DOCSLIB.ORG

Lord Nrsimhadev

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lord Nrsimhadev Lord Nrsimhadev Lord Narsimhadev is the half-man, half-lion incarnation of Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Narsimhadev appeared in the Satya-yauga, millions of years ago, to protect His devotee Prahalad Maharaja from the violence of his demoniac father King Hiranyakasyapu. Hiranyakasyapu was born of the great sage Kasyapa Muni and his wife Diti. He had an elder brother named Hiranyaksh. When Hiranyaksh, the younger brother of Hiranyakasyapu was killed by Sri Vishnu in His Varha incarnation, Hiranyakasyapu was furious and vowed to retaliate the death of his brother by killing Vishnu Himself. He accused Lord Vishnu of being partial to the demigods, and sent his followers to the different planetary systems, to spread chaos. These followers of Hiranyakasyapu attacked the saintly people, stopped all kinds of yajnas or sacrifices and spread irreligosity every where. The demigods, deprived of their offerings from the yajnas became weak and ineffective. Meanwhile Hiranyakasyapu went to Mount Mandara to perform severe austerities in order to please Brahma, the creator of the universe. Taking advantage of the absence of Hiranyakasyapu, Indra, the king of the demigods attacked and drove away the demons. Indra also took captive Queen Kayadhu, the wife of Hiranyakasyapu, who was at that time pregnant. Indra, aware that any child of Hiranyakasyapu could also be a future threat, wanted to kill the child at the time of birth. He was however stopped by Narada Muni, the transcendental sage of the demigods. Narada brought Queen Kayadhu in his ashram and instructed her on the glories of Lord Krishna. In the womb of Kayadhu, her son, who would later become Prahalad, also heard and absorbed these nectarean instructions. Kayadhu, fearful that Indra may still return to kill her child on birth, requested Narada Muni to give her the blessing that her child would not be born until Hiranyakasyapu returns. Prahalad thus stayed in the womb of his mother for 100 years of the demigods (36,000 of earthly years), spiritually associating with a pure devotee, Narada Muni, through speech, while his father performed intense austerities. Over this period, Hiranyakasyapu's body was eaten away be ants and insects. His life air remained trapped in his skeleton by his mystic powers. Pleased by his austerities, Lord Brahma came, restored Hiranyakasyapu's body and granted him a boon. The boon was that he would not be killed during day or night, in the ground or the air, inside or outside, by man, animal or demigod, by any weapon living or non living. In asking for such a boon, Hiranyakasyapu was attempting to become immortal. Kayadhu on being re-united with Hiranyakasyapu, gave birth to Prahalad. Hiranyakasyapu, empowered with the boons from Brahma soon brought the three worlds under his power. He ruled his kingdom cruelly, causing enormous miseries to the demigods, humans and the inhabitants of the lower planetary systems. He deprived the demigods of all their powers and assumed all their positions. He accepted all sacrifices for himself without glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Who is the ultimate receiver of all sacrifices. Miserable under the cruelty of Hiranyakasyapu, the demigods ultimately surrendered to Lord Krishna, praying to Him for protection and deliverance. Pleased by their prayers, Lord Krishna Who always protects His devotees promised to bring an end to Hiranyakasyapu. Prahalad, although born in a demoniac family was a pure devotee. Understanding the true position of Vishnu, Prahalad spend his time meditating on the name, form and pastimes of Lord Krishna. Despite the efforts of his teachers, employed by Hiranyakasyapu, Prahalad refused to accept his father as the supreme being. Being a devotee, he was always kind, gentle and respectful, but firm in his faith. Finally after several tricks, Hiranyakasyapu frustrated with the determination of Prahalad, ordered him to be killed. The cruel guards of Hiranyakasyapu tried very hard to kill Prahalad, but failed. When one is protected by Sri Krishna, it is impossible to harm him. Hiranyakasyapu now grew fearful of his son, and urged his teachers to try harder. The teachers tried using different methods to explain the supremacy of Hiranyakasyapu. However when Prahalad was taken back to Hiranyakasyapu, he remained firm in his belief and even advised his father to give up his envy for Vishnu and become his devotee. Angered by this Hiranyakasyapu decided to kill Prahalad himself. He insultingly asked him if his God was there to save him now. When Prahalad explained that Lord Vishnu is present everywhere, Hiranyakasyapu kicked a column asking him if his Vishnu was present in that pillar. Lord Narsimhadev emerged from the pillar in an extraordinary form that was half man and half lion. He was brilliant in His arms, garments, helmet and weapons. Hiranyakasyapu, confident of the power