Vaigyanik Bhautikvad

This Marathi translation of Rahul Sankrityayan’s Hindi book Vaigyanik Bhautikvad (Scientific Materialism), translated by Dr. Vijay Pat, appears to have been undertaken not merely out of personal interest but with a dual purpose: to address a need within cultural discourse and to demonstrate the indigenization of Marxism.

Perhaps this translation will also help clarify the progression of Dialectical Materialism, Historical Materialism, and Scientific Materialism within Marxist intellectual thought. Sankrityayan addresses fundamental questions concerning metaphysical concepts in this book, which may also have provided an important motivation for undertaking the translation.

The book discusses subjects such as cause and effect (causalism), superstition, matter, and dialectics. The Marathi translation is remarkably fluent and succeeds in carrying forward the currents of thought found in Sankrityayan’s original intellectual world. Its fluidity as a translation is something that readers are certain to notice.

As one of the important works representing Sankrityayan’s intellectual thought has now become available in Marathi, it may help readers understand more clearly the need for a synthesis between Buddhist philosophy and Marxism, as well as the explanations necessary to comprehend this relationship. If the translation succeeds in making these ideas more accessible and transparent, its purpose can be considered well served.

One thing, however, is certain: this translation has enriched the world of translated literature in Marathi.

— G. K. Ainapure, Sangli