Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
This study proposes that there exists a deeper structural affinity between performance practice and philosophical inquiry than is commonly acknowledged. Grounded in the foundational insights of Piyal Bhattacharya on the metaphysics of embodiment in the Nāṭyaśāstra, this paper builds upon his framework by drawing upon philosophical systems such as Ashtanga Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism. More specifically, it argues that the process of nṛtta may be understood as analogous to the yogic or tantric progression toward states such as Samprajñāta samādhi. Within this mapping, sthāna (along with sthiti) corresponds to dhāraṇā (focused concentration), karaṇa to dhyāna (meditative absorption), and aṅgahāra to samādhi (complete integration). In this context, the paper further argues that the performer employs sthānas as an initial step toward depersonalization—shifting from individual identity toward a structured, archetypal presence. This transformation is not merely aesthetic but contemplative, requiring both technical precision and a deeply internalized state of awareness. Through this lens, Abhinavagupta’s engagement with the Nāṭyaśāstra can be seen as something that recognizes performance as a valid and potent pathway toward higher states of consciousness.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S03
14 Downloads
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Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
This review essay examines Nalini Bhushan and Jay L. Garfield's new translation of Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya's Subject as Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2026), a text long regarded as philosophically significant yet notoriously difficult. It argues that the edition exceeds ordinary translation practice, functioning at once as translation, commentary, and interpretive intervention, and proposes that Bhushan and Garfield are best understood as contemporary bhāṣyakāras: active philosophical participants rather than neutral transmitters. The review discusses the editors' lexical choices, such as rendering "object" as "intentional object," and their extensive introduction, which situates the text within Bhattacharyya's engagement with Advaita Vedānta through the "bookend" works of 1925 and 1936. While affirming the sophistication of this Advaitic reading, the review questions whether it constrains the text's methodological independence, given Bhattacharyya's phenomenological idiom and his departures from traditional Advaitic vocabulary. It concludes that the edition's parallel text presentation and editorial apparatus make it the standard English entry point into Bhattacharyya's thought, restoring him to philosophical discussion beyond his usual classification as an Advaita representative alone.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S09
19 Downloads
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Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s immortal creation Byomkesh Bakshi stands apart from other conventional detective characters both in terms of benevolent understanding and humanitarian approach. His main objective is not merely to catch the culprit and bring him to justice, but to solve the crime and reach the crux of truth – famously identifying himself as ‘satyanweshi’ or the ‘truth seeker’. Whereas other detective characters complete their cases with a successful investigation of the crime, Byomkesh as an ‘inquisitor’ goes beyond the limited understanding of crime and punishment. His perception of truth is not confined within the finite scope of justice – either with the recovery of stolen goods or exposing the culprit; but the circumstances in which the crime has been committed. This paper is a modest attempt to critically analyse select stories of Byomkesh series, where the deductive reasoning of sleuth becomes secondary to the didactic teachings he imparts on the characters as well as readers. Byomkesh advocates exceptional methods and often takes unorthodox decisions which set him apart from the stereotype of Western detective models. His realisation of truth is as well the journey of readers from ignorance to experience. This paper also interrogates whether the ‘truth seeker’ aspect of his persona overshadows his capability as a criminal investigator.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S08
18 Downloads
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Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
This paper explores the theme of female autonomy extensively with special reference to demanding female authority, rights, and freedom through the ‘occult’ form. The study involves a literary analysis of two popular Bollywood films Stree (2018) and Bulbbul (2020) and their larger-than-life portrayals of female autonomy in the occult form. Also, the paper tries to analyze how males become ‘the secondary sex’ in a patriarchal society while women are considered the dominant. This paper highlights females’ retreat over the male dominated society. Also, a subtle critique of the imposition of the mumpsimus ways of the society upon women, is presented in the paper. The binary between the male order and female subjugation has been completely overturned in these films. Though represented in occult forms, the female protagonists in these films symbolize every woman from every sphere and enforces the idea that men become recreants when facing any challenge or when restricted from enjoying freedom and power. Moreover, through feminist theories and readings, the study includes the theoretical analysis of women’s emancipation within the surroundings of Stree and Bulbul. Through the lens of feminism, the study provides an explorative area of how these films highlight the subverted gender dynamics. The paper also presents female empowerment challenging the long-standing patriarchal traditions and the societal expectations to accept the autonomy of women in occult practices.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S07
