Mystic Eros (Troubadours and the Vaisnava Poets of Medieval India)

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Mystic Eros is designed a cultural document on comparative medieval poetry, philosophy, religion and esoteric thoughts after an exhaustive analysis of the concepts of Eros and Kama in the Western and Indian traditions respec tively. Eros as longing of the sickening soul in Neoplatonism is metamorphosed into mystic-Eros in the Middle Ages, and while ascending the various steps of the chain of Eros, the soul experiences a constant oscillation between the sacred and the profane. With the Troubadours of medieval France, Eros is viewed as a binding force that tends to bridge the gap between sense and spirit within the periphery of courtly love (amour cour tois) a powerful plea for refined sensua lity. Passion, often treated by preachers and theologians as a notorious element, is viewed as a pure and purifying emotion by the Troubadours.
Like the Troubadours, the Buddhist-Tantric-Sahajiya Vaisnava poets metamorphosed kama into prema and devised an elaborate erotic-mystic ritual of rágasádhand (culture of love). The Troubadour technique of donnoi, deification of courtly lady (domna) and esoteric progression (Eros-Amor-Jois). has been finally juxtaposed with the Vaisnavite ladder of káma-prema-maha sukha after a comparative analysis of the lyrics of Trobadours and Vaisnava poets of medieval India.

Dr. Bishnu Charan Dash (b. 1960) did his M.A. (1982) in English from Utkal University, Orissa; pursued doctoral studies as J.R.F. and S.R.F. (1984-1986) at Sambalpur University, (Orissa) from where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Litera-ture (1997) under the guidance of Prof. Ananta. Ch. Sukla, a renowned comp aratist of the country. He then served as Lecturer in English at B.B. Kishan College (1986-1990), Barpeta and as Senior and Selection Grade Lecturer at B.H. College, Howly (1990-2007), Assam. At present, he teaches English and American Literature at Diphu Campus of Assam University, Silchar. He has published research papers, book revicws, and review articles in Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Transactions and Journal of Folklore Society of Assam. His current area of research includes Comparative Criticism and Culture, Shakespeare Studies and Cultural Studies. Mystic Eros is his third book, the other two being The Sound of Silence (2004) and The Silent Symphony (2008), two other books by him under the titles Troubadours and the Philosophy of Tantricism, and Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaroa and Sambalpuri Ethos are in press.