Composed in the fifteenth century in Odia by Sarala Das, Sarala Mahabharata, as it is popularly known, is a remarkably creative retelling of Vyasa's Mahabharata. It is not a translation of Vyasa’s immortal work. Not only Sarala Mahabharata, but all renderings of the Sanskrit Ramayana and Mahabharata in local (“regional”, in today’s terminology) languages in …
SOME LESSER- KNOWN RITUALS AND PRACTICES IN SHRI JAGANNATH TEMPLE
This discussion invites attention to some lesser-known rituals and practices in the Temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri. The Temple is popularly known as Badadeula (Big Temple). It is also called Srimandira, and some say that “Sri” here refers to goddess Lakshmi. The discussion maintains that “lesser-known” in this context does not mean “less important”. …
Continue reading "SOME LESSER- KNOWN RITUALS AND PRACTICES IN SHRI JAGANNATH TEMPLE"
SITUATING SARALA MAHABHARATA IN OUR PURANIC LITERATURE
Aadi Kavi Sarala Das’s Mahabharata, popularly known as Sarala Mahabharata, is a truly creative retelling of Vyasa Mahabharata. However, when “Sudramuni” (Sudra Sage) Sarala called his narrative “Vishnu Purana”, began it with the question of how to attain moksha, and towards the end, described the emergence of Lord Jagannath, the composition crossed the boundaries of …
Continue reading "SITUATING SARALA MAHABHARATA IN OUR PURANIC LITERATURE"
TO WHAT PURPOSE, THIS CHARACTER KIRATASENA?
King Bali’s story ended when Bhagawan Sri Rama killed him. His son Angada’s story ended when, after his coronation as the King of Ayodhya, Rama bid an affectionate farewell to him with a very precious gift. Some legends extended Angada’s story beyond Tretaya yuga and ended his story in Dwapara yuga. He was the cause …
Continue reading "TO WHAT PURPOSE, THIS CHARACTER KIRATASENA?"
ON BONDING WITH ONE’S KULA: Contrasting Perspectives in Sarala Mahabharata and Vyasa Mahabharata
In Sarala Mahabharata, (a) In King Duryodhana’s court, where he had gone as Yudhisthira’s emissary of peace, Krishna asked the Kaurava king for five villages for the Pandavas so that a war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas could be avoided. It would not be incorrect to say that during his interaction with the Kauravas …
ON GOING TO SWARGA ALIVE
(Same Events, Different Narratives, Different Insights) The composition of the timeless epic, Mahabharata, did not give contentment to the great poet, so goes the legend. Sage Narada told him that it was because he had not expatiated on the supreme majesty and glory of Sri Krishna. He would attain spiritual contentment by depicting his leela …
BHIMA AND KRISHNA: A RELOOK
Different from each other in a hundred ways, Bhima and Krishna share one personality trait in Sarala Mahabharata, which is a remarkably creative retelling in Odia, in the fifteenth century, of Vyasa Mahabharata. It is this: neither can be contented. In different respects, though! Insatiable, says the poet Sarala, was Bhima’s hunger for a fight, …
