Title: Aitareya Upanisad
Author: Anirvan (translated into English by Gautam Dharmapal)
Description: Shri Anirvan’s Aitareya Upanisad is the translation of the second volume of the Upanisad Prasanga Series written by him and published by the Burdwan University in 1969. Aitareya Upanisad belongs to Rigveda. Aitareya Brāhmana is one of the Brāhmana of Rigveda and Aitareya Aranyaka is at the end of the Brāhmana. It has five Aranyakas. The last four chapters of the second Aranyaka is Aitareya Upanisad. Shri Anirvan had discussed and interpreted Aitareya Upanisad in the light of Aitareya Aranyaka. In his insightful introduction, he has also discussed all the relevant subjects contained in the Aranyaka in detail.
Number of pages: 270
Price: Rs. 250 (Two Hundred and Fifty) only.
Title: Katha Upanisad
Author: Anirvan (translated into English by Gautam Dharmapal)
Price: Rs. 300 (Three Hundred) only.
Number of pages: 359
Description: Katha Upanisad holds an important place in Indian philosophy. Though, men know the difference between the preferable good way and the way of pleasures, they generally take to the way of pleasures. In this Upanisad, through the dialogue between Yama—the god of death and Naciketa, a search has been undertaken to find the way of abstinence (nivrtti) from the way of natural activity (pravrtti). With diligence one can see the great difference between Knowledge and Ignorance, between Virtue (dharma) and Sin (adharma) and one can discover an unknown world where all these differences dissolve, where Truth and Harmony are realized. The real and secret inner truth, the eternal and Universal Dharma is laid in this Supreme Truth. Being pleased with the faith, aspiration and illumined intelligence of Naciketa, Yama—the deity of Dharma gracefully bestows this Supreme Truth to Naciketa. The extraordinary discussion on Brahman in the Katha Upanisad is the nerve centre of the spiritual sadhana of India. This discussion about Brahman found in these talks on Katha Upanisad by Anirvan will open up new vistas of Truth.
Title: Īśā Upanisad
Author: Anirvan (translated into English by Gautam Dharmapal)
Price: Rs. 250 (Two Hundred Fifty) only.
Number of pages: 156.
Description: Īśā Upanisad is the only Upanisad directly connected with Śukla Yajurveda (its last chapter), unlike other Upanisads which are connected with the Brāhmana portion of the Vedas. It is as if a clarion call of the Truth that all works lead to and end in knowledge. In only 18 mantras, we have an all comprehensive integral and harmonious vision and philosophy of Life Divine. Transformation of greed and lust tainted with black and evil works into unattached but strong white-pure and good works and its culmination into the Universal consciousness of an all-embracing Aupanisadic Purusa is the central theme of this Upanisad. The uniqueness of this commentary of Anirvan lies in his wonderful interpretation of the contradictory terms Vidyā (knowledge) and Avidyā (ignorance, rather the unknowable) and Sambhūti (Becoming Birth-Creation) and Asambhūti (Non-Becoming Non-Birth or Vināsa—Destruction). By giving his mystic and yet analytic interpretation, he has boldly brought about a harmony between the two opposite currents of works-Sacrifice and Knowledge and thus established Life Divine on this Earth on sound footing. In the end we have a wonderful unity of Works, Knowledge and Devotion (Karma, Jñāna and Bhakti) as found later in the Bhagavad Gita.
Title: Kena Upanisad
Author: Shri Anirvan
Number of pages: 246.
Price: Rs. 225 (Two Hundred and Twenty Five) only (soft cover).
Description: Translated from Bengali to English by Shri Gautam Dharmapal, Shri Anirvan’s (1896—1978) “Kena Upanisad” is the translation of the third volume of the Upanisad Prasanga Series written in Bengali by him and published by the University of Burdwan.
“Kena Upanisad” consists of the four sections of the fourth chapter of the Jaiminīya Brāhmana Upanisad of the Sāmaveda. It begins directly with Brahman as its subject matter and tells us in first two parts how it is impossible to know or attain Brahman by our ordinary senses including mind. To realize Brahman we have to open ourselves to higher intuitive levels of mind. In the third and fourth parts, the Upanisad beautifully speaks about the unknowable Brahman and about the subjective and objective ways of its realization through an allegorical story about Gods led by Indra on one side and Yaksha and Umā Haimvatī on the other. Brahman has to be meditated upon and realized as “Tad Vanam”—“That most Delightful Dear One”.
Title: Confessions, Upadesh and Talks
Author: Sadguru Omkar
Number of pages: 305
Price: Rs. 180 (One Hundred and Eighty) only (soft cover).
Description: Sadguru Omkar (1889—1978)—formerly known as Nilkantha Brahmnachari—was involved in national revolutionary activities from his school days. The group of which he was a part was closely connected with the Jugantar group of Bengal. Because of his revolutionary activities he had to take refuge in the French territory of Pondicherry. When Sri Aurobindo arrived at Pondicherry on 4 April 1910 Sadguru Omkar was among those who went to receive him. He was connected with the Mopla agrarian revolution in Kerala and imprisoned for more than eleven years for his involvement in the Ash murder case. In prison the transformation from a revolutionary to a spiritual Sadhaka took place as vividly described in his notes which he later collected as ‘Confessions on the way towards Peace’. After his release from prison he took the ‘Confessions’ to Sri Aurobindo who wrote a small foreword the next day. He settled down at the lower Nandi Hills in 1930 and built a small Ashram near a Shiva Temple.
The present volume comprises of Sadguru Omkar’s “Confessions on the way towards Peace” (including the foreword written by Sri Aurobindo), Upadesh (advices) and selected talks which were delivered to his disciples and visitors over a period of four decades.
Title: Achinpather Dibyapathik
Author: Anurag Banerjee
Number of pages: 268.
Price: Rs. 100 (One Hundred) only.
Language: Bengali.
Description: Published in 2008 by Sutanu Prokashoni (Kolkata), Achinpather Dibyapathik is a comprehensive biography of Dilip Kumar Roy (1897—1980), the noted singer, composer, musicologist, author, poet and a dear disciple of Sri Aurobindo.
Title: Debotar Shrom
Author: Anurag Banerjee
Number of pages: 128.
Price: Rs. 50 (Fifty) only (hard cover).
Language: Bengali.
Description: Published in 2008 by Sutani Prokashoni (Kolkata), Debotar Shrom is an anthology of one hundred poems of Sri Aurobindo translated into Bengali by Anurag Banerjee.
What shall I speak on R. Y. Deshpande ? Sincere, Prolific, original. But no praise is enough for such a living genius. My pronam to him.
Goutam Ghosal
The very wide range covering the content under the imposing Titles of Books and their preeminent authors touch the cloud surpassing summits! Grateful for sharing the details of the Publications of the Overman Foundation.
Let me know what is a good time to visit the Foundation’s office for surveying and buying books.
Thank you.