Reviews for African Religion

The average rating for African Religion based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-03 00:00:00 John Croston This play is a hilarious portrayal of an adherent of one Vedic sect debating, discrediting, and in some instances forcing other orders to flee the kingdom of Shankaravarman. Wiki informs that this king belonged to Utpala dynasty which ruled Kashmir from 855 CE–1003 CE. The introduction to this 'Clay Edition' mentions that other than this play where he is portrayed in kind light, Shankaravarman was not known to be a generous donor to "scholars" and taxed and deprived the many splendid temples of his realm. Given this tight fiscal control it makes sense why the main character of the play, a follower of Mimasa school, is so keen to battle all who undermine the Vedic order. By the penultimate act he has already won favors with the court and is married to a high caste lady and battered Buddhists and Jains with his "reasoning" and chased the Nilambaras and some freaky worshipers in a Saiva cult out of the realm. We are then introduced to a Charvaka materialist, who finds fault in all the orthodox arguments. Of all characters in the play he is the most sound. Two different schools of orthodoxy gang up on him and are shown to claim victory by such ill syllogisms that would have been laughed at in Athens more than a millennium before this play but are deemed valid in the Vedic scheme. I could not fathom why Csaba Dezső translated Kali Yuga as the "Iron Age". The term is fairly well known in the west as one for eschaton. Also since when is Nil, black and not blue, which makes one suspect if the order of black-blankets is really a sensible choice.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-14 00:00:00 Jose Torres The argumentation can be difficult to follow at times, yet interesting points are made! The climax of the play could be seen as either very profound or anti-climatic... Overall, quite entertaining especially when read with a partner!