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This book starts with the premise that the fate of Indian modernity is crucially linked to available readings of the Indian past. Today we witness, Sawhney contends, the near-total appropriation of Sanskrit texts by Hindu nationalism”an appropriation that has significantly diminished the power and richness of these texts. The Modernity of Sanskrit challenges this appropriation in two ways. It suggests, first, that a literary approach which resists narrowed interpretation can reveal moments of tension, fragility, and ambivalence in even the most canonical texts. Second, it turns to the complex work of writers such as Rabindranath Tagore, M. K. Gandhi, Mohan Rakesh, and Dharamvir Bharati to demonstrate that new readings of Sanskrit texts played a decisive role in shaping modern thought in India. Through close readings of selected works, this book proposes that modern commentaries and adaptations of Sanskrit texts also became a charged site for postcolonial reflections on politics, ethics, theatre, and poetry.
ISBN :9788178242538
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Pages : 226
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