Indian Epics

Anand Neelakantan’s novel 'Asura: the tale of the Vanquished' is a unique retelling of the epic story of Ramayana as it is from the perspective of the dead, defeated and “vanquished” Ravana. This paper analyses the human condition of the popular villain character Ravana in the text to gain understanding of his psychology and the political standpoint of the novel. In this pursuit to understand the becoming, or construction, of Ravana, this paper also aims to unravel the concept of evil as a construct.

The Mahabharata is the world's most analyzed and interpreted work which has been able to generate more than one rendering without losing its freshness each time. It has been retold in various forms such as literature, drama, film, TV series, web series, cartoons and short films. Each new narration tries to deconstruct the multi-narrative structure into the individual narration by a particular character. There are several modern versions of fictions available which try to voice the inner minds of the protagonist characters such as Draupadi, Bhima, Arjuna, Duryodhana and Karna. Various TV serials have also been produced to reach to the wider range of the audience. B. R. Chopra's Mahabharata series (1988-1990) on DD National is the best known example. But the representations of the present era does not merely focus on it as the history of the people depicting the great deeds of Lord Krishna on earth but also provides innumerable insights on dharmaandadharmain modern terms. One such series-Dharmakshetra (2014-2015) which aired on Epic channel provides a touch of court room drama after the Kurukshetra war where the leading characters are defining their own state of dharma-adharma in front of Chitragupta-an Indian deity who keeps record of the deeds of people before attaining heaven. There are total 26 episodes in the entire series depicting the point of view of each of them. Like a courtroom each character is called by Chitragupta to

In this article are compared two similar plots, one from the Ossetian Nartiada and another from the Indian Mahabharata. The main plot of both narratives is an ambush, in which the enemies of the heroes will try to kill them, but their plans are ruined due to the intervention of a third party, who using a secret language, advises the heroes not to fall into the ambush. In both cases the secret dialogue has a form of a parable , in which the subject is allegorically substituted by an animal.
It is possible that we are dealing with an influence of Sakan folklore on Indian epics, in that case the “Mleccha language” thanks to which Vidura saves the Pandava heroes, is a Sakan analogue of the Ossetian secret “xatiag language”.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
South India, with its rich history and stunning landscapes, has provided the setting for some of the greatest epics in the ancient world. In this class we will explore two of the ‘Five Great Jewels’ of Tamil literature: The Lay of the Anklet (Cilappatikāram) and The Dancer with the Magic Bowl (Maṇimēkalai). These epics were composed sometime between the 1st and 8th centuries CE and present a view of the societies, religions, and cultures of ancient South India. The central narratives of both epics follow the adventures of female protagonists: Kaṇṇaki, a devoted wife turned goddess, and Maṇimēkalai, a dancer-courtesan turned renunciant. These two epics are also connected through their female characters, as Maṇimēkalai is the daughter of Kaṇṇaki’s husband Kōvalaṉ and his mistress Mātavi. In conjunction with reading these fascinating tales, we will also explore their literary and historical contexts and their significance within the Jain and Buddhist religious traditions.

In Bimal Krishna Matilal’s prolific work on Classical Indian philosophy and epical literature one can trace hints of a much pronounced commentarial tradition of the subcontinent. Briefly annotating older texts by the likes of Anandvardhana, Abhinavagupta and Bhartrihari, this essay assesses the stylistic and ethical demands of modern commentary on classical texts, particularly those that make Ramayana and Mahabharata their subject.

The Āpaddharmaparvan, 'the book on conduct in times of distress', is an important section of the great Sanskrit epic the Mahābhārata which, despite its significance for Mahābhārata studies and for the history of Indian social and political thought, has received little attention in scholarly literature. This book places the Āpaddharmaparvan within its literary and ideological contexts. In so doing it explores the development of a conception of brahmanic kingship morally justifiable within the terms of a debate largely set by various alternative social movements of the period. This book further explores the implications for our understanding of the Mahābhārata that follow from the Āpaddharmaparvan's presentation as a poetically cohesive unit within itself and within the wider parameters of the Mahābhārata.