16 Downloads
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Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
This research paper analyses how recent Indian graphic novels re-envision the Ramayana, not only as mythology but also as an empowering graphic-textual means of grappling with contemporary issues that concern identity, power, gender, and ethics. Using a critical reading of Vikram Balagopal’s Simian (2014) and Samhita Arni & Moyna Chitrakar’s Sita’s Ramayana (2011), the research explores how the interplay of visual composition, page layout, artistic choices, and narrative voice in both problematizes and reimagines traditional notions of dharma, heroism, and divinity. This research paper also explores how these graphic novels, evaluated through a multidisciplinary framework of graphic narrative theory, comparative mythology, and cultural studies, subvert hegemonic portrayals of Rama and recentre marginalized voices like Sita. These visual reinterpretations are not just retellings; rather, they are also acts of cultural intervention, questioning who is allowed to interpret the epic and for what purpose. By moving the visual perspective and narrative voice, they present readers with a morally nuanced and aesthetically rich encounter, prompting questions about what it means to reinterpret sacred tradition in a rapidly changing world.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S06
20 Downloads
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Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
This paper focuses on Niṣkāma karma or desireless action in the light of Śrīmadbhagavadgītā. Gītā, despite being a holy book, is an ethical handbook as well. So Niṣkāma karma or desireless action truly brings out the essence of the Gītā and revolves around the notion of desire and human agency in action. The paper first introduces what desireless action is and how it becomes a central question in the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā. The problem lies in the very core of the concept of desirelessness in action, which is surprisingly the slogan of Anāsakta karma or Niṣkāma karma. The paper gradually progresses towards bringing a solution to the apparent contradiction that follows if ‘desireless action’ is considered in the literal sense of the term. Why Niṣkāma karma becomes the point of question is due to the very word ‘niskama’, which seems to be in an apparent contradiction with the word ‘karma’ or action. It is either Niṣkāma karma is possible, or it is not. But following Gītā, Niṣkāma karma is possible and becomes an ethical dictum mostly throughout all the chapters. To support the idea that desireless action is possible, I will provide three accounts of non-literal senses of the term Niṣkāma karma and will try to provide which of these three accounts gives the most plausible explanation. All the interpretations mentioned require explanations separately, and at the conclusion, I will provide my stand towards which interpretation is the most plausible one.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S05
23 Downloads
123 Views
Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
Historically, Bengali literature has been acclaimed for its richness of fiction as well as poetry. However, not many Bengali authors have been found to be experimenting with the narrative forms. As far as themes and content of fiction were concerned the Bengali authors abundantly experimented; however, the same cannot be said in terms of the narrative style. For example, a widely accepted style like the magic realism was quite underexplored in the oeuvre of Bengali literature. Even when it is employed, as we can see in the works of Nabarun Bhattacharya, it seldom complicates the story-telling by bringing together historiography and magic realism. Rabisankar Bal precisely does that in his work, the Dozakhnama or Conversations in Hell (2010). Bal dexterously handles two different characters, namely Ghalib and Manto, belonging to two separate time periods, and retells the stories of immense historical significance. His narration provides a unique lens to look at the non-linearity of time and synthesizes discrete historical events of India that happened ninety years apart, namely in 1857 and 1947. This paper analyses some salient features of magic realism and shows how Rabisankar Bal appropriates them in his novel Dozakhnama, and in the process, creates a unique work that seldom finds any parallel in the literary realm of Bengali Literature.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S04
12 Downloads
121 Views
Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
Ecolinguistics, a relatively new sub-discipline of linguistics, is mainly based on the Sapir-Whorfian ideology of linguistic determinism which claims that the way we use language shapes our interactions with the environment. It is the study of “the life-sustaining relationships of humans with other humans, other organisms and the physical environment, with a normative orientation towards protecting the systems that humans and other forms of life depend on for their well-being and survival” (Alexander and Stibbe 105). The relations of humans with other species and the physical environment are of great importance, since the continuation of all life depends on these ecological relationships. T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) is a frantic sincere expression of an agonized poetic soul to find out the means of getting rid of the mechanized stony cruelty-ridden modern life. The poem begins with a shocking sentential expression ‘April is the cruelest month breeding,’ but ends with the three-time asyndetic repetition of noun ‘shantih’ which a human being desires most. The present paper is a preliminary attempt to analyze and explore the poem from the perspective of ecolinguistics and to exhibit how poetic expression takes turns in depicting the integral relationship between all the constituents of environment affected by the ‘cruelest’ materialism and repaired by the peace-giving spiritualism.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S02
29 Downloads
286 Views
Open Access
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2026)
Śrī Caitanya Deva, revered in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition as the combined manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Rādhā, is widely recognized for his philosophical contributions and devotional movement. This article highlights a less-explored dimension of his genius–his profound mastery of Sāhitya Śāstra (literary theory and poetics)–through a critical examination of his scholarly encounter with the Kashmirian digvijayī scholar Keśava Bhaṭṭa, as detailed in Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta and Caitanya Bhāgavata. During their meeting on the banks of the Gaṅgā, Keśava Bhaṭṭa, renowned for his extemporaneous composition (ghaṭikāśataka), composed one hundred verses glorifying the Gaṅgā. Caitanya selected one verse in the Śikharinī metre and subjected it to a masterful critique based on the principles of Alaṅkāraśāstra. He identified five poetic defects (pañcadoṣa)–two instances of avimṛṣṭavidheyāṃśa, viruddhamatikṛt, bhagnakrama, and punarātta–and five literary ornaments (pañcālaṅkāra): anuprāsa (alliteration), punaruktavadābhāsa, upamā (simile), virodhābhāsa (semblance of contradiction), and anumāna (inference). The article provides detailed definitions and textual analysis of each doṣa and alaṅkāra, drawing from authoritative texts like Sāhityadarpaṇa and Alaṅkārakaustubha. It demonstrates how Caitanya’s analysis reveals both the aesthetic strengths and compositional flaws of the verse, underscoring the primacy of doṣa-guṇa vicāra (critical evaluation of defects and merits) in poetic composition. This episode not only affirms Caitanya’s extraordinary erudition in Sanskrit poetics alongside grammar and philosophy but also exemplifies his humility and spiritual magnetism, which ultimately led to Keśava Bhaṭṭa’s surrender. The study thus illuminates Caitanya’s multifaceted brilliance as a consummate connoisseur of Sāhitya Śāstra.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0201S01
24 Downloads
231 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
This essay examines how Japanese folk narratives produce the uncanny not through spectacular supernatural intrusion but through subtle disturbances within domestic life. Drawing on Freud’s concept of the uncanny and Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the study explores how familiar spaces (such as household) become porous environment where boundaries between human, spirit, and object begin to dissolve. Close readings of the Japanese tales of “Yuki-Onna” and “Futakuchi Onna” demonstrate how secrecy, appetite, and bodily transformation destabilize the apparent stability of domestic order. The snow-woman’s silent return as wife reveals how intimacy may conceal alterity, while the hidden mouth of Futakuchi Onna exposes the tensions between bodily need and social expectations of restraint. The analysis extends comparatively to Girish Karnad’s Nāga-Mandala and Abanindranath Tagore’s Khirer Putul, where serpent lovers and edible dolls function as mythic substitutions that articulate otherwise inexpressible domestic anxieties. Japanese traditions of animated dolls (ningyō) further illustrate how objects may serve as vessels of memory and spiritual presence. Across these narratives, the uncanny emerges through symbolic substitutions that transform landscapes, bodies, animals, and objects into alternative forms of life. The article argues that folklore imagines domestic space as fundamentally relational, where human identity remains permeable to nonhuman forces.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W05
24 Downloads
490 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
This review essay examines Chatuh Shloki Manusmriti: An English Commentary by Nithin Sridhar, situating the work within the broader intellectual framework of the Indian śāstric tradition. The study analyses the author’s decision to interpret the philosophical architecture of the Manusaṃhitā through the first four verses of the opening chapter, read in light of the classical hermeneutic structure of anubandha catuṣṭaya. By foregrounding questions of adhikārī (qualified reader), prayojana (purpose), and viṣaya (subject matter), the essay argues that Sridhar’s work attempts to reintroduce contemporary readers—particularly those outside traditional modes of learning—to the conceptual world of Dharmaśāstra. The review further examines the methodological implications of employing the bhāṣya tradition as a modern interpretive tool and reflects on the distinction between śruti and smṛti, authorship, and authority within the Indian knowledge system. While acknowledging the book’s pedagogical strengths and its contribution to renewed discussions on the Manusmṛti, the essay also highlights certain translation and interpretive issues, suggesting that the text is best understood within the framework of śāstra pramāṇa rather than as an independent epistemic authority.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W07
24 Downloads
548 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
This paper examines Krishna Baldev Vaid’s None Other (1992) through the lens of postmodern literary theory, focusing on the themes of suffering, alienation, and existential fragmentation. The novella presents the interior soliloquy of a nameless ageing protagonist whose reflections on pain, memory, and meaninglessness unfold without conventional plot or character development. By analysing the text’s fragmented narrative structure, intertextual references, and philosophical meditations, the study situates the work within the broader framework of postmodern literature. The protagonist’s monologue reflects a crisis of identity and purpose characteristic of postmodern consciousness, where certainty, truth, and stable meaning collapse into ambiguity. Drawing parallels with works such as T. S. Eliot’s Gerontion and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, the essay explores how Vaid employs silence, repetition, and self-reflection to dramatize existential despair and the futility of human striving. Ultimately, the novella emerges as a lyrical yet unsettling meditation on loneliness, memory, and the fractured self, embodying the postmodern condition of uncertainty and the relentless search for meaning in an apparently indifferent universe.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W06
14 Downloads
385 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
Guru–Śiṣya paramparā is a revered tradition of learning through close mentorship. It is a system rooted in the concept of paramparā, representing an unbroken lineage of knowledge passed from guru to śiṣya through oral tradition. Each disciple becomes a custodian of their guru’s teachings and is entrusted with the responsibility of preserving, practising, and sharing the art form with future generations, ensuring its sustained evolution. This tradition reached its zenith after the enduring impact of the Trinity—Śrī Śyāmā Śāstri, Śrī Tyāgarāja, and Śrī Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar—a heritage that inspired generations of composers to carry forward their legacy and enrich the field of Karnatic music.
In order to acquire subtle knowledge and reach transcendental realms, it is a prerequisite to find a bona fide guru to ensure qualitative transmission of proficiency. At the same time, it is a coveted desire of every guru to look for the right disciple with whom they can share their knowledge and later impart advanced learning to sincere disciples. Vālājapēṭ Veṅkaṭaramaṇa Bhagavatar was one such devoted chief disciple of Saint Tyāgarāja.
The current case study deals with the profound compositions of Vālājapēṭ Veṅkaṭaramaṇa Bhagavatar, the foremost disciple of Śrī Tyāgarāja. The article explores the melodic, thematic, and structural features of select compositions by Veṅkaṭaramaṇa Bhagavatar, highlighting his distinctive style and lasting contribution to the Karnatic music tradition.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W04
19 Downloads
392 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
This paper examines Pranab Kumar Sen's distinctive and comparatively lesser-known analysis of the concept of ideology, as articulated in his 1992 seminar paper "Philosophy, Science and Ideology," later included in Knowledge, Truth and Realism. While Sen is widely recognized for his contributions to debates on truth, meaning, logic, and the realism-anti-realism controversy, his reflections on ideology reveal a striking moment of intellectual courage. Against the prevailing and often populist invocations of ideology, Sen undertakes a conceptual inquiry into its very meaning. The paper focuses on one central issue Sen treats with seriousness: the relation between philosophy, science, and ideology. By identifying certain defining characteristics of ideology, such as dogmatism, closure to criticism, and resistance to self-correction, Sen argues that ideology is fundamentally incompatible with philosophy and science, both of which are essentially self-critical and epistemically open enterprises. This study reconstructs Sen's analysis of ideology without engaging the broader political-philosophical literature on the subject, as its primary concern is his conceptual framework. In doing so, it also offers a critical reflection on Sen's position, assessing its implications for understanding the normative role of philosophy in society.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W03
16 Downloads
357 Views
Open Access
Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
This critical essay examines the metaphysical foundations of embodiment in Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra, arguing that the sthānas, cārīs, and karaṇas are not merely physical movements but psychophysical embodiments of cosmic tattvas. Drawing on parallels between the cosmological unfolding described in Taittirīya Upaniṣad and the theatrical universe of nāṭya, this study demonstrates how Bharata systematically creates an 'extra-daily' performance dimension through consecrated space, non-empirical time (tāla), and embodied gravitational presence. The essay explores how expansion of space through sthānas manifests specific energies (rūpa and guṇa), how cārīs dynamically explore floor and aerial space, and how karaṇas serve as epistemological tools for acquiring embodied knowledge. Central to this analysis is the concept of Kaiśikī vṛtti, which transforms daily actions into extra-daily artistic expressions capable of generating alaukika rasa experience. This metaphysical framework reveals Bharata's system as a parallel universe creation on stage, where psychophysical embodiments serve the ultimate purpose of delivering dharmic teachings while elevating both performers and spectators beyond mundane emotional experiences.
DOI: 10.63752/pijcace.0102W01
29 Downloads
415 Views
