Author Description

"Written by a schoolteacher of Sanskrit, it shows living facets of the ancient Brahminical tradition - its spread over long time periods, its forms and transformations, its implications for the Indian subcontinent. A philosophical critique of tradition, "The Last Brahmin" is also the story of the difficulty of finding alternatives to the tradition today. The Brahmin at he centre of this tale faces difficult and even adversarial conditions for the sake of learning, scholarship, and the rigours of pedagogical bonding. His sons, whom he considers apostates, represent to him the pain of discontinuity of the tradition in which he believes. Their disinheritance throws up interesting questions: What is an inheritance? Who inherits tradition? How may one inherit a tradition? What are the conditions and consequences of such inheritance? This book becomes the poignant articulation of a Brahmin and anti-Brahmin view of such questions. Its critical unravelling of the Sanskrit tradition sets "The Last Brahmin" apart from the disciplinary frames of Indology on the one hand, and partisanal Hindu ideologies on the other. While opposing Orientalist knowledge of India, the Brahmin protagonist also distances himself from modern forms of Hinduism." (from the back cover)