The mysteries of love, life and death claim the perennial fascination of the human mind. Religious and secular thinkers throughout history have grappled with shifting notions about these human experiences. But since our modes of enquiry, the language we employ and our conventions of reasoning keep us bound to specific patterns of thought, we continue to be alienated from each other—individually, communally and civilizationally.

In this book eminent philosopher and scholar D.P. Chattopadhyaya asks anew the fundamental question: What is it to live, love and die? Exploring the lives, writings and actions of some of the world’s most influential poets, philosophers and scientists—from Copernicus to Keats and from Sankara to Aurobindo—he wades through the stream of human consciousness and encounters traces of cultural universals.