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)
30 (of 138)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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26
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] 笔鲍搁膧狈础
[Vol. X., No. 1
achievement lent sacredness to a sacred place, while the Sk. story
belongs to a later period when the sacredness of sacred places
was glorified at the expense of human achievement, it being
superstitiously considered that it is the sanctity of a sacred place
which bestows efficacy on human achievement.
It will be seen that the Mbh. story of Somaka has undergone
a profound metamorphosis in the Sk. adapted and suited to the
ideas and tastes of the time and clime of the redactor or redactors
who gave shape to the story as preserved in the Sk. Such
adaptation of striking old stories to the spirit of contemporary
times is not unusual in literature. In our own times, this story
of Somaka in the Mbh. has itself been retold in a dramatic form
by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was a great humanist and
his was 'the Religion of man.' Readers of his dramatic poem
Naraka-vasa" in which he has retold and readapted the original
Mbh. story will, doubtless, testify to the rich vibrant humanistic
feelings and sentiments which the story breathes forth under
the magic touch of his genius.
1. See 'Sa帽cayit膩 (Vishvabh膩rati) (an anthology in Bengali of Tagore's
poems) pp. 386-395.
