Renascent Hinduism (An Old and Rare Book)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

This is a book of selections, and hence more or less a miscellany. It need not be read continuously as each piece is self-contained. I have given the book the name of Renascent Hinduism not only because that is the title of the first article but also because that is the spirit running throughout the book including the Appendix. The pieces collected are all from my own former writings.

In reading some of these old papers again I must confess that many pleasant memories have been revived for me and I hope my readers will not mind sharing with me some of these memories. For instance, the article on "What the Gita does not teach" was a paper I read in the Twenties in the Presidency College, Madras. I remember very well now how Principal Dhruva of the Benares Hindu University, who presided over the meeting, began his concluding remarks by pointing out to the sea which was visible to everyone in the Hall through its wide windows and saying, "Look at the sea. Some of that pure breeze which is blowing there Prof. Sarma has brought into this room by his lecture." The pure breeze must have allayed the angry feelings of a part of my audience who at first openly said that the title of my paper was very presumptuous and provocative. I published this lecture later along with other papers in my book "Gita and Spiritual Life".

This book also contains another lecture which is included in the present selections viz., "The Experience of Sri Ramakrishna". This was a paper I read before a large gathering in the Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, in the Twenties. When I was asked to lecture on Sri Ramakrishna on the saint's birthday I thought it a great honour and so made elaborate preparations. I read not only all the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature available to me but also the literature on Christian and Islamic mysticism. The lecture was well received. The paper that I read was later taken by my friend Dr. Radhakrishnan to the United States and was given for publication to the magazine "Religion". When a copy of this magazine was sent to me I found that it contained only an abridgement of my paper. So I immediately wrote to the Editor to return the original. But he had mislaid the original and was unable to trace it. And I had kept no copy. So it is only the abridged version that is available now.