Epic idealism is an interesting field for study. In that context, a striking feature that emerges from a probe into the 'ideal' core of Yudhiṣṭhira's character is that it does not quite fit into any known stereotype. The only other epic figure whose life story bears some outward resemblance to Yudhiṣṭhira's is Rāma. The resemblance is on two counts. First, both are generally driven by an inner urge to pursue the path of sāttvika (pure) dharma; second, and more specifically, both spend long years in forest-bound exile along with wife and brother(s). But there are major differences too in the circumstances and attitudes of the two epic protagonists. Each embarks on exile in the forest to be true to a pledge; but the difference lies in the truth being upheld, and in the nature of the pledge being redeemed. Rāma is innocent in the causality behind his exile, whereas Yudhiṣṭhira's exile is of his own doing. Rāma voluntarily renounces his throne for no fault of his. Yudhiṣṭhira loses his kingdom, not through the machinations of a jealous stepmother, nor by holding himself bound to a henpecked father's words, but due to poor judgement, that causes him to lose, after accepting the challenge to a second round of dice, even after Śakuni's trickery became evident in the first round. Rāma's travails in forest are caused by external agencies; Yudhiṣṭhira's are more intrinsic and psychological, caused by the abiding sense of remorse and guilt (that his imprudence has brought misery upon his dear ones), and aggravated by the words of reproach he hears.

Die Bhagavadgītā avancierte über die letzten 200 Jahre zum wichtigsten Text des hinduistischen Kanons. Dabei wurde der philosophische Inhalt immer wieder politisiert, instrumentalisiert und teils gegensätzlich ausgelegt. Die vorliegende Arbeit erforscht ausführlich die Rezeptionsgeschichte des Textes und widmet sich abschließend der Frage, wie man mit solch einem Text im interkulturellen Zusammenhang umgehen soll.

"The Book of Karna" relates the events of the two dramatic days after the defeat of the great warriors and generals Bhishma and Drona, in which Karna - great hero and the eldest Pandava - leads the Kaurava army into combat. This first volume of "Karna" depicts mighty battles in gory detail, sets the scene for Karna's tragic death, and includes a remarkable verbal duel between Karna and his reluctant charioteer Shalya, the king of the Madras, as they hurl abuse at each other before entering the fray. It is co-published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation.

The theory of the yugas has been connected to the story of the Mahābhārata since the late layers of the Epic itself, and it subsequently became a fundamental element of the justification for explaining its adharmic elements by linking its story to the Kali Yuga.  The story of Rāma, on the other hand, never had an important link to the yuga theory, except for a rather vague placement of Rāma’s story in the Tretā Yuga. This chapter looks at Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa in order to ascertain if the text provides a basis for a connection between the Rāmāyaṇa and the Tretā Yuga.

The paper begins with the unique motif of the "Wheel of Time Revolving in an Underground Cave" that appears in both the Indian Mah bh rata and the Armenian epic "Daredevils of Sassoun". This is followed by a review of stories about characters confined or asleep inside a cave from the Caucasus, the Balkans and Central/Western Europe. Certain episodes from the Indian epics Mbh and R m ya a are for the first time recognized as belonging to the same circle of plots and motifs. In all stories of characters imprisoned or sleeping in a cave, time passes in a peculiar way, divided into cycles by the constant repetition of specific events. The author suggests that all these myths and legends are based on the strong link in human consciousness between the image of a cave and the mytho-ritual complex of ideas: "birth-death-rebirth". The similarity between stories of this type in Caucasian and Indo-European traditions may be explained by contacts between Indo-Europeans and Caucasians at different times, starting from the period of Proto-Indo-European linguistic unity.

— The Vedas are considered to be the oldest surviving literature of India. They are preserved in an intact form through memorizing and transmission from generation to generation over centuries, thus very likely to have an unaltered, authentic record. Vedas have been extensively studied by large number of scholars from diverse disciplines for the last two centuries. They abound in poetic metaphor and allusions yet give an account of people, places and events along with the prevailing belief systems at that time. The belief systems in Vedas have commonality with Iranian and European traditions, collectively referred to as Indo-European. Many scholars have studied Vedas to find the footprints and trail of Indo-Europeans whose languages have noticeable commonality. In this paper we make use of network analysis methods to interpret Rig-Veda to get a sense of how events and beliefs have evolved over time and geographies.

