Legends and folk lore: A collection of love and romantic stories
This is a collection of 26 stories translated into English from the Sanskrit version of Brhatkathāsaritsāgara (The Ocean of the Rivers of the Great Romance). This is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends and folk tales about love, romance, marriage and relationships. The Sanskrit version is said to have been adopted originally from Guṇāḍhya's Brihatkatha, which was written in an obscure language known as Paiśācī. This work is now extinct but a few recensions and adaptations such as the one written by Somadeva is available. In this book by University of Chicago Professor van Buitenen translates Somadeva’s work in such a way that the original style, fantasy and love is retained. The first English translation of the Somadeva’s work by Charles Henry Tawney was published in 1880, and the Norman Mosley Penzer’s book published in 1924 supplemented the stories with notes and compared to the legends of other ancient literature.
A brief summary of the book is as follows: In ancient India, for cultural companionship, the gentleman had to look for a courtesan or the dancing girl of a temple who lived in an artistic role. She was generally an accomplished musician, dancer, actress, and singer and probably contributed more to special grace and elegance of civilization than she was credited for during ancient times. Despite her high talents she could not pass for a high-born to be married and have children like a “normal” female. Despite this obstacle, the Indian literature and the authors had some fascination for a courtesan in love and romance. In the ‘First Prince’s story,” the ambiguity of a courtesan is brought out in the character study of two sisters, Kamamanjari and Ragamanjari. The former is known for ruthless rapacity and faithlessness, and the later a loving actress and a mistress. In the “Travels of Sanudasa, the Merchant,” Ganga, the harlot represents both greed and loving nature. But in the story “Man who impersonates God Vishnu” the courtesan is very loving and happily married off. Other legends similar to this include Lilith of ancient Hebrews, who was regarded as a female demon (lilītu) in Mesopotamian religion, and she was the first wife of Adam. When she finds out that Adam was trying to over-power her, Lilith leaves Adam in Eden. She returns, later, to force herself upon him. However, before doing so she attaches herself to Cain and bears him numerous spirits and demons. She later becomes demonized due to the rise of patriarchy. Other modern views hold that Lilith is a dark moon goddess on par with the Hindu goddess Kali.
In the story of “The Tale of the Two Bawds.” A courtesan becomes the betrayer by first professing her love for the son of the merchant in order to gain his fortune. Then she fleeces him and drops him. The gist of this story is that courtesan represents faithlessness and deceit, and the young merchant is a gullible man.
In the story “Mahosadha’s Judgment” is derived from a Buddhist Jataka story. Buddha in one of his previous incarnations as the sage Mahosadha arbitrates between a mother and a Yakshini (a beautiful mythical being, a temptress) who kidnapped a mother's baby and claimed that was hers. The sage announced a tug war: He drew a line on the ground and asked the two to stand on opposite sides of the line, one holding baby’s feet and the other baby’s hands - The one who would pull the baby's whole body beyond the line would get him. The mother, seeing how the baby suffers, released him and let the Yakshini take him. When the sage saw that, he turned the baby back to the hands of the true mother, exposed the identity of the Yakshini and expelled her from the land. The Judgment of Solomon refers to a similar story from the Hebrew Bible in which King Solomon of Israel ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child by tricking the parties into revealing their true feelings.
The story “The Red Lotus of Chastity” is about the women and protecting the honor. Guhasena is married to Devasmita get matching red lotus tattoos that will disappear if one of them is unfaithful. While on a business trip Guhasena gets drunk and tells his buddies about the red lotus. Then his friends go and try to seduce Devasmita, when she finds out what they're up to, she tricks them. Her husband on learning this betrayal comes to her rescue and destroys her attackers.
Author van Buitenen is a well-known scholar of Sanskrit and translated numerous works of Hindu literature including Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita. This is a non-religious literature and sure is interesting.
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