of his boons, fearlessly attacked Lord Narsimhadev and a terrific fight took place. It is said that Lord Narsimhadev played with Hiranyakasyapu, much like Garuda, the carrier of Lord Vishnu, plays with a snake before killing it. Finally, when it was dusk, neither day nor night, Lord Narsimhadev, Who in that form was neither man nor animal, took Hiranyakasyapu on his lap, which was neither in the ground or the air, took him under the palace gate, which was neither inside nor outside and killed him with his nails, which was not a weapon, living or dead. In this way Lord Narsimhadev honored all the benedictions of Brahma and protected His devotees. The killing of Hiranyakasyapu was greeted with much relief and celebration in all the three worlds. All the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva assembled to glorify Lord Narsimhadev. So fearful was the form and anger of Lord Narsimhadev, which no one dare approach Him and it was finally Prahalad Maharaj, fearless under the protection of his own Lord, who pacified Lord Narsimhadev by offering sweet prayers to Him. Finally when the Lord was pacified, He offered many benedictions to Prahalad Maharaj and was then worshipped by all the demigods assembled there. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Journal of Vaishnava Studies
    JOURNAL OF VAISHNAVA STUDIES Volume 4 No. 3 Summer 1996 Introduction 1 Howard J. Resnick / The Supremacy of Vishnu / Krishna in the 5 Mahabharata Winthrop Sargeant / The Mahabharata: An Overview 23 Bruce M. Sullivan / Vyasa’s Relationship to Vishnu and Brahma: 57 Dennis Hudson / Thoughts on the Bhagavad-gita in its Epic Context 65 Gary A. Tubb / The Dice-Game Episode 85 Christopher K. Chapple / Ahimsa in the Mahabharata 109 Andre Couture / The Harivamsa: a Supplement to the Mahabharata 127 Freda Matchett / The Harivamsa: Supplement and Independent Text: 139 Eric A. Huberman / A Note on the Multi-Centered Imagination of 151 the Mahabharata Katharine B. Free / Peter Brook’s the Mahabharata 161 About the Contributors 183 THE SUPREMACY OF VISHNU/KRISHNA IN THE MAHÅBHÅRATA Howard Resnick (H.D. Goswami) s the Mahåbhårata begins, the well-known sage Süta comes to the sacred forest of Naimißåra∫ya, where the saintly assembly requests A him to narrate the the great epic. Süta begins by offering his re- spectful obeisances to “the primeval person” (ådyaµ purußam), “the Lord” (îΩånam), “He who is called and praised in many ways” (puru-hütaµ puru- ߆utam). Süta himself demonstrates this last feature of God by glorifying Him in this initial hymn with three celebrated names: Vishnu, H®ßîkeΩa, and Hari. Who is the God whom Süta addresses as Vishnu, H®ßîkeΩa and Hari? He is first, as mentioned above, the original person, the controller, and one who is praised and prayed to in various ways, by many names. He is also the moral and spiritual Truth (®tam), the unique and imperishable verity indi- cated by the syllable Oµ (ekåkßaram), the Absolute (Brahman), the manifest and the unmanifest (vyaktåvyaktam), and the everlasting (sanåtanam); both being and non-being (asac ca sac caiva ca), that which constitutes the whole (yad viΩvam), and that which is beyond both being and non-being (sad asat- a˙ param).
    [Show full text]
  • Tracing Vishnu Through Archeological Remains at the Western Slope of Mount Lawu
    KALPATARU, Majalah Arkeologi Vol. 29 No. 1, Mei 2020 (15-28) TRACING VISHNU THROUGH ARCHEOLOGICAL REMAINS AT THE WESTERN SLOPE OF MOUNT LAWU Menelusuri Jejak Wisnu pada Tinggalan Arkeologi di Lereng Gunung Lawu Heri Purwanto1 and Kadek Dedy Prawirajaya R.2 1Archaeology Alumni in Archaeology Department, Udayana University Jl. Pulau Nias No. 13, Sanglah, Denpasar-Bali [email protected] 2Lecturer in Archaeology Department, Udayana University Jl. Pulau Nias No. 13, Sanglah, Denpasar-Bali [email protected] Naskah diterima : 5 Mei 2020 Naskah diperiksa : 27 Mei 2020 Naskah disetujui : 4 Juni 2020 Abstract. To date, The West Slope area of Mount Lawu has quite a lot of archaeological remains originated from Prehistoric Period to Colonial Period. The number of religious shrines built on Mount Lawu had increased during the Late Majapahit period and were inhabited and used by high priests (rsi) and ascetics. The religious community was resigned to a quiet place, deserted, and placed far away on purpose to be closer to God. All religious activities were held to worship Gods. This study aims to trace Vishnu through archaeological remains. Archaeological methods used in this study are observation, description, and explanation. Result of this study shows that no statue has ever been identified as Vishnu. However, based on archeological data, the signs or symbols that indicated the existence of Vishnu had clearly been observed. The archeological evidences are the tortoise statue as a form of Vishnu Avatar, Garuda as the vehicle of Vishnu, a figure riding Garuda, a figure carrying cakra (the main weapon of Vishnu), and soles of his feet (trivikrama of Vishnu).