In India's great epic the Mahabharata, the eighth book, "Karna", recounts the events that occurred during the mighty hero Karna's two days as general of the Kaurava army. This second volume resumes on the war's seventeenth and penultimate day. This will be a momentous day for the Bharata clans and especially for a number of their most distinguished heroes, with some of the epic's most telegraphed events reaching their climax. Not only will the epic's most anticipated duel between its greatest champions Arjuna and Karna be played out to its cruel and tragic end, but one of the more gruesome episodes in the epic will also take place with Duhshasana meeting the fate that has long waited him since his brazen maltreatment of Draupadi in the assembly hall. It is co-published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation.

One could scarcely draw together two larger topics than the Mahābhārata (Mbh) and dharma. The former, a tale of a fratricidal and internecine battle interspersed with theme-expanding stories, moral tales, fables, and didactic tracts, claims to be 100,000 stanzas long; the text constituted in the Critical Edition in the mid 20th century by a team of scholars comes to some 75,000.  The Mbh has arguably been the most influential and significant cultural product to emerge from South Asia in the last two millennia. The word dharma, on the other hand, has, since perhaps the 5th century BCE (or a little later), been the preeminent term of ideological expression in South Asian thought, and lent itself to the collective name for one of South Asia's most enduring genres, dharmaśāstra. The word is, as has often been noted, of central importance to the Mbh; indeed, in many respects, the Mbh both marks a significant moment in the semantic development of dharma (Hiltebeitel 2011: 20-29) and demonstrates its emergence as a term encoding cultural and ideological legitimacy.

This chapter contains translations from two texts associated with the Mughal Emperor Akbar's court: an excerpt from the Razmnama (Book of War), the Persian translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, and the entirety of Shanticandra's Kriparasakosa (Treasury of Compassion), a Sanskrit praise poem about Akbar. The translations are accompanied by a short introduction.

This article adds to the debate on the elusive search for original homeland of Sanskrit speakers of India by establishing linkage of archaeology, language and legends of Hyperboreans. It brings the readers up todate on how India's caste system evolved.

This article concerns the performance of Kūṭiyāṭṭam enactments of Mahābhārata narratives and the written texts on which those performances are based. The Kūṭiyāṭṭam tradition of Sanskrit drama enactment in Kerala has been recognised by UNESCO as a 'masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity' but is also profoundly concerned with written texts. I argue that the ways Kūṭiyāṭṭam performers have modified and elaborated upon the dramas' texts have resulted in enactments more devotionally oriented than are the texts themselves, and that this distinctively devotional performative practice has contributed to the tradition's longevity. I also argue that performances in secular settings in recent decades represent both an opportunity and a danger to the tradition. devānāmidamāmananti munayaḥ śāntaṃ kratuṃ cākṣuṣaṃ / … nāṭyaṃ 'Sages regard drama as the visible and pacifying sacrifice to the Gods….' Kālidāsa, Mālavikāgnimitra (1.4)

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I must warn the reader that the term “secular” in the title does not imply that I share the views of Alf Hiltebeitel and his school. In this paper I argue that the Mahābhārata began in the warrior' milieu as an oral heroic epic, but an epic of archaic type, with semi-divine heroes acting against the background of the ancient devāsurasaṃgrāma (Indra-Vṛtra) myth. I appreciate Alf Hiltebeitel’s pioneering comparison of the great Sanskrit epic with archaic epic forms still present in contemporary India, but do not accept his idea of the Mahābhārata being a poetical Dharmaśāstra created ex nihilo by a “team” of Brahmanic writers not earlier than the 2nd century BCE.

