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= Kathasaritsagara =
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Introduction
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The 'Kathāsaritsāgara' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories")
(Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of
Indian legends and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite
Somadeva from Kashmir.
'Kathāsaritsāgara' contains multiple layers of story within a story
and is said to have been adopted from Guṇāḍhya's 'Bṛhatkathā' ("the
Great Narrative"), which was written in a poorly-understood language
known as Paiśāchī. The 'Bṛhatkathā' is no longer extant but several
later adaptations still exist -- the 'Kathāsaritsāgara',
'Bṛhatkathamanjari' and 'Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha'. However, none of
these recensions necessarily derives directly from Gunadhya, and each
may have intermediate versions. Scholars compare Guṇāḍhya with Vyasa
and Valmiki even though he did not write the now long-lost
'Bṛhatkathā' in Sanskrit. Presently available are its two Sanskrit
recensions, the 'Bṛhatkathamanjari' by Kṣemendra and the
'Kathāsaritsāgara' by Somadeva.
Author and structure
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The author of 'Kathasaritsagara', or rather its compiler, was
Somadeva, the son of Rāma, a Śaiva Brāhman of Kashmir. He tells us
that his 'magnum opus' was written (sometime between 1063-81 CE) for
the amusement of Sūryavatī, wife of King Ananta of Kashmir, at whose
court Somadeva was poet. The tragic history of Kashmir at this period
- Ananta’s two sons, Kalaśa and Harṣa, the worthless degenerate life
of the former, the brilliant but ruthless life of the latter, the
suicide of Ananta himself, the self-immolation of Sūryavatī on his
funeral pyre, and the resulting chaos - forms as a dark and grim
background for the setting of Somadeva’s tales. The frame story is the
narrative of the adventures of Naravahanadatta, son of the legendary
king Udayana, his romances with damsels of great beauty and wars with
enemies. As many as 350 tales are built around this central story,
making it the largest existing collection of Indian tales.
Somadeva declares that his work is a faithful though abridged
translation of a much larger collection of stories known as the
'Bṛhatkathā', or Great Tale written in the lost Paisaci dialect by
Guṇāḍhya. But the Kashmirian (or "Northwestern") 'Bṛhatkathā' that
Somadeva adapted may be quite different from the Paisaci ur-text, as
at least 5 apparent descendants of Guṇāḍhya's work exist -- all quite
different in form and content, the best-known (after the
'Kathāsaritsāgara' itself) probably being the
'Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha' of Budhasvamin from Nepal. Like the
'Panchatantra', tales from the 'Kathāsaritsāgara' (or its related
versions) travelled to many parts of the world.
'Kathāsaritsāgara' consists of 18 'lambhakas' ("books") of 124
'taramgas' (chapters called as "waves") and approximately 22,000
ślokas (distichs) in addition to prose sections. The śloka consists of
2 half-verses of 16 syllables each. Thus, syllabically, the
'Kathāsaritsāgara' is approximately equal to 66,000 lines of iambic
pentameter; by comparison, John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' is 10,565
lines. All this pales in comparison to the (presumably legendary)
700,000 ślokas of the lost original 'Brihatkatha'.
Somadeva’s narrative captivates both by its simple and clear, though
very elegant, style and diction and by his skill in drawing with a few
strokes pictures of types and characters taken from the real every-day
life. Hence it is that even in the miraculous and fantastical facts
and events that make up the bulk of the main story and of a great deal
of the incidental tales the interest of the reader is uninterruptedly
kept. His lively and pleasant art of story-telling -- though now and
then encumbered with inflatedness or vitiated by far-fetched false wit
-- is enhanced also by his native humor and the elegant and pointed
sentences strewn about here and there with a good taste.
Synopsis
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The 'Kathāsaritsāgara' is a large work. Each book comprises a number
of stories loosely strung together, by being narrated for the
recreation or information of the same individuals, or arising out of
their adventures. These are Udayana, king of Kosambi, and his son
Naravahanadatta. The marriage of the latter with various damsels of
terrestrial or celestial origin, and his elevation to the rank of king
of the Vidyadharas, a class of heavenly spirits, are the leading
topics of most of the books; but they merely constitute the skeleton
of the composition, the substance being made up of stories growing out
of these circumstances, or springing from one another with an
ingenuity of intricacy which is one of the great charms of all such
collections.
