Ramesh Menon
Auteur de The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic
A propos de l'auteur
Ramesh Menon is a Staff Engineer at NARUS, Inc. Prior to NARUS, Ramesh was a Staff Engineer at SGI representing SGI in the OpenMP forum. He was the founding Chairman of the OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB) & supervised the writing of the first OpenMP specifications. 050
Notice de désambiguation :
(eng) Ramesh Menon (Malaysian cricketer)
Crédit image: Ramesh Menon
Œuvres de Ramesh Menon
Bhagavata Purana - 2 Vol set in Slip-in Box 1 exemplaire
Bhagavad Gita: A Verse Translation 1 exemplaire
The Complete Mahabharata - Vol. 12: Aswamedha Parva, Asramavasika Parva, Mausala Parva, Mahaprasthanika Parva,… (2017) 1 exemplaire
Krishna/life and song of the blue god 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 1951-09-20
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- India
- Lieux de résidence
- New Delhi, India
Hong Kong
Bangalore, India
Kodaikanal, India
Jakarta, Indonesia - Études
- St Xavier's High School, New Delhi, India
St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, India - Professions
- Author
- Courte biographie
- Ramesh Menon was born 1951 in New Delhi. Studied in St Xavier's High School and St. Stephen's College. Lived and worked in Delhi, HongKong, Bangalore, Jakarta and now lives in Kodaikanal . He is the grandson of Pattom Thanu Pillai, former Chief Minister of Kerala and K R K Menon, India's first Finance Secretary. He is the author of The Hunt for K and Blue God: A Life of Krishna. He has beautifully rendered modern translations of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavata Purana into English prose.
- Notice de désambigüisation
- Ramesh Menon (Malaysian cricketer)
Membres
Critiques
Mernon’s lively paraphrase relies on two previous English translations of the third century Sanskrit epic poem by Vyāsa. It is a lively retelling of the events leading up to and following a war of succession between rival cousins which occurred in a time so ancient that gods and humans freely moved between heaven and earth. In this the tale resembles the Greek Iliad, although Mernon notes that the 100,000 couplets of the original are “seven times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined.” his version runs to two volumes of 1606 pages
when added together.
It is a long read, but an exciting one of wonders, God, gods, miraculous occurrences, court intrigues, visits to heavenly realms, jungles filled with gigantic demons, and heroic actions. The book is as action filled as a superhero movie with dramatic scenes of long smoldering emotions bursting into flame. At the end of volume one the five Pandava brothers (the good guys) and their wife have ended their thirteen-year exile and humiliated their demonic cousin Duryodhana and his army. All ancient India stands on the brink of a war that will end the era and usher in a new age.
Volume 2 is the war itself told in gruesome detail followed more briefly by its aftermath and consequences. In addition to many fantastic duels between combatants in their chariots and, incidentally, the casual slaughter of thousands of their supporting foot soldiers.
Just before it begins, there is a profound revelation of divine wisdom. Krishna, a cousin of the Pandavas and their opponents, has vowed not to fight in the war. But he does volunteer to drive the chariot of Arjuna, the most skilled archer and fighter of the brothers. Just before the battle starts, Arjuna, after pausing for prayer, begins to tremble. Shaking, he drops his bow (a supernatural weapon) and bewails the prospect of this internecine battle with his kin. Krishna then reveals himself as an avatar (a divine incarnation) and expounds at length on why Arjuna as a kshatriya (a member of the hereditary military caste) must do his duty, the larger significance of this war, and the vast scope of cosmic reality, of which this is a small part. Cosmology, time, fate, the interconnectedness of all, and Hindu ethics are detailed. This section is known as the Bhagavad Gita (in English, “The Song of God”). It is often published separately and considered sacred scripture by Hindus.
Immediately following this sublime episode, the bloodshed begins. Eighteen days and a night of heroic duels, vengeance, and horrific slaughter between sworn enemies and bitter rivals in a civil war that nearly extinguishes the kshatriya caste entirely. Only enough survive to carry out a few equally gruesome vendettas before peace is truly established. But by then the age has ended. The rest of the epic continues until the death of the principal characters and the reader sees them in their place of eternal rest.
Mernon uses Sanskrit terms throughout that are translated into English in glossaries appended to each volume. This gives his version an authentic voice, which he enhances by his extensive English vocabulary to add color, especially when describing the appearance of a supernatural being. For example, in volume one he describes the appearance of the sun god Surya as “the coruscant Deva.” Later when Bheema, another Pandava brother, suddenly finds himself in the clutch of an immense demon snake, “moist, mottled, yellow and green,” the author writes, “The cold dampness and purulence of those coils were more than he could bear.” My dictionary and the Internet got a good workout, but it was always rewarding. I learned that coruscant is not just the capital of the Evil Empire in Star Wars; it’s an adjective that means glittering or sparkling and that purulence means foaming pus.… (plus d'informations)
when added together.