Epski bardovi, pjevači priča, sastavljali su pjesme pomoću formula i formulaičnih izraza – obrazaca riječi koji pristaju u određene dijelove u stihu i koji se po potrebi mogu kratiti, duljiti i zamijenjivati, tj. prilagođavati metru i tijeku priče. Nakon preglednog prikaza odabranih istraživanja formulaičnosti u jugoslavenskim, grčkim i indijskim epskim tekstovima, u radu propitujem teoriju Milmana Parryja i Alberta Lorda, po kojoj su formule isključivo alati pjevača za popunjavanje stihova, bez značaja za kontekst u kojemu se nalaze. Pitanje na koje tražim odgovor jest da li je to stvarno tako, odnosno na koji način su ogromni tekstovi poput Rāmāyaṇe (24.000 strofa) i Mahābhārate (oko 100.000 strofa) mogli biti prenošeni usmeno, a opet zadržati svoju književnu vrijednost i u kojoj se mjeri Parry-Lordova teorija može primijeniti na sanskrtske epove. Za analizu teksta odabrala sam prvu knjigu Rāmāyaṇe, Bālakāṇḍu, verziju koju je za tisak uredio njemački filolog August Wilhelm von Schlegel. Kroz analizu formulaičnosti 50 najčešćih riječi ukazala sam na neke osobitosti sanskrtskog jezika koje pomažu u sastavljanju epske pjesme. Potom sam kroz odabrane primjere formula tipa imenica-epitet koje se u Bālakāṇḍi koriste za jednu vrstu mitskih bića, rākṣasa, pokušala pokazati da za autora Rāmāyaṇe, Vālmīkija, epiteti nisu samo alati, nego da ih vješto koristi u okvirima postojećih konvencija. Budući da je Schlegel u prvoj polovici 19. stoljeća preveo Bālakāṇḍu na latinski, usporedila sam njegovu verziju sanskrtskog teksta s latinskim prijevodom, te analizirala dijelove o rākṣasama, i pokušala otkriti je li primijetio formulaičnost sanskrtskog teksta, je li prevodio epitete uvijek na isti način ili se trudi prevesti i nijanse u značenju, na koji način ih prevodi i zašto. U analizi sam koristila kompjuterski alat za obradu teksta AntConc, a kako bi kompjuterska analiza bila moguća izradila sam elektronički tekst Schlegelovog sanskrtskog i latinskog izdanja Bālakāṇḍe.

В статье суммированы результаты сравнительного исследования армянского эпоса о «неистовых сасунцах» («Sasna cṙer» = «Давид Сасунский») и «Махабхараты». Выявлено значительное сходство их этнографического субстрата, пре-жде всего отражаемой эпосом архаической социальной организации. В древнейшем слое как армянского, так и индийского эпоса сохраняется память о сельском, преимущественно скотоводческом обществе, важную роль в котором играл инсти-тут молодежных воинских братств. Отражением этого института в «Сасна црер» можно считать мотивы буйства юных героев с последующим изгнанием, создания ими поселения в лесной глуши, братства юных воинов, защиты ими стад и отражения вражеских нашествий, боевого бешенства, являющегося главной характеристикой всех сасунских героев, образ их неизменного, переходящего из поколения в поколение наставника и предводителя, «дядьки» Кери-Тороса, упоми-нания оргиастических пиршеств молодежного объединения, следы добрачной свободы юношей и девушек и т.п. Исполь-зование данных мотивов, очевидно, поддерживалось существованием у армян вплоть до Новейшего времени института юношеских социовозрастных объединений, что засвидетельствовано этнографией. Сравнительное изучение армянского эпоса позволяет выявить в нем прежде скрытые от нас аспекты социально-исторического содержания. Более широкое привлечение материалов армянского эпоса к изучению как индоевропейских, так и иных эпических традиций народов Кав-каза и степной Евразии послужит обогащению и развитию сравнительного эпосоведения. Ключевые слова: армянский эпос, «Махабхарата», сравнительное эпосоведение, этнографический субстрат, социо-возрастные объединения, юношеские воинские братства. The author summarizes the results of his search for parallels between the Armenian epic "Sasna cṙer" ("Daredevils of Sassoun") and the Mahābhārata. The comparative study has revealed considerable similarity in the "ethnographic substratum" of both epics, particularly that relating to the archaic social organization mirrored by the epic. The earliest layer of both the Armenian and the Indian epics retains the memory of a rural, largely pastoral society, in which an important role was played by the fraternities of young warriors. In the Armenian epic, this is indicated by recurrent motifs such as the young heroes' rampage followed by exile, the foundation of their own outpost in the backwoods, young male warriors' fraternities, their defense of herds, warding off enemy attacks, battle frenzy (a common characteristic of all the Sasun heroes), their immutable tutor and leader ("uncle") Keri Toros, allusions to orgiastic feasts, premarital freedom enjoyed by boys and girls, etc. In Armenians, these motifs were supported by the existence until the recent times of age sets, described by ethnographers. The comparative study of the Armenian epic reveals its hitherto unnoticed socio-historical aspects. Its wider use for studying other epic traditions (not only Indo-European but also those of other peoples inhabiting the Caucasus and the Eurasian steppes) will contribute to the comparative epic studies.

