PB June 2011466 Prabuddha Bharata54 temple	for	pilgrims	is	a	wonder-message	for	the twenty-first	century. Jagmohan had been amidst the scorching flames	of	the	partition	holocaust	and	quite	early in	his	growing-up	years	had	become	cynical	about 'the	state	of	our	religion	and	new	leadership'.	In- stead	of	moaning	that	nothing	can	redeem	this 'benighted' religion	and	country,	he	set	about quietly	pursuing	a	regular	career.	His	sensitivity caught	all	needed	information	about	the	state	of the	country,	and	he	realized	that	India's	Sanatana Dharma	still	held	the	key	to	national	unity.	Not born	to	be	a	mere	figurehead	in	his	profession, he	used	his	office	as	the	governor	of	Jammu	and Kashmir	to	make	the	Vaishno	Devi	temple	a	com- fortable	shrine	for	pilgrims,	a	model	for	right management,	and	a	reverential	place	of	worship. It	was	no	easy	task.	It	never	is	when	you	come face-to-face	with	entrenched	forces	that	reject	any forms	of	development.	Reforming Vaishno Devi provides	a	blueprint	for	the	future,	should	the common	man	be	able	to	have	the	upper	hand	in managing	his	finances,	religion,	and	culture.	Today Vaishno	Devi	is	garbage-free	and	beggar-free.	No more	is	it	shunned	by	tourists,	while	the	pious	pil- grims	who	have	been	coming	here	for	decades	are ecstatic.	With	the	passing	of	the	Sri	Mata	Vaishno Devi	Shrine	Act	1986,	the	temple	came	under	the management	of	a	new	board	that	took	over	from the	Baridars	and	Dharm	Arth.	The	chapter	'Re- sponse,	Reaction	and	Results'	gives	all	that	we	need to	know	about	this	historic	transformation	of	not only	the	temple	but	the	surrounding	countryside. Reforming Vaishno Devi is,	however,	more	than the	problems	of	change,	which	included	legal	bat- tles	and	Dr	Karan	Singh's	gracious	acceptance	of the	new	dispensation.	Thanks	to	Jagmohan's	un- complicated	view	of	religion	and	society	we	learn that	this	is	really	a	boost	for	the	state's	economy through	tourism.	It	helps	the	preservation	of	heri- tage	as	also	brings	back	to	public	memory	great leaders	of	the	region.	In	Vaishno	Devi	we	now	get to	know	about	General	Zorawar	Singh,	Baba	Jitto, and	Veer	Ramachandra.	There	is	also	the	sadden- ing	chapter	on	the	Amarnath	shrine,	where	polit- icians	and	communal	elements	gained	the	upper hand	and	thwarted	attempts	to	make	it	as	safe, comfortable,	and	prosperous	as	Vaishno	Devi. While	each	page	enriches	our	understanding of	religion,	nation,	and	environment,	the	whole of	Section	II	has	plenty	of	educative	notes	on subjects	like	the	Aryan	invasion	theory	and	the existence	of	the	Saraswati	River.	The	realization that	Swami	Vivekananda	would	surely	exult	that his	coming	has	not	been	in	vain	comes	upon	us as	we	read:	'A	reformed	Hindu,	in	brief,	would turn	out	to	be	a	worthy	son	of	a	reinvigorated and	healthy	Mother	Goddess.	He	would	be	best suited	to	serve	not	only	Mother	India	but	also Mother	Earth.	Being	a	believer	in	the	unity	of existence	and	committed	to	the	welfare	of	hu- manity	as	a	whole,	he	could	make	an	effective contribution	in	checking	the	immense	damage that	human	greed	and	current	styles	of	life	are causing	to	the	planet'	(259). An	inspiring	call	indeed	from	an	achiever	for Indians	of	the	twenty-first	century. Prema Nandakumar Researcher	and	Literary	Critic Srirangam How to Organize Life? a Vedanta Kesari Presentation Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Website: www .chennaimath.org.	2010.	vi	+	229	pp. `	45. he	Indian	tradition	lays	down	various	schemas to	organize	life.	This	book	analyses	them	in the	modern	context.	Shrutis	and	Smritis	are	seen through Swami Vivekananda's eyes. Complex concepts	of	dharma,	caste,	moksha,	and	karma yoga	have	been	explained.	The	chapter	'Modern Man,	Mind	and	the	Meaning	of	Mythology'	takes a	fresh	look	at	mythology	and	seeks	to	clear	many misconceptions	about	the	nature	of	myths. A	chapter	details	Swami	Vivekananda's	inter- pretation	of	Sri	Ramakrishna's	teachings,	while another	names	the	teachings	of	Swami	Viveka- nanda	as 'Vivekananda	Smriti'.	