Visions and revisions in Sanskrit narrative : studies in the Sanskrit epics and puranas / edited by Raj Balkaran and McComas Taylor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Balkaran, Raj, editor.

Taylor, McComas, 1956- editor.

Series:

Asian studies series monograph ; 19.

Asian studies series monograph ; 19

Language:

English

Sanskrit

Subjects (All):

Puranas--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Puranas.

Epic literature, Sanskrit--History and criticism.

Epic literature, Sanskrit.

Hindu literature--History and criticism.

Hindu literature.

Sanskrit literature--History and criticism.

Sanskrit literature.

Indic literature--History and criticism.

Indic literature.

Vedic literature--History and criticism.

Vedic literature.

Hindu philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (484 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Canberra : Australian National Uuniversity/ANU Press, [2023]

Language Note:

Chiefly in English, with some passages in Sanskrit.

Summary:

Sanskrit narrative is the lifeblood of Indian culture, encapsulating and perpetuating insights and values central to Indian thought and practice. This volume brings together eighteen of the foremost scholars across the globe, who, in an unprecedented collaboration, accord these texts the integrity and dignity they deserve. The last time this was attempted, on a much smaller scale, was a generation ago, with Purāṇa Perennis (1993). The pre-eminent contributors to this landmark collection use novel methods and theory to meaningfully engage Sanskrit narrative texts, showcasing the state of contemporary scholarship on the Sanskrit epics and purāṇas -- Source other than Library of Congress.

Contents:

Intro

List of illustrations

Figure 5.1 The descent of Rāma Jāmadagnya

Figure 5.2 Rāma Jāmadagnya at the intersection of cirañjīvins (horizontal in italics) and avatāras (vertical in bold)

Figure 5.3 The expected union of the three sons of Śaṃtanu and the three Kāśi princesses with their expected offspring

Figure 5.4 The epic's account of the descents of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura

Figure 8.1 Moral tasting notes for the Udyogaparvan

Figure 8.2 Moral tasting notes for the Udyogaparvan, by embassy

Table 8.1 Five moral 'foundations' for humans

Table 8.2 Moral tasting notes of the council of Upaplavya

Table 8.3 Moral tasting notes of the second embassy

Table 8.4 Moral tasting notes of the third embassy

Table 8.5 Moral tasting notes of the fourth embassy

Table 14.1 Dhruva Narrative (Pathak 1999)

Plate 10.1 Puṣpaka as a flying palace. Rāma leaves Laṅkā on Puṣpaka. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, c. 1650. Himachal Pradesh, Pahari School. The San Diego Museum of Art

Plate 10.2 Puṣpaka as a swan. Rāma, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa fly back to Ayodhyā on Puṣpaka. From: Tulsi Ramayan, Tej Kumar Book Depot, date unknown

Plate 10.3 Garuḍa-Puṣpaka. Garuḍa (holding a snake in his claws and with lotus-like back feathers) carries a canopy sheltering Hanumān, Rāma, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa

Plate 10.4 The vimāna of the Virūpākṣa Temple, Hampi (Karnataka), c. fifteenth-sixteenth century

Plate 10.5 Keshava Temple, Somnathpur (Karnataka), c. 1268

Plate 10.6 The Puṣpaka temple

Foreword

Preface

Contributors

Introduction: Visions and revisions of Sanskrit narrative

1. Narrative argument and interlocutory frames in the Mahābhārata

2. Āstīka, black magic and apotropaic ritual: Peacemaking brahmins and the snake sacrifice in the Mahābhārata's Ādiparvan.

3. Transitions and transmissions in the Mahābhārata: Revisiting the Ugraśravas/Śaunaka frame dialogue

4. Battling inner conflicts: Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Saṃjaya in the Udyogaparvan of the Mahābhārata

5. The Ambopākhyāna reconsidered: Reading Ambā's story as part of the Rāma Jāmadagnya myth cycle

6. Claiming the narrative: Subjectivity and intertextuality in the Ambopākhyāna

7. Bhīma: The shadow king

8. Some moral tasting notes on the Udyogaparvan of the Mahābhārata

9. The Bhagavadgītā's determinism and world literature

10 .Mineral, vegetal, animal or divine? The flying palace Puṣpaka's manifold metamorphoses

11. From Ayodhyā to the Daṇḍaka: Rāma's journey in exile according to the Jain Rāmāyaṇas

12. Gembedded narratives: Jewelled peacetime tales of Rāma's exile and Rāvaṇa's domicile as alternative afterlife anticipations in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

13. Train stations, enterprising priests and the deadly blows of kuśa grass: Reading the purāṇas with a magic‑realist lens

14. Textures of purāṇic transmission: A contemporary vernacular exposition of a Sanskrit purāṇa

15. The Śivaśarmopākhyāna of the Padma Purāṇa as a bizarre compendium of epic and purāṇic tales of Pitṛbhakti

16. Same, same but different: The Tamil Kāñcippurāṇam and its Sanskrit source

17. The 'purāṇification' of the death of Kṛṣṇa

18. Lambs, lightning, nakedness and fire: Polythetic networks and literary elaborations of the Purūravas-Urvaśī narrative.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print record.

ISBN:

9781760465902

1760465909

OCLC:

1394054036