At the end of the nineteenth century, almost all of the Roman and Greek literature that had survived time was translated to English. Ever since, only few literal gems have shown up such as those discovered in long-lost papyrus reeds found in Egyptian towns. For example, a verse addressed to Apollo from Sappho and Pindar was discovered (Dalrymple, 2014). Moreover, it is not likely that anymore pieces of European literature will be discovered as this has not been done in close to one hundred years. It is likely that the European situation will remain the same over the coming years (Dalrymple, 2014). Nonetheless, this is not the case for literature from other parts of the world. Particularly, Indian treasures are growing in their numbers. This paper is a review of the book “Norton’s Anthology of World Literature”.
With different religions in mind within the book, focus is especially on the treasures of the Indian world, which are considered to be barely explored. This state includes those who are literate in the Indian home language of Sanskrit and Tamil. It is estimated that there are about a thousand times as much literature available in the Indian sub-continent as there was in Greece. Most of this literature material still remains unexplored by the few translators who can understand the ancient language which they were written in. The volumes in Indian literature are so high that it is estimated that hundreds of manuscripts are lost each week due to their poor storage conditions. It therefore becomes impossible to determine what manner of masterpieces and prowess is lost from the Indian continent each time a week elapses and another manuscript is lost. In Norton’s Anthology , conserving and cataloguing a proverbial ocean of Indian literature has just begun to be explored.
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Nonetheless, historical reasons surround the neglect in learning ancient Indian languages. This language was initially set aside for Brahmins. The ancient laws of Manu, it was decreed that any commoner who attempted to learn these languages would have molten lead poured down their ears. As a result, locals were almost ignorant of this language before the coming of European explorers to the Indian coast. After European interactions, some of the most classical Indian writers were translated. For example, phenomenal playwright Khalidasa was translated. His work could only be compared to the Sanskrit version of William Shakespeare. Others included Valmiki and Vyasa who are the writers of famous Indian works.
Sir William Jones, the lead explorer who lead to the translation of these works, believed in the sanctity of Sanskrit as more perfect that Greek, exquisitely refined than both Latin and Greek and far more copious than Latin could ever be. A half a century later, the East India Company was no longer interested in learning from Indian literature and Lord Macaulay went on to declare that a shelf of good European literature was worth more than all Indian education combined. The effect was the scrapping of Sanskrit learning from the curriculum and English was given pre-eminence. English governors in the country since then would not do much to revive the learning of Sanskrit and Persian in Indian schools. Therefore, the importance of the volumes come in. they give a grounding on lost and wide-ranging material on Hinduism, Buddhism as well as Chinese writings from the other side of Asia past the Himalayas.
The project can be considered one of the most ambitious efforts. The latest release of the book was authored under the direction of Sara Lawall, and was intended to be the landmark that saw the meeting of six major religions and their speech to readers all over the world in the original words of those religions. Therefore, the books intended to make sacred texts from the major religions available to the reader in the English language. Some basic foundational works are included within the book, including excerpts from the Quran, the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita. Moreover, texts from notable eccentrics are available within the book and it puts them within the context that they would best fit in.
As is the common practice with many anthologies, different aspects have been incorporated to make the complete experience for the reader enjoying this. First, the sheer weight of the collection requires that the 1400-page text be placed on a table for reading. The bulk of the volumes is made of ancient Indian literature and it would only be expected that it would complete as so. However, slices of Chinese religious literature are included within the book towards the end.
Additionally, the composition of the text can be considered to be chosen unconventionally. Alongside some canonical aspects of Hinduism derived from the Vedas and Tantras, there is still some space for Salman’s Rushdie’s novel “Midnight Children”. In line with this, texts from Daoism share the same pages with Oscar Wilde material. Surprisingly, Gary Snyder’s “Smokey the Bear Sutra” shares pages with holy Buddhist texts such as Jataka. Those who embark on practicing the Sutra will end up getting some insight into the sands in Arizona and Nevada.
Notwithstanding, this is the single most informative source of ancient Indian literature that will provide large and dazzling selections for the reader. It could possibly be referred to as the best of its kind in repositories of translations in Daoist religious texts from ancient China. As much as it is difficult to hold and even more challenging to read from cover to cover, it is one of the texts that is openly welcomed as a landmark in Asian religious publishing.
Perhaps if one could find their most favorite part of the book, I would say that the piece in Telugu intrigued me most, asking about the use of ecstasy without any agony of separation. Shade is immaterial without the burning sun, and there is no patience without fury expressing itself in passion. The piece concluded that there is no need to make anything, whether poetry or love, if two things cannot be one. I find that this version satisfies the reader who seeks to explore their thirst of ancient Indian literature.
References
Dalrymple, W. (2014, December 19). The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Volume I . Retrieved from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/books/review/the-norton-anthology-of-world-religions-volume-i.html?_r=0 .