    [Show full text]
  • Ketudeva (Ketu)
    Ketu-deva (Ketu) Ketu is the descending lunar node. ©Ketu© is the body of Rahu, after the head of the asura was cut off by Mohini Murti. In Vedic astrology, Ketu is generally referred to as a "shadow" planet. It is believed to have a tremendous impact on human lives and also the whole creation. In some special circumstances it helps someone achieve the zenith of fame. Astronomically, Ketu and Rahu denote the points of intersection of the paths of the Sun and the Moon as they move on the celestial sphere. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu are respectively called the north and the south lunar nodes. The fact that eclipses occur when the Sun and the Moon are at one of these points gives rise to the idea of the swallowing of the Sun and the Moon by the demon snake. In Vedic astrology Ketu represents karmic collections both good and bad, spirituality and supernatural influences. Ketu signifies the spiritual process of the refinement of materialization to spiritualism and is considered both malefic and benefic, as it causes sorrow and loss, and yet at the same time turns the individual unto God. In other words, it causes material loss in order to force a more spiritual outlook in the person. Ketu is an indicator of intelligence, wisdom, non-attachment, fantasy, penetrating insight, derangement, and psychic abilities. Ketu brings prosperity to the devotee©s family, removes the effects of snakebite and illness arising out of poisons. He grants good health, wealth and cattle to his devotees. The people who come under the influence of Ketu can achieve great heights, most of them spiritual.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Dashaavataras of Lord Vishnu
    DASHAAVATARAS OF LORD VISHNU - CHILDREN’S EDITION VEMURI ACHINTYA VARENYA,VEMURI ATEENDRA PRAGNYAN AND FAMILY, CHENNAI 1 FOREWORD Om EkadantayaVidmahiVakratundayaDhimahi, TannoDantiPrachodayaa Om NarayanayaVidmahiVaasudevaayaDhimahiTanno Vishnu Prachodayaa This book contains the story of all forms of Lord Vishnu respectively known as Dashaavataras, who came to save the universe from destruction. This book of Dashaavataras is written in basic English for children to understand easily. We are the students of Sri Sankara High School Adyar Branch of Chennai as the Children of Shri Vemuri Harihar Kumar and Smt. Shalini Vemuri. May we have the privilege to dedicate to His Highness of Kanchi Mutt. Ashtadapati 1-Dasha AvataaraKiirtiDhavalam This is the first part of the famous JayadevaAshtapadi which describes the dashaavataras of Vishnu in a poetic format. pralayapayodhijaledhṛtavānasivedam।vihitavahitracaritramakhedam॥ keśavādhṛtamīnaśarīrajayajagadīśahare॥a pa 1-1 O Kesava (name of Vishnu) who donned the body of a fish to save the Vedas (and the world) from the delge of the ocean (pralaya) just like a ship that saves (its passengers) from (the dangers of) the ocean. Hail to you, O lord of the Universe. kṣitirativipulataretavatiṣṭhatipṛṣṭhe।dharaṇidharaṇakiṇacakragariṣṭhe keśavadhṛtakacchaparūpajayajagadīśahare॥a pa 1-2 O Kesava, again you took the body of a tortoise to bear the weight of the mountain (Mount Mandara) on your back to save from destruction (so that ocean could be churned to get the wonders to Gods and Demons). Hail to you, O lord of the Universe. vasatidaśanaśikharedharaṇītavalagnā।śaśinikalaṅkakalevanimagnā॥ keśavadhṛtasūkararūpajayajagadīśahare॥a pa 1-3 O Kesava,You took the form of a boar (Varaha) to lift the earth from the ocean by placing the earth on your mighty tusks which showed like a moon with a blemish.