It is a long read, but an exciting one of wonders, God, gods, miraculous occurrences, court intrigues, visits to heavenly realms, jungles filled with gigantic demons, and heroic actions. The book is as action filled as a superhero movie with dramatic scenes of long smoldering emotions bursting into flame. At the end of volume one the five Pandava brothers (the good guys) and their wife have ended their thirteen-year exile and humiliated their demonic cousin Duryodhana and his army. All ancient India stands on the brink of a war that will end the era and usher in a new age.
Volume 2 is the war itself told in gruesome detail followed more briefly by its aftermath and consequences. In addition to many fantastic duels between combatants in their chariots and, incidentally, the casual slaughter of thousands of their supporting foot soldiers.
Just before it begins, there is a profound revelation of divine wisdom. Krishna, a cousin of the Pandavas and their opponents, has vowed not to fight in the war. But he does volunteer to drive the chariot of Arjuna, the most skilled archer and fighter of the brothers. Just before the battle starts, Arjuna, after pausing for prayer, begins to tremble. Shaking, he drops his bow (a supernatural weapon) and bewails the prospect of this internecine battle with his kin. Krishna then reveals himself as an avatar (a divine incarnation) and expounds at length on why Arjuna as a kshatriya (a member of the hereditary military caste) must do his duty, the larger significance of this war, and the vast scope of cosmic reality, of which this is a small part. Cosmology, time, fate, the interconnectedness of all, and Hindu ethics are detailed. This section is known as the Bhagavad Gita (in English, “The Song of God”). It is often published separately and considered sacred scripture by Hindus.
Immediately following this sublime episode, the bloodshed begins. Eighteen days and a night of heroic duels, vengeance, and horrific slaughter between sworn enemies and bitter rivals in a civil war that nearly extinguishes the kshatriya caste entirely. Only enough survive to carry out a few equally gruesome vendettas before peace is truly established. But by then the age has ended. The rest of the epic continues until the death of the principal characters and the reader sees them in their place of eternal rest.
Mernon uses Sanskrit terms throughout that are translated into English in glossaries appended to each volume. This gives his version an authentic voice, which he enhances by his extensive English vocabulary to add color, especially when describing the appearance of a supernatural being. For example, in volume one he describes the appearance of the sun god Surya as “the coruscant Deva.” Later when Bheema, another Pandava brother, suddenly finds himself in the clutch of an immense demon snake, “moist, mottled, yellow and green,” the author writes, “The cold dampness and purulence of those coils were more than he could bear.” My dictionary and the Internet got a good workout, but it was always rewarding. I learned that coruscant is not just the capital of the Evil Empire in Star Wars; it’s an adjective that means glittering or sparkling and that purulence means foaming pus.… (plus d'informations)
This book is a magical, unexpurgated life of Krishna, told in a spirit of bhakti for modern reader. Krishna:Life and Song of the Blue God, opens on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, on the brink of war, when the Pandava Warrior Arjuna suffers a crisis of courage and conscience. His divine cousin and charioteer, the Blue God, begins to expound the eternal dharma to him. The exposition between two teeming armies is the Bhagavad-Gita, the Song of God. The story quickly shifts back to Krishna s birth, and then again to the battle field; and so on, from song to life, chapter by chapter, until finally both narratives flow together near the end, just before the Great War erupts.
Never before have Krishna's Holy Gita (from the Mahabharata) and his brilliant,unforgettable life (from the Bhagavata Purana) been juxtaposed so vividly and with such an enchatment as this book.… (plus d'informations)
Never before have Krishna's Holy Gita (from the Mahabharata) and his brilliant,unforgettable life (from the Bhagavata Purana) been juxtaposed so vividly and with such an enchatment as this book.… (plus d'informations)
Even after he has composed the awesome Mahabharata, the Maharishi Vyasa finds no peace. Narada Muni says to him, ‘Ordinary men will be delighted by your work, but what about the Sages of heaven and earth? You have described the human life, its strife and its ends, but you have not yet described the Lord himself. You must turn your great gift to that task; only then will you find peace.’ Veda Vyasa composes the Bhagavata Purana, in eighteen thousand slokas and twelve kandas. He teaches it to his illumined son Suka, who narrates the ‘Secret Purana’ to Yudhishtira’s heir, King Parikshit, on the banks of the Ganga. The Bhagavata Purana is a living embodiment of the Lord Narayana and claims to bestow moksha merely by being heard. Just before Krishna, the Avatara, leaves the world, Uddhava says to him, ‘leave us a tangible form, Lord, in which we can find you, touch you, and be near you.’ Krishna enters the Bhagavata Purana with all of his being. This book is a full literary rendering of the Bhagavata Purana, bringing all the wonder, wisdom and grace of the Book of God to the modern reader.… (plus d'informations)
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 27
- Membres
- 661
- Popularité
- #38,154
- Évaluation
- 4.2
- Critiques
- 16
- ISBN
- 38
Krishna tells the doubting Arjuna that it's fine to kill your family and friends
because they have always existed and will eventually exist again...so wars are fine?
He also preaches non attachment as the perfect way to exist,
yet he has a deep attachment to Arjuna.
How to reconcile these things???
Who, Arjuna in front, is not attached to peace, protection, and love...?