Sözlü geleneğin bir ürünü olarak doğan, antik dönemdeki örneklemeleriyle, ilkleriyle anılan epik şiirler, mitolojiler ve bu kitapta bulacağınız birçok coğrafyada, farklı kültürlere ait farklı zamanların büyük anlatıları olan destanlar… Bir toplum için; içerisinde, bugünkü terminolojiyle tarih, coğrafya, teoloji, antropoloji, sosyoloji, mitoloji, arkeoloji, fi loloji ve edebiyatı barındıran, genel terminolojiyle ortaya çıktığı kültürün büyük bir yansıması olan, insanoğlunun en önemli kültürel miras geleneği... Destanların diğer edebi örneklerden ayrılan önemli özelliği ve belki de en önemli farkı, en eskilerini özellikle de Gılgamışları, İlyadaları, Aeneasları düşünecek olursak yüzyıllarca aktarılan görsel belleği ile birlikte süre gelen işitsel belleği sayesinde kendi türlerini besleyen en önemli kültürel aktarım olmasıdır. Biz bilim insanları bugün bu geleneği, dilimizin refl eksi olarak özellikle de öncül örnekleri, daha geç örnekleri ile birlikte "destan" kelimesi ve/veya terimi ile karşılamaya çalışıyoruz. Peki, yaklaşık 2500 yıl önce ismi konan bu anlatı biçimi, ne kadar yaratıcıları tarafından da destan olarak isimlendirilmiştir. Hangi destan yaratıcısı anlatmak istediğini, bugünkü "destan" kelimesi karşılığı için hazırlamıştır. Peki, hangi destan yaratıcısı ve yaratıcıları belli edebi kurullara uyarak bir destan oluşturmuştur. Homeros mu? Vergillius mu? Yoksa Dante mi? Yoksa Sümer Halkı mı? Hint halkı mı? Türk Halkı mı? Bunun yanıtını vermek objektif her birey için aslında basittir. Çünkü hiçbir destan yazıldığı zaman destan olmamıştır. Kulaktan kulağa, gözden göze, beyinden beyine aktarılan bir kültürel miras olduğu sürece oluşturanlardan çok sonra "destan" kimliğini almıştır. Destanların uzun ömürlü olmasındaki en önemli sebep ise oluşturuldukları dönemlerden bin yıllarca, yüz yıllarca sonra bile hafızalarda yer alabilmesidir. Okunmak için yaratılmamışlardır, sadece var olmak için oluşturulmamışlardır, belki yüzyıllarca genişletilmişler, ama en önemlisi var oldukları dönemi hem yaşayanlara hem de sonrakilere kayıt altına almak için nesillerden nesillere aktarılmışlardır. Kendi alanlarında uzman olan dil bilimcilerin, edebiyatçıların, kültür tarihçilerinin hazırladığı bu özel kitap içinde, Asya kıtasının en doğusundan, Avrupa kıtasının en batısına; literatürde veya oluşturdukları toplumlarda "destan" niteliği taşıyan anlatıların geniş bir yelpazesini bulacaksınız. Her birini tek tek okuduğunuzda bu kadar geniş bir coğrafya ve zaman diliminde oluşturulmuş olmalarına rağmen farklı toplumlardaki benzer kültürel etkileşimleri de fark etme olanağı bulacaksınız." G. Kökdemir

The present paper focuses on Aśvaghoṣa's treatment of King Śuddhodana and Kapila-vāstu, the latter's kingdom, in the Buddhacarita (BC) and the Saundarananda (SNa). As I shall try to demonstrate, the poet's depiction of Śuddhodana is strongly reminiscent of, and, I think, very likely based on, Brahmanical accounts of the rājadharma (BC 9.48) and the dharmarāja (BC 1.75) as they can be found, first and foremost, in the Mahābhārata (MBh). As for his description of the Śākya kingdom, it is obviously meant to be evocative of the "golden age" or, conversely, of its lack of any characteristic of the kaliyuga, which again points to Aśvaghoṣa's likely acquaintance with epic descriptions of the kaliyuga and/or the yugānta as they can be found, e.g., in the so-called Mārkaṇḍeya section of the MBh (esp. 3.186 and 188).

