Divine Yet Human Epics
Divine Yet Human Epics

Author: Shubha Pathak

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780674726758

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Shubha Pathak explores a new way to connect the primary Sanskrit epics Ramaya?a and Mahabharata with their Greek analogues, the Iliad and Odyssey. This cross-cultural comparative study provides a more comprehensive perspective on the poems' religiosity than the vantage points of Hellenists or of Indologists alone.

The King and the Clown in South Indian Myth and Poetry
The King and the Clown in South Indian Myth and Poetry

Author: David Dean Shulman

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 1400857759

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author discusses the tragi-comic aspect of Chola kingship in relation to other Indian expressions of comedy, such as the Vidiisaka of Sanskrit drama, folk tales of the jester Tenali Rama, and clowns of the South Indian shadow-puppet theaters. The symbolism of the king emerges as part of a wider range of major symbolic figures--Brahmins, courtesans, and the tragic" bandits and warrior-heroes. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic
Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic

Author: Indira Viswanathan Peterson

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0791487415

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Indira Viswanathan Peterson provides an introduction to the Sanskrit court epic (mahākāvya), an important genre in classical Indian poetry, and the first study of a celebrated sixth-century poem, the Kirātārjunīya (Arjuna and the Hunter) of Bhāravi. Sanskrit court epics are shown to be characterized both by formalism and a deep engagement with enduring Indian values. The Kirātārjunīya is the earliest literary treatment of the narrative of the Pandava hero Arjuna's combat with the great god Śiva, a seminal episode in the war epic Mahābhārata. Through a close analysis of the structural strategies of Bhāravi's poem, the author illuminates the aesthetic of the mahākāvya genre. Peterson demonstrates that the classical poet uses figurative language, rhetorical devices, and structural design as the primary instruments for advancing his argument, the reconciliation of heroic action, ascetic self-control, social duty, and devotion to God. Her discussion of the Kirātārjunīya in relation to its historical setting and to renderings of this epic episode in literary texts and temple sculpture of later periods reveals the existence of complex transactions in Indian civilization between the discourses of heroic epic and court poetry, political ideologies and devotional religion, Sanskrit and the regional languages, and classical and folk traditions. Selections from the Kirātārjunīya are presented in poetic translation.

Sri Ramayana
Sri Ramayana

Author: Srirangam Ramesh

Publisher: Notion Press

Published: 2016-08-24

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9386009331

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Ramayana is the sky; Rama is in its blue,All across the space, in the light of truth. Ramayana is the cloud and Rama is the rain, Of wisdom in life between pleasure and pain. Ramayana is a river; Rama is the boat,To float from banks of evil, to the divine shore.Ramayana is the ocean with lessons in the deep,Rama is the salt in the food that we eat. Ramayana is the fire where Rama is the flame, Burns the evil desire,’Ravana’ is the name.In the wind of life, Ramayana is the breeze, Where Rama is ‘virtue’- the air that we breathe. The object of this work on ‘Ramayana’, is to place before the general reader, the leading story of the Epic in a poetic format. A simple style of expression is maintained to keep it attractive for the youngsters to read and comprehend easily. This version is sufficient for the youngsters to be inspired to explore into the interpretations of the epic as given in many versions, in different languages by many poets and pundits of the past and scholars of the present and the future.This version does not detail the Uttra Kanda which as per legend is not written by ‘Valmiki’ who has written the other parts. Rama’s coronation is the last part of Yuddha Kanda where we stop and stay.

Shahnameh
Shahnameh

Author: Abolqasem Ferdowsi

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2016-03-08

Total Pages: 1041

ISBN-13: 1101993235

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran—now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language edition A Penguin Classic Dick Davis—“our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (The Washington Post)—has revised and expanded his acclaimed translation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece, adding more than 100 pages of newly translated text. Davis’s elegant combination of prose and verse allows the poetry of the Shahnameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly marked explanations to ease along modern readers. Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the tenth century, the Shahnameh is among the greatest works of world literature. This prodigious narrative tells the story of pre-Islamic Persia, from the mythical creation of the world and the dawn of Persian civilization through the seventh-century Arab conquest. The stories of the Shahnameh are deeply embedded in Persian culture and beyond, as attested by their appearance in such works as The Kite Runner and the love poems of Rumi and Hafez. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.