Dr.M.Mazumdar

1. Charles Baudelaire was born in 1821 almost more than 200 years back. He died at the age of 46. He lived a bohemian life. He also took drugs and alcohol. He also wrote essays and translated apart from writing poetry. He had close connection with the then literary elite like Edgar Alan Poe. His single most poetry volume was fluer de mal (flowers of evil). Baudelaire is a very descriptive, graphic, and painting poet unlike the original very traditional French which were written in fancy calligraphy. He didn't shy away from disturbing subject matters as if his objective is to upset the readers. He had no problem with profanity. His aim was different with another set od particular aesthetic purpose in mind. His target is the educated middle class professionals, people who don't work manually as per European class definitions of the 19th century which is called the bouergeose class who are based on utilitarianism who are of usefulness. They are the ones who produces things but wit...

Bhavabhuti Bhavabhūti was born as Śrīkaṇṭha Nīlakaṇṭha and lived in between 680-c. 750 – c. 760 CE. He was born in Padmapura, Aamgaon, at Gondia district,in Maharashtra. He received his education at 'Padmapawaya', a place some 42 km South-West of Gwalior. Dayananidhi Paramahansa is said to be his guru.He is believed to have been the court poet of king Yashovarman of Kannauj. He was a classical Sanskrit scholar, poet, and playwright of eighth-century India. He is considered a key successor to Kalidasa and is often regarded as matching his literary stature. His best known work Uttararamacharita (translated as The Later Deeds of Rama), earned him, the title "Poet of the Karunā Rasa". Apart from these, Bhavabhuti is best known as the author of two plays: Mahaviracharita (“Exploits of the Great Hero”) and Malatimadhava (“Malati and Madhava”). Bhavabhuti’s mix of intellectual treatment and ornate diction was a departure from the use of simple spoken Sanskrit established in ...

The Golden Plate" is a Jataka tale contrasting two merchants: one greedy and dishonest, the other honest. When a poor girl offers a black, sooty bowl for trade, the greedy merchant scorns it, but realizes it's gold and tries to cheat her. The honest merchant recognizes its value, pays fair price, and the greedy one dies in rage. In length the story runs like this: Once upon a time, there lived a merchant of Seri, who sold brass and tin ware. He used to go from place to place, in order to sell his products. He was usually accompanied by another merchant, who also sold brass and tin ware. The second merchant was greedy. He wanted every thing for free and if he bought something, he paid as little as possible. One day, when they went to a town, they divided the streets between them so that none of them interferes in each other’s marketing. Both of them moved through the streets they had chosen and called, “Tin ware for sale. Brass for sale”. People came out of their homes and trad...

1.  2. What does the lighthouse symbolise in the novel "To the Lighthouse?" Marks-2. 2024. Ans: In "To the Lighthouse" (1927), the lighthouse functions as a complex, multivalent symbol. Throughout the novel, reaching the lighthouse represents the quest for meaning, understanding, and completion. In Part I ("The Window"), the planned trip is postponed, reflecting life's uncertainties and disappointments. In Part III ("The Lighthouse"), when the journey finally occurs after Mrs. Ramsay's death, it represents both achievement and anticlimax—the lighthouse, once reached, is just an ordinary structure, suggesting the gap between aspiration and reality. The lighthouse symbolizes how truth and meaning remain perpetually elusive, changing with perspective and time. While it touches on other themes, its primary symbolic function relates to the philosophical quest for meaning. 2. Discuss the novel "To the Lighthouse" as a stream of consci...

Here are key Jataka tales highlighting perseverance: Vannupatha Jataka (The Sandy Road): A caravan gets lost, loses hope, and gives up, losing everything. The wise leader, however, realizes that giving up is the real failure. He instructs his men to dig, leading them to find water just before they die of thirst. Prince Mahajanaka (Act of Vigour): After a shipwreck, Prince Mahajanaka swims in the open ocean for seven days, never giving up. When a goddess asks why he continues, he replies that even if there is no immediate hope, a person of strength must persevere to fulfill their duty, leading to his eventual rescue. The Mosquito and the Carpenter: Focuses on the folly of incompetent effort, showing that even if one works hard (like a mosquito trying to help), it is worthless without wisdom and proper approach (accidentally hitting a person with a hatchet). Mahānipāta Jātaka (Great Tales): These include several stories, such as Mahajanaka's dedication and Prince Nemi's determina...

The Jataka is part of the canon of sacred Buddhist literature, a collection of some 550 anecdotes and fables which depicts earlier incarnations, sometimes as an animal kr sometimes as a human of the being who would become Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha. Traditional birth and death dates of Gautama are 563-483 BC. The Jataka tales are dated between 300 BC and 400 AD. Jataka may mean births which are extremely popular stories of the former lives of Buddha, preserved in all branches of Buddhism. Some Jataka tales are scattered in various sections of the Pali canon of Buddhist writings, including a group of 35 that were collected for didactic purposes. These 35 constitute the last book, the Cariya Pitaka (“Basket of Conduct”), of the Khuddaka Nikaya (“Short Collection”). Beyond this, a Sinhalese commentary of the 5th century that is questionably attributed to a Buddhist scholar named Buddhagosa and called the Jatakatthavannana, or Jatakatthakatha, gathers together about 550 Jataka s...