V. K. Subramanian

Meera was a woman saint from Rajastan, India, who lived in the 15-16th centuries. She was a devotee of Lord Krishna and composed numerous mystic songs/poetry. This book is an English transliteration and translation of 101 of her songs.

In the Introduction, the author provides a short biography of Meera. It is a lesser known version. He also gives a list of women mystics of India that lived between 5th and 16th century AD, with their birth areas. He explains the concept of mysticism in devotional songs and life. The Contents section includes not only the first line of each song, but also its raga.

The text is a painstaking effort. Each entry has the original work of Meera in Rajastani, and the author's English transliteration and translation for each song, with footnotes as needed.

For anyone looking into the divine poetry of Meera, here is a superb work from a very knowledgeable author.… (meer)

Easy to read, well-thought-out introduction and translation by a scholarly, accomplished author/translator. It is very important to read the Introduction first to appreciate Chanakaya's (approx. 321-275 BC) wisdom all the more. It contains information that may be hard to find elsewhere in the English language. The author/translator has done quite an in-depth analysis of Chanakya, giving the reader an excellent idea of the social, political, and philosophical context of the Chanakya thought.

The maxims are from Chanakyasutras, Chanakyanitidarpana, and Arthasastra.

As for the text, a serious reader can read maxim by maxim, or one can flip any page to select one. No matter what page one happens to glance through, it is full of wisdom! It is Chanakya, translated brilliantly!… (meer)