The book under review entitled ‘Voice of the Senses’ is edited by Baidyanath Saraswati.
The entire book is dedicated to a deep understanding of the concept of the senses. There are twenty articles in total in two parts.
The first part deals with philosophy and religion while the second part deals with Science and Society.
Eminent authors from various fields have written the articles and thus it is quite interesting to read and understand hitherto unknown facts.
The Five Elements or Five Processes are basic in the Chinese tradition. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are the five elements.
Sitansu Ray has written wonderfully about Tagore’s Congregational Talks on Seeing and Hearing
Seeing and hearing are consecutive themes of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, who delivered the congregational address on two consecutive days at Santiniketan. Vision leads to realization. The silent music of the heavenly world must be studied and the music of our life must be synchronized with the magnanimous music of the ever-evolving universe.
Sanghamitra Pal explains the function of the senses – Organs in the snake – Capture technology.
In West Bengal, Saure Mal is one of the sub-castes of the Mal caste. The Sapure classifies snakes into venomous and non-venomous. They believe that most snakes are harmless. They learn the art of catching snakes from an early age. It is very interesting to read about his knowledge and ability to catch snakes and charm.
Somushish Ghosh Dastidar and Manojit Denath discuss the response of plants to external stimuli. A single stimulus, such as a hot needle, can cause leaves to respond. A plant may respond to vibrations that accompany sounds. The ‘Mimosa Pudica’ plant also known as the ‘sensitive plant’ responds to vibration induced by sound. In an archid plantation area, every morning and evening, the sound installed there plays devotional songs, ghazals, religious chants and instrumental music. The vibration it contains helps the growth of the buds.
KN Sahay explains the human senses and their purpose by quoting from many Sanskrit works. One has to use these senses to ‘go up’. The excellent path of true well-being must be chosen and adopted by intelligent people.
These articles are of benefit to those interested in learning about different aspects of Indian religious and philosophical perceptions.
The scientific background gives us more authentic information about the voice of the senses.
The sense of touch, the sense of taste, the sense of smell, the sense of sight, the sense of hearing – all these five senses together with the mind help us to achieve empirical knowledge. One who uses them in the right way as stipulated by the scriptures attains Shreya.
Mr. Badiyanath Saraswati, an eminent anthropologist, has spent some forty years unraveling the relationship between traditional thought and modern science.
He is no longer with us. But the collection of articles from him will definitely help the readers to know everything about the senses.
The Voice of the senses is very sweet and I recommend this book to all Indology book lovers.
The book is carefully printed and published by DKPrintword (P) ltd., New Delhi.