From the back cover:
Jaishankar Prasad (1889-1937) attended formal school till class eight, because of financial constraints. He drew on his own study of Indian scriptures, philosophy, history, literature, and culture to create works which established him as a giant of Hindi literature in his short life of 48 years. His epic poem Kamayani (1936) is a feast for intellectuals. It operates at three different levels: the gross or mythological, the emotional and the spiritual. Prasad infused the vision of a rishi, a sage, into this work. The reader experiences poetic currents of human emotions— anxiety, hope, desire, love, shyness, sorrow, conflict— and finally emerges at an elevated level of consciousness.
Praise for this translation:
“Pratibha Vinod Kumar’s translation captures the flavor, the nuances, and the rhythms of Prasad’s epic, with remarkable understanding and sensitivity.”
Vijay Lakshmi Chauhan, Ph.D.
Author of Pomegranate Dreams
Professor of English
Community College of Philadelphia
“Kamayani is one of my favourite works, and a hidden gem of world literature. I am glad that this translation shows its beauty to the English-speaking world.”
Dr. Archana Verma
Professor of Hindi (retired)
Miranda House, Delhi University