Bhagwati Charan Verma¿s novel The Dancer, Her Lover and the Yogi braids Eastern philosophy with a whirlwind romance and offers a satisfying if melodramatic fable on the tension between desire and renunciation. The novel covers a year in which two disciples of a guru go out into the world in order to gain the experience necessary to aid their understanding. One is sent to live in the home of a well-to-do man, Beejgupta¿the lover in the title, whose beloved, the dancer, is the unashamedly sensual Chitralekha. When the renowned ascetic yogi Kumargiri meets Chitralekha, his tightly held values of self-denial are challenged. And when Chitralekha and Kumargiri engage in an affair, Beejgupta is left devastated. The novel follows these complex relationships, all framed by the students witnessing them and the mentor who sent them on their path.