पैस [Pais]

by Durga Bhagwat, दुर्गा भागवत

A collection of 13 travelogues

Genres: Marathi, Travel

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Durga Bhagwat's notable works include biography of Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat, Pais, a collection of articles based around religions, their literature and practises and Vyas Parva, a book about her study of Mahabharat. She studied religious literature, particularly Buddhist, works of Marathi saints from Dnyaneshwar to Tukaram, major Sanskrit works of Vyas and Adi Shankaracharya. Her book 'RRitu-chakra', detailing the nature (particularly trees and flowers) in each Indian month, is perhaps her most famous work. In early 1940s during her stay in forest, she tried to cook a vegetable which turned out to be poisonous and she was bed-ridden for years. The recovery was slow but it helped her observe the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle, and spurred her to write articles on each seasons. She was a good cook having inspiration from Smt Seetabai Bhagwat,her paternal aunt.Though she has not written any specific book on this topic,had written many articles on this topic.She was much interested in crafts even,on which she wrote many articles.She was a lady who was interested in learning any new thing and was ever curious to have knowledge.That is why perhaps Va Pu Kale calls her as 'Marathi Saraswatachi Sarswati'.
Even though good-looking in her young age, Durga Bhagwat never married. The reason according to her as told in a personal interview was that she spent several years of her youth in research, during which she was also the victim of food poisoning and by the time she recovered from it, it was too late.
Her idols throughout her life had been Vyasa, Gautama Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya, Henry David Thoreau, and Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar.

Reviews

[Gargi · Rating 4 out of 5]

जादुई भाषेचा वापर. आणि किती प्रगल्भ विचार! काही शब्द, भाषिक मूल्ये समजायला इतकी जड गेली कारण आजकाल अशा भाषेचा उपयोग जवळजवळ नाहीच केला जात. पण थोडं संशोधन करून जेव्हा अर्थ समजला तेव्हा त्याची मजा काही औरच होती. :)

त्यांच्या साध्या वागणूकीमुळे त्या वाचकांच्या समोर किती अरक्षित दिसतात. कदाचित त्याचमुळे त्या त्यांच्या प्रवासी जीवनातील बारकाईंचा समाचार इतक्या चांगल्या पद्धतीने घेऊ शकतात.

त्यांच्या वाचनाला, लेखणीला आणि निरीक्षण कौशल्याला माझा त्रिवार सलाम!

[Bhavnesh Pohan]

आज आपल्याकडे मराठी भाषा वाचवली पाहिजे, यासाठी जितके प्रामाणिक प्रयत्न चालले आहेत, त्याचबरोबर फक्त सोशल मीडिया वर मराठीचा उदो उदो करून, घरात मात्र आपण पुढच्या पिढीला साहेबांची भाषाच शिकवत आहोत. मराठी आधी बोलली पाहिजे, वाचली पाहिजे. आणि त्यासाठी आपल्याकडे असलेल्या मराठी पुस्तकांचा ठेवा हा आहेच. आज मराठी मधले कितीतरी शब्द आपण वापरतच नाही. असे कितीतरी सुरेख शब्द मला दुर्गा भागवत यांचं कोणतंही पुस्तकं वाचत असताना नेहमीच सापडत असतात. आपण निसर्ग हा फक्त वर वरून पाहत असतो, पण दुर्गा भागवत यांनी निसर्गाशी इतक्या एकरूप होऊन लिहिलेलं आहे, कि तो मनाला अजून सुखावून जातो.
बुद्ध मूर्ती इतक्यांदा पाहिली असली, तरी मला त्यांच्या डोळ्यांबद्दल एक गोष्ट माहीतच नव्हती, ती या पुस्तकामुळे समजली,

"बुद्ध मूर्तीचे डोळे अर्धे उघडे अर्धे मिटलेले आहेत. नवविकसन आणि विनाश या दोन्ही अवस्थांच्या आंदोलनांना आणि कंपनांना स्थिररूप देऊन बुद्धाच्या नेत्रांनी एका नव्याच दृष्टीने माणसाला जगाकडे पाहायला शिकवले."

[Devdatta Ranade · Rating 5 out of 5]

most fascinating book of hers. each and every essay is extremely beautiful and showcases her scholarship in Buddhist studies.

[अनिकेत · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a magic in her language, it not only lures you, provokes you to read ahead & further more...during her travel to different religious places, she had shared her experiences & introvert thoughts... through out these 13 different writings...just cant stop reading it.....!

[Abhijit Joshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly developed writing style. One of the most dense writing in Marathi. Content is too abstract for me in many of the cases.