Afire with Beauty

A Collection of Talks and Writings

Rukmini Devi Arundale

Dancer, political figure, educator, animal rights activist, Theosophist.

Afire with Beauty contains a selection of the writings and speeches of Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986), one of India’s most celebrated individuals. As a prominent and beloved member of the Theosophical Society, she not only devoted her life to promoting beauty and culture through dance, music and art, but was a powerful advocate for vegetarianism and animal rights. As the first female Member of Parliament, she was a leader in promoting equal rights for women and encouraged their participation in education, the arts and politics. As an educator, she established several schools for both children and adults, including Kalakshetra, one of the world’s leading institutions offering instruction in traditional Indian dance, music and art.

She was honored as one of “100 People Who Shaped India” by the weekly magazine India Today and was the recipient of many awards, including Padma Bhushan, (one of India’s highest civilian honors) for her numerous contributions to Indian culture; and the Sangeet Natak Akademi (India’s national academy of music, arts, and dance) Award, which also made her an Academi Fellow.

Although a number of biographies have been written about Rukmini Devi, and several picture books have been published about her legendary work in dance, she never wrote a full-length book of her own. Afire with Beauty is the first published collection of Rukmini Devi’s writings and talks, and includes archival photographs of this outstanding woman taken throughout her long, productive and fascinating life. The title of this volume is taken from one of her talks.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Foreword  

Part I. Art and Beauty
1. The True Spirit of Art
2. The Creative Spirit
3. Dance and Music
4. Art and Education
5. The Teacher and the Pupil
6. Woman as Artist
7. Science, Art, Religion

Part II. Vegetarianism and Animal Rights
8. Inaugural Address: 15th World Vegetarian Congress
9. Inaugural Address: 16th World Vegetarian Congress
10. A Selection of Quotes

Part III. Theosophy
11. Theosophy as I See It
12. Theosophy as Beauty
13. My Theosophy

Appendices
About the Author   
Links

Afire with Beauty by Rukmini Devi Arundale. Gaupo Publishing / Kindle Direct Publishing, July 2026.

Trade paperback edition (6" x 9", 180 pages): $12.95. Kindle e-book edition: $4.95.  ISBN 979-8-1821466-1-6.

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