwahati
20 Man, Society and Language in the North-Eastern India
Select Bibliography
Index
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