The book argues for the systematic use of Greco-Roman sources in the Mahabharata (Mbh.), in Book 4 in particular. Its author systematically uses the story of the year of serfdom of Heracles in the court of Queen Omphale to build the year of serfdom of the Pandavas and Draupadi in the court of King Virata (Book 4). This includes uses of mythology handbooks, of two works by Ovid (Fasti and Heroides) and other sources. It entails, for example, the projection of the transvestism of Heracles in Arjuna, the complaints of Deyanira in Draupadi, and the story of Faunus (Fasti) in that of Bhima and Kicaka. There are also literal uses. The scientific positions on Book 4 are analysed and the author argues the consistency of his results with the unitary perspective on the Mbh as defended by Alf Hiltebeitel, and a date of the Mbh. in the I Century CE. Emphasis is placed on the research methodology that allows us to ensure the borrowing of these texts, associated with the study of the techniques used by the author of the Mbh. to adapt characters, scenes and other narrative materials.

This paper is an attempt to present the positions of women in Hindu civilization within the context of justifying the purity of women in Vālmīki’s celebrated epic poem ‘Rāmāyaṇa’ and prominent contemporary Indian writer Premchand’s story ‘Nirvāsan’. Even though the date of composing the ‘Rāmāyaṇa’ is not certain, it is estimated that it took place in literature between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. On the other side, ‘Nirvāsan’ belongs to the date in more recent times as late 19th and early 20th centuries AD. This shows us clearly that the traditions and customs have never changed throughout the centuries. Literary intersections demonstrate how to transfer culture from generation to generation. Patriarchal social structure in India will be discussed with the method of radical feminist theory. Women can be seen as in the second plan compared to the men according to this feminist theory argument. Moreover, women are exposed to physical and psychological violence because of the patriarchal system. Patriarchal society is a structure in which men are superior to women in every sense and women are forced to live under the domination of the men. In this social structure, the authoritarian male has a more respectable position in the family and in social life than the woman. Women can be perceived as the object of men’s power and authority. This study aims to provide an insight to the people about Indian culture through the texts by analyzing above mentioned literary works.

When Ramayana is mentioned what comes to mind is the well known SriRamcharitmanas of Tulsidas. It will be an engaging exercise to cast a glance at the Kashmiri Ramayana by Prakash Ram Kulgami, a devotee of Ram in the nineteenth century and though his mission seems to be similar to Tulsidas's, his text is not.

Far from the madding crowd of the city which is confined by the humongous grey walls and unfettered from all the extravagant luxuries of archaic governed palace, there lived a meek and small group of bushmen for whom forest was their abode. Hunting was the chief code of life of these bushmen. They were called and known by the city dwellers as 'Nishadhas'. The Nishadhas lead a life of peace by enjoying each and every-day of their life. These Nishadhas would have been long forgotten and their past wouldn't be etched in our minds if it wasn't for Ekalavya who is the most cherished and yearned warrior of all time.

The singularity attributed to tragedy -"Eka rasah sakarunah" -tragedy is the solitary rasa -by the 8 th century poet Bhavabhuti in his Uttarramcharita 1 , lays before us a sharp contrast to the general western and west-influenced notion: tragedy is alien to Indian literature. In

While Mahabharata's Bhagvad-Gita is taken as a philosophical guide, Ramayana's Sundara Kãnda is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading it or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of this great epic to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds.

Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike.

Interestingly, as the following verse illustrates, it was the forerunner of the magic realism of our times – “Gripped she then him by shadow / Cast which Hanuman coast to coast, Recalled he in dismay then / What Sugreev said at outset / That one fiend had aptitude / To grip its prey by mere shadow.”

On a personal note, my paternal grandfather, Bulusu Thimmaiah-garu, like many in his time, was a life-long practitioner of Sundara Kãnda parayana (the epic’s daily recital in part or full), whose spirituality could have providentially guided me in this, rather an effortless, trans-creative endeavour.

This translation of Sundara Kãnda of Valmiki Ramayana,
Dedicated to Childhood friends,  Nittala Rama Rao, who envisaged that I transcreate in English this momentous episode of the adi kavya and Erramilli Rohini Kumar, who, besides encouraging me to undertake the challenge, came  up with  the book jacket besides Katlin Darnall of the World Public Library for the enriching editing,
comprises of the Cantos -

1 - Hurdles in Skies
2 - City in Clouds
3 - Prelude to Entry
4 - Foray into Fort
5 - Life in Lanka
6 - Precincts to Beat
7 - Palace in the Plane
8 - Pushpak’s Prowess
9 - Harem at Night
10 - Women in Want
11 - Qualms of Celibate
12 - At Wits End
13 - Errand in the Bend
14 - Garden of Grief
15 - Withered Flower
16 - She is Seetha
17 - Guards all Hideous
18 - Ravan on Heat
19 - Dame in Despair
20 - Womanizer at Work
21 - Steadfast in Love
22 - Deadline to Death
23 - Guards that Pander
24 - Carrot and Stick
25 - Hapless Soul   
26 - Wandering Thoughts
27 - Dream of a Nightmare
28 - On the Verge
29 - Good Tidings
30 - Hanuman’s Dilemma
31 - Rama’s Ballad
32 - Is it True?
33 - Genesis of Exile
34 - Swings in Mood
35 - Winning the Trust
36 - More of the Same
37 - Aborted Move
38 - Story to Tell
39 - Doubts to the Fore
40 - Repeats the Dose
41 - Rampage in the Park
42 - Panic in the Town
43 -Itching for Fight
44 -Takes on Prahastha’s Son
45 - Marshals in the Mire
46 - Generals in the Dumps
47 - Akshay’s Life on Line
48 - It takes Indrajit
49 - Ravan’s Darbar
50 - Cause of Loss
51 - Advice to Deliver
52 -Placates the Sibling
53 - Tail on Fire
54 - Arson to Hurt 
55 - What of Seetha?
56 - Havoc of a Take-off
57 - Flight sans Hassles
58 - Odyssey in a Nutshell
59 - Pep Talk to Peers
60 - Angad on Rebound
61 - Eying the Madhuvan
62 - Orgy in the Garden
63 - Sugreev’s Reading
64 - Return of the Platoon
65 - News in Brief
66 - Tears in Torrents
67 - Hanuman’s Replay
68 - Times of Hope
with a peep into Yuddha Kanda
1. Embrace of a Gift
2.  Coronation and After

ABSTRACT.  In this old paper (1999) I offered a summary of the data on the kālavāda in all books of the Mahābhārata. The aim was to elucidate ideas and imagery in which this doctrine had been embodied and to define its place in the general picture of the Epic outlook. Contrary to the view that was widespread 20 years ago, the kālavāda  is not a philosophical doctrine which had originated and existed somewhere beyond the framework of the epic tradition and was incorporated into it at a later time. If kālavāda texts are examined against the background of the whole body of the epic and not in isolation, one can see that the teaching on the omnipotence and vicissitude of Time is inherent in the epic worldview. Kālavāda’s ideas and imagery are not limited to the didactic books. They are widely scattered across the whole of the epic including heroic narrative of the so-called “battle books” where they have clear-cut formulaic expression. I tried to prove that the kālavāda is in fact a mytho-poetic formulation, a quintessence of the Mahābhārata’s “heroic fatalism” worldview typical of “classical” or “mature” epic traditions. The paper contains suggestion that texts preaching kālavāda formed the earliest layer of the epic didactics. This “heroic didactics” constitutive for the epic tradition can be viewed as having grown or been crystallized within it. Most probably it was already present in the Mahābhārata by the time when the Brahmanic-Hindu didactics began to be incorporated into the epic and to influence it.  The doctrine of Kāla (Time/Fate), Almighty God, the highest principle which by its “turns” (paryāya, paryaya) determines destinies of all beings, agreed poorly with the preaching of the Hindu dharma in the later parts of the epic. The two worldviews were destined to enter a conflict. The ideas of the kālavāda began to be attributed to the asuras (antigods), there appeared in the Mahābhārata some texts which condemned kālavāda and related forms of fatalism. Special editing was carried out aimed at representing Kāla as an aspect of the Hindu Śiva or Viṣṇu  or at the assertion of the dominance of the law of karman over the law of paryāya. However, it can hardly be denied that the kālavāda had a considerable impact on early Hinduism, particularly on basic ideas, ethical principles and imagery of the Bhagavadgītā.

