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Book Review
FROM THE BLURB
Vishvarupa — Paintings on the Cosmic Form of Krishna-Vasudeva: Neena Ranjan; Aryan Books International, Pooja Apartments, 4B, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002.
Rs. 2500.
This book showcases a selection of Vishvarupa paintings between the 17th and 20th centuries. Vishvarupa is popularly known as the cosmic form that Krishna revealed to Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata war. This was captured in verse in two chapters in the Bhagavad Gita. The concept of Vishvarupa is rooted in the Indian philosophical tradition since the Vedic times and represents a holistic interdependence in the manifested universe at all levels. Vishvarupa explores the relationship of man with the cosmic being—the microcosm and the macrocosm. Simple and effective visual representations of this thought are found in Indian arts and culture through the millennia. Herein Krishna is present in a human being, a mongrel dog, a tree and a stone in equal measure.
Teaching Islam — Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East: Eleanor Abdella Doumato and Gregory Starrett; Viva Books Private Limited, Jamals Fazal Chambers, 26, Greams Road, Chennai-600006. Rs. 595.
Much has been made of the role that Saudi Arabia’s education system played in fostering the hatred that fuelled the 9/11 terror attacks. But do Saudi textbooks deserve to be faulted for fostering violence? And have Wahhabi ideas infiltrated the Islamic textbooks used in public schools throughout the Middle East? Confronting these questions, this book explores the political and social priorities behind religious education in nine Middle East countries. The authors reveal dramatic differences in the way Islam is presented in textbooks across the range of countries, reflecting local histories and the policy interests of the state. They also illustrate the perhaps surprising adaptability of Islam as leaders strive to reconcile Muslim identity with both state citizenship and the modern reality of an interdependent, globalised world.
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