Each of the stories in this delightful book touches upon this theme. Together, they portray an entire society, with all its strata and jatis and how each of these, in its own unique way, seeks the same thing—liberation, salvation, transcendence. In fact, what we see is not only a rich and diverse picture of society, but, in a sense, of the cosmos itself, both human and animal, and extending further, the animate and the inanimate—everything seeks the same Truth or emancipation.

5

At the end of such a detailed overview, one might as well ask, ‘What is Raja Rao’s larger philosophical project?’ The answer to such a question is, by no means, simple or singular. But I would propose that Rao’s novels can be read as attempts to validate and mediate Advaita in the contemporary world. Advaita or non-dualism is a particular school of thought that acquired a sort of primacy in Indian philosophical inquiry. Rao’s use of tradition is, certainly, more eclectic. But in all his work, he aligns his protagonist on the side of a kind of non-dualism.

The moot question is whether Advaita can serve a useful function in today’s world. Can it, for instance, solve the very real problems of colonialism and underdevelopment? It is not as if Rao is unaware of these issues. It is obvious that to say that the phenomenal world is an illusion and the Self alone is real—as attributed to Sankara—is not quite sufficient, at least insofar as it is understood as a doctrine that posits illusionism. Advaita has to be applied and reinterpreted in the light of contemporary experience as well as material existence. Its efficacy and its possible superiority has to be logically as well as experientially established. It must be able to overcome problems in the real world, even if we need not go so far as to derive from it some sort of revolutionary praxis. But, surely, Advaita must be amenable to resist violence and oppression rather than promote or prolong it. This also applies to issues such as gender justice and human rights. Can Advaita, in other words, help us solve not just our metaphysical, but our political and social problems?