Speaking of Siva

Author: A K Ramanujan
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1973
Language: English
Pages: 197
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0140442707

Description

This work is a collection of 'vacanas' or free-verse lyrics written by four major saints of the great 'bhakti' protest movement which originated in the ninth century AD.

Composed in Kannada, a Dravidian language of South India, the poems are lyrical expressions of love for the god Siva. They mirror the urge to bypass tradition and ritual, to concentrate on the subject rather than the object of worship, and to express kinship with all living things in moving terms.

Passionate, personal, fiercely monotheistic, these free verses possess an appeal which is timeless and universal.

THE TRANSLATOR:

A K Ramanujan was born in South India has degrees in English and Linguistics. He has held teaching appointments at the Universities of Baroda (India), Wisconsin, Berkeley, Michigan, Indiana and Chicago. He has contributed articles in linguistics, folklore and Indian literature to many journals and books; his poetry and translations from Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam have been widely published in India, the United States, and Great Britain.