R T PB March 2015294 Prabuddha Bharata52 present book, the very beginning of which is on a discordant note. Th e author contemplated this work as a rebuttal to the objection she faced at a conference where she said 'that the theories of Karman and rebirth were two of the most vicious ever invented by man' (v). Th e blind surrender to fate and fortune is indeed bad, but that comes largely due to a wrong understanding of the scriptures. Th e author laboriously goes through numerous texts and selects cautiously, passages that support her arguments. However, she could have shown the other perspective also where fate or fortune is proclaimed to be in the hands of a person. It is notable that almost all of the translations and works she cites are by authors from outside the Indian tradition, with a Semitic bearing on their thought. Th e author comes a bit too strongly and without suffi cient background material, in brushing aside as inconsequential, years of thought and philosophising in the Indian tradition. Particularly the Mimamsa tradition and the concept of apurva is criticised: 'Meditation is treated like currency notes which can be encashed at will, deposited in safe custody for any length of time without increasing or diminishing; it can be lent or donated. But like money it is power and as power it can be used in an invisible spiritual bargaining with fate' (211). When meditation is being increasingly seen as a great solution to present-day problems, and when scientifi c studies are being conducted on this phenomenon, such a statement could have best been avoided. Th e diff erence between Shruti, eternal wisdom, and Smriti, social codes relevant for a particular time, is not highlighted in this volume. Th e author quotes more from the Puranas, which are not authoritative texts. Using texts of diff erent paradigms, the author considers it her mission to make the common person recognise 'the vested interests of the guardians of society in maintaining the socio-political and economic status quo, with threats of hell and baits of heaven' (244). However, no Eastern tradition gives a concrete validity to the existence of heaven and hell, and they are just some fl avours in the religious stories and anecdotes, of which Puranas form a major part. Heaven, hell, fate, and fatalism are pronouncedly Semitic concepts. Had the author presented a balanced view, this book had the potential to become a remarkable work. PB Humour and Religion: Challenges and Ambiguities Edited by Hans Geybels and Walter Van Herck Bloomsbury Academic. 2012. xii + 272 pp. £ 28.99. pb. isbn 9781441139245. eligion has many a times been perceived as a sombre aff air. Many traditions advocate donning a serious face during religious observances. What is the relation between humour and religion? Th is book makes an attempt to answer this question through a careful study of various religious traditions like Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and even some religious literature and plays. Th is anthology is divided into two parts: religious laughter and laughing at religion. Caricature of religion through cartoons and the consequent politics is also examined through an analysis of Greek history. Th at guilelessness and simplicity are core spiritual values and spirituality has a close connection with humour is well established through this work. PB Sir John Woodroff e, Tantra and Bengal: An Indian Soul in a European Body? Kathleen Taylor Routledge, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN. Website: www.routledge.com. 2013. xvi + 319 pp. $ 54.95. pb. isbn 9780415749367. antra is probably the most misunderstood spiritual discipline in the world. Th e principal reason for this is that the source texts are mostly inaccessible and the channelising of basic human desires almost always gives way to taking licence in the name of some spiritual or religious practice. Th is sublime spiritual discipline would have T 295PB March 2015 Reviews 53 remained shrouded in mystery but for the pioneering work of Sir John Woodroff e aka Arthur Avalon, who gave us clear English translations of many Tantric texts. He spent a lifetime in the systematic presentation and exposition of the basic tenets of Tantra, in a time when India, the birthplace of this discipline, was still a slave nation, considered by the West as a land of magic tricks and savage customs. Sir John Woodroff e was a judge in the High Court of Calcutta. Th ough belonging to the ruling race, he imbibed the Indian ethos, which led M P Pandit to call him 'truly an Indian Soul in a European body' (vi). He learnt various Sanskrit texts, including those of Tantra, under the tutelage of his friend, Atal Bihari Ghose. Th e result of the doctoral work of the author, this volume refl ects well her painstaking eff orts of the investigative trail into the life of Sir John Woodroff e. Th is book gives a concise yet overall view of the large and multifarious canvas of the personality that Woodroff e was. Including rare photographs, facsimiles of letters and notes, an elaborate bibliography and index, this book fi lls a void by fulfi lling the long-felt need of a good biography of a soul, who preferred to remain anonymous and speak to the world only through this writings under his pen name, Arthur Avalon. PB Sites of Asian Interaction: Ideas, Networks and Mobility Edited by Tim Harper and Sunil Amrith Cambridge University Press, Cambridge House, 4381/4 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002. Website: www.cambridge.org. 2014. viii + 254 pp. ` 795. hb. isbn 9781107082083. ransnational encounters are a daily occurrence today. Th is book explores diff erent inter-Asian interactions and tries to situate them as various paths of communication of ideas and ethos across Asia and studies 'how they are reshaped by myriad encounters along the way' (vii). A collection of essays originally published in a special issue of Modern Asia Studies in March 2012, this volume comprises the interactions of various cultures including Singapore, Ladakh, Penang, and Istanbul. It also traces interactions over the sea and between various religious spaces. Businesses or inter-Asian joint-ventures are also included. Edited by professors of history, this book is a welcome addition to the scarce literature on transnational interactions within Asia. PB Tragic Views of the Human Condition Lourens Minnema Bloomsbury Academic. 2013. xii + 572 pp. £ 227.99. hb. isbn 9781441194244. his is an extraordinary work of comparative literature studying the depiction of human tragedies from the Eastern and Western perspectives. Th e author takes the Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita as samples of the Eastern stand on tragedy and compares it with the Greek and Shakespearean literature. Th is in-depth analysis shows that the very meaning of the word 'tragedy' changes considerably between these cultures. Th e narrative, artistic, communicative, social, political, literary, cultural, martial, psychological, ethical, and religious aspects of tragedy are dealt with. Th e thoroughness of the work is simply amazing and invites the reader to look at tragedy from an informed perspective. Th is book is a handy reference for all students of comparative literature. PB Truth Alexis G Burgess and John P Burgess Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, usa. Website: www.press. princeton.edu. 2011. xiv + 158 pp. $ 19.95. pb. isbn 9780691163673. ruth and its various connotations have always intrigued us. Professors of philosophy, the authors have done a succinct and critical analysis of some theories of truth: defl ationism, indeterminacy, insolubility, realism, and antirealism. T T