by Sivadasa
6. Kālidāsa used the Śakuntala story (Mahābhārata, I.62-69) in his great play, Abhijhāna Śākuntalam. The Mahābhārata has been consistently and heavily mined for its riches by later writers.
7. The Jātaka Tales would give a strong didactic twist to a story; e.g., the Valahāssa Jataka, similar in plot to Tale 8 in Śivadāsa’s Vetāla Tales.
8. Intro. to the Śukasaptati by Pandit Ramakanth Tripathi, Chowkhamba, 1966.
9. This might be Gautamīputra Śātavāhana the greatest ruler of this dynasty. At the height of their power, the Śātavāhana rulers pushed up to the Narmadā valley, annexed Mālava and took over Ujjayinī, the capital of Vikramāditya.
10. Rajan, introduction, p.xx the PanŪatantra of Viṣṇu Śarma, Penguin Classics, 1993.
11. Vidyādhara (vidyādharï, feminine) is literally one who possesses vidyā: Vidyā normally signifies knowledge; but earlier it meant knowledge of a special kind; esoteric knowledge; knowledge of magic. It also signified the scientific knowledge of ancient India in areas such as smelting and refining of ores, distillation, building of machines (yantra), perhaps even of flying machines; the kind of knowledge that would have been kept secret and imparted only to initiates and which must have struck the ordinary person as magical. This is the sense in which the word is used in the Vetāla Tales. In mythology, Vidyādhara—Vidyādharis, were semi-divine beings, with special powers such as the ability of flying through air, making themselves invisible, assuming different shapes at will. They were believed to be uncommonly beautiful and skilled musicians. Both males and females of this class of celestial beings were believed to bewitch and seduce travellers walking in lonely places. European mythology has similarly naiads, nymphs, sirens, mermaids and mermen, and fairies generally. Vidyādharas had their own splendid kingdoms and opulent cities in the Himalayan regions. With Yaksas they are associated with Śiva, on whom they attended. Their Himalayan habitation lends credence to the supposition that in the very early history of the peoples of India, the term Vidyādhara—Vidyādharī, designated people of the Himalayan valleys who were different from the people of the plains and whose activities might have included mining for gems and ores, refining of metals, smelting and so on. Vidyādharīs were specially believed to have been very beautiful, lissom, enchanting (in both senses); and as inhabiting woods and groves, pools and streams. They were skilled singers and were believed to fascinate passers-by with their beauty and singing.
12. I use the term ‘saga’ in preference to the commonly used word ‘epic’ because the word saga characterizes the work better. The Mahābhārata is essentially the ‘tale of the tribe’, to appropriate Ezra Pound’s expressive phrase. Often a term taken out of a certain cultural context and literary tradition (the Western in this case) and applied in another (the Indian) misleads rather than leads the reader into understanding. This can and has led to misinterpretation and errors of judgement.
The Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie as set down by Śivadāsa
1. A tree that bears bitter berries, probably the neem whose leaves, twigs, flowers and berries have a medicinal use.
2. An ascetic has to begin all over again if his penance is interrupted.
3. Ascetics are often irascible and prone to utter curses.
4. Kumbhah has two meanings: a pot and a harlot’s paramour.
5. Probably the simple structure of a thatched roof supported by four poles driven into the ground to serve as a shelter for farmers working in the fields,
6. Indra, Lord of the Immortals, attended by the apsaras who are celestial dancers.
7. The world of eternal light; abode of the Immortals.
8. Dharma, the Law of the Universe at its three levels, cosmic, natural and human. According to Dharma there is a fourfold division of a man’s life. Each division is called an āśrama or station in life: the four are: the student’s life involving education and professional training; the householder’s life involving marriage, bringing up a family and fulfilling social and political obligations; retirement and retreat into the forest; total abnegation of the world and its affairs.
9. The moon.
10. The lion.
11. A little water pot used in calculating planetary positions in order to draw a natal chart.
12. A child’s head is shaved or its hair trimmed shortly after the first birthday, to ensure a new and healthy growth of hair.
