The Descent of the Sun (Indian Stories of F.W.Bain) - Tapa dura

The title of each of the books in this series indicates some aspect of the Vedic/Sanskrit Religion-Philosophic Tradition. The Descent of the Sun is a fairy tale that F.W. Bain found in an old Hindu manuscript in which we can enjoy the fantastic scenery of a fascinating yarn while at the same time stopping to consider the nature of existence - the purpose of incarnation-reincarnation, the power of attraction and the triumph of love.

F.W. Bain was a Professor of History and Economics at Deccan College in Poona in the early twentieth century. Each of the books in this series is said to be translated from the original manuscripts which were apparently in Sanskrit. Professor Bain's crudite yet sensitive introductions and footnotes indicate his extensive scholarship in both the Easter and Western traditions. Poona then, as now, was a centre of Indian scholarship and one of Professor Bain's pupils at Deccan College was Nathpanti Guru scholar and author Dr Ranado, who said of him he was not merely a tutor but in the fullest sense a professor of literature - praise indeed for a westerner whose rare understanding that in Sanskrit religion, philosophy and literature cannot be separated, ensures that here we are in the hands of a wise and expert storyteller.