'Kathāsaritsāgara'
Book !! 'Lambhaka' !! 'Taramga' !! Count of 'slokas'
1 'Kathapitha' (Foundation) 1-8 818
2 'Kathamukha' (Introduction) 9-14 871
3 'Lavanaka' 15-20 1198
4 'Naravahanadattajanana' (Birth of Naravahanadatta) 21-23 501
5 'Caturdarika' (The Four Wives) 24-26 818
6 'Madanamancuka' 27-34 1544
7 'Ratnaprabha' 35-43 1421
8 'Suryaprabha' 44-50 115
9 'Alamkaravati' 51-56 4929
10 'Saktiyasas' 57-66 1120
11 'Vela' 67 220
12 'Sasankavati' 68-103 993
13 'Madiravati' 104 624
14 'Panca' (The Five) 105-108 1628
15 'Mahabhiseka' (The Imperial Coronation) 109-110 1739
16 'Suratamanjari' 111-113 2128
17 'Padmavati' 114-119 301
18 'Visamasila' 120-124 420
Book 1
========
The first book ('Kathapitha') is introductory, and refers the origin
of the tales contained in the collection to Shiva, who, it is said,
related them in private conversation with his wife, Parvati, for her
entertainment. One of the attendants of the deity, Pushpadanta, took
the liberty of listening, and he repeated them, under the seal of
secrecy, to his wife, Jaya, a sort of lady’s maid to the goddess. Jaya
takes an opportunity of intimating to her mistress that she is
acquainted with the stories narrated by Shiva to the great
mortification of Parvati who had flattered herself that they had been
communicated to her alone. She accordingly complains to Shiva of his
having deceived her and he vindicates himself by discovering the
truth. Parvati thereupon pronounces an imprecation upon Pushpadanta,
condemning him to be born upon the earth as a man; and she sentences
his friend Malyavan, who had ventured to intercede for him, to a like
destination. Parvati tells the culprits that they shall resume their
celestial condition when Pushpadanta, encountering a yaksha, a
follower of Kubera, the god of wealth, doomed for a certain time to
walk the earth, as a pishacha or goblin, shall recollect his own
former state, and shall repeat to the pishacha the stories he
overheard from Shiva; and when Malyavan, falling in with the Pisacha,
shall hear from him again the stories that his friend Pushpadanta had
narrated. The recitation of the stories forms also the limit of the
pishacha’s sojourn amongst mortals.
The two demigods, Pushpadanta and Malyavan, are born as two Brahmins,
named Vararuchi and Gunadhya, and their adventures as mortals
constitute the subject of several tales. Some of these possess much
local interest: we have in them literary anecdotes relating to
celebrated works and authors, as to Panini the grammarian; notices of
historical persons and events, as of the accession of Chandragupta
Maurya; and traditions of the origin of celebrated places, as of that
of Pataliputra. One of the best-told stories in the whole work occurs
here. Upakosha the wife of Vararuchi, becomes during the absence of
her husband, the object of the addresses of the king's family priest,
the commander of the guards, the prince's tutor, and her husband's
banker. She makes assignations with them all: each as he arrives is
quickly followed by his successor, and is secreted only to be finally
exposed and punished.
Malyavan, or Gunadhya, in consequence of a dispute with a rival
Brahmin, forgoes the use of the Sanskrit, Prakrit and Deshya, or
vernacular languages. He afterwards learns the Paisachi language, or
that of the goblins, which enables him to receive the narrations as
they are told him by the metamorphosed yaksha or pishacha. Gunadhya
having heard the stories, extending to seven hundred thousand stanzas,
wrote them with his blood, for there was no ink in the forest. He then
offered the work to Satavahana, king of Pratishthana, who rejected it
with abhorrence, on which the author kindled a fire in the forest, and
reading it aloud, to the great edification of spirits and goblins, and
birds and beasts, he burned it leaf by leaf as he finished the
perusal. The news of this proceeding at last reached the king, and he
repented of what he had done, and repaired to Gunadhya to solicit the
gift of the work. The sage consented to present the king with the
hundred thousand verses that had not yet been consigned to the flames.