13. A rite of passage that marks the end of one stage, namely, childhood and the start of another, boyhood which is the period of education.
14. A lacuna in the text.
15. The last rites are elaborate and continue over ten days and include the gathering of the bones, immersion of the ashes in holy waters, etc.
16. An auspicious mark of sandalwood paste blended with saffron, placed on the forehead of the participants in all rites and ceremonies, birthdays, marriage coronations.
17. Lakṣmī, goddess of wealth, good fortune, plenitude, beauty, sovereignty.
18. Dangers from enemies and lawless elements in the state.
19. Literally, lord of the ganas; the ganas are a troop of demigods, attendants of Śiva. Ganeśa is, in mythology, the son of Śiva; in metaphysical terms, an emanation, with certain recognizable functions, of Śiva as the Absolute and supreme godhead. Ganeśa—Ganapati, Vināyaka are other names or epithets—is regarded as the dispeller of difficulties, the destroyer of obstacles; and prayers are addressed to this godhead at the commencement of all enterprises, undertakings and courses of action to ensure success.
In mythology, Ganeśa is pictured as elephant-headed, with a single tusk, pot-bellied, fond of good food, of rich sweets in particular. The association with rich food points to the origin of this godhead in an ancient harvest god.
20. See note 8.
21. At the end of time the world is dissolved back into its primordial state, by fire and wind and water; this dissolution is signified in Sanskrit by the term pralaya.
22. Digambara, ‘clad in space’ is the term used here; a term signifying a sect of Jaina monks but not exclusively.
23. The traditional welcome gift.
24. The term yogī is used in both in the Śivadāsa and the Jambhaladatta recensions for a magician; an ascetic who subjects himself to severe austerities over a long period not to effect the integration with Supreme Spirit, but to gain supranormal powers, the Siddhis, described in the frame story (pp.15-16).
25. The preceptor of the Immortals; also the name of a celebrated lawgiver who codified and formulated legal directives.
26. Yoginī—Dākinī, are terms signifying bands of female devotees of the mother goddess in her fierce, destructive aspect as Kāli. (Kāli is the feminine of Kāla, Time). They correspond to the Bacchantes of Greek mythology, the Maenads and Thyiades who are associated with the cult of Bacchus and its secret rites.
27. The fierce, destructive aspect of Śiva, the creative principle. In iconography and art, Bhairava is represented as wearing the symbols of death.
28. The great war of the ancient world known to the peoples of India around the beginning of the first millenium BC. It is the theme of the great epic Mahābhārata. The war was fought in the region around modern Delhi, between cousins, each vying for the throne and sovereignty over northern India and the territories contiguous on all sides. The two branches of the dynasty that fought this bitter war are known as Kaurava and Pāṇdava; the former was the branch in power being the elder.
29. Karṇa and Śalva fought on the Kaurava side, the former being the commander of the imperial armies and the foremost warrior; the latter a powerful king and ally of the Kauravas.
30. The strongest warrior on the Pāṇdava side, second of the five Pāṇdava brothers, sons of Pāndu, who claimed the throne.
31. Brother of the reigning monarch. In the epic, Bhīma throws him down and slays him by tearing open his chest with bare hands and drinking his heart’s blood. In the context of this passage in our text, the words Bhīma and Duhśāsana in the plural are
used in a generic sense, perhaps for savages, outlaws and criminals who may have frequented burning grounds and performed ritual killings (cf. the ritual killings in Euripides’ Bacchae).
32. The Daṇdaka was a vast region of forests stretching between the rivers Yamunā and Godāvarī in central India, inhabited and ruled by the very first nations of India, so to speak. Janasthāna was a powerful kingdom, part of an empire ruled by Rāvana, probably lying on both banks of the Godāvarī. Khara and his brother were governors of Janasthāna and generals in Rāvana’s mighty army. Mārīća was Rāvana’s uncle who took the form of a golden deer to trick Rāma so that Sita would be abducted (see note 48). Śūrpanakhā, literally, ‘sharp-nailed’ was Rāvana’s sister. She fell in love with Rāma in exile in the forests of Dandaka; Rama rejected her and passed her on to his brother who, enraged, cut off her nose and ears.
