Slaves of the lord: the path of the Tamil saints . By Vidya Dehejia. pp. xi, 206, 89 illus. New Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1988. Rs. 300.

Abstract

of the opening passage on the Govardhanpur temple at Banaras, this was done with the intention of stressing the participation of non-smarta groups in the expression of bhakti attitudes today. The fact that Ravidas certainly followed Kablr in time deserved to be made clear. The irrelevance to Kablr of both Hindu and Muslim attitudes and observances is rightly stressed and the notion that he may have urged Hindu-Muslim reconciliation properly rejected. More might have been usefully said in the Kablr section about the main elements of sant teachings: the sabda, the Name, the poet's mystical love of God, etc., rather than deferring such topics to various points later in the book. By contrast to Kablr's own teachings those of Nanak, more practical, less mystical and more accessible, receive generous attention. Turning to the three Vaisnava bhaktas, Hawley outlines first the character of their devotion as sagunis: looking towards this world as well as beyond it, hence ready to accept aspects of received tradition, yet in their separation from the loved entity akin to the nirgums. In presenting Surdas he summarises the results of his research on the MS. tradition indicating an early expansion of a nucleus of " Surdas verses ", and the preempting of the poet's fame, and in part his verse, by the Vallabhan community: with resultant discrepancies between the content and style of early and later verses attributed to Surdas. Topics discussed in the further sections on Mirabai and Tulsldas include the significance of MTrabaTs identity as a woman for the understanding of her passionate bhakti, and the "ecumenical intent" of Tulsldas. The credentials of certain early Mirabai MSS. are queried. Since the contents of these MSS. would indicate, if they are authentic, a smaller Mirabai nucleus than has been available hitherto, and a more consistent use on MfrabaTs part of RajasthanI language, this matter deserves further investigation. The character of Tulsldas' ecumenism could have been more closely defined in referring to the Krsna-influenced Bhusundiramayana and the Krsna-gitavall, for, though indeed a "saint-for-all-sides" (p. 158), Tulsldas clearly used such works to gain assent for his syncretising religion of Ram; his support for Krsna being, in the last resort, only "qualified". The translations, partly colloquial and informal in tone and style, partly literary and allusive, read very well and to my mind do most acceptable justice to the spirit of the originals. Clearly much, and well-spent, effort has been given to them. They also succeed generally in conveying the literal sense of the originals: sometimes with legitimate expansion to suggest the point of an allusion, or with rearrangement of the elements of a verse. The translations are thus a serviceable guide for those wishing to approach the originals. With the other materials in this excellent book, they go far to indicating the interest and pleasure, as well as the rewards to be found in the study of early Hindi poetry.