Study Of Mahabharata

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

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THE STUDY OF THE MAHABHARATA her baby' (IV. 35. 9).18 According to Grintser it is only rarely that formulas are used inappropriately in the Indian epic.
In Chapter Three of his book, Grintser analyses Chapter 49 of Book 6 which describes a duel between Drona and Dhrstadyumna. He arrives at the conclusion that only 23 out of the 164 pāda-s are entirely free from formulas, and that 77% of the entire chapter consists of formulas or formulaic expressions. About the same percentage obtains in other battle chapters, whereas it is lower in narrative chapters. The didactic portions of the epic are also poorer in formulas and formulaic expressions, but many of the maxims they contain are found also in the same or in slightly different form in other didactic works. According to Grintser, the presence of such a great number of formulas and formulaic expressions in the Indian epic proves its origin and nature. He remarks that P. G. Bogatyrev and other scholars have pointed out that the basic law of oral literature is the combination of tradition and improvisation.
Different aspects of the technique of oral literature (themes, repetitions, catalogues and inserted episodes) are studied by Grintser in Chapter Four. A theme, according to Lord, is an element of narration or of description in traditional oral poetry which is repeated. Among permanent themes in the old Indian epic are councils of gods and kings, meetings and receptions of guests, descriptions of the departure of heroes to the forest and of their forest adventures, descriptions of duels, ascetic exploits, armaments, military expeditions, but also of lamentations, prophetic dreams, evil omens and nature scenes. A theme is constructed on the basis of a determined sequence of traditional elements and contains a standard choice of formulas, but, although there is a great degree of uniformity, variations are far from being excluded. Grintser quotes different examples of themes in the epic, e.g. duel scenes, the lamentation of women or other relatives for slain warriors, etc.
The use of traditional themes leads to repetitions which are often literal. Grintser remarks that these repetitions are conditioned by the requirements of the composition of the epic and by the formulatory nature of its language. It is not correct to maintain that a repeated passage is unauthentic, as has been done by Jacobi. Repetitions of themes and episodes result from the special nature of the oral performance of the epic. In the first place, the epic singer continues his recital during many days, It is therefore very probable that at the beginning of a new session and before a partly new audience he repeats an episode in order to clarify the sequence of events. In the second place, the same traditional epic topics are related by many different singers and often in substantially different versions. The singer who knows these versions sometimes wishes to incorporate two or three versions of the same epic event. Another characteristic of oral literature is the presence of contradictions and inconsistencies.