Indian Antiquary Vol 57

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 216

192
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
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[OCTOBER, 1928
15. Summoning by Thought. 16. The Home of the Blest 17. Unintentional Injuries. 18. Portents: Twitching ; Itching ; Sneozing. 19. Love-sickness and Death. 20. Taboos.
(a) Umbrellas. 21. Dreams. 22. Jonah in the Whale's Belly. 23. Rahu and Eclipses.
11. General Points.
1. Chronology. Let me commence with those matters that do not strictly concern Folklore, but are representative, nevertheless, of this old collection of folktales and of ancient, and indeed modern, Indian life and literature. 'One can hardly expect a literary work such as that of Somadeva, brought about to amuse the leisure of an Eastern qucen, to be careful of chronology ; but in this matter the author is wholly wild in his statements in true old Indian fashion. He is relating the main story and is extolling the glory of King Chandamahasena, King of Vatsa, in “conquering the Earth” (pp. 93-94). This to start with, and then the same king is made to subdue the King of Sindh in a war, in the course of which the King of Vatsa's cavalry break "the cavalry squadrons of the Turushkas," i.e., of the Turks. The King of Vatsa next cuts off "the head of the wicked King of the Parasikas," i.e., of the Persians, and defeats the Hâņas, i.e., the white Huns. These performances frighten the King of Kamarupa, i.e., of Assam, into submission, and lastly in triumph he goes to the King of Magadha, i.e., of Bihar. Surely here neither time nor place nor history are considered.
2. Urvasi and Purtravas.
The Oldest Love Story. At p. 245 ff. Mr. Penzer gives us in Appendix I. a most valuable set of observations on The Story of Urvasi and Purúravas, traced back to a hymn in the Rigveda. At the commencement of his remarks he states: "It is the first Indo-European love-story known and may even be the oldest love-story in the world.” One would like to think so. Perhaps some Egyptian or Sumerian sobolar may tell us if an older one has been unearthed. Its great antiquity, however, and its persistent popularity are beyond doubt. Its scheme is, of course, in consequence familiar to many an European who has never heard of the original. An immortal girl (a fairy) loves a mortal man, marries him in mortal form on a condition-on a taboo in fact-which he cannot keep, and then disappears as an immortal on his breaking it. In the end he finds the means to attain immortality, and after many troubles every. thing ends happily. It is a story calculated to bring out much human nature in the telling.
8. Puns. Still dealing with matters of general interest, I would note that one cannot have much experience of Indian literature without noticing the fondness for puns and double meanings, and it is interesting to noto how old and insistent this fondness is. In this volume I have marked their occurrence noticed ten times by Mr. Penzer at pp. 52, 73, 79, 132, 154, 158, 180, 181, 218, 219.
4. The Naming of Heroes. Another general matter that I would like to call attention to in these stories is that a personal name is given to every one of importance concerned with a tale. It does not seem to be enough merely to mention that there lived a merchant who did such and such things, but the merchant must be named and so on, even when the name does not give any point