Satavahana took it to his capital, and having received an explanation
of it from two of Gunadhya's disciples, he translated it from the
language of the pishachas.
Books 2 to 5
==============
The second book ('Kathamukha') commences that part of the original
narrative which was supposedly not consumed, and records the
adventures of Udayana, king of Kosambi, a prince of great fame in
Sanskrit plays and poems, and his marriage with Vasavadatta, princess
of Ujjain. The major sub-stories include the tales of Sridatta,
Devasmita and Lohajangha.
The third book ('Lavanaka') describes his marriage to the second wife,
Padmavati, princess of Magadha and his subsequent conquests. This book
is especially rich in mythological sub-stories like Durvasa and Kunti,
Urvashi and Pururavas, Indra and Ahalya, Sunda and Upasunda &c.
The fourth book ('Naravahanadattajanana') narrates the birth of the
son of Udayana, by Vasavadatta, Naravahanadatta; at the same time sons
are born to the chief ministers of Udayana, and they become the
companions and councilors of the young prince. The book contains the
famous story of Jimutavahana.
The fifth book ('Caturdarika') records the adventures of Saktivega who
became king of the heavenly beings termed Vidyadharas, a class of
spirits who reside upon the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya mountains.
While a mortal, he possessed superhuman longevity and faculties
including clairvoyance and extrasensory perception. Naravahanadatta,
is prophecised to be a king of the Vidyadharas.
Book 6
========
The main focus of the sixth book ('Madanamanchuka') is the marriage of
the young prince Naravahanadatta with Madanamanchuka the daughter of
Kalingasena, a princess whose mother is a celestial nymph. Kalingasena
had been enamoured of Udayana, and desires to wed him. Udayana wants
to marry her; but as he has two wives already, his chief minister
argues against it. A friend of the princess, a nymph of air, is also
opposed to the match, and a variety of tales are recited on either
side in support of the reasoning for and against the union. In the
end, a spirit of air, in love with the princess, assumes the form of
Udayana, and in this identity weds her. She reconciles without remedy,
and has a daughter, Madanamanchuka who is the bride of Udayana's son.
The book features the famous story of Usha and Aniruddha.
Book 7
========
In the next book ('Ratnaprabha') Naravahanadatta marries Ratnaprabhā a
Vidyadhari who was prophesied to be his bride; the wedding is
celebrated at the palace of her father Hemaprabha, on one of the
snow-crowned summits of the Himalaya. When the married couple return
to Kosambi the young bride persuades her husband to throw open the
doors of the inner quarters, and allow free access to his friends and
associates. “The honour of women,” she affirms, “is protected by their
own principles alone; and where these are corrupt, all precautions are
vain.” This arrangement not only emancipates the women from jealous
restraint, but also triggers a subsequent series of tales, with the
prince's companions as narrators. The stories that then ensue (for
e.g. Somasvamin, Sringabhuja and Rupasikha) are about the conduct of
women; some are tales of revenge.
Books 8 and 9
===============
The eighth book ('Suryaprabha') is devoted to the adventures of a
prince named Suryaprabha, who became king of the Vidyadharas. The
scene of action is mostly in the Lokas beyond earth, and the dramatis
personae are the Nagas or snake-gods of Patala and the Vidyadharas.
This is further illustration of the mode in which Naravahanadatta may
fulfil the prophecy.
In the ninth book ('Alamkaravati'), Naravahanadatta is distraught on
the disappearance of his favorite bride Madanamanchuka after throwing
open the doors of the inner quarters. He is consoled by the narration
of a number of stories about the temporary separation and final
reunion of faithful couples. They consist of a compendious recital of
the adventures of Nala and Damayanti. The stories continue till the
thirteenth book.
Book 10
=========
The next book ('Saktiyasas'), the tenth, is important in the history
of literature, as it includes the whole of the 'Panchatantra'. We also
have in this book a possible inspiration of another well-known story,
that of King Shahryar and His Brother in the 'One Thousand and One
Nights'. Two young Brahmins travelling are benighted in a forest, and
take up their lodging in a tree near a lake. Early in the night a
number of people come from the water, and having made preparation for
an entertainment retire; a Yaksha, a genie, then comes out of the lake
with his two wives, and spends the night there; when he and one of his
wives are asleep, the other, seeing the youths, invites them to
approach her, and to encourage them, shows them a hundred rings
received from former gallants, notwithstanding her husband's
precautions, who keeps her locked up in a chest at the bottom of the
lake. The youths reject her advances; she wakes the genie who is going
to put them to death, but the rings are produced in evidence against
the unfaithful wife, and she is cast away with the loss of her nose.
Books 11 to 13
================
The eleventh book ('Vela') is one huge story, that of Vela, a damsel
married to a merchant's son focusing on their shipwreck, separation
and re-union.
The twelfth book ('Sasankavati') narrates the huge tale of
Mrigankadatta, prince of Ayodhya. The narrative is similar to Daṇḍin's
Dashakumaracharita, the Tale of the Ten Princes, in which a prince and
his nine companions are separated for a season, and recount what has
happened to each when they meet again. The exact stories, however, are
different. This book also contains an earlier version of a popular
collection of tales called the Vetala Panchavimshati: twenty-five
tales of a Vetala being related to Trivikramasena, king of
Pratishthan, on the Godavari.
The thirteenth book ('Madiravati') is short and recounts the
adventures of two young Brahmans, who have secret marriages with a
princess and her friend. The incidents are curious and diverting and
similar to the contrivances by which Madhava and Makaranda obtain
their mistresses in the drama entitled 'Malatimadhava' by Bhavabhuti.
Book 14 and 15
================
The two next books, the fourteenth ('Panca') and fifteenth
('Mahabhisheka'), the scene of action is the fabulous region of the
Vidyadharas. In the first, the prince Naravahanadatta, realises that
his queen Madanamanchuka was abducted by 'Manasavega' the Vidyadhara ,
marries additional five women of Vidhyadhara ('Vidhyadhari') and
finally kills Manasavega to regain his queen.
In Mahabhisheka, Naravahanadatta is crowned emperor of the Vidyadhara
people.
Book 16
=========
In ('Suratamanjari'), the sixteenth book, Udayana, resigns his throne
to Gopalaka, the brother of his wife Vasavadatta, and, accompanied by
his wives and ministers, goes to Mount Kalanjana. A heavenly chariot
descends, and conveys them all to heaven. Gopalaka, inconsolable for
the loss of his brother-in-law, soon relinquishes his regal state of
Kosambi to his younger brother, Palaka, retires to the White Mountain,
and spends the rest of his days in the hermitage of Kashyapa. We have
then an account of the son of Palaka falling in love with a young girl
of low caste, a Chandali, and different stories illustrative of odd
couples. Palaka's ministers argue that the very circumstance of the
prince's being enamoured of the Chandali is a proof that she must be a
princess or goddess in disguise; otherwise it were impossible that she
should have attracted the affections of any noble individual. They
therefore counsel the king to demand her hand from Matanga, her father
. Matanga consents on condition that the Brahmins of Ujjain eat in his
house. Palaka issues orders that eighteen thousand Brahmins, shall
dine with the Chandala. The Brahmins are in great alarm, as this is a
degradation and loss of caste, and they pray to Mahakala, the form of
Siva especially worshipped in Ujjain, to know what to do. He commands
them in a dream to comply, as Matanga is in truth a Vidyadhara. He had
conspired against the life of Naravahanadatta, in order to prevent his
becoming emperor of the Vidyadharas, and had been therefore condemned
by Siva to live in Ujjain with his family as Chandalas. The curse was
to terminate when eighteen thousand Brahmins should eat in his house;
and this being accomplished, Matanga is restored to his rank, and his
daughter is judged a fit bride for the son of the king.
Books 17 and 18
=================
The two last books are composed of narratives told by Naravahanadatta,
when on a visit to his uncle Gopalaka at the hermitage of Kashyapa. He
repeats those stories which were communicated to him when he was
separated from Madanamanchuka, to console him under the anguish of
separation. ('Padmavati') is the love story of Muktaphalaketu, a
prince of the Vidyadharas, and Padmavati, daughter of the king of the
Gandharvas. The former is condemned by a holy person to become a man,
and he is thus for a season separated from the latter. He is, after a
short time, restored to his station and his wife.
The last book ('Visamasila') has Vikramaditya or Vikramasila, son of
Mahendraditya, king of Ujjain, for its hero, and describes his
victories over hostile princes, and his acquirement of various
princesses. These are interspersed with love adventures, some of which
reiterate the calumnies against women, and with stories relating the
tricks of professed cheats.
''Bṛhatkathāmañjarī''
=======================
'Bṛhatkathāmañjarī'
Book !! 'Lambhaka' !! Count of 'slokas'
1 'Kathapitha' (Foundation) 392
2 'Kathamukha' (Introduction) 421
3 'Lavanaka' 414
4 'Naravahanadattajanana' (Birth of Naravahanadatta) 142
5 'Caturdarika' (The Four Wives) 263
6 'Suryaprabha' 245
7 'Madanamancuka' 612
8 'Vela' 75
9 'Sasankavati' 2435
10 'Visamasila' 288
11 'Madiravati' 83
12 'Padmavati' 115
13 'Panca' (The Five) 236
14 'Ratnaprabha' 83
15 'Alamkaravati' 375
16 'Saktiyasas' 646
17 'Mahabhiseka' (The Imperial Coronation) 55
18 'Suratamanjari' 215
Somadeva tells us that the 'Kathāsaritsāgara' is not his original
work, but is taken from a much larger collection by Guṇāḍhya, known as
the 'Bṛhatkathā'. Kṣemendra, the Sanskrit aesthete from Kashmir, had
written his 'Bṛhatkathāmañjarī', a summary of the 'Bṛhatkathā' twenty
or thirty years previously. The 'Kathāsaritsāgara' and the
'Bṛhatkathāmañjarī' agree in the number and the titles of the
different 'lambhakas' but, after 'lambhaka' 5, disagree in the order
of them. However, all the books of the same name in both versions
overlap with each other exactly (excluding a few minor details),
except for two. Book 8 ('Vela') in Kṣemendra is a combination of Book
11 ('Vela') and the beginning of Book 14 ('Panca') in
'Kathāsaritsāgara'. Considering that Kṣemendra composed two near
faithful extracts of the celebrated epics: the 'Bharatamanjari' and
the 'Ramayanamanjari', it is more probable that it was Kṣemendra, and
not Somadeva, who drew up the faithful reproduction of the old Paisaci
poem. 'Kathāsaritsāgara' is considered to have better charm of
language, elegance of style, masterly arrangement and metrical skill.
Also, Kṣemendra’s collection is a third the length of the
'Kathāsaritsāgara', the printed text amounting to a little more than
7,561 slokas.
In 1871 Professor Bühler ('Indian Antiquary', p. 302 et seq.) proved
two important facts: firstly, that Somadeva and Kṣemendra used the
same text, and secondly, that they worked entirely independently from
one another. A 'Bṛhatkathā' such as the two writers reproduced, a
prose work in the Paiśācī dialect, existed, therefore, in Kashmir. But
it was no longer the book which Guṇāḍhya had composed. It was a huge
compilation, incorporating not only many particular stories from
heterogeneous sources, but even whole books such as the 'Pañcatantra',
the 'Vetālapañcaviṃśati' and the story of Nala. The charge of
abridging, obscuring and dislocating the main narrative is valid, not
against Somadeva and Kṣemendra, but against predecessors, whose work
of amplification had been completed, so far as completion can be
predicated, perhaps two or three centuries earlier.
''Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha''
=============================
Apart from the Kashmir redactions there exists a Sanskrit version of
Guṇāḍhya’s work, bearing the title 'Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha,' i.e. the
“Great Tale: Verse Epitome.” Only about six of the twenty-six lābhas
are currently available. Its discoverer and editor, M. Félix Lacôte,
had published ('Essai sur Guṇāḍhya et la Bṛhatkathā', Paris, 1908)
along with the text an elaborate discussion of all the questions of
higher criticism relating to the 'Kathāsaritsāgara' and the other
recensions. M. Lacôte’s conclusions, which are developed with great
perspicacity, may be summarised as follows. The manuscript came from
Nepal, the work of a Nepalese writer, by name Budhasvāmin. It is dated
to the eighth to the ninth century CE and is based upon the Paiśāci
original. It lacks many of the subsidiary tales in the
'Kathāsaritsāgara', and thus the main narrative stands out concerned
predominantly with the actual adventures of Naravāhanadatta, a hero of
Guṇāḍhya’s own invention.