    [Show full text]
  • Bhagavad Gita
    BHAGAVAD GITA The Global Dharma for the Third Millennium Chapter Ten Translations and commentaries compiled by Parama Karuna Devi Copyright © 2012 Parama Karuna Devi All rights reserved. Title ID: 4173075 ISBN-13: 978-1482548501 ISBN-10: 148254850X published by Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center phone: +91 94373 00906 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.jagannathavallabha.com © 2011 PAVAN Correspondence address: PAVAN House Siddha Mahavira patana, Puri 752002 Orissa Chapter 10: Vibhuti yoga The Yoga of powers The word vibhuti contains many meanings, such as "powers", "opulences", "glories", "magic". Every living being has some of such "magic powers" - a special ability, or strength, or beauty - but not everyone has the same powers, or a power to an absolute degree. Among the materially embodied beings, such powers are always conditioned by circumstances and exhausted when they are used. Through the correct practice of yoga, a sadhaka can develop special vibhutis up to the level of siddhi ("perfection"), usually listed as being able to become extremely small (anima siddhi), extremely large (mahima siddhi), extremely light (laghima siddhi), reconfiguring the patterns of material atoms (vasitva siddhi), materializing things by attracting atoms from other places (prapti siddhi), controlling the minds of others (isitva siddhi), assuming any shape or form (kamavasayita siddhi), and manifesting all kinds of wonders (prakamya siddhi). Another of such powers consists in entering and controlling the body of another, living or dead (parakaya pravesa). Also, the knowledge of genuine yoga enables the serious sadhaka to control the material elements (such as fire, water, air etc), control the weather (call or dispel storms and lightning, bring or withhold rain, etc), travel in different dimensions and planets without any vehicle, call the dead back into their old body (usually temporarily), and so on.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Ramayana: a Retelling by Daljit Nagra
    Ramayana: A Retelling by Daljit Nagra Daljit Nagra was born and raised in West London, then Sheffield, and currently lives in London. His first collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover!, won the 2007 Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award, and his second Tippoo Sultan’s Incredible White‐ Man‐Eating Tiger Toy‐Machine!!! was shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize in 2011. Ramayana reviews ‘As a child growing up near Heathrow in the early 1970s, I ... was enthralled by the stories told by my mother and grandmother, of Rama and Sita, Hanuman and Ravana. These characters appeared in the Bollywood films I saw every weekend in the cinema in Southall and the songs played at home. The most exciting festival in our calendar was Diwali, which celebrates Rama and Sita's homecoming. My brother and I were born in Britain, and these were stories of a distant and fabulous place – their influence on me was significantly different from their influence on my parents and grandparents, who first heard them in their Punjabi villages. When I started school and began to learn English, my education removed me further from the rituals of Punjabi language and culture. As I grew up, my life became increasingly westernised and secular, so it was only as an adult reading Narayan's Ramayana that I gained a sense of the narrative scope and structure of the story, and even more recently, when I decided that I wanted to write my own Ramayana, that I discovered its historical, geographical and theological range and diversity.’ (Daljit Nagra, The Guardian) ‘The Ramayana is regarded as the greatest of all devotional Hindu epics, alongside the Mahabharata.
    [Show full text]
  • Maha Shivarathri
    Om Namashivaya Maha Shivarathri Maathaacha Parvathi Devi Pitha Devo Mageshwaraha I Bhandhavaanaam Shiva Bhaktacha Swadeso Bhuvanathrayam II Meaning: Lord Shiva and His consort, Goddess Parvati are the Father & Mother of the entire universe! Lord Shiva’s devotees are our friends & relatives! All the three worlds created by the Lord belong to us & we belong to them! Available at https://achalam.org, Contributor: Sri K Sriram, 2015 Introduction Mahashivaratri Festival or the ‘The Grand Night of Lord Shiva’ is celebrated in honour of Lord Shiva, one of the foremost deities of Hindu Trinity, namely, Lord Shiva, Maha Vishnu & Brahma. Shivaratri falls on the night of Charthurdasi Thithi [14th night – previous night to New Moon Day] in Krishna Paksha [the fortnight of the waning moon] in the Hindu month of Phalgun [Magha], which corresponds to the month of February - March in English Calendar. Celebrating the festival of Shivaratri devotees observe day and night fast and perform ritual worship of Shiva Lingam to appease Lord Shiva with extra-ordinary, seen-to-believed devotion and religious fervor. Legends of Mahashivarathri There are five major interesting legends associated with the festival of Maha Shivaratri that make it extremely auspicious and it is believed that it is on Mahashivarathri Day the following legends, rather, milestones in the Life-history of Lord Shiva took place: 1. Arunachala Lingorbhava – Manifestation of Lord Shiva as Linga in Arunachala [Tiruvannamalai, Tamil nadu]. 2. The wedding Day of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati 3. The auspicious night on which Ananda Thandava - the Cosmic Dance of Lord Shiva [the dance of the primal creation, preservation and destruction] took place.
