"The Alchemist" A Retrograde View of Life

Paulo Coelho's best selling novel has been brought out in a well-designed compact affordable hardcover edition by Harper Collins India.

However, the central theme of the book is questionable. "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." The question is, does it?

Also later, the Muslim belief of "Maktub" (it is written) is repeatedly invoked. Here it may be recalled that in the film "Lawrence of Arabia", when a man is inadvertently left behind in the desert, Ali says "it is written" & does not feel like going back to fetch him, even though he is aware the man will die. But Lawrence, a Christian, does not believe that it is written & goes back at some personal risk & brings him back alive saying that nothing is written.

Also the belief in omens recurs frequently, especially in connection with a white stone called Urim & a black one called Thummim, given to the protoganist Santiago by a mysterious old man to guide Santiago when he is indecisive.

At the beginning of the novel, Santiago meets a baker's daughter, to whom he is attracted & even looks forward to meeting her after a year. But when during his journey to the Pyramids, he meets an Arab girl Fatima, the encounter is described as if it is his first love, completely erasing the memory of the baker's daughter.

At the end he realises his dream of finding a treasure, & plans to meet Fatima. After harping for the whole length of the novel on how one should attain one's destiny, all Sebastian achieves is acquisition of a treasure & an Arab girl Fatima. Is this the only destiny for him, who had studied Latin, Spanish & Theology in a Seminary till he was sixteen (as it was the wish of his parents that he became a priest), but decided that knowing the world was more important than knowing God?

Jataka Tales

These, numbering 547, are the stories concerning the previous incarnations of the Buddha, including in animal & bird incarnations. These illustrate how the ten perfections, namely generosity, virtue, renunciation, wisdom, effort, forbearance, truth, resolve, loving kindness & equanimity can be achieved in life.

The beauty of  Buddhism is no prior belief in a deity, be it Christ, Allah or any of Hindu Gods is required. Only important thing is the ten virtues should be cultivated to achieve Nirvana. This has obvious advantages as there was no assurance that piety, as practised in other religions, would automatically make a person virtuous. In fact most of the demons in Hindu mythology were very pious persons, who obtained their powers (to do harm) as boons after intense austerities, from Lord Shiva, like Ravana!

Swami Vivekananda had the highest respect for Buddha. Also Buddhism was the first religion to send out missionaries to spread their creed. It was providential they did so, because for various reasons, Buddhism lost its influence in the land of its birth.

An interesting sidelight is the presence of Devadutta, cousin & nemesis of Buddha, in the Jataka Tales, always working at cross purposes! He even joined Buddha's order, only to create a split, like modern politicians!

Buddha & Brahmin

In the canonical Buddhist text, "The Dhammapada", Buddha teaches his students the right path. The last chapter is devoted to the qualities of a Brahmin. A brief overview follows.

One does not become a Brahmin by birth but by attaining his highest goal. He should discard evil, live in peace & has given up the impurities.

One should not strike a Brahmin, nor should a Brahmin vent his wrath on one who has struck him. A Brahmin, without anger, endures reproach & punishment with patience.

In a Brahmin lust, hatred, pride & detraction have fallen off. He has no longings, in this world or the next, & is desireless & emanicipated. He has, through knowledge, gained Nirvana.

The Brahmin has passed through this quagmire, the ocean of life & delusion & has attained Nirvana.

(Here it may be mentioned that some Vaishnavite sects in the North India, consider Buddha as the ninth Avatar, replacing Balarama. But if by Nirvana one means Mukti, Buddha defines a Brahmin as one who has realised "Jeevan Mukti' i.e., liberation even before death. But this is considered not possible by the southern Vaishnavites led by Sri Madhvacharya. Also the concept of this world as delusion was anathema to Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of southern Vaishnavism.)

Divine Grace & Mortification

It is curious to note that the above two commonly go together. In "Mahabharata", the tribulations of the Pandavas, the beloveds of Lord Krishna, were endless. Even their lineage came perilously close to extinction. Krishna's sister Subhadra's son Abhimanyu, was unfairly killed in battle, even with the Lord present in the vicinity. Later all five sons of the Pandavas were wiped out in one fell swoop by their Guru's son, a Brahmana to boot!

The same holds true in other religions also. Saint Julian of Norwich, took the bull by the horns, by praying to experience the agonies of Christ on the cross & supposedly obtaining it. Chandanbala, the first female disciple of Lord Mahavira, was a slave in a rich man's house as was Rabia of Basra, the greatest Muslim saint. Rabia went with a pail of water to douse the fires of hell & a flaming torch to burn the rewards of paradise.

The most curious thing is that humans worship & crave worldly boons like wealth & progeny from these saints, who themselves had spurned them. Even among the Holy Trinity of Hinduism, only Lord Shiva had children but his two sons remained celibate & in a purely worldly way, His line came to an end. Goddesses Lakshmi & Saraswathi, to put it in a crudely worldly way, remained biologically barren! As for Lakshmi, even though "it is a truth universally acknowledged" (to quote Jane Austen), that she is fickle, she is the most popular Goddess nowadays, Saraswathi being relegated to the sidelines. Even Lord Ganesh is only worshipped because it is hoped that he will remove obstacles in our mad rush for wealth & progeny! As far as another goal of human life, Fame is concerned, no less a person than Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor, has said "Fame, in a world like this, is worthless."

Going by our mentality nowadays, Kubera (the mythical rich man) & Indra (king of heaven of worldly delights) should be our role models & objects of worship!

Affordable Art Books

Probably the earliest series of Art books is the Thames & Hudson World of Art. They are modestly priced, but small in format & paperback.

Lorenz books have published a series of sumptuous volumes on the leading artists with their life & work in 500 images. These are hardcover & size medium Quarto.

Phaidon books have also used medium Quarto size but paperback, their USP being they have published artists like Constable, ignored by Lorenz Books, in a larger format than Thames & Hudson.

The latest entrant to the field is Taschen books, whose volumes are both hardcover & concise. Their volume on Vermeer is an example as his ouvre is only 35!

The pioneering Indian publisher is Niyogi books, whose delectable hardcover volumes on Ragachitra & Kangra Valley paintings should be in every art lover's library.

Similes describing excellence in Srimat Bhagavad-Gita & Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

In the tenth chapter of Gita, translated by Swami Swarupananda,  Lord Krishna gives glimpses of divine glory. The following is a condensation of verses 19-40.

"I am the Self, existing in the heart of all things."

"Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu. Of luminaries, the radiant Sun."

"I am the Sama -Veda of the Vedas & Indra of the gods; & intelligence in living beings am I."

"Of the Rudras, I am Shankara, of the Yakshas & Rakshasas, Kubera (the Lord of Wealth.)"

"Of bodies of water, I am the ocean. Know me among men as the King."

"Whatever being there is great, prosperous or powerful, that you know as a part of My splendour."

In "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna"   translated by Swami Nikhilananda, on 15.07.1885, Sri Ramakrishna talks about Narendra (later to be known as Swami Vivekananda.)

"Some devotees are like lotuses with ten petals, some are like lotuses with a hundred petals. But Narendra is thousand petalled one."

"Some devotees may be like pots or pitchers; but Narendra is a huge water barrel."

"Others may be like pools or tanks; but Narendra is a huge reservoir."

"Among fish, others are like minnows or sardines; Narendra is a huge red-eyed carp.

"Narendra is a 'very big receptacle' that can hold many things."

Quotes from the Qur'an

Honour the mothers who bore you. (4.2)

Give women their dowry as a free gift. (4.4)

Women shall have a share in what their parents & kin leave. (4.7)

If any of your women commit a lewd act, call in four witnesses. If they testify to their guilt, confine the erring women to their houses. (4.14)

Note: No mention of stoning.

What the Taliban are doing is against this.!

Little people in literature

Probably the first imagining of tiny people occurs in the first part of Jonathan Swift's well-known "Gulliver's Travels", where they are called 'Liliputs.' Dr. Samuel Johnson, however, was dismissive of the work, saying "when you have imagined little people, the rest follows." But Swift endows the Liliputs, with all human foibles.

Then there was the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen, "Thumbelina", where a childless woman approached a fairy, who gave her a seed to plant, out of which a flower bloomed, inside which was Thumbelina, the size of a thumb. After various travails, she meets a little man of her own size, marries him & lives happily.

The Brothers Grimm also compiled a story of "Thumbling", who was born to a poor peasant couple, who wished for a child, even as small as a thumb. After some time, he wished to help his parents & went on various adventures despite his size. He was in a mouse hole, in the stomach of a cow & even was swallowed by a wolf. He persuaded the wolf to go to his parents' house, where he called out to them to kill the wolf & rescue him. Then the threesome lived ever happily after.

But the longest works in this genre are the "Borrowers" series of Mary Norton. These are parasitical, tiny beings living in inhabited houses, subsisting on crumbs & leftovers. After the introductory book, they go afield, afloat, aloft & are avenged in the four subsequent volumes. Mary Norton's imagination was fired by her short-sighted peering into various nooks & corners of her house, as her problem was not detected at an early age. When her eyes were examined & spectacles prescribed, she started writing down her imaginary tiny people's adventures in detail.

Contrasting heroines in Westerns

In George Stevens' classic "Shane", arguably the best western ever made, Alan Ladd arrives at a homestead where the lady of the house is Jean Arthur, a peace-loving woman, who hates the gun culture of the wild west. She tries her level best to avoid all violent conflicts, & disapproves of her young son playing with an unloaded gun.

In contrast, in another Alan Ladd western, "Proud Rebel", the heroine is Olivia de Havilland, who has an on-screen image as a mild, peaceful woman, but in this film, snatches up her rifle at the first sight of others encroaching on her land. It is Ladd, who has to disarm her & preach patience & circumspection to her!

In Fred Zinnemann's classic "High Noon", the newly married Gary Cooper has the option of leaving the town or staying & fighting his nemesis. His bride, a non-violent Quaker, played by Grace Kelly,  prefers to leave by train, when he decides to stay & fight. But she changes her mind in the train & returns. During the gun battle, when Cooper is about to be shot by an out-law, she shoots dead the outlaw from behind in the back. When the nemesis grabs her as a hostage to protect himself, she scratches his face & when he pushes her, Cooper gets his shot in. Not bad for a Quaker!

The most curious end to a western is in "Duel in the Sun", where Gregory Peck & Jennifer Jones, shoot each other in the climatic gun-fight & die in each other's arms!