Following up my paper “Patterns of Tejas in the Epics” delivered at WSC 12 (Helsinki 2003) this paper purposes to examine the way the notion of tejas — formerly (in vedic times) just yet another of many kindred Daseinsmächte or substance-powers such as ojas, varcas, yaśas and the like — attains paramountcy in the puranic synthesis of common traditional lore, becoming a regular attribute of the parameśvara in his different personae, on the one hand, as well as crystallizing specific tejas mythologemes around the most characteristic traits of each of the great hindu gods, on the other.

Recently, my blog "A Review of 'Rivers of Ṛgveda' by Jijith Nadumuri Ravi" brought up a flurry of questions from some individuals (whom I will not name) who want to go deeply into issues in their own way. The two main questions they asked were: why was I writing a strong critique of a writer who has otherwise proved to be a strong supporter of my OIT theory, and who, as per my own testimony, has helped me in ways I should be grateful for. And secondly, why was I criticizing a book which has been given strong recommendations even by eminent writers like Bibek Debroy?

To answer the first question in full, I will require to go into a little more detail about the difference between the geographical picture conjured up by the Epic-Puranic literature and the geographical picture indicated by the evidence of the geographical data in the Rigveda, and the different ways in which these two geographical pictures are sought to be reconciled.

It is generally assumed that the verse ṚV III 62.10, also known as the “sāvitrī,” received its popular name “Gāyatrī” already in the Vedic period. This paper shows that this name was in fact introduced only about a thousand years later. As it turns out, the first passages that unambiguously use “gāyatrī” as a name are found in the late strata of the Sanskrit Epics and the Dharmasūtras, composed around the 3rd century CE. Around the same time, we can observe the proliferation of modified forms of ṚV III 62.10, dedicated to deities such as Viṣṇu or Rudra. The paper argues that the creation of these mantras led to the revival of a category that by that time had become obsolete: the category of gāyatrīs. The introduction of the name “Gāyatrī” for ṚV III 62.10 is best explained against the background of this development.

Sathaye, Adheesh. 2010. “The Other Kind of Brahman: Rama Jamadagnya and the Psychosocial Construction of Brahman Power in the Mahabharata,” in Sheldon Pollock, ed., Epic and Argument in Sanskrit Literary History: Essays in Honor of Robert P. Goldman. New Delhi: Manohar, 2010; 185-207.

In the frame of my ongoing research devoted to the elucidation of the notion of tejas (‘ardent/fierce energy’), the present paper purposes to investigate an aspect that has so far lurked in the background of the former contributions, despite its crucial significance to the notion of tejas itself: namely, its liability to transference.
As a prominent instance of so-called “substance-powers” or Daseinsmächte, as Glasenapp originally termed them, meaning by such term “hypostases of qualities and processes conceived as self-standing substances”, tejas shares the transferability which is an essential property of substances — in contradistinction to qualities, which, existing only in alio and not enjoying an independent status, cannot be transferred as such. (As has already been noted, Indian thought is apt to hypostatize what would elsewhere be counted a mere quality: a well known case in point is puṇya, i.e. ‘virtue/merit’, which is not regarded in the śāstras as the inherent attribute of the virtuous, but rather as a stock of goods liable to be alienated to someone else).
The basic mechanics of tejas transfer, configuring either an increment or a decrement, can be further specified according to a fourfold typology: i) bestowal with inception of being; ii) bestowal with promotion of status; iii) withdrawal with demotion from status; iv) withdrawal with cessation from being. Such fourfold typology depends on a twofold acception of the notion of tejas, either (in a broader sense, brought out, e.g. in Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa I, 171, 2-7: ajeyaṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ tejas tac ca nityaṃ ca jantuṣu | nāśam āyānti te sarve hīnā vaiṣṇavatejasā) as the Lord’s selfsame cosmic life-sustaining energy, or (in a more restricted sense, brought out, e.g. in Bhagavad Gītā 10, 41: yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṃ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā | tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṃ mama tejo’mśasaṃbhavam) as a special supererogatory dispensation, building up the pre-eminence of exceptionally powerful beings. Whereas the bestowal and withdrawal of tejas in the general sense cannot but entail, respectively, origination and dissolution, the shift of (supererogatory) tejas in the special sense can have less drastic consequences.

Sathaye, Adheesh. 2012. “Magic Cows and Cannibal Kings: The Textual Performance of the Viśvāmitra Legends in the Mahābhārata,” in John Brockington, ed. Battle, Bards, and Brahmins: Papers of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Volume II. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass), 195-216.