Ancillary Stories in the Sanskrit Mahabharata

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Ancillary Stories in the Sanskrit Mah8bh8rata

Barbara Gombach

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

2000

UMI Number: 9956353

Copyright 2000 by Gombach, Barbara Claire All rights reserved.

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Bell & Howell Infonnation and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1348 Ann Arbor. MI48106-1346

C2000

Barbara Claire Gombach All Rights Reserved

ABSTRACT Ancillary Stories in the Sanskrit Mah.bh.rata Barbara Gombach The MahabhSrata was compiled in North India during a time of lively

debate

in

brahmanica1

boundaries of canon

(§ruti)

intellectual

in Hindu

circles

about

the

religious traditions.

The

indigenous tradition recognizes the epic as history (jtih8sa) and as

authoritative

religious

knowledge

discourse produced by humans.

two

(sm~tj)J

forms

of

This dissertation argues that the

Mahabharata became religiously authoritative chiefly through the 1 abors

of

brahman

i nte1l ectua1 s

who

were

responsi b1 e

an

The primary

editorial process scholars do not understand well. intent of that process, however,

for

becomes evident when we isolate

for study the remarkable body of story material that constitutes nearly half of the epic. In examining the ancillary stories, I show that they serve the rhetori ca 1

functi on of

maki ng

the epi c

p resented as authori tat i ve i nformat ion, interprets the Pandava-Kaurava war. namely the

resultant epic,

authoritative

(sm~tj).

a

anci 11 ary

part i cu 1 ar

is

into

smrtj.

They

as sacred history,

The i nterpretati on

then declared to

be

are that

i tse1 f,

religiously

Whether or not the characters or themes of story were

in

fact anci ent,

compi 1 ers consi stent1 y presented them that way.

the

epi CiS

Based on thi s

prominent feature of the epicls ancillary stories. I conclude that it was a vehicle by which brahman intellectuals gained legitimacy for new practices such as bhakti, pilgrimage. and ahj'!'saby arguing that they are fully congruent with §ruti. if properly understood.

CONTENTS I.

History of Scholarship on Ancillary Stories in the Sanskrit Mah~bh8rata A.

1

Introduction 1. Chapter Overview and Framework of the Study 2. Narrative Context of the Ancillary Tales 3. Survey of the Ancillary Tales in the

1 1 12 23

Mah8bh~rata

B.

Major Trends in Western Scholarship on Ancillary Tales in the Mahabharata 30

c.

The Mah8bh.rata as a Coherent Whole: Review of Research 1. Ancillary Tales in the Indian Intellectual Tradition in Sanskrit 2. Western Interpretations of the Mahabh8rata as a Coherent Whole a. Antecedents of Current Approaches b. Western Scholarship Since World War II 3. Research on Forms and Processes of Oral Transmission of the Mahabh~rata

60

Review of the Literature on Ancillary Tales in the Sanskrit Mahabh~rata

68

Focus of the Study

83

D. E.

II. Ancillary Stories. the Indian Intellectual Tradition, and Strategies for Vedacization

40 40 44 44 51

104

A.

Introduction

104

B.

Story Types and the Indian Intellectual Tradition 1. The Mah.bharata's Terms for Stories 2. Story Terms in Vedic Literature 3. itihasa and Interpretive Methods 4. Story Types and the Indian Intellectual Tradition

109 109 113 122

c.

123

Story to smrti: Strategies for Vedacization 136 1. Views the Relationship Between ~ruti and smrti 139 2. Eight Strategies of Vedacization 141

on

i

D.

The Mah.bh6rata in Sansk~it 1. Toward a Cultural Histo~y o~ Classical Sansk~it: Implications ~or Studying the Mah.bh.rata 2. Using the C~itical Edition o~ the Mah.bh.rata a. The Critical Edition. the Histo~y o~ Religions, and Resea~ch on Ancillary Narratives b. Manuscript Biases

159

E.

Conventions Adopted

162

F.

Limits

o~

~or

the Study

the Study

B.

C. D. E. F•

G. H.

I .

J.

K. L.

M. N.

o. P.

