Synopsis: : The Advaita of Art Reprint |
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This inquiry is an undertaking to demonstrate that Aesthetic experience in the Classical Indian tradition, on its own merit, without being subordinate to rituals and practices commonly held under the rubric of religion, is capable of providing a transcendent experience to a prepared aesthete. The advaita of art, Dr. Dehejia argues, is a joyous celebration of affirmation and assertion and not negation.
Harsha V. Dehejia has a doctorate in Medicine and Ancient Indian Culture from Bombay University. He is also a member (by examination) of the Royal College of Physicians of London and Glasgow as well as Canada. He is a practising physician and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Religion of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is married to Sudha and has two sons Vivek and Rajeev, both of whom are economists.
Foreword
Prologue
1. Introduction
2. The Meaning of Meaning
3. Saksatartha: Rasabrahman
4. Saksatartha: Rupabrahman
5. Paroksartha
6. Epistemology of Aesthetics
7. Aesthetic Implications of Divine Consortship
8. Aesthetics and Idealism
Dehejia investigates into the total dynamics of the art process in the book on the authority of primary and secondary sources. He manifests rare introspection and insight into the nature of art from the viewpoint of an aesthete. The work is outstanding and an admirable contribution to the philosophy of art. - S.P. Dubey, Jabalpur, Prabuddha Bharata, Vol. 104, No. 2, Feb. 1999
...there is, in the monograph, a wealth of material, introspection and insight. All that is stated and argued in the monograph may not be accepted in toto. However, there is no doubt that the book is engaging, stimulating and thought-provoking. S.S. Janaki, Vedanta Kesari, Vol. 85, September, 1998
This is an immensely fascinating and absorbing book, which all students of art would do well to ponder over. As Natavar Joshi has stated, "The Poet, Poetic Activity and Sahrdaya form the aspects of one universe, the world of artistic creation (Kavya-samsara)". This too is the 'Advaita' of Dr. Dehejia's theme. S.V. Sohoni, Annals BORI, lxxix, 1998
…the book encompasses a staggering variety of primary and Secondary sources and sets to investigate the aesthetic experience principally from the point of view of the aesthete… there is a wealth of material introspection and insight, a rare combination of the diagnostic skills of a physician and the artistic insights of an aesthete to survey a vast and continuously flowing stream of Indian aesthetics. - Kapila Vatsyayan