Dnyaneshwareecha Trushnabandha

From the Vedas and Upanishads to the poetry of the saints, the concepts of desire, its role as the root of suffering, and its cessation have been discussed extensively in Indian thought. However, these discussions have primarily focused on human life and existence. Literary critics in our tradition have rarely explored the idea that desire lies at the very foundation of human life, language, and literature, permeating all three.

This book attempts to demonstrate how myths concerning the origin of the world and the origin of language place considerable emphasis on desire, and how desire operates behind self-expression, poetic expression, and the very structure of language. From this perspective, it offers a detailed examination of how desire influences the structure of the Dnyaneshwari, from its first chapter to its final one. In doing so, it establishes a relationship between the poetic nature of the text and the various manifestations of desire.

To support this analysis, one chapter presents a framework for understanding the poetics of desire. In this way, the book seeks to explore a new and relatively uncharted path in literary criticism.