The Garland of Letters: Studies in the Mantra-Sastra - Softcover

Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8185988129 ISBN 13: 9788185988122

Publisher: Ganesh and Company, 1998

Synopsis

Books written by the Author Sir John Woodroffe can perhaps be called as Classics.One is indebted to him for his study of Tantra Sastra and the scholarly works he produced in English.His Books like "Serpent Power","Sakti And Sakta" etc.,have helped the Readers to gain excellent knowledge on the generally difficult to interpret subject of Tanta Sastra. In line with the other classics the Author in the present Book has in great detail explained the significance of the Letters in the context of the Tantra knowledge.Thus it becomes a must for the student of Tantra Vidya.

About this title

About the Author:

Born on December 15th, 1865,Sir John Woodroffe graduated in jurisprudence and the Bachelor of Civil Law examinations at Oxford/U.K.. In 1890, He moved to India and enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court. He was soon made a Fellow of the Calcutta University and appointed Law Professor there.He was appointed Standing Counsel to the Government of India in 1902 and two years later was raised to the High Court Bench.After serving for eighteen years in the bench, he became Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in 1915.After retiring to England he became Reader in Indian Law at the University of Oxford, and finally moved to France in his retirement, where he died in 1936. Alongside his judicial duties he studied Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy and was especially interested in the esoteric Hindu Tantric Shakti system. He translated some twenty original Sanskrit texts, and under his pseudonym Arthur Avalon.He published and lectured prolifically and authoritatively on Indian philosophy and a wide range of Yoga and Tantra topics. His most popular and influential book, a major contribution to the appreciation of Indian philosophy and spirituality, is The Serpent Power The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga (a best seller at amazon.com),which is the source of many modern Western appropriations of Kundalini practice. Other writings (published under his own name, as well as Arthur Avalon include: Shakti and Shakta Principles of Tantra (2 vols) Introduction to the Tantra ãstra The Great Liberation Hymns to the Goddess and Hymn to Kali The World as Power All these books are listed on amazon.com

Review:

Sir John woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) was instrumental in removing many of the cobwebs of ignorance that had come to cluster round the Sakta philosophy and practice. The decent Indian mind that had developed a deep-seated prejudice against the Tantras became awake to their excellence after the pioneering work of the great foreigner.By editing the original Sanskrit texts,as also by publsishing essays on the different aspects of Saktism,he showed that this cult had aprofound philosophy behind it,and that there was nothing irrational or obscuranist about the technique of worship it recommends. --Prof.T.M.P.Mahadevan

About this edition

• Publisher: Ganesh and Company
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 8185988129
• ISBN 13: 9788185988122
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 318