Epic Characters : Preface

Preface

The ancient Indian literature consists of works in Sanskrit. Its range is from abstract, esoteric works to the most simplified narratives in prose and poetry. On the one hand, we have highly analytical essays or compositions of subtle profound thoughts and on the other, parables and stories that explain the complexities of life in simple story forms. This treasure trove in the form of Upanishads, Itihāsas, Purāṇas,  Myths, Songs, Kathas - Stories, and Kāvyas by men and women of great knowledge and insight is the core of the ancient Hindu  thought.  A  great  number  of  thinkers, poets, and philosophers of Hinduism have  explained  the  mysteries  of  the  phenomenal  world  and that  of the  metaphysical  in lucid, concise, and terse language  using  apt  metaphors  and  symbols. Here  is  an humble attempt on my part to bring forth  these  precious works  before  the young interested  minds  so as  to help them to have a glimpse at the bygone era and  gradually  develop an interest in the profound works of the Enlightened souls.                  

For instance, if  we  compare  Hindu  philosophy  with  that  of Greek  philosophy, we find  that  the Greeks  were  fatalists. We too  believe  in  destiny  and  its  iron  hand. But Hindu  view is that  destiny may relent  after  atonement  where as  for Greeks,  the destiny is  the dark power. For any misdeed the person has to suffer relentlessly as we see in the stories of Atlas,Tantalus, Edipus Rex  etc.

In this book ‘Epic characters and Beyond’ I have made sincere attempts to explain the words we often refer while we talk or hear them frequently. Though many may be knowing certain details about such references, I strongly feel that  they have to be given to the readers like glossary so that it will be received well by them to understand them more clearly and the innermeaning provided in them by our great sages. In prepring this book I have drawn materials from Epics, Purāṇas, Bhāgavatam, upaniṣads and many books that were written by highly read scholars.

Some may ponder as to why I have added the word ‘Beyond’ in the title. This has been included in the title since, names of holy rivers like Sarayu,  holy  places like Kurukṣetraṃ, holy weapons like Gadā etc need some explanation and therefore it became inevitable for me to include them in this compilation..

I have endeavoured to give proper credit wherever I have to, and any omission of such credit is unintentional.

Before proceeding further, please read the following :

As I said earlier, our Sanskrit lore is very rich. When I narrate a story from our Sanskrit text or a mythological story or a verse describing a deity, lot of references to other related characters arise. These are known as allusions  If we ignore these allusions,  the whole purport of the story - reference will be lost. Hence I am explaining (as far as possible in a simple manner) all the  allususions and stories of those so called related characters/items.

Kindly note :

For proper pronunciation of Sanskrist, I have used IAST transliteration. The  readers may kindly remember, that, all INDIC languages do not entertain CAPITAL letters. Hence IAST does not invoke CAPS. On the other hand, in ITRANS transliteration, capital letters are invoked to accommodate some consonants (sounds). For example, Mukunda is written in IAST as mukundaḥ. The same word is written in ITRANS as mukundaH. In both the cases, the letter ‘h- H’ here is called  as visargaḥ विसर्गः - written as two dots (:). Therefore, while reading those words, the letter ‘ḥ - H’ appearing in them may be treated as a silent letter. Eg. The word ‘honour’ is pronounced as ‘onour’ and the letter ‘h- H’ appearing  is neglected. Kindly bear this in mind.

However for the convenience of the readers who are familiar with the English language, which is in vogue in many parts of the world, I have deliberately used capital letters wherever necessary.

I dedicate this compilation to my late parents.

Example:

Kaśyapaḥ कश्यपः and his wife Khadrū खद्रू.He is said to be one of the seven dragons holding earth on their hoods. At the time of churning the milky ocean by the devās and asuārs to obtain ambrosia, he was used as a rope wound round the mountain Mandaraḥ मन्दरः  

śataśīrṣā शतशीर्षा was his wife. The snakeJaratkāru   जरत्कारु, who got married to the sage Jaratkāruḥ जरत्कारुः was the sister of Vāsukiḥ. purāṇas sometimes depict the divine snake Vāsukiḥ as one of the dikpālakās-guardians of the directions, presiding over downward direction. It is said that, at the time of deluge-pralayaḥ प्रलयः, Lord Viṣṇuḥ विष्णुः took the form of a big fish (matsya avatāraḥ), and saved the saptariśī -seven sages and Vāsukiḥ