Mughal Royals Reverence for Advaitic Text

"Yoga Vasishta" is an Advaitic text which deals with a conversation between Lord Rama & his guru Vasishta. It is set before Rama's marriage. It is ascribed to Valmiki & is longer than his Ramayana.

However because of the unflinchingly Advaitic viewpoint, it is not popular among Dvaitins.  But in a curious turn of events, it was appreciated & commissioned to be translated into Persian (then a language which opened the doors not only to Persia but to the West.) 

Supriya Gandhi, a Harvard & Yale scholar, writes in her meticulously researched "The Emperor who never was", (a biography of Dara Shukoh, the eldest brother of Aurangazeb), that the first to do so was Jehangir, then a prince, who asked his Persian scholar Nizam Panipati to collaborate with Sanskrit pandits to translate an abridged version in 1597. Five years later, his father, Emperor Akbar, commissioned his own version by one Farmuli. Gorgeously illustrated with 41 miniatures, this manuscript still survives today.

Dara Shukoh, the eldest brother of Aurangazeb, had a dream during a night in 1655/6. Dara saw not the Prophet but Vasishta teaching Rama. Dara had recently read a few pages of Shaikh Sufi about Yoga Vasishta. Dara wrote that he immediately prostrated before Vasishta & he told Rama that this is a sincere disciple, please embrace him. Rama embraced Dara. Vasishta gave sweets to Rama to feed Dara, which he ate. Dara took this dream as a sign that he should produçe a new translation of Yoga Vasishta, better than the earlier ones. The rest is history. 

The sad fact about this is that a text which has gained world wide renown & acceptance through efforts of Mogul royals, has been sidelined by the Hindu Dvaitins, because it does not agree  with their ideology.

Universality of Children's Literature

These fictional children have transcended their national & period barriers to become truly loved all over the world even to the present day. In the interest of brevity, only one child from each country is considered.

To start from the most popular, the quintessentially ENGLISH girl, Alice, is immortalized in "Alice in Wonderland" & "Through the Looking Glass." Countless children of all races & times have followed her adventures as she follows the white rabbit in a hurry.

The CANADIAN orphan, "Anne of the Green Gables" ends up with the Cuthbert siblings, Matthew & Marilla, after untold sufferings. Though a fiery redhead, she has oodles of imagination & brains enough to top her class. Her supreme sacrifice of her career to care for an aging, lonely Marilla is exemplary.

The SWISS orphan Heidi, dumped unceremoniously on her grouchy grandfather by her selfish aunt, quickly wins not only his heart but the heart of another poor unrelated Granny in the bargain. She also sacrifices a luxurious life in a city to be with her beloved grandfather.

The SWEDISH orphan, Pippi Longstocking, inhabits a "Magic Realistic" world of Villa Villekulla. Her gravity defying pigtails, different coloured stockings on each leg & superhuman strength on occasion, make her a memorable character.

The FRENCH Madeline, living in a "little old house in Paris, making up twelve little girls (going out) in two straight lines" is an exemplary character, who loves the other eleven girls & her dog Genevieve. Her remarkable bravery in undergoing an appendectomy cheerfully is commendable.

The AMERICAN orphan, Jerusha Abbott, features in "Daddy Longlegs" written by Jean Webster, a grand niece of Mark Twain. Her desire for knowledge is recognised by a mysterious man, who sponsors her College education. Her letters to her patron, mainly dealing with her acquistion of a liberal education, are fascinating.

Books & their illustrators

Initially books like "Aesop's Fables", "The Pilgrim's Progress" & "Gulliver's Travels" were illustrated to attract children's attention. When Children's literature started appearing,  illustrations enhanced their appeal.

However, some illustrators were identified so closely with certain authors & books that they became inseparable in the readers' mind. The classic example is Gustav Dore's 190 woodcuts for Cervantes' "Don Quixote." So also were Sir John Tenniel's work for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" & "Through the Looking Glass." Later they were also coloured. (Few are aware that even the surrealist Salvador Dali illustrated this book!)

Though George Cruikshank illustrated first  Charles Dickens' books, he also illustrated the first English edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales." But the later Arthur Rackham made them his own by 62 b/w & 40 colour illustrations. Of course many children's books were illustrated by noted artists. 

Beatrix Potter & Jill Barklem being gifted artists, illustrated their own books about Peter Rabbit & Brambley Hedge, as did Ludwig Bemelmans, who created Madeline. A.A.Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" was  unforgettably "decorated" by E.H.Shepard.

Incidentally his daughter, Mary Shepard,  illustrated the "Mary Poppins" books authored by the fastidious P. L. Travers. All of Roald Dahl's children's books were illustrated by the quirky Quentin Blake.

Inga Moore's "wall to wall" illustrations for Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" & Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" brought book illustration nearer to great art.

Tovey, Keller & Philip

Sir Donald Francis Tovey's "Essays in Musical Analysis" is the quintessential work on appreciation of Western Classical Music compositions. They were first published between 1935-44 in seven volumes. They were program notes of a high order with numerous musical examples. Such was their authoritative nature that they are still in print. But they are not very accessible to those unable to read staff notation. Nowadays, not everyone is a Satyajit Ray, who was able to follow a pocket score, while listening to  records. A kindred soul & fellow Kolkatan, was Nirad Chaudhuri.

Coming to the present time, when many may  not have that ability, Keller & Philip have come up with reader friendly books. "Chamber Music - A Listener's Guide" by James M.Keller, published by Oxford University Press in 2011, contains analysis of nearly 200 popular pieces of Chamber Music. "The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music", compiled over a period of 30 years & published in 2020, is a labour of love by Robert Philip. A hefty volume of nearly 1000 pages, analysing 400 orchestral works, it is a tour de force of musical scholarship, published by Yale University Press. Together, they cover most of the repertoire of Western Classical Music & make accessible the wondrous world of Western classical music, even for those unable to read music. Now all music being available to listen online, books like the above help us to heighten our enjoyment.