33. (See note 32).
34. Rāvaṇa was a powerful monarch in probably the region south of the Vindhya mountains in Central India (though tradition places his kingdom in Sri Lankā). He abducted Sītā, wife of Rāma, the hero of the epic, Rāmāyaṇa and was killed by Rāma. Lankā, the capital of Rāvaṇa’s kingdom was burnt down.
35. Literally, Glory, one of the names or epithets of Lakṣmī, goddess of Wealth, Beauty and Success.
36. The writer, Śivadāsa, uses the term nāyikā, heroine.
37. An error: the city’s name does not conform to what is conveyed by Padmāvatī’s miming. ‘Karna’ is ‘ear’ and ‘kubja’ is ‘crooked,’ while ‘abja’ is ‘lotus’. So the word should probably be ‘Karnābja’.
38. Literally, ‘assaulting with the teeth’; perhaps the gnashing of his teeth itself terrified the king’s enemies.
39. Literally, ‘lotus-like’, beautiful and fragrant as a lotus blossom. In iconography, Lakṣmī, goddess of wealth and beauty, also known as Padmāvatī, stands on a lotus.
40. A ritual bath is taken.
41. A poetic expression, ‘giver of honour’; mānada is a term of affection and respect used between lovers.
42. Sweet, round balls made of milk, butter, sugar, nuts and flavoured with spices.
43. See note 26.
44. The maṇdala—a sacro-magical circle symbolizing the universe.
45. What is commonly known as the harem; a private and guarded set of apartments in the royal palace with its own gardens, groves and pools, where each queen and princess had her own suite of rooms.
46. The story of the weaver and the Brāhmaṇa lady who killed her pet mongoose are both in the Panćatantra (see Rajan, The Panćatantra, Penguin Classics, pp. 76-90, and pp. 400-401).
47. Personifications of cosmic and elemental forces such as dawn, fire, wind, sun, etc.; sometimes they are mentioned as thirty-three.
48. Rāma, hero of the epic Rāmāyaṇa, in exile in the forests sets out to catch a golden deer which Sītā desires to have as a pet; the deer is in fact Mārīća, (see notes 32, 33) who assumes this form to trick Rāma into leaving Sītā alone so that Rāvana could abduct her.
49. An ancient mythical king of great merit and righteousness who became arrogant and lusted after the queen of heaven, the consort of Indra. He ordered the seven sages to bear his palanquin on their shoulders and commanded them to hurry. The sages cursed him.
50. The seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major; the first great sages born from the mind of the Creator; parts of the Vedas were revealed to them. The first mortals with the power to perform sacrifices to the gods, they were apotheosized and became the stars of Ursa Major.
51. Kartavīryārjuna (Kartavīrya-arjuna), a king of the Haihaya dynasty ruling at Māhiṣmati on the banks of the river Narmadā, once went to the hermitage of the sage Jamadagni who feasted him with his whole retinue royally on a fabulous banquet provided by his celestial cow, Suśīlā, sister of the wish-granting cow Surabhi or Kāmadhenu. Lusting after this extraordinary cow, the king tried to abduct her and was cursed as a result.
52. The eldest Pāṇdava, regarded as the very embodiment of truthfulness, and a just ruler.
53. Evasiveness, prevarication, are character blemishes that are punishable. A curse like this one that the genie threatens the king with is a common motif in Indian stories.
54. The lotus is the symbol of the blossoming world.
55. The names in astronomy are: Aldebaran, Leonis, Hydrae, Librae, Scorpionis, Pleiades, Orion.
56. Ascetics and other holy men have no home or possessions. They eat once a day, whatever is offered by the lady of the house where they stop at the noon hour.