    [Show full text]
  • Where to Install : by Drilling in Walls, Inserted Each in 8 Directions, and One in Brahamsthan Kubera in the Vedic Times In
    Where to install : By drilling in walls, Inserted each in 8 directions, and one In brahamsthan Kubera In the Vedic times in Indian Mythology, Kubera was a being associated with evil. He was envisaged to be the chief of all evil creatures living in darkness. It was only after Hinduism consolidated into what it is today that this hideous dwarf began to get acknowledged as a god and as one of the eight guardians of the world. He still remained the king of the Yakshas. Today, in the Hindu pantheon, Kubera is widely known as the god appointed the guardian of the treasures of the gods. He often rides in his airborne magic chariot Pushpak and showers jewels and other precious objects onto the lands he passes over to succor the poor. There are two versions of how Kubera was elevated to the stature of a god. The first version postulates that Kubera performed stringent austerities for thousands of years and, as a reward, was promoted. Another rather more romantic version is that one day Kubera had gone to rob a temple of Shiva, who is the king of robbers. During the robbery Kubera's taper had somehow been blown out. No matter how hard the dwarf tried he could not relight the taper. Nevertheless, he persisted with his efforts no matter how nefarious they were and, on the tenth attempt, he succeeded. Shiva is a benign god who is often pleased by the most illogical of efforts. This perseverance of Kubera's in his attempt to rob the god's temple won him much admiration from Shiva who subsequently granted the dwarf access to the Hindu pantheon of gods.
    [Show full text]
  • Samudramanthana
    yksdfiz;lkfgR;xzUFkekyk&36 Published by Registrar SAMUDRAMANTHANA Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (Deemed University) 56-57, Institutional Area, Janakpuri New Delhi-110058 EPABX : 28524993, 28521994, 28524995 Gram : SAMSTHAN E-Mail : [email protected] Website : www.sanskrit.nic.in ISBN : 978-93-86111-80-7 Author San Sarin Edition : 2012 Price : 350/- &j Printed at : Amar Printing press Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan Vijay Nagar, Delhi (Deemed University) E-mail : [email protected] New Delhi Tel. 9871699565, 8802451208 ( iv ) critical notes on each and every word. Here his deep knowledge of Sanskrit Grammer is evident. He has in his introduction provided us with the comperitive study of “Samudramanthana” of Matsya-Pur¹ªa, Vi¬ªu Pur¹ªa, FOREWARD Bh¹gavata Pur¹ªa and Mah¹bh¹rata. As it is noted by Mr. San Sarin in his introduction – San Sarin, worthy scholar of Sanskrit, is by “On counting the protagonists at the right hand of the profession an accountant though he possesses deep dancing God Vi¬ªu, we have 92. This is the demon’s camp. knowledge of Sanskrit language and literature, as he At the left hand of the God, the number of protagonists is cherishes great interest in this subject. He is a regular 88. This is the gods’ camp.” Being an accountant he has contributor to the World Sanskrit Conference. He has tried in his own way to explain the secret of 92 and 88, visited thereby many countries where this conference was which would prove interesting. held in past. I congratulate Mr. San Sarin for his deep critical We met in Leiden, The Netharland where the World study of the Sanskrit Text of “Samudramanthana” of Sanskrit Conference was organized.
    [Show full text]
  • Valmiki Ramayana – Yuddha Kanda – Chapter 92 CHAPTER 92
    “Om Sri Lakshmi Narashimhan Nahama” Valmiki Ramayana – Yuddha Kanda – Chapter 92 CHAPTER 92 Ravana Attempts to Kill Sita Having heard about or directly seen the death of Indrajit, Ravana’s ministers hurriedly informed him of the matter: “O great king, your splendid son Indrajit has been killed in battle by Lakshmana accompanied by Vibhishana as we watched. Meeting Lakshmana in a close encounter, your heroic son, who had never previously been defeated, was killed by Lakshmana. After satisfying Lakshmana with his arrows, Indrajit has gone to those highest worlds.” Hearing about the ghastly and frightening death of his son Indrajit on the battleground, Ravana went into a long swoon. Regaining consciousness after a long time, the king, who was overwhelmed with grief over the death of his son, lamented pitifully as follows: “Alas! O my dear child! O powerful leader of the rakshasa army! Having conquered Indra, how have you now been subdued by Lakshmana? When angry you could surely pierce with your arrows even death personified or the peak of Mount Mandara, what to speak of Lakshmana. Today I hold Yamaraja, the lord of death, in high esteem in that he has subjected you to the influence of time, O strong-armed one! This is the path of good warriors even among all the hosts of immortals. One who dies for the cause of one’s master attains heaven. When all the hosts of gