Journey to Unknown India

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Summary: bhakta - an indian odyssee
Review: walter eidlitz was one of the first westerners who happened to be initiated into the bhakti cult of the vaishnava school following the tradition of krishna caitanya (1486 - 1533) who brought about a powerful renaissance of theistic vedanta in india, esp. in bengal. he also wrote an elaborate biography of krishna caitanya, published in the series of the 'Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis - Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion'. the book is an authentic report of eidlitz's trip to india in 1938, his search for spiritual guidance, his internment in a prisoner-of-war camp during world war II where he finds sadananda who becomes his friend and guru and who introduces him to the bhakti tradition. eidlitz writes a beautifully clear and modest prose, translates from original scriptural texts and weaves the story of his search and journey into the spiritual interpretation of homer's odyssee. 'journey to unknown india' is a thruthful and authentic document of a spiritual quest that impresses mostly with the sincerity of the author's endevour to theoretically understand and practically implement the teachings of a living spiritual tradition that was hardly known in the west by the time the book was first published in 1951.