57. Indicating the veranda or front porch of the house.
58. The word niṣevitam is used here; it has a sexual connotation in addition to its normal meaning of dwelling in a place.
59. Śiva bore the tumultuous descent on earth of the celestial river on his head to break the force and let the waters flow gently down to the plains. The source of the river is in the Himalayas which is regarded as the temporal abode of the Supreme One, Śiva.
60. Modern Bihar; Magadha was the most powerful of the kingdoms of ancient India and the first to evolve into an empire comprising most of the subcontinent.
61. Dharma, Artha, Kāma, namely, Virtue, Wealth, Love, are the three goals in man’s life on earth. To lead a good life, the claims of all these have to be borne in mind and balanced.
62. Lack of cleanliness in the physical and moral senses.
63. Love, Cupid, the Greek Eros.
64. This long verse passage does not appear to be directly related to the main thread of the story.
65. Bharata is the author of the Nātya Śāstra, a comprehensive treatise on dramaturgy and the allied disciplines of music and dance; he lists types of heroes and heroines and describes the techniques of representing the roles.
66. Bharata.
67. Yakṣas—spirits of woods and waters, usually beneficent but sometimes mischievous, even malevolent. Originally divinities worshipped by the ancient peoples of India, pre-vedic and non-vedic, yakṣas and yakṣīs (yakṣiṇīs), were beneficent spirits, givers of life, riches and plenitude. They became malevolent and turned against Man only when he broke the holy laws of nature. Yakṣas symbolize the forces and powers of nature and perceived as indwelling spirits in nature, in woods, trees, pools, and associated with fertility and plenitude. Described as uncommonly handsome, they were believed to assume shapes at will, even the shapes of trees, or peep out of the dense green foliage.
Later, they were replaced by Vedic and Brāhmaṇic deities and fitted into the vast and complex mosaic of the pantheon, in subordinate stations: doorkeepers, guards, dancers and singers and so on.
Kubera, their overlord became the Lord of Riches. His kingdom was located in the Purāṇas, in the Himālayan and trans-Himālayan regions; his treasures were guarded by the yakṣas. Kubera and his yakṣas as well as other celestials such as kinnaras, vidyādharas, nāgas, apsaras, are similar to the pre-Christian and pagan deities of European mythology: the Celtic fairies, gnomes, the Germanic lorelei, the Greek fauns, nymphs, dryads and so on.
Kubera and yakṣas and other divinities noted here, are closely associated with Śiva whose temporal abode is the Himālayas. See a note on the vetāla for further information, p. lxiv.
68. Cutting off the nose was apparently an accepted form of punishment of a woman, for the crimes of adultery and murder. A woman could not be sentenced to capital punishment; disfigurement was prescribed in the law books.
69. The Sanskrit term kavi signifies primarily the visioning seer.
70. Disgraced and banished; this is a form of punishment meted to both men and women that we see in tales, especially tales whose provenance is southern India. The wrongdoer is seated on a donkey often facing the animal’s tail, and chased out of the city gates. An added detail is sometimes present; the culprit’s face is painted with black and red dots.
71. Vidyādharas a race of beings who possessed magical powers and/or scientific knowledge and skills which would ha
ve struck the common man as extraordinary and miraculous.
72. Apotheosis. To tell a tale and through the telling atone for some wrongdoing and gain release from a curse, is a common motif in the storytelling tradition of India. It is frequently found in the Mahābhārata and in later literature; the most celebrated use of this motif is in the Kathāsaritsāgara where it forms the theme and basis of the frame story.
73. See note 47.
74. The noble warrior.
75. See note 19.
76. Durgā, Śiva’s consort and the war goddess, is the tutelary deity of warriors.
77. A deep, sunken navel is a mark of beauty in India; a protruding belly-button is not.
78. The term employed in this line, svajanāpamānam could also be translated as ‘dishonoured by one’s kin’.