The Four Hundred Songs of War and Wisdom - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231115628 ISBN 13: 9780231115629

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Two prominent translators present the first complete English-language edition of one of India's greatest works of classical literature: the Purananuru. This anthology of four hundred poems by more than 150 poets between the first and third centuries CE in old Tamil―the literary language of ancient Tamilnadu―was composed before Aryan influence had penetrated the south. It is thus a unique testament to pre-Aryan India.

Beyond its importance for understanding the development of South Asia's history, culture, religion, and linguistics, the Purananuru is a great work of literature, reflecting accurately and profoundly the life of southern India 2,000 years ago. One of the few works of classical India that confronts life without the insulation of a philosophical facade and that makes no basic assumptions about karma and the afterlife, the Purananuru has universal appeal. It faces the world as a great and unsolved mystery, delving into living and dying, despair, love, poverty, and the changing nature of existence.

To this hidden gem of world literature George L. Hart and Hank Heifetz add a helpful appendix, an annotated bibliography, and an excellent introduction describing the work and placing it in its social and historical context.

About this title

Book Description:

Two prominent translators present the first complete English-language edition of one of India's greatest works of classical literature: the Purananuru. This anthology of four hundred poems by more than 150 poets between the first and third centuries C.E. delves into living and dying, despair, love, poverty, and the changing nature of existence.

From the Inside Flap:

Two prominent translators present the first complete English-language edition of one of India's greatest works of classical literature: the Purananuru. This anthology of four hundred poems composed by more than 150 poets in old Tamil -- the literary language of ancient Tamilnadu -- was compiled between the first and third centuries C.E. before Aryan influence had penetrated the south; it is thus a unique testament to pre-Aryan India.

Reflecting accurately and profoundly the life of southern India 2,000 years ago, the Purananuru is immensely important both as a literary work and as a guide to the development of South Asia's history, culture, religion, and linguistics. One of the few classical Indian works that confronts life without the insulation of a philosophical facade, making no basic assumptions about karma and the afterlife, the Purananuru has universal appeal. The poems face the world as a great and unsolved mystery, delving into living and dying, despair, love, poverty, and the changeable nature of existence.

George L. Hart and Hank Heifetz set this hidden gem of world literature between two excellent introductions describing the work and placing it in its social, historical, and poetic contexts, a thematic guide to the content of the poems, and an annotated bibliography.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0231115628
• ISBN 13: 9780231115629
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 436
• Editor: Hart George, Heifetz Hank