Prakrti: The Integral Vision ( In 5 Volumes)

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PRAKRTI : The Integral Vision explores the concept of the primal Elements (Sky, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, etc.) which has governed and determined the evolution of civilizations and cultures. This 5-volume collection is the outcome of a series of five successive but inter-locked seminars culminating into cross-cultural, multi-disciplinaryunderstanding. BR. The First Volume, Primal Elements: The Oral Tradition, focuses attention on the articulation of cohesive communities communicating with the Elements in continuous unceasing dialogue. To them the nature is not a matter of intellection; it is a question of life here and now. This is manifested in their primary myths and rituals which sacralize nature so that man can live as an integral part of the Universe. The Second Volume, Vedic, Buddhist and Jain Traditions, centres on the texts, probing deep into the Vedic rituals, Upanisadic philosophies and Jyotisa sastra. There is a prodigious consideration of the concept of maha-bhutas in Buddhism and Jainism. It also brings forth the many covergences and divergences of the view-points between and amongst these different streams of Indian thought. The Third Volume, The Agamic Tradition and the Arts, examines systematically the manifestation of the Elements in the Indian arts and their Agamic background. From the different vantage points of the architect, sculptor, painter, musician and dancer, the field is reopened here to discern the structure of the arts at its primal level. Experiences of the transformation of the gross to the subtle and the theories of aesthetics and cultural ecology emerge from such a captivating view-point. The Fourth Volume, The Nature of Matter offers a much-needed critical appraisal of modern scientific concepts with reference to traditional thoughts. It contains invaluable discussion on quantum theory and elementary particles, evolution of living matter, nature and function of matter, scientific philosophy and Buddhist thought, Sankhya theory of matter, ancient and medieval biology, mysticism and modern science, traditional cosmology, matter and medicine, matter and consciousness, etc. The dialogue created between the method of science and the method of speculation is invigorating. The Fifth Volume, Man in Nature, is a coming together of cultures and disciplines. Enchanting in their own way, the international community of scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, ecologists and artists, share in this volume the myths and cosmology of their respective societies and cultures. There emerges a most meaningful dialogue between those who live with the myths of primordial elements and those who have modified the tools of science to investigate the nature of matter. This 5-volume set, first of its kind, produced by the most distinguished specialists in the field, should enjoy a wide readership amongst philosophers of many different persuasions, scientists, theorists of art and culture, particularly ecologists and anthropologists seeking new insights into the phenomena of Nature.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kapila Vatsyayan

Kapila Vatsyayan artist and art historian is internationally acknowledged as the pioneer of evolving alternate models of research for establishing inter and intra-relationship of different domains of knowledge and creativity. Her own work moves from a deep understanding of the primary textual sources of the East and West, principally Sanskrit and English, and a direct experience of the arts as performer. It focuses attention on the inter relationship of the concept and creative interpretation in architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and dance. The kinetic image enables her to delve deeper into the textual and oral sources and the fundamental metaphysics which govern form and structure of the arts. She has convincingly drawn attention to the sacred geometry which pervades all the Indian arts. As visualiser of the conceptual plan of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, she leaps across many disciplines, questions the conventional boundaries and finally establishes several bridges of communication between traditional thought and modern science. This has resulted in many multi-disciplinary studies of space and time, nature and culture, man and society, chaos and order. Her holistic integral vision is explicit in the volumes she has edited on these subjects. Her first work, Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts, is a milestone by experts the world over. This work was followed by many others including the definitive study of Dance in Indian Painting, The Theoretical Basis of Asian Aesthetic Traditions; Traditional Indian Theatre: Multiple Streams; six volumes on Gita Govinda; Bharata and the Natyasastra; and the Square and the Circle of the Indian Arts. She has edited the volumes on Concepts of Space: Ancient and Modern and Concepts of Time: Ancient and Modern published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi.