Mearcstapa: Border-Walker

Literature & Fiction

Mearcstapa: Border-Walker

By: Brainerd Prince

393.00

  • ISBN: 978-93-6156-607-3
  • Pages: 192 pages
  • Published: February 2025
  • Format: Paperback
  • Imprint: Rupa
  • Language: English

A traveller of worlds

A keeper of mysteries

Belonging to none

Belonging to everyone

Without lines or borders

In the manner of smoke

Overcoming jalpa and vitanda

debates and discussions

Transforming vāda into samvāda

arguments into dialogues

And sambhāsha into svādhyāya

dialogues into study of self

Embracing the dialogue of traditions

A maker of bonds

A collector of conversations

This is the mearcstapa

The walker of borders


Mearcstapa (Old English: border-walker) is a collection of poems that embody the spirit of integration, interdisciplinarity and dialogue. The poet believes that these can be wisely traversed, while simultaneously recognizing the differences among us as well as the otherness of people. Because when we treat others as ‘persons’ with agency and freedom, it is only then that we discover our own personhood.



Brainerd Prince is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, and an Associate Member of the Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Centre for Thinking, Language and Communication (CTLC) at Plaksha University.


His book The Integral Philosophy of Aurobindo: Hermeneutics and the Study of Religion was published by Routledge in 2017. He has also co-edited a collection of stories, Campus Lore: An Anthology (2022), written by engineering students at Plaksha University.


Brainerd enjoys long walks, deep conversations and gardening. His dream is to set up a hobby farm, which can also double up as a writers’ retreat centre.



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