Rationale ~or Selection adi parvan sabh.parvan .ranyakaparvan vi r.taparvan udyogaparvan bhi smaparvan dronaparvan karnaparvan §a 7yaparvan sauptikaparvan striparvan §6ntjparvan and anu§8sanaparvan .§vamedhikaparvan 6§ramav.sjkaparvan mausa7aparvan. mah6prasth.njkaparvan. and svarg8roha~aparvan

IV. $.ntiparvan Story Cluster on Nonviolence

V.

146

152 152

163

III. Major Themes of the Mah.bh.rata's Ancillary Stories A.

146

167 167

170 185

193 203 204 213 216 219 221 223 224 224 230 240 241 243

A.

Rationale for Selection

243

B.

Preview of Themes ;n the ahims. Cluster

246

c.

The ahims6 Stories in Detail

274

343

Conclusion

Bibliography

353

;;

Appendix: A.

Synopses of Ancillary Stories in Their Mahabh~rata Context Synopses 1• ~di parvan 2• sabh.parvan 3•

~ranyakaparvan

4.

virataparvan udyogaparvan bh:I smaparvan dronaparvan karnaparvan §a 7yaparvan sauptikaparvan striparvan §antiparvan anu§asanaparvan a§vamedhi kaparvan a§ramavasikaparvan mausa7aparvan mahaprasthanikaparvan

5. 6. 7. 8.

9• 10. 11 •

12. 13. 14.

15. 16. 17. 18.

svar9aroha~aparvan

;; ;

1

2 2

58 69 142 144 168

174 182 191

213 217 220 351

437 459 463 464 465

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This

study

was conceived

in

discussion w i t h

Barbara

S t o l e r M i 1 l e r , and i t b e n e f i t t e d g r e a t l y from h e r scholarship. Her own f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h t h e Mahabharata and her

personal

encouragement i n s p i r e d me t o p e r s i s t i n e x p l o r i n g t h e e p i c ' s thicket o f stories.

She brought S a n s k r i t a1 i v e f o r me, and

her keen a t t e n t i v e n e s s t o i t s s u b t l e t i e s i n s p i r e s me s t i 11

I

gratefully

commi t t e e . chapter

Prof.

thank John

the

members

Stratton

inval uabl e

and provided

of

my

dissertation

Hawley

s c r u t i n i zed

each

e d i t o r i a1

comments.

H is

questions always challenged me t o sharpen m y t h i n k i n g , o f t e n s t i m u l a t e d others t h a t opened new avenues o f study.

and

I

am p r i v i 1eged t o have worked w i t h him and t o have b e n e f i t t e d

from

his

intellectual

acuity,

his

sensitivity

to

lived

and h i s magnanimous nature.

re1 ig i ous t r a d i t i o n s ,

P r o f . Gary Tubb shared h i s v a s t know1edge o f t h e Sanskrit 1it e r a r y

tradition,

and

helped focus

my c o n s i d e r a t i o n

in d i genous in t e l l e c t u a l t r a d i t i o n s in ancient South Asi a.

of H is

comments and q u e s t i ons on an e a r l ie r d r a f t o f t h e d i s s e r t a t i o n were

critical

in

my

efforts

to

finalize

the

work,

and

c o n t r i b u t e d g r e a t l y t o helping me shape a program o f f u t u r e research. P r o f . Mary McGeet s groundi ng i n ancient S a n s k r i t t e x t s and contemporary

H i ndu r i t u a l

practice

brought

a

dimension to m y consideration o f t h e Mahabharata*

speci a1 Her own

broad

scho1 arl y

interests

and

her

ski 11

in

aski ng

fresh

questions of India's ancient texts set an enviable exa.ple for any scholar who works with documentary history. Prof. Rachel Fell MeDer.ott's observations about topics not discussed

in

the

dissertation

also

stimulated

me

to

articulate .ore clearly what I regard as the .ost fundamental question my analysis raises:

What role has the

Mah.bh.ra~a

played in intellectual debates about the relationship between §ru1:i and smr'tj. and what more can we 1 earn about the worki ngs

of canon formation in Hindu traditions? Prof. Ryuichi Abe's questions about .y work provoked new questions about

its possible broader significance

for

the

study of South Asian epic traditions. FinallYJ I thank .y family and friends for their support and encouragement.

