Showing posts with label Hinduism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hinduism. Show all posts

Thursday, May 12, 2022

The Mahapuranas

THE MAHAPURANAS (Indian, unknown dates, perhaps from c. 250 CE)

The Puranas (a Sanskrit word meaning "ancient") constitute a vast genre of Indian literature on a wide range of topics, mostly related to the gods and their activities, including the Mahabharata; holy places and festivals; cosmology and the world; genealogies of various dynasties; and the practice of Yoga. Out of the many, 18 have been designated Maha ("great") puranas (though the texts included may vary depending on the source). The shortest purana is 9,000 verses; the longest, 81,100; many individual verses appear in more than one purana. Most of the Mahapuranas are named for Hindu gods. One list has: Brahma, Padma, Vishnu, Shiva, Bhagavata, Narada, Markandeya, Agni, Bhavishya, Brahmavaivarta, Linga, Varaha, Skanda, Vamana, Kurma, Matsya, Garuda, and Brahmanda.

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Monday, March 21, 2022

Bhasa

BHASA (Indian, before the 1st century BCE)

Although his dates are very uncertain, the great Indian playwright Bhasa was already well-known by the 1st century BCE; at the earliest, he lived in the later days of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE). Thirteen plays have been connected to him, but were all lost until manuscripts were rediscovered around 1910. Bhasa's plays are generally short compared to later Indian plays. Three of those plays are based on the Ramayana, and seven on the Mahabharata. Another is a fairy tale, and two are based on the life of a legendary king who lived at the time of the Buddha. Two of his plays are the only known tragedies written in Sanskrit in ancient India; later, the guidelines for plays considered sad endings inappropriate.

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Sunday, March 20, 2022

The Laws of Manu (Manusmriti)

THE LAWS OF MANU (Manu, Indian, 200 BCE-200 CE)

The first Manu (called "Swayambhuva Manu," son of the god Brahma, and in some sense the first human) had a discussion with Bhrigu, a rishi (enlightened person) who was one of the Saptarshis, the Seven Great Sages. Their topics were the proper duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues, and so on. This talk is the basis of the Manusmriti or Laws [better, "Written Texts"] of Manu, the earliest Hindu legal text, and one of the first Sanskrit texts to be translated into English. The East India Company used in the making their administrative law code.

  • Over fifty ancient manuscripts of the Manusmriti are known.
  • It has long been known outside of India, and used in ancient Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

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Sunday, March 13, 2022

The Panchatantra

THE PANCHATANTRA (Vishnusharma?, Indian, about 200 BCE)

The Panchatantra ("Five Treatises") is a collection of fables that shares a style and a few stories with the Jataka Tales and Aesop. It's also the source of some stories in the Arabian Nights and other works. Like that later work, the stories are arranged in an embedded "Russian Doll" structure. The (probably fictitious) author, Vishnusharma, is named in the Introduction. Unlike Aesop, each of the five books has a frame story that provides a loose theme.

The Five Books:

  • Book 1, "The Loss of Friends": 30+ fables about Damanaka, a wily jackal serving a lion king; the longest book, making up 45% of the whole
  • Book 2, "The Winning of Friends": 10 fables about four friends: a crow, a mouse, a turtle, and a deer (22%)
  • Book 3, "On Crows and Owls": 18 fables, mainly about war and peace (26%)
  • Book 4, "Loss of Gains": 13 fables with morals (7%)
  • Book 5, "Ill-Considered Action": 12 fables with cautionary morals, mainly featuring human characters (?%, but short)

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Saturday, March 12, 2022

The Ramayana

THE RAMAYANA (Valmiki, Indian, perhaps 5th century BCE)

The Ramayana is the shorter of the two great Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Mahabharata. Said to have been written by the sage Valmiki, it tells the story of Prince Rama, considered by worshipers of Lord Vishnu to be an avatar (material incarnation) of that supreme deity. Through the machinations of his stepmother, Rama undergoes a fourteen-year exile, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. Much of the story is taken up with the kidnapping of Sita to Sri Lanka by the demon Ravana, and her rescue (with the help of Hanuman, a divine monkey and devotee of Lord Rama) before the prince's return to his city and reclaiming of his throne.

  • The Ramayana contains nearly 24,000 verses in seven chapters.
  • The oldest parts of the story date to the 7th-4th centuries BCE, the latest up to the 3rd century CE.

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Thursday, February 3, 2022

The Upanishads

THE UPANISHADS (India, c. 700-500 BCE)

This 4th section of The Vedas is also called the Vedanta, the end--both in time and purpose--of The Vedas. They contain more Hindu philosophy than the older portions and thus are better known and more accessible to the average reader. One story summarizes the intention of the texts when it says "You are That," identifying the inquirer with the Atman, the Highest Self. About 108 Upanishads are known, 12 or so of them being most important. Schopenhauer called them "the most profitable and elevating reading... possible in the world."

  • The Brhadaranyaka, Katha, Kena, and Mundaka Upanishads are of special interest.

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Tuesday, February 1, 2022

The Vedas

THE VEDAS (India, c. 1500-900 BCE)

The Vedas are the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. There are four: the Rigveda: probably the best known in the west, a collection of hymns; the Yajurveda: prose mantras for worship rituals; the Samaveda: melodies and chants, largely taken from the Rigveda; and the Atharvaveda: religious procedures for everyday life. Each Veda is further divided into four parts: the Samhitas (the main, metrical texts), the Brahmanas (commentaries on the Samhitas); the Aranyakas (meditations on the Samhitas by forest mystics); and the Upanishads (philosophical works).

  • Veda means "knowledge."

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