Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780679775478)

In "the very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written" (The New Republic) Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name--"Ka," or Who?

What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind and matter; of the origin of Death, of the first sexual union and the first parricide. We learn why Siva must carry his father's skull, why snakes have forked tongues, and why, as part of a certain sacrifice, the king's wife must copulate with a dead horse. A tour de force of scholarship and seduction, Ka is irresistible.

Author: Roberto Calasso
ISBN-10: 0679775471
ISBN-13: 9780679775478
Publisher: Vintage
Language: English
Published: 11/02/1999
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 7.94h x 5.32w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 11/21/1999 pg. 78