Richard Weinstein, my husband. has been a

comrade in these 1 abors.

He has always been wi 11 i ng ei ther to

talk through my ideas about the epic and its universe. or to occupy

himself

dissertation.

otherwise His

while

constant

I

wrote

support,

and his

edited

the

intellectual

curiosity, and his unfailing good cheer have sustained me.

v

1

CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF SCHOLARSHIP ON ANCILLARY STORIES IN THE SANSKRIT MAH~BH~RATA A.

Introduction Chapter Overview and Framework of the Study

1.

In

seventh

described

the

Sarasvati.

century epic

the

he

north knew

goddess

of

Indi a. as

an

the poet auspicious

learning. 1

The

eanabhatta shower

of

images

of

plenitude. sacrality, and shared wisdom this metaphor evokes encapsul ate qual; ti es that the Mah8bh8rata acqui red as the fabric of its war story was interwoven with hundreds of other stories.

Those other

stories,

which I collectively

ancillary stories, are the subject of this dissertation.

label As

I will show in subsequent chapters. the ancillary tales in the Mahabhara1:a

diverse.

(hereafter

Despite all

abbrevi ated

as

their variety.

Mbh)

are

extremely

the epic consistently

presents them as information from or about the past. as viewed from

the

vantage

poi nt of the

great

war.

Through

thei r

topics, characters. locations, and through explicit narrative statements about them. time and again the ancillary stories describe. explain. or elaborate upon the circumstances of the Bh3rata war by reference to an

1cakre

punyam

as

sarasvatya

i magi ned sacred

yo

varsam

iva

t radi t ion.

bharatam.

Harsacari-ta 1.3·, cited by Ram Karan Sharma. Elemen1:s of Poetry in 1:he Mahabh8ra1:a. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. 1966.

reprinted with the addition of an index. 1988. 5.

2

t h a t these n a r r a t i v e elements are a p r i n c i p a l means by which t h e Mbh became a r e l i g i o u s l y a u t h o r i t a t i v e work (smrti).

The

anti 11a r y s t o r i e s are n o t t h e o n l y way t h e epic accomplishes

t h i s task,

b u t they a r e an extremely important one.

s e c t i o n E o f t h i s chapter f o r a b r i e f

(See

discussion o f o t h e r

methods used t o make t h e e p i c s m r ti. ) The e p i c uses eleven d i f f e r e n t words t o r e f e r t o i t s s t o r i es, t h e terms ftfhasa and samvada b e i ng t h e most common. Often t h e y a r e narrated d i r e c t l y t o one o f t h e c h a r a c t e r s i n v o l v e d i n i t s c e n t r a l drama o-F f r a t r i c i d a l war. specific, epic's

To

be

anci 1 l a r y s t o r i e s a r e n a r r a t i v e s from o r about t h e

imagined past whose t e l l i n g

i s prompted by

surrounding t h e Pandava-Kaurava war. ' *

events

They range from p i t h y

proverbs t o lengthy s t o r i e s about former kings, from t a l e s o f dei t i es t o r e p o r t e d l y verbatim conversati ons o f venerable r, s is *

o f another age,

from cautionary animal f a b l e s t o q u o t a t i o n s

from o t h e r smrtis. vast m a j o r i t y o f

But s h o r t o r long, simple o r e s o t e r i c , t h e ancillary stories

a r e t o l d t o teach

the

meaning o f a t e r r i b l e war. The Mbh g i v e s us no equivalent f o r t h e phrase a n c i l l a r y story.

I have adopted i t f o r several reasons.

(1)

I n one

respect, t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n s p r i ngs from t h e observation t h a t t h e Mbh i n t e n t i o n a l l y preserved a vocabulary o f s t o r y terms that

seemed o l d .

