{"title":"Alain Daniélou","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the profound scholarship of \u003cstrong\u003eAlain Daniélou\u003c\/strong\u003e (1907–1994) — French musicologist, Indologist, and author whose life's work illuminated the sacred traditions of India. A devoted student of Hindu philosophy, Shaivism, and classical Indian music, his landmark works include \u003cem\u003eThe Myths and Gods of India\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eShiva and Dionysus\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eMusic and the Power of Sound\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-complete-kama-sutra","title":"The Complete Kama Sutra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Complete Kama Sutra by Alain Danilou is a compelling and essential read that has captivated audiences worldwide with its depth, originality, and enduring relevance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46038002761785,"sku":"9780892816804","price":675.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/917sxVSAGQL._SL1500_0cd08036-5dd9-4b00-84b3-e46e0d0471bb.jpg?v=1782822187"},{"product_id":"shiva-primordial-tradition","title":"Shiva and the primordial tradition: from the tantras to the science of dreams","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn extensive examination of the underpinnings of the Shaivite Tradition • Reveals the influence of Shaivism on the Western world • Discusses Shaivism’s understanding of sacred sexuality • Presents the connections between Vedic poetry and metaphysics In Shiva and the Primordial Tradition, Alain Daniélou explores the relationship between Shaivism and the Western world. Shaivite philosophy does not oppose theology, cosmology, and science because it recognizes that their common aim is to seek to understand and explain the nature of the world. In the Western world, the idea of bridging the divide between science and religion is just beginning to touch the edges of mainstream thought.This rare collection of the late author’s writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the many facets of the Samkhya, the cosmologic doctrines of the Shaivite tradition. Daniélou provides important revelations on subjects such as the science of dreams, the role of poetry and sexuality in the sacred, the personality of the great Shankara, and the Shaivite influence on the Scythians and the Parthians (and by extension, the Hellenic world in general). Providing a convincing argument in favor of the polytheistic approach, he explains that monotheism is merely the deification of individualism--the separation of humanity from nature--and that by acknowledging the sacred in everything, we can recognize the imprint of the primordial tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040207786041,"sku":"9781594771415","price":539.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/91IblbirFrL._SL1500.jpg?v=1782840828"},{"product_id":"virtuesuccesspleasure-liberation","title":"Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation: The Four Aims of Life in the Tradition of Ancient India","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat is the Nature of the social order that unquestionably produced one of the greatest and longest lasting civilizations known to humankind? Alain Daniélou, distinguished Orientalist, musicologist, and linguist, reveals the foundations of India's culture and the four aims of human life as they are viewed in the traditional Hindu society: virtue on a moral plane; success on the material and social planes; pleasure on a sensual plane; and liberation on a spiritual plane. Coexistent with these aims are the four stages of life: quest for knowledge, family life, retreat into the forest, and renunciation. A four-fold division can be found in all traditional societies throughout the world, symbolically representing the progression of creative consciousness into physical reality. In India, this division is reflected in the caste system, a social order that differs profoundly from those accepted in the contemporary Western world. Exploring he fundamental concepts of the caste system, the author addresses issues of race, individual rights, sexual mores, martial practices, and spiritual attainments. In this light, he exposes the inherent flaws and hypocrisies of our modern egalitarian governments and shows how the shadow side of the ancient caste system persists, disguised and unacknowledged, beneath contemporary economic regimes. Daniélou explains how Hindu society has served as a model for the realization of human potential on many levels, addressing sociological and human problems that are both timeless and universal.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040222695481,"sku":"9780892812189","price":539.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/71ZbqElRJiL._SL1500.jpg?v=1782841032"},{"product_id":"while-the-gods-play","title":"While the Gods Play: Shaiva Oracles and Predictions on the Cycles of History and the Destiny of Mankind","description":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to the early writings of the Shaiva tradition--still alive in India and dating back at least 6,000 years--the arbitrary ideologies and moralistic religions of modern society signal the last days of humanity heading toward destruction. This prediction is only a fragment of the vast knowledge of Shaiva wisdom, author Alain Danielou as assimilated and reviewed essential concepts of the Shaiva philosophy and its predictions. Clearly expressed in the ancient teachings, these concepts are in accord with, yet surpass, the boldest scientific speculations about consciousness, time, the nature of life and matter, and the history and destiny of the human race. Inherent in this body of knowledge is an understanding of the cycles of creation and destruction which, in conjunction with astronomical phases, determine the life span of the species. Since 1939, humankind has been in the twilight of the Kali Yuga age, or at the end of a cycle. The impending cataclysm, Danielou explains, is brought on by our own errors, and its date will be determined by our present and future actions. While the Gods Play examines how the visionaries of ancient times defined our rose in creation. It explains why and how we have abandoned this role, and reflects on what action can be taken to consciously and creatively influence our own destiny. Included are chapters on The Religion of Nature and The Religion of the City, The Transmigrant Body, Sexual Rites, the Castes, Sacrifice, Magical Powers, Monastic Orders, and Forestalling the Final Day.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040271716409,"sku":"9780892811151","price":899.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/71h6dq7I51L._SL1500_c30543fc-afde-47b3-a261-8968070511e5.jpg?v=1782842008"},{"product_id":"music-and-the-power-of-sound","title":"Cosmic music: musical keys to the interpretation of reality : essays","description":"\u003cp\u003eMusic has always been esteemed for its power to speak directly to our higher consciousness, a power founded in the purity of simple harmonic ratios. In this book, Alain Danielou traces the development of musical scales and tuning from their origins in both China and India, through their merging in ancient Greece, and on to the development of the Western traditions of modal and polyphonic music. Understanding these potent harmonic relationships offers a way for today's musicians to transcend the limitations of overly rationalistic music by drawing on its metaphysical roots.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040273846329,"sku":"9780892813360","price":608.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/81k43MrPqWL._SL1500_a7d874b0-ec2a-4e77-a45f-18520e3d22f7.jpg?v=1782842031"},{"product_id":"phallus","title":"The phallus: sacred symbol of the male creative power","description":"\u003cp\u003eBeginning with an overview of the symbolism of creative forces in general, The Phallus first examines the representation of male fertility in such forms as the menhirs or standing stones of prehistoric Europe; the Mahalinga and Svayambhu of India; and the ancient Greek Omphalos. The second part of the book surveys the presence of ithyphallic gods in archaic shamanistic religions (the Lord of the Animals), the Greek pantheon (Hermes, Priapus), and the Hindu deities (Ardhanarishvara, the androgyne). Danielou also explores the role of Shaivist and Dionysian initiatory rites in bringing men into communion with the creative forces of life. Illustrated throughout with photographs and line drawings of European and Indian art, The Phallus celebrates the expression of the masculine in the religious traditions of East and West. Phallic imagery, in one form or another, may be found in the artistic traditions of virtually every world culture since prehistoric times. Alain Danielou here unveils the religious impulse underlying art that at first glance seems to have no purpose beyond the erotic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040276533305,"sku":"9780892815562","price":608.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/71bEcklS1iL._SL1500.jpg?v=1782842050"},{"product_id":"india-a-civilization-of-difference","title":"India, a civilization of differences: the ancient tradition of universal tolerance","description":"\u003cp\u003eA collection of Daniélou's writings that builds a bold and cogent defense of India's caste system• Looks at the Hindu caste system not as racist inequality but as a natural ordering of diversity• Reveals the stereotypes of Indian society invented to justify colonialism• Includes never-before-published articles by the internationally recognized Hindu scholar and translator of The Complete Kama Sutra (200,000 copies sold)In classical India social ethics are based on each individual's functional role in society. These ethics vary according to caste in order to maximize the individual's effectiveness in the social context. This is the definition of caste ethics. The Indian caste system is not a hierarchy with some who are privileged and others who are despised; it is a natural ordering, an organizing principle, of a society wherein differences are embraced rather than ignored. In the caste system it is up to the individual to achieve perfection in the state to which he or she is born, since to a certain extent that state also forms part of a person's nature. All people must accomplish their individual spiritual destinies while, as members of a social group, ensuring the continuity of the group and collaborating in creating a favorable framework for all human life--thereby fulfilling the collective destiny of the group. The notion of transmigration provides an equalizing effect on this prescribed system in that today's prince may be reborn as a woodcutter and the Brahman as a shoemaker.In India: A Civilization of Differences, Daniélou explores this seldom-heard side of the caste debate and argues effectively in its favor. This rare collection of the late author's writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the structure of Indian society before and after Western colonialism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46040670634041,"sku":"9781594770487","price":539.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/91gtXKcHD8L._SL1500_cc209636-2f40-45b4-b4f6-f871a5e145c5.jpg?v=1782845918"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/collections\/image_6f77405b-739e-4d55-bbd3-57f3766edb82.png?v=1782711448","url":"https:\/\/duskysshrine.com\/collections\/alain-danielou.oembed","provider":"Dusky's Shrine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}