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Vol XXII, 1998
BRIEF NOTICES
265
final position as a Lt Col in the Indian Army The varied aspects of the author's personality as a spiritual seeker after secrets of human life have been amply revealed in these letters He has authored a remarkably famous book, entitled Coscon which is abbreviated form of Cosmic Consciousness, and is translated into Gujaratı with the title Vaisvika Cetană by the author himself
NMK.
BHĀDARA-NĀ TĀRĀ (Guj) by Lt Col C C Bakshi Pravin Pustak Bhandar, Rajkot, 1998, pp 171, Rs 80/This book is a novel-like poetic narration of the sweet reminiscences of the author right from his primary school days upto the end of his service as a high-ranking military officer It is divided into five sections, carrying the headings . (1) Bhādara-nā Tārā (The Stars of the Bhādar river); (2) Kāyā kalpa (The Rejuvenation of the body), (3) Case Cāse Moti (Pearls in each of the farming squares), (4) Apaņum Camatkārika Mana (Our wonderful mind), (5) Anurnām Akho Vada Samkelyo (The whole of the bunyan tree has been compressed into an atom), and (6) Prakirnaka (Miscellaneous). The headings of these sections are by themselves remarkable and highly significant, and the book carries its title from that of the first section One is astonished to find here a hardcore military office with a soft heart ascending to the height of poetic sentiments in the last section he has given a piece of his wnting called Katāva in which he has narrated in alliterative prose a simple incident, but what is important is not the incident, nor its meaning, but rather the prose itself which is to be read aloud and is thus quite enjoyable We may have a specimen of a line or two here : "Rāna-mām, kāna-mām motã phūlagotā khosine gāna-mām gulatāna evā be miam sultāna-nā mokalyā mulatāna-thi avatā hata Te be mitra, citra-victra caritra karata, vändarāthī daratā, to pana hemmata-ne dharatā, vividha prakāra-nă äkāra-ni väto karatä.." NMK GATHA-MANJARI (Guj) by Harivallabh Bhayani, Parshwa International Foundation for Research and Education, Ahmedabad, 1997, pp 56, Rs 60/-. This is a collection of a hundred poetic pearls from the celebrated Prakrit Gähākosa alias the Gathā-saptašati of the celebrated Prakrit poet Häla Each of the poetic pieces presented here in the form of the original verse in printed in the Gujarati script, followed by its free Gujarati translation by the editor.