Although

i t may

well

be impossible t o

r e c o n s t r u c t more than a sketchy h i s t o r y o f each term (as my discussion

in

Chapter

2

w i 11 show),

the

vocabulary

was

3

nevertheless

widely

current,

believed to pre-date the epic.

usually

in

Vedic

literature

We are meant to associate the

appellations and the general contents of these stories, I will argue,

wi th the anci ent,

Vedism.

I do not mean to imply that one could in theory trace

each of the Mbh's itih.sas, a

text

enduri ng and sacred tradi ti on of

in

the

Vedic

sa~v.das • •khy.nas.

corpus.

In

fact,

composition of some of the ep;c's

I

and so on to

think that

"old" stories was

likely inspired by the epic itself.

(Biardeau

the very

has argued

this, for example, for the Na7op.khy.na story.) In the religious and historical climate of North India at the product i on of sm,:"'f: j

the tu rn of the fi rst mi 11 enn i um, 1 i terature

was

a

very

acti ve

enterpri se.

We

know

from

philosophical materials that the idea of the Veda as canonical knowledge was already well-established. but the boundaries of that canon were a matter of debate. conducted

through the

product i on

In part, that debate was of

smr'f:i

rel i gi ous1 y

authoritative works composed by humans -- which made various claims (§rut j) •

about

its

own

relationship

to

canonical

material

Stori es that the Mbh presents as hi stori cal

inc 1 uded to demonstrate to its audi ences that the epi c indeed legitimately sm:'f:i.

are ;s

As a group these stories establish

a claim that the Mbh's teachings are a further unfolding of Vedic knowledge, but this feature only emerges when they are studied collectively. As I discuss briefly in the introduction to section 0 of

4

this chapter and as I demonstrate in Chapters 3 and 4, subject matter per se is not what the stori es have in common, although a number of common themes are apparent and are important to explore (see Chapter 4).

Instead. the stories as a whole

purport to expl ai n what happens as the Pandava-Kaurava war unfolds by reference to an imagined sacred history in order to make the epic an authoritative source of that very history. In

particular,

the

epic

interprets

events

and

personal

experi ences of i ndi vi dual s affected by the war usi ng ei ght hermeneutical strategies (see Chapter 2, in particular section C)

that make the Mbh seem anci ent and fully congruent with the

authoritative Vedic tradition. demonstrate

the

; mportant

Here I am most interested to

rol e

anci 11 ary

stori es

accomplishing that purpose for the epic, and so commona 1 ; ties

of story

contents than

on

pl ay

~ocus

;n

less on

commona 1 it i es

of

rhetorical intent that the stories serve in this particular literary work. (2) When uSing the term ancillary I mean to signal both a sense of subordinate status and auxiliary functions stories.

the

~or

As discussed in this chapter. another impetus for

this study was the view that since the Indian tradition has ins; sted that these

stori es are

cannot set them aside. provide

any

overt

integral

to the epi c.

we

But since that tradition does not

discussion

of

the

process

of

epic

composition other than the Mbh's own several accounts, we must look to more general

indigenous theoretical formulations to

5

ascertai n how the presence of anci 11 ary stori es was understood in ancient times.

On this matter I propose a model (Chapter

2) based on hierarchical conceptions of main and subordinate relationships, and drawn from the intellectual tradition of Further

N8~ya§.S1:ra.

agai nst

the

1 arge

work is

body

requi red

of evi dence the

present to us, but the model

to test

the

model

anci 11 ary stori es

is promising since it derives

from the cultural and historical milieu in which the epiC was composed. Because of the relative paucity of scholarship on the ancillary stories in the Mbh, this chapter initially focuses on descri bi ng the major trends in Western schol arshi p that account for such a lack of interest.

As long as scholars held

fast to the view that the epic was essentially a war story bloated wi th subsequent accret ions of mo re or 1 ess

random

mythological, theological, legendary, and didactic materials, the substories held little interest for Western interpreters. Indeed, the peculiar consequence of that general view was that most of the contents of the Mbh -- namely the nearly fifty percent

of

it

represented

consi dered i mmateri a l t o an

by

ancillary

stories

adequate understandi ng

were of the

epic. Turning to the evidence from the literate intellectual tradition of Sanskrit scholars, I note that ancillary stories have not been studied closely, consi dered

integral

to

although they have long been

the epi c

as

one

component of

its

6

di dacti c materi al.

