नारायणस्य शय्यायां भोजनं स्यात्तु नोचितम् |
कथं साधु तदीयादिजन्मभक्षणमेव वः ||
Author:Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
The epics and mythology of a culture deeply influence art and literature. This is pronounced in the case of India, as our heritage still has the unbroken, living tradition of the sublime epics and their fascinating stories. For close to three millennia, our culture has drawn inspiring themes from these perennial sources, thus perpetuating their metaphorically powerful and aesthetically elevating expressions. All art forms of India—irrespective of distinctions like classical and non-classical, traditional and modern—are indebted to our extraordinary epic heritage.
The use of myth in ‘Saakshi’ also functions beautifully at another level by equating the mythical and magical power with the creative power of disinterested observation in an artist (novelist). This reminds me of what Coleridge says ‘’about the magical power of creativity, the power of an artist, in his poem ‘Kublakhan’:
‘That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air,
That Sunny dome! Those caves of ice;
And all who heard should see them there
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Myth has become a prominent term at present in literary criticism. A large group of writers, myth-critics like Robert Graves, Francis Ferguson, Maud Bodkin, Richard Chase, Northrop Frye, Joseph Campbell and others view the genres and individual plot patterns of many works of literature - including what appear on the surface to be highly sophisticated and realistic world, as recurrences of basic mythic formulas.
भूत्वा पौल्कसकात् प्रपद्य रजकानाभाष्य पौराणिकान्
गानस्थानमुपेत्य चाशुकरणानालिङ्ग्य नत्वा कवीन् |
वेश्यासद्मनि संप्रविश्य च गता वैद्यस्य पाणिग्रहं
भूयो हन्त ! सुवर्णकारसदने सानन्दमास्ते मृषा ||
The fourth part of this translation comprises the verses that are not found in the critical edition but are in the Chitrashala edition. Most of them are as elegant as the ones found in the critical edition. This episode appears in chapters 311-12 of the Chitrashala edition. The verses are not numbered so as to avoid confusion.
This is the third part of the translation of the Yakshaprashna. With this, all the verses in the critical edition have been translated. In the fourth and concluding part of the translation we will take up all the verses from the Chitrashala edition that have not already been covered in the critical edition.
This is the second part of the translation of the Yakshaprashna, a conversation between Yudhishtira and Yama on the banks of the enchanted lake.
Chapter 297
Verses 32-62:
Yaksha
किं क्षत्रियाणां देवत्वं
कश्च धर्मः सतामिव ।
कश्चैषां मानुषो भावः
किमेषामसतामिव ॥ ३२
How does a kshatriya attain divinity?
What is his true dharma?
What is the human trait of kshatriyas?
What is the wrong path for a kshatriya?
One of the most fascinating tales in the Mahabharata is the dialogue between Yudhishtira and Yama on the banks of the enchanted pool. This episode is popularly known as the ‘Yakshaprashna.’ The characters of the Mahabharata, so richly sketched by Vyasa, find relevance even today among readers. Never one to judge his characters or paint them with a single shade of color, Vyasa highlights the ridiculous and the sublime in the characters at various points in the epic.
माणिक्यक्रमणं लोके मङ्गलाय भवेत्किल |
मङ्गले सहजेsस्माकं माणिक्यात्किं प्रयोजनम् ||