Persian adaptations: ''Bahr al-asmar'' and ''Darya-yi asmar''
===============================================================
'Kathāsaritsāgara' was translated into Persian in Kashmir during the
reign of Zayn al-‘Abidin (r. 1418/20-1470) under the name of 'Bahr
al-asmar' (“Ocean of Stories”). Nowadays this version is not extant;
it is known solely through the evidence from other sources. A likely
reference to it can be found in the 'Rajatarangini' by Śrīvara (fl.
1459-1505). Śrīvara, the poet laureate at the court, refers to the
commissioning of the translation of Sanskrit works into Persian and
vice versa by his patron Zayn al-‘Abidin, among them a translation of
“a digest of the 'Bṛhatkathā'” ('bṛhatkathāsāra') which may refer to
the 'Kathāsaritsāgara'.
Another Persian version was commissioned in the second half of the
16th century during Akbar's reign and accomplished by a certain
Mustafa Khaliqdad ‘Abbasi also known as the translator of other works.
This work was presumably carried out after 1590 following the military
annexation of Kashmir. Abbasi named it 'Darya-yi asmar' (“River of
Stories”) to distinguish it from the Kashmirian translation. In its
preface, ʿAbbasi mentions that he was assigned to rewrite an earlier
version “of the book 'barhatkata' […] which the Kashmirian Brahmin
Sumdevbat […] had shortened” and which “someone had undertaken during
Zayn al-‘Abidin’s reign”, being fraught with Arabic expressions, in a
more readable style.” In conformity with the Sanskrit text, the
Persian adaptation is likewise divided into eighteen main chapters,
called 'nahr' (rivers), each subdivided into several 'mauj' (waves).
This translation was discovered around 1968-9 (National Museum, New
Delhi no. 62.1005). It was edited by Dr. Tara Chand and Prof. Syed
Amir Hasan Abidi. It is worth mentioning that today only two
manuscripts of the Persian version are available; both are incomplete
and contain only 8 out of the original 18 chapters of the Sanskrit
version each, which Chand and ‘Abidi based their edition upon.
In contrast to other examples from similar kind of literature like Abu
al-Maʿali Nasrullah Munshi’s 'Kalila va Dimna', the 'Darya-yi asmar'
was retold not in artificial prose ('nasr-i musajja‘') aimed at
connoisseurs but rather in simple prose with features that remind of
an oral recital. In the Persian narrative we encounter a mix of
adaptation techniques: some sections display a transfer close to the
Indian version, whereas most parts indicate a more narrative approach.
This means that special attention was given to the transmission of the
narrated story and not to the preservation of as many textual features
as possible. One of the adaptation techniques applied in the
'Kathāsaritsāgara' is the use of explanations and glosses to single
words that refer to persons, objects or concepts. The
translator-compiler ‘Abbāsī remarks, for example, that “this story is
elaborated upon in [other] Indian books”, or comments on certain
passages by adding: “[…] according to the sayings of the people of
India […].” The second type of strategy encountered is that of
inserting poetic quotations from the pool of Persian poetry such as
'Gulistan', 'Divan-i Hafiz', 'Divan-i Salman-i Savaji', 'Manzumat-i
Sharaf al-Din Yazdi', Nizami's 'Khusrau-u-Shirin', 'Makhzan al-Asrar',
'Haft paykar', and various others.
Printed editions and modern translations
==========================================
Professor H. H. Wilson was the first European scholar who drew the
attention of the Western world to this storehouse of fables. In 1824,
he gave a summary of the first five books in the 'Oriental Quarterly
Magazine'. The first edition of the work was undertaken by Professor
Brockhaus. In 1839 he issued the first five chapters only, and it was
not till 1862 that the remaining thirteen appeared. Both publications
formed part of the 'Abhandlungen der Deutschen Morgenländischen
Gesellschaft'.
