Recent Russian Publications On Indian Epic

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 32

32
THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN Previous scholars have often drawn attention to contradictions and inconsistencies in the epic.1 ACcording to G. many contradictions can be explained by the fact that, depending on the requirements of the story, the epic singers each time propose an explanation which corresponds to a certain moment in the story or by the fact that they put on the first plan a detail which is most appropriate in the context. It happens also that the same event is described twice. However, in agreement with the well-known epic law of chronological incompatibility parallel events are described as being consecutive.
Another characteristic of oral poetry is the occurrence of enumerations of people, phenomena and objects (cf. M 3. 80-83; 4. 40-43). The presence of enumerations is to be explained by the fact that the knowledge of them constitutes an indispensable part of the training of the epic poet. The tables of contents which are found in both Indian epics fulfill a similar function.
One of the most important characteristics of the Indian epic is the abundance of all kinds of inserted episodes of different contents and size. Those episodes which are unconnected with the basic narrative constitute more than half of M. Normally, they are introduced in M in the following way. During a dialogue or the telling of a story one of the heroes mentions a legend and the second participant or the listener requests
For instance Hopkins, op. cit., pp. 369-75; N. K. Sidhanta, The Heroic Age of India (London, 1929), pp. 17-19.