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      Ka

      by Roberto Calasso
      Published
      Nov 1998
      Main Genre
      General Fiction General Fiction
      Rating
      Pages
      464
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      About This Book

      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.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      General Fiction

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      Paperback

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      Trade Paperback
      Nov 1999 Vintage ISBN 0679775471
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      Trade Paperback
      Nov 1999 Vintage (UK) ISBN 0099750716
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      Paperback
      Dec 2005 Adelphi ISBN 8845917126
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      Hardcover

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      Hardcover
      First Edition Nov 1998 Knopf ISBN 0679451315
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      eBook

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      eBook
      Nov 2013 Vintage ISBN B00FUZQYPU
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      eBook
      Nov 2013 Knopf ISBN 0804151660
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