A	careful	read- ing	of	this	work	convinces	one	that	new	moral codes	in	consonance	with	traditional	values	and modern	needs	have	to	be	created.	Evolving	out	of the	December	2002	special	number	of	the	Eng- T 467PB June 2011 Reviews 55 lish	journal	Vedanta Kesari,	this	work	could	be	a manual	of	morality	in	the	lines	of	the	teachings	of Sri	Ramakrishna	and	Swami	Vivekananda. Swami Narasimhananda Advaita	Ashrama,	Kolkata Dharma: Studies in its Semantic, Cultural and Religious History Ed. Patrick Olivelle Motilal	Banarsidass,	41	U	A	Bunglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, New Delhi 110 007. Website: www.mldb.com. 2009.	viii	+	492	pp.	` 1,195. his scholarly work deals historically with dharma,	a	central	feature	of	Indian	civilization, in	its	cultural	and	religious	aspects	irrespective of linguistic,	sectarian,	or	regional	differences. There are nineteen papers by various leading scholars	that	deal	thoroughly	with	each	separate study.	Such	an	effort	was	long	overdue	as	confu- sion	and	inaccurate	accounts	have	dogged	the	no- tion	of	dharma	in	the	context	of	understanding the	religio-cultural	history	of	India.	This	volume shows	that	the	term	'dharma'	has	been	subject	to evolution	and	change	depending	upon	the	context of	different	traditions	and	cultural	groups,	ranging from	Hinduism	to	Jainism	to	Buddhism,	from	the ancient	to	the	medieval	to	the	modern	periods. The	topics	by	the	various	authors	are,	briefly: Dharma's	early	history;	dharma	in	the	Rig	Veda, semantic	history,	early	Buddhism,	and	Jainism; the	Vedas	and	Dharma	Shastras;	dharma's	concept in	the	Ramayana	and	Mahabharata,	and	in	clas- sical	philosophy;	dharma's	meaning	in	practice and	authority;	medicine	and	dharma;	the	signifi- cance	of	Kumarila's	philosophy;	and	so	on.	This broad	canvas	clearly	indicates	how	a	civilization has	maintained	a	metaphysical	world	view	that allows	for	continuity	in	many	regions,	despite	di- verse	religious	sects	with	contrasting	myths,	rit- uals,	customs,	and	teachings.	The	term	'dharma'	is wide-ranged,	and	many	other	connotations	have also	arisen	as	it	came	in	contact	with	Western	con- cepts,	not	necessarily	always	in	a	scholarly	context, but	also	within	contending	socio-political	arenas. We thus learn that dharma has moral con- notations	both	in	Hinduism	and	Buddhism.	It stretches into many cultural spheres, like the dharma	of	castes	and	the	life-stages	within	which it	is	enmeshed.	It	is	commonly	used	by	lay	persons during	social	customs,	ritual	ceremonies	as	well	as covering	civil	law,	criminal	law,	and	statecraft	or royal	law.	Essentially,	dharma	has	a	connection to	salvation,	and	its	practice	in	everyday	life	is	for leading	one	towards	a	transcendental	order.	That is	the	basic	foundation	of	dharma,	which	is	not merely	for	material	gain	or	personal	enjoyment through	the	performance	of	sacrifices,	rites,	offer- ing	gifts,	and	so	on.	In	this	way,	although	dharma	is beyond	existential	goals,	it	is	empirical-it	is	to	be known	and	operated	at	an	everyday	experiential level.	In	this	sense	it	is	substantial,	since	it	mani- fests	itself	only	while	dealing	with	people	or	per- forming	one's	duty	without	motives.	This	in	turn is	linked	to	ṛta,	cosmic	law,	and	to	human	affairs. Thus	dharma,	ṛta,	and	human	life	are	intercon- nected.	Dharma	is	to	be	impersonally	performed for	the	sake	of	the	larger	cosmic	order;	this	makes it	a	moral	duty.	It	is	also	linked	to	the	notion	of karma	in	terms	of	deeds	performed.	Taking	all this	wide	range	of	expressions	on	dharma,	this book	is	a	landmark	contribution	to	the	study	of Indian	civilization. Prof. S C Malik Retired	UGC	Professor	of	Anthropology, New	Delhi Universal Hinduism: Towards a New Vision of Sanatana Dharma Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) Voice of India, 2/18 Ansari Road, New	Delhi 110	002.	Website:	www .adityaprakashan.com.	2010.	xi	+	213	pp. ` 200. he	three	parts	of	the	book	are	introduced	by Dharma	Pravartaka	(Frank	Morales)	and	by Shivananda	Murty's	appreciation.	In	the	first	part, 'Universal	Hinduism	and	Sanatana	Dharma',	the author	gives	many	insights	in	the	course	of	the T T -No bleed here-