An Old Tibetan Version Of Ramayana

SR No.: 269273
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong
Total Pages: 13
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 13

202 J. W. DE JONG which was published in 1870, many scholars have made important contributions to the study of the different recensions of the Ramayana in India, and in Greater India. The Rama story has been transmitted in many countries and in many different languages. Camille Bulcke's book is at present the most comprehensive survey of the existing Rama literature. At the same time it shows how much work still has to be done. Many versions have not yet been properly edited. Only very few have been translated into English and other Western languages. Others are only known in outline. The study of the mutual relations between the many recensions of the Ramayana and of their ramifications is one of the most fascinating topics for future research. The critical edition of the Ramayana, which is nearing completion, will be of great importance in this respect. One may hope that it will be a stimulus for the editing of other Ramayana recensions. Valmiki's Ramayana will always be the basis for the study of the history of the Ramayana in India and outside India. However, no Sanskrit scholar is able to know all the languages in which the Ramayana has been transmitted. For this reason it is absolutely necessary that translations should be published. Another desideratum is the tracing of references to and quotations from the Rama story in other works. May I express the wish that one of the famous Indian institutions of learning will take the initiative for a systematic study of the Ramayana recensions for the purpose of bringing together in a Corpus Ramayanicum the entire Rama literature ? Undoubtedly, this is a long-term project which will require the cooperation of scholars from many countries. However, it would be difficult to think of any other work which, during many centuries and in many countries, has played such a great part in the imagination of mankind. Canberra, 15 March 1972.