Book review in CHOICE: encylopaedic set of 7 books on Sarasvati (2003)

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Srinivasan Kalyanaraman <kalyan97@g...> wrote:

Kalyanaraman, S. Sarasvati, BabaSaheb. index ISBN 81-901126-1-7

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-

glance/Y01Y2082414Y0848505/002-5207429-3881666

 

Babasaheb (Umakanta Keshav) Apte Smarak Samiti,Yadava Smriti, 55

First

Main Road, Seshadripuram,Bangalore 580020, India Tel. 91 80 26655238

v_sridhara@h...

 

The role of history is manifold. History, informs, instructs, and

inspires. This work, which does all this, presents the roots of

history of the civilization whose echoes reverberate in culture of

the

people of India to this day.

 

The title of the book is the name of a buried river which is said to

have flowed magnificently in the distant past. The sage-poets of

ancient India who laid the foundations of what was to become the

dynamic Vedic culture meditated on the banks of Sarasvati. Their

mystic visions blossomed in a thousand different ways in the

centuries

to follow. The Sarasvati River is mentioned in many ancient texts,

but

it seems to have dried up centuries ago, and its actual location was

lost over the ages. It came to be regarded as a mythic creation,

until

it the river-bed was recognized by archeologists in the first decades

of the twentieth century.

 

Now we have a seven-volume set on the mighty Sarasvati which,

emerging

from the Himalayan peaks grew into a river which is reported to have

swelled to a width of sixty kilometers in some places. As it surged

through the northern plains, it engendered and nourished one of the

most ancient civilizations on the planet.

The books are packed with information on many aspects of the

submerged

civilization of India. In the pages of these books may be found maps

of the ancient topography, reproductions of figures and glyphs on

tablets which are now in museums all over the world, references to

hymns in the Vedas where Sarasvati is mentioned, images of the

artifacts of the ancient civilization which reflect the technology of

the times, a lexicon of old Indic language, and more.

 

The volumes are rich in content, and highly informative in the

details

they present. They offer new perspectives on the India of an era

that,

like the river, had been buried in oblivion for much too long. These

perspectives are part of the emerging paradigm in which the Vedic

people are recognized as indigenous to the subcontinent. Furthermore,

at one time many of them are believed to have immigrated to other

lands where they spread their culture and civilization.

 

The books are clearly the fruits of a labor of love. At one point in

his life, the author made a decision to quit his position in a bank

to devote himself to the re-discovery of the ancient riverine culture

whose descendents are the present people of India. Kalyanaraman

dedicated many years looking into all the available materials

pertaining to Sarasvati whose name symbolizes in Indic culture. For,

beyond being the name of an ancient river, Sarasvati is the goddess

of

learning and knowledge, she is the fount of wisdom, and the symbol of

all that the intellect can accomplish. For in the Hindu vision

Sarasvati is the all-embracing principle that is implicit in every

book and notebook, in every paper and blackboard. She is present on

every bookshelf, and in every library in the world. She is there in

every mind that thinks, in every eloquent tongue that speaks, and in

the creative genius of sublime poets from whose hearts and minds

words

flow like pristine torrents.

 

Kalyanaraman recalls the history and legacy of Sarasvati, both river

and goddess, with depth of erudition and great enthusiasm. He refers

to Vedic verses that extol the river as a goddess, to epigraphic

evidence for the invention of writing in India, to the mystique of

the

river that unified the peoples of the subcontinent. Having devoted

decades to the exploration and impact of Sarasvati, he is convinced

that even more of the roots of Indic civilization will be unearthed

from further investigations, and recommends that more projects be

undertaken to research this topic. He asserts that the grand

traditions of India are all part of the all-embracing Sarasvati

civilization, At times the historical narrative is enhanced by the

author's reverence for Sarasvati which the reader can feel in

practically every page, and which would resonate in countless Hindu

hearts.

 

For some reason, the format in the volumes occasionally switches to

two columns. References are not as one would find in most scholarly

works. A systematic bibliography is conspicuously absent.

 

Nevertheless, the work is undoubtedly a solid contribution, not only

to the cultural rediscovery of the people of the Hindu world, but

also

to the scholarly reformulations of ancient Indian history that

constitute an emerging field. Until the publication of this work,

most

of the results of the archeology of the past few decades have

remained

scattered in various professional journals. The author deserves the

gratitude of many for bringing all these results in a single

compendious work.

 

V. V. RamanEmeritus Professor Rochester Institute of Technology

May 4, 2004 REVIEW IN CHOICE, American Association of Librarians

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