Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 10, Part 1 (1968)
29 (of 138)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Jan., 1968] THE STORY OF SOMAKA 25 Besides these references in M and V, there are also other
considerations which can lead to the conclusion that the story and
its version in the Mbh. are older than those in the Sk.
considerations are set forth under General Remarks below.
General Remarks
These
The two stories in the Mbh. and Sk. respectively appear to
have one common motif, viz. that a king having only one son,
wants to have and at last succeeds in having, a hundred sons.
Still, of the two stories and their versions, the story and its
version in the Mbh. seems to be the older one. The custom of
offering human sacrifice as part of fecundity or fertility rite dates
back to very early times in human history. The Mbh. story and
its version, which have preserved this very old magico-religious
rite, must, therefore, be older than those in the Sk. The story
and its version in the Sk. belong to a later period when the idea
of human sacrifice was felt to be revolting and repellant to human
conscience. The story was retold in the Sk. the human sacrifice
having been substituted by a sacrifice performed with non-living
oblations.
The idea of glorifying the sanctity of the holy places
appears to be common to both the stories in the Mbh. and the Sk.
The Mbh. story glorifies the holy place on the bank of the
Yamun膩; the Sk. story glorifies the Hanumat-kunda. But even
here a remarkable difference is discernible in the view points of
the two stories. In the Mbh. story, it is the life of Somaka with
its achievements which has added to the holiness of the place
on the bank of the Yamuna. In the Sk. story, on the other hand,
it is the sanctity of the Hanumat kunda with its sacred waters
which has conferred efficacy on the king's sacrifice and has thus,
contributed to the fructification of his desires. Thus while in the
Mbh. human life and its achievements are considered supreme,
contributing as they do, to the holiness of a sacred place, in the
Sk. on the other hand, it is the holy places which are considered
supreme, their sacredness making human achievement possible
and fruitful. It appears that even on this score, the Mbh. story
belongs to an early period when it was considered that human
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