It was this text which C. H. Tawney used for his excellent translation
('Ocean of the River of Streams') published by the Asiatic Society of
Bengal in the 'Bibliotheca Indica', 1880-1884 (the index not appearing
till 1887). Brockhaus’ edition was based primarily on six MSS., though
in the second part of the work he apparently had not so many at his
disposal. Tawney was not satisfied with several of Brockhaus’
readings, and consequently made numerous fresh renderings or
suggestions largely taken from MSS. borrowed from the Calcutta College
and from three India Office MSS. lent him by Dr Rost.
In 1889 Durgāprasād issued the Bombay edition, printed at the
Nirṇayasāgara Press, which was produced from Brockhaus’ edition and
two Bombay MSS. This is the latest text now available.
In 1919, N. M. Penzer first approached Tawney with the suggestion of
reissuing his 'Ocean of the River of Streams'. But he revised and
published Tawney’s 2 volumes in 10 volumes in 1924. The first volume
gave an introduction of Hindu fiction and the other famous
story-collections like 'Panchatantra', 'Hitopadesha' etc. Volumes 2 to
10 published the original translation with extensive comments. Penzer
invited different scholars to write forewords to each volume resulting
in nine excellent essays dealing with all aspects of the great
collection.
A project to translate the full work into modern English prose,
translated by Sir James Mallinson, began to appear in 2007 from the
Clay Sanskrit Library, published by New York University Press. The
translation was based on the Nirnaya Press’s 1915 edition of the
Sanskrit text, the edition favored by Sanskritists today. Currently
available are 2 volumes of the projected 7-volume edition.
Translations
==============
*C. H. Tawney (1880-84), 'The Kathá sarit ságara; or, Ocean of the
streams of story', 2 vols, Vol I, . The only complete translation into
English.
*N. M. Penzer (1924-28), 'The ocean of story, being C. H. Tawney's
translation of Somadeva's Katha sarit sagara (or Ocean of streams of
story)', 10 vols Vol I, Vol II, Vol III, Vol IV, Vol V, Vol VI, Vol
VII, Vol VIII, Vol IX, . Based on Tawney's translation, but greatly
expanded, with additional notes and remarks comparing stories from
different cultures.
*A. R. Krishnashastry (1952), 'Kathaamrita' (Kannada: ಕಥಾಮೃತ), Geetha
Book House, K.R. Circle, Mysore 570 001, India.
* Sir James Mallinson (2007-9), 'The Ocean of the Rivers of Story',
Clay Sanskrit Library. New York: New York University Press.
[
http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/volume-v-30.html vol 1] ,
[
http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/volume-v-86.html vol 2] . intended
to be a complete translation in nine volumes, only two volumes,
reaching up to canto 6.8, were published before the publisher ended
operations.
*P. C. Devassia (1978) 'Sri Somadevabattante Kathasaritsagaram'
(samboornagadyavivarthanam. Prose translation of Somadeva's Sanskrit
Poem) (Malayalam). Publishers: Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society
Ltd., Kottayam, Kerala State, India. Sold by National Book Stall.
Reprinted 1990.
*Arshia Sattar (1997), 'Tales from the Kathasaritsagara'. Penguin.
Includes key selections from the 'Kathasaritsagara'.
*Radhavallabh Tripathi, 'Katha Sarit Sagar' (Hindi). National Book
Trust. .
Influence
======================================================================
* The stories and their order in 'Tantrakhyayika' within Book 10 are
consistent with the tales and arrangement of the 'Kalila wa Demna'
more than even the 'Panchatantra', and it would appear therefore that
we have in the 'Kathasaritsagara' an earlier representative of the
original collection than even the Panchatantra, at least as it is now
met with.
* The book was a favourite of scholar of Buddhism Herbert V. Guenther,
according to Jodi Reneé Lang, Ph.D.
* The idea of a sea of stories was an inspiration for Salman Rushdie's
'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'.
See also
======================================================================
* Hitopadesa
* Kshemendra
* One Thousand and One Nights
External links
======================================================================
*
[
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/kathasaritsagara-the-ocean-of-story
Online HTML ebook of 'The Ocean of Story' (kathasaritsagara), volume
1-9], proofread, including thousands of notes and extra appendixes.
* [
http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=ocean_of_story Ocean of Story]
at the Encyclopedia of Fantasy
*
*
*
License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathasaritsagara
