LOVE between man and woman has always been a theme of Hindu poetry, but the attempt to take the divine poetry of the Radha-Krishna literature, which has always been regarded as an allegory of the mystical union between God and the soul, and to secularize it, is the task of Professor B. K. Sarkar, in a volume called "Love in Hindu Literature," recently published by the Maruzen Company, of Japan. His claim is that this singing of the love of man and woman, not only as exemplified by the RadhaKrishna literature but through the ...
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LOVE between man and woman has always been a theme of Hindu poetry, but the attempt to take the divine poetry of the Radha-Krishna literature, which has always been regarded as an allegory of the mystical union between God and the soul, and to secularize it, is the task of Professor B. K. Sarkar, in a volume called "Love in Hindu Literature," recently published by the Maruzen Company, of Japan. His claim is that this singing of the love of man and woman, not only as exemplified by the RadhaKrishna literature but through the moderns as well, is the distinct gift of India to the culture of the world. With the new humanism has come in the dignity of sex, and it is through Hindu poetry, which has always pictured love in its "naked dignity," that the concept of the value of love will enrich the world. He says: "The love of Radha and Krishna is human love, generally speaking. But it became the conventional symbol also of Love Divine, the attraction between the soul and God in medieval Indian thought, the 'plasm' of Bhakti cult. Radha may then be said to have stood for the Beatrice of Hindu Dantes, who began to 'write concerning her what hath not before been written of any woman.' ... But to see one grand allegory of spiritual experience in the whole mass of Radha-Krishna lyrics is more than can be accepted." Not only the Radha-Krishna lyrics but the moderns also-Tagore, Coomaraswamy, and Aurobinda Ghosh-have a special significance for Hindu culture. Their theme is sensuous (not sensual) love, the dignity of sex. "Hindu classicism and Indian medievalism are feeding the omnivorous romanticism of young India. This romanticism does not exhaust itself, however, in antiquarian and archeological revivals and in brooding over the dead past, but is a vitalizing force and constructs from far and near new ideals of art and life to inspire the present. And these ideals forged in the laboratory of young India's brain are keeping pace with the world-forces of the modern age."
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