Niraakarana

Narahari, a widower and the father of five, decides to give away his children for adoption. He craves for solitude and finds it impossible to participate in the mundane world. He is drawn towards saṃnyāsa and is allured by the heights scaled by realised souls like Bārāmāsi Mahārāj. He treks the Himalayan peaks, but… can he freeze his mind at a place where time and space are frozen? Can he swim against the river of life to reach its source? Does physical altitude translate to spiritual altitude as well? India’s foremost novelist, Padma Bhushan S. L. Bhyrappa explores the attractions and aversions that humans feel towards worldly life in Niraakarana – The Refusal. He lays bare the dilemmas that a person faces at various stages of his life and the repercussions his decisions can have on his immediate family. The novel creatively suggests the true nature of renunciation and the kind of forbearance it demands. The English rendition of this emotionally engrossing and spiritually uplifting saga retains the nuances of the Kannada original. It has been admirably translated by L. V. Shanthakumari and Arjun Bharadwaj, award-winning authors and translators in their own right with many books to their credit.