Secondary Tales of the Two Great Epics

Author(s): Rajendra I Nanavati
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 16

Introductory
eighteen Purāṇas."'5 In fact, the epics have resulted from our traditional folk-literature, have been preserved traditionally as popular property, have come to contain and preserve a lot of popular material in the form of tales of various types and have, as we have seen, continuously influenced the folk-life and folk-culture. They have continuously and heavily drawn upon the traditional mass of tales. As Winternitz puts it : "It is certain.... that as early as the time of Buddha there was in existence an inexhaustible store of prose and verse narratives – Ākhyānas, Itihāsas, Purānas and Gāthās forming as it were literary public property which was drawn upon by the Buddhists and the Jains, as well as by the epic poets."
The folk-literary characteristic of the two great epics can be established by other means also. It is said in Chāndogya Upanisad? that the magic songs of the Atharvaveda stand in the same relationship to the Itihāsapurāņa as the hymns to the Rgveda, the prose prayer formulae to the Yajurveda, and the melodies to the Sāmaveda. Now Atharvaveda is traditionally called the Veda of the Bhțgus and the Angirasas, and as Dr. Sukthankar has shown in the case of the MBh, "in the formative period of the epic a powerful Bhargava influence - direct or indirect - has been at work...." The Bhțgus, therefore, are the common link connecting this class of literature with the Atharvaveda.
Again, it is generally accepted that the Rgveda reflects more of an aristocraticpriestly interest in its compilation, whereas the Atharvaveda is more popular in character. In contrast to the generally exalted tone of the Rgvedic prayers, the magic incantations of the Atharvaveda reflect the beliefs, customs, traditions of a more popular common mass. As Macdonell puts it : "In its main contents the Atharyaveda is more superstitious than the Rgveda. For it does not represent the more advanced religious beliefs of the priestly class, but is a collection of the most popular spells current among the masses, who always preserve more primitive notions with regard to demoniac powers."9 In that sense Atharvaveda can be said to be nearer to the common folk than the Rgveda. In connecting Itihāsapurāņas with the Atharvaveda, therefore, the tradition, perhaps, tried to emphasise its folk-literary character.
It is rather difficult to decide the type of this connection. The relation of the Puranas with the Vedas is rather wellknown. The knowledge of the Itibāsapurānas is considered essential for a proper understanding of the Vedas.lo The Purāņas are not in
5 Rgvedic Legends Through the Ages, H.L. Hariyappa, Poona, 1953. p. xx, 6 History of Indian Literature, M. Winternitz, Tr. Mrs. S. Ketkar, Calcutta, Vol. I, p. 314. 7 III. 3.4. 8 vide: The Bhrgus and the Bharata', Sukthankar Memorial Edition, Vol. I, Ed. P. K. Gode, p.333. 9 A History of Sanskrit Literature : 1962, p. 156. 10 vide AdiP. i. 204.
itihäsapurāpābhyāṁ vedam samupabrmhayet / bibhety alpaśrutāt vedo mām ayam praharisyati //