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The Tales in Mahabharata
117
that of Buddhists and Jains, had evienced itself."158 We may or may not accept the historical extension of the implications of the episode, but the picture in it of the brahminical attempts to prevent, even by questionable means, the persons of lower strata from infiltrating into their folds is undeniable. In the MBh episodes, the attempts are on a secular level, in the RM episode, they are on an ethicoreligious level.
It is interesting to note that one peculiar incident is narrated in connection with Duryodhana. In VanP,159 Duryodhana with his companions visits the forests in all his royal pomp and glory with a view to Putting Pandavas to shame. On the way, however, he picks up a quarrel with Gandharva Citrasena who quickly takes him captive. He is rescued by the efforts of the Pandavas themselves. Duryodhana's embitterment is enhanced. For "the man with an inferiority complex does not forgive anyone who has witnessed his humiliation even though the latter subsequently helps him out of his predicament."160 Duryodhana, in his chagrin, vows to starve himself to death. He is dissuaded by the Daityas and the Danavas who take him to the netherworlds and tell him that if he dies, their cause will be lost. He is their only refuge as the Pandavas are of the gods. Daityas and Dänavas are born among the Ksatriyas who will fight Duryodhana's enemies. They thus succeed in making Duryodhana give up his vow of fasting unto death.
The episode is clearly a later addition. It is an anti-heroic tale in the sense that it is narrated in connection with the villain of the epic. To popular mind, Duryodhana is a bad character. His evil nature is emphasised is emphasised in the episode. Thus it conforms to the type to which the popular mind has reduced his character. But the more important function of the episode is that it puts the entire spic on a different level. The episode is "a very clear proof of the fact that the Kauravas were viewed by the epic poets as incarnations of the Asuras."16
Apart from this single episode, no other tale is added to the MBh in the name of Duryodhana. In the UK, on the other hand, there is a whole group of episodes narrated in connection with Ravana. His genealogy, his parentage, his previous victories, his devotion to Śiva, his austere penance and its reward as boons, his tyrannies, his lewdness, even his defeats, in fact, a complete katha-cakra162 bringing out the salient aspects of his personality is given there. Looking for the reasons of such a glaring difference, we realize that the villain of the MBh belongs to the same race and the same genealogy as its heroes; again, since the story of the family-faction is narrated from the beginning, the tales of the heroes almost automatically become the tales of
158 The Ramayana, H. Jacobi, Tr, S. N. Ghosal, Baroda, 1960, pp. 74-75.
159 The Sub-Parvan called Ghosa-yatra-parva. 239-240.
160 A New History of Sanskrit Literature, Krishna Chaitanya. 161 On the Meaning of the Mahabharata, Sukthankar, p.65, 162 UK. 1-34.
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