...David L. Curley Idioms of Improvement: Vidyasagar and Cultural Encounter in Bengal . By Brian A. Hatcher . Calcutta : Oxford University Press , 1996 . xx, 307 pp. $29.95 (cloth). Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1998 1998 568 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES...

...David Kopf Vidyasagar: The Traditional Moderniser . By Amales Tripathi . Bombay : Orient Longman , 1974 . x, 112 pp. Notes, Index. Rs. 8.00 Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1977 1977 BOOK REVIEWS 573 and of the events of his time to the development of "Modernity...

... and of the events of his time to the development of "Modernity of Tradition" and in the introductory his thought cannot be understood from this lim- portions of subsequent chapters on Vidyasagar. ited and fragmented analysis. And some signifi- Most writers have concluded that renaissance was cant issues on which...

... political relationships, BOOK REVIEWS 573 and of the events of his time to the development of "Modernity of Tradition" and in the introductory his thought cannot be understood from this lim- portions of subsequent chapters on Vidyasagar. ited and fragmented analysis. And some signifi- Most writers have...

... REVIEWS SOUTH ASIA 569 discipline and study. Sanskrit yatnah adds to this core an emphasis on "restraint of the senses" in acquiring both self-discipline and moral knowledge. Vidyasagar's Bengali yatna, finally, adds "interior" dimensions of caring and devotion to disciplined, this-worldly effort. Hatcher...

... in terms of its regional spatial range and in the literature and archival sources on which it is based. This is intense, deep scholarship and will stand as a major contribution to the literature for some years to come. WALTER HAUSER University of Virginia Idioms of Improvement: Vidyasagar and Cultural...

... and specific knowledge of each other. Virtually the only effort for social reform well publicized throughout the country had been Vidyasagar's Widow Remarriage movement, which however was never nationally organized and which found local support only when a reformer felt inclined to press for it; the founder...

... of three Buddhist monks (bhiksku) in search of nirvana. But it is the fable of the turtle and the two geese, also available in Aesop's collection, that gives the present story its leitmotif. By comparison to his two younger associates, Vidyasagar is self-composed, quieter, less agitated, and more...

... Chandra Vidyasagar, M. G. Ranade, and Swami Dayananda and particular types of social reform are treated in a scattered and repetitive fashion in Chapter One. The same men and ideas recur in Chapter Eight, although with more detailed attention to some, notably Vidyasagar, Keshab Chandra Sen, Jyotiba Govind...

... Chattopadhyaya of the Vidyasagar College for Women (who with Lama Chimpa translated Tdrandtha's History of Buddhism in India {Simla, 1970]) describes the important events of Atlsa's life, making use of a number of sources already available in translation, including Sarat Candra Das' Indian Pandits in the Land...

... of Ramakrishna. Two comparisons with Nikhilananda's translation can be offered as illustrations. In the first, Ramakrishna is speaking to Pandit Vidyasagar, discussing the limitations of mere intellectuals in pursuing spiritual truth. The account of Nikhilananda is as follows: "Vultures soar very high in the sky...

... at least in historical spread. Robinson begins with writings of the male reformers Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and takes her study through to the impact of the "radical right" Hindu nationalist movement, treating along the way literature addressing such milestones for women as the abolition...

..." and in fact did spend his final Akkhoy Kumar Dutt edited the all-important years living as a devout Hindu, the Mutiny Bengali journal in mid-century, the Tattva- of 1857 reawakened in him a "blatant advo- bodhini Patri\a; Vidyasagar wrote very ele- cacy" of Western superiority. Writes Poddar, gant...

... Bengal's early political position espe- the non-Bengali-reading student's viewpoint) cially seems to be given more weight on the the most valuable contributions in this survey. national level than is deserved. Maharashtra Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar's pioneering certainly played the preeminent political...

... to his influence. Atiia and Tibet (originally published in 1967) is the first full-length study of the life of Atisa to appear in English. Professor Alaka Chattopadhyaya of the Vidyasagar College for Women (who with Lama Chimpa translated Tdrandtha's History of Buddhism in India {Simla, 1970]) describes...

... details from the period abound; in the chapter on housework we learn that Western influence invaded even the kitchen and that women tried to please Western-educated husbands with new dishes such as "Rammohun pulao" and "Vidyasagar barfi" (p. 214). We hear echoes of contemporary fears about the effects...

... to Pandit Vidyasagar, discussing the limitations of mere intellectuals in pursuing spiritual truth. The account of Nikhilananda is as follows: "Vultures soar very high in the sky, but their eyes are fixed on rotten carrion on the ground. The book-learned are reputed to be wise, but they are attached...

.... E. C. Vidyasagar's chapter on rural-rural migration in Karnataka is a study on the micro level, examining in one village the factors involved not only in decisions to migrate for agricultural work but also in decisions not to migrate. By carefully comparing individual households, the author attempts...

... an instrument of social awareness and reform in Bengal and inspired similar efforts elsewhere. Keshav Chandra Sen, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Shashipada Bannerji, and a host of other dedicated men carried forward the work of social reform in Bengal. Elsewhere social reform attracted the devotion of eminent men...

... is deserved. Maharashtra Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar's pioneering certainly played the preeminent political role efforts in the cause of women's emancipation in India in this era. The author's assertion, receive the attention they so properly merit in moreover, that by the 1890's "Indian woman- the chapter...