Allama Prabhu and the Shaiva Imagination

“When D. R. Nagaraj died in 1998 at the age of forty-four, India—and the world—lost a thinker of extraordinary originality, insight, and subtlety. D. R. recognized as deeply as Walter Benjamin that ‘there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism,’ and he had a way of bringing his readers into the heart of both—from the depths of caste violence to the heights of poetry and philosophy. That an English readership at last has access to his major work on Allama Prabhu, the most important and most enigmatic of Virashaiva masters, is a precious gift, for which we are deeply indebted to N. S. Gundur. His edition-translation is not just an homage, however, but is itself a remarkable contribution to literary and historical scholarship.” — Sheldon Pollock, author of The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

D. R. Nagaraj taught in the Kannada Department of Bangalore University and was Visiting Professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

N. S. Gundur is Professor of English at Tumkur University, India.