Many Western schol ars never questi oned the

assumpt i on

overt 1 y

that

; nterpo 1 at ions" contrast, have

and

therefore

i nfl uenti al

quest i oned

di dact; c

Ind; an

the

epi c ' s

of

port ions 1 ; mi ted

i ntell ectual s own

were

n

interest.

1 ate

In

never seemed to

assert ions

that

its

multifaceted instructional material in effect defines the Mbh. Not only does it all belong there. it is the Mbh. Indian interpreters. the epic's status as starting point of analysis.

For many

has been the

smr~j

The ancillary stories are in one

sense a record of traditional history (itih.sa). in another, just one of the epic's pedagogical devices. vi

rtu~

of thei r

In addition. by

i ncl usi on i n a work call ed the fi fth

they have sacramenta 1 powers;

to hear and to

Veda.

know them i s

meritorious in itself. 2 They are a potential means to achieve salvation. My

work

on

the

Mbh

stems

from

my

interest

in

understanding more precisely how a work so long accepted as carrying great religious authority

(sm~~j)

came to be so while

embracing ideas and practices that were patently (from the perspective

of

Vedism)

nontraditional

during

centuri es of the common era when the epi c present form.

the

early

was taki ng

its

If we take seriously traditional Indian views

of the Mbh as a coherent whole, we must come to terms with its

2kar~-:,al!' vedami dal!' vi dv .... §ravayi tvarthama§nute/l . 1 .205ab ya~cemam

trnuyannityamarsam §raddhasamanvitahl sa di rgh·amayu~ kirt; I!' ca sva·rgatil!' c.pnuyannara~1 11 .1 .207

1

anci 11 ary narrat i ve mater; a 1 .

In doi ng so. as the present

study shows. I conclude that in fact this story material was crucial to the brahmanical project of making the epic into

smrti.

The way in which the epic employs the idea of the Veda

as canonical knowledge also locates the Mbh project within a segment of the anci ent

I ndi an i nte 11 ectua 1

asserted an organic unfolding of

§ru~i

to

tradi t; on

sm:~j,

that

rather than

a sharp break between the two kinds of knowledge. Only when Western scholars began to study the Mbh as a coherent whole did questions about the role of the ancillary stories arise. as a

In this chapter. I trace this view of the epic

coherent whole from

its initial

Joseph Dah1mann in the 19th century,

bold formulation

by

through its handful of

more circumspect advocates. to current supporters.

Although

no major contemporary scholar accepts Dah1mann's thesis that the epic was composed full-blown, much contemporary Western interpretation proceeds from an assumption that the Mbh does make sense as a whole. ana 1 ysi s.

Using distinctly different methods of

those interpreters are cl ari fyi ng the structural

principles that underlie the composition of the Sanskrit Mbh. These various newer interpretations. under way now for approximately extensive

fifty

study

of

years. topics

periphery of epic studies.

Mbh

have

received

have

set

the

previously

stage

relegated

for to

more the

Mythological underpinnings of the

particularly

Dumezi1. Biardeau, and Hi1tebeite1.

extended

treatment

from

Other materials, such as

8

the ancillary stories r~jadharma

and lengthy didactic passages

(e.g .•

and fIIoksadharma sections of the §.n'tiparvan), have

only quite recently received serious attention from European and American scholars.

By reviewing the major approaches that

support a unitary view of the epic. I locate the current study of ancillary stories in the broader context of Mbh studies. Just

as

there

is

still

no

definitive

resolution

to

the

cont roversy over the degree of i nterna 1 coherence exhi bi ted by the

Sanskri t

Mbh.

there

is

1 i kewi se

no

consensus

on

the

questi on of the integral versus peri pheral status of anci 11 ary stories in the epic.

As I attempt to show. in the past fifty

years the wei ght of preference has shi fted somewhat

toward

approaching the Mbh as an intelligible whole. Scho1 arship funct ions

of the

that

bears

anci 11 ary

di rect 1 y stori es

upon

in

the

the

roles

Mbh

is

and

rather

1 i mi ted, qui te di verse, but neverthe 1 ess ri ch and provocat i ve. As I indicate, only Madeleine Biardeau. Robert Goldman, James Fitzgerald. Wendy Doniger (0' Flaherty) specifically

explored

how

and

why

J

and Ian Proudfoot have

particular

subta1es

groups of them interact with the Bharata frame story. concl usi ons show that multiple.

General

the uses

principles

of stori es in of

composition

Their

the Mbh that

or

are

might

explain how and why subtales occur where they do in the Mbh have yet to be articulated (although the techniques of oralformulaic analysis are promising in this regard).

To date,

the relatively small amount of scholarship available suggests

9

that no single interpretation adequately explains every case. Each story or story cluster must be examined in its immediate context to understand ; ts rol e

in

re1 ati on to the general

themes and narrative structure of the Mbh.

In Chapter 3 I

discuss the major themes of ancillary stories in each of the epi c' s ei ghteen maj or sect ions (parvan). showi ng how they vary from section to section. Subta 1 es are interspersed th roughout the cr; t; ca 1 text of the Mbh. itself comprised of 78.200 verses and prose sections in ei ghteen major "books" (parvans). (the

Hariva~§a.

as well as an appendi x

called a khi7a); in total. the epic contains

nearly 2.000 chapters (adhy.yas).

The tales may be long or

short. 3 clustered together

often the case)

sing1y.4

(as i s

Their subject matter varies widely.

or

told

but virtually

all concern the activities and experiences of deities. sages. royal figures. heroes. or heroines -- just as one might expect in epic literature. S 3For example. the well-known story of Na1a is told in 29 chapters and more than 800 verses. The tale of Jantu. a young prince sacrificed to produce 100 sons for his father, is told in a mere 19 verses.

~he sage Markandeya successively relates six tales in book three; the trouo1es of Indra. king of the gods. and his wife ~aci are the topic of a story in book five. SA tale may. in its own right. present the most significant highlights of a king's career (e.g .• the story of Rama) J a particular exploit of a deity (e.g., how and why Indra. king of the gods. destroyed Saubha. city of the demon king, ~alva), or the biography of a crucial epic character (e.g .• the story of Amb •• proximate cause of death of the beloved Bhisma). As I endeavor to show, however. the stories not only lend meaning to the epic as a whole. but are also

10

Unti 1

fai r1 y

recent 1 y,

there

were

three

general

categori es of scho1 ar1 y thought about the epi c' s anci 11 ary stori es.

The fi rst group consi sts of Indi an scho1 ars who

attempt to gl ean hi stori ca 1

i nformati on from the epi c,

the

second consists of scholars who focus on the didactic intent of the Mbh,

and the thi rd group includes scho1 ars who use

porti ons of the anci 11ary materi a1 to advance 1 arger arguments about the nature of epic, its historical background, and/or its larger religious significance in the development of Hindu traditions.

Each group is discussed below.

A strong current of scho1 arshi pin Indi a regards the epi c as history and concerns itself with reconstructing economic, political,

social,

and

religious

facts

from

it.

These

scholars have paid no special attention to the secondary tales since they

consider

all

contents

sources of historical evidence.

as

legitimate

potential

Beyond the acknowledgment of

its existence, there will be no further examination of this scholarship in the present study. internal

coherence of the

functions.

My interest focuses on the

Sanskrit Mbh and its

rhetorical

To pursue these concerns, I prefer to begin with

the epic in its current form,

that is, a textual

(and oral)

tradition preserved relatively intact since at least the 5th century

C.E.

Given

that

starting

point,

part and parcel of its rhetorical project.

the

purported

11

historicity of Mbh events is not an immediate concern. 6 An

influential

strand

of

the

brahman

intellectual

tradition has emphasized the overall didactic intent of the

Mbh and shows less concern about the demonstrable veracity of its contents in terms of modern notions of historical fact. This second group seems not to have singled out the ancillary stories for analysis per se, but evaluates them along with the other narrative portions to derive general conclusions about what the epic teaches. In the West, some of the tales have been much admired as independent stories, but they were long considered incidental to the so-called main or core story of the BhBrata war, therefore Europe

and

recently.

recei ved Ameri ca scholars

1 i ttl e pri or

attenti on to

such

the

as

Mbh scho1 ars

from

1940s

and

and

Madeleine

in

More

1950s.

A1f

Biardeau,

Hi1tebeite1, James Fitzgerald, and Ian Proudfoot have begun to explore the re1 evance of

certai n anci 11 ary stori es to

the

6Historians have profitably worked with the MBh to inform thei r understandi n9 of anci ent Indi an hi story. They study the epic. however, from an historiographic point of view -- as presenting a particular view of the past. Romi1a Thapar, for example, regards the epic as a literary crystallization of an heroic ideal. In her view, it records the transition between two kinds of society in ancient India, one characterized by tribal chiefdoms and the other by a state system with monarchy as the norm ("Hi stori an and the Epi c, If Anna 7s of the Bhandarkar Orienta7

Research

Institute,

60(1979),

p.

201).

Her method. which focuses on clarifying assumptions about the past that can be detected in the epic, is far richer than methods which focus on the MBh's historicity per se. See also her study From Lineage to State. Socia7 Formation in the MidFirst Millennium B.C. in the Ganga Val7ey. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990, on the nature of early Indian society during the mid-first millennium B.C.E.

12

Bharata tale of internecine war and its aftermath.

Others.

following Georges Dumezil. have studied some of the episodes as variants of prototypical Indo-European independent tales. Both groups of scholars have studied certain ancillary stories in order to understand the epic as a whole (even though their conclusions may be radically different,

e.g.,

Biardeau and

Dumezil), and therefore I have grouped them together here in order to discuss the range of scholarship on ancillary stories which I consider most significant in contemporary Mbh studies. This chapter surveys the ancillary

stories

textual/contextual Chapter

Mbh.

intellectual

2

in

latter two positions on the

order

to

develop

historical

and

arguments about their importance to the considers

tradition

of

what

ancient

the

indigenous

India

tells

us

Indian about

ancillary stories, and outlines eight hermeneutical strategies employed to make the epic

sm~~j.

In Chapter 3 I discuss the

ancillary stories in each parvan to show their tendency to address particular topics.

Chapter 4 analyzes the context and

content of a cluster of stories from the

§.n~iparvan

on

ahi~s.

(nonviolence) in order to demonstrate how they are integral to the Mbhrs rhetorical project, and as such are neither random nor casual

insertions.

The appendix contains a summary of

each ancillary story. indicates where it occurs, who tells it, and who hears it. 2.

Narrative Context of the Ancillary Tales

Before reviewing the occurrences of ancillary stories in

t h e major booksD i t may be useful t o

out1 i n e t h e

genera1

contents of t h e Mbh. Like many good s t o r i e s D t h e Mbh opens i n t h e m i d s t of action

--

actual l y s a t a pause i n t h e a c t i o n .

brahmans

has

been

performi ng

a

A group of

particular

(dv3daSavarsika s a t t r a ) i n t h e Naimisa Forest.

ritual

During one o f

t h e regular breaks i n t h e lengthy series o f r i t e s ( t h e f u l l r i t u a l w i I T occupy t h e brahmans f o r twelve years) UgraGravas a r r i v e s has

come

from

a

s a c r i f ice { sarpa avenge

his

storytelling s a c r i f iceD

Exchangi ng g r e e t i ngs ritual

sattra)

father's

session

UgraGravas

in

a

t h e y l e a r n t h a t he different

sortD a

undertaken by K i ng Janamej aya t o

death

sessions

of

t h e bard

by

snake

bite*

between the

rites

had

heard

from

V a i Sampayanas t h e r e c i t a t i o n o f the Mbh.

Dur: An Initial Survey of Structural Issues, Themes and Rhetorical Strategies, Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago. 1980.

Fitzg~rald,

0"

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New

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0"

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a

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