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Conclusions
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are brought in to introduce the Janamejaya-tales-group. Again, the fact of the five brothers being the heroes, the myetery around their births and their polyar drous marriage create easy occasions for bringing in many more tales. Thus, the tales introduced in the Adip for these purposes have no parallel pattern in the BK.
It is again a commonplace observation that in the RM, the secondary tales are either prefixed or suffixed to the original epic in two special Kāņdes-BK and UK. In the MBh no such scruple is observed, and the secondary tales are pushed in at any conceivable opportunity. Yet two large collections of secondary episodis (other than the AdiP) are the two so-called temporal hiatuses. We have observed that there is no conceivable pattern in the tales of UK which are roughly clustered around persons (Rāvana, Hanumat, Satrughpa) or events (Aśvamedha) or places (Danda). The two temporal-hiatus-groups, on the other hand, do have at least the unity of function. The VanP tales are intended to fill up the yawning gap of twelve years and they are all narrated primarily to please. The tales of the other large group -- those of SanP and Aoup -- are all intended to edify. There are also observed some further patterns of formal nature appropriate to the functions the tales must serve. At other places in the MBh tales are also clustered as piligrimage tales to console such as tie famous group of tales of the sixteen kings called the sodaśa-rājakiya. MBh, thus, reveals a wonderfully varied mosaic of the patterns of groups of secondary tales. In the RM, things are simple. Tales are grouped at the two ends. Those prefixed reveal a well-thought-out purposeful pattern. Those suffixed have no pattern at all.
The mode of occurance of the secondary tales in the body of the epics is also observed to have significant patterns. When the tales are briefly alluded to, i.e., summarily referred to in a passing manner in a stanza or two, they add to the force of emotion or argument of the principal narrative. Such allusions are found in abundance in the dialogue-portions of the SabP where they make the dialogues more forceful, emotions more turbulent, conflict sharper and atmosphere darker. In the MBh, such allusions, when they occur in bunches, nearly always mark the genuine portions of the original cpic. It is further observed that normally, such allusions in the MBh are either to the past events in the life of the charactor or to some famous parable. With regard to the 'Itibāsa’-type of tales (ie. tales of events that are supposed to have taken place in the lives of persoas other than the epic-personae), the tendency is to set them in all the relevant details systematically in the RM, on the other band, even in its central Kāndas allusions themselves are rare, with the result that the depiction of emotions in RM is more chaste, the characterisation more 'idea!' the dialogues more sober, the atmosphere more serene, and the style more evenly dignified. Whenever, again, the allusions do occur in the RM, they allude to the famous tales of the Itihāsa '-type (such as those of Sakuntalā or Damayanti etc.) and not to the parable; or past events. Thus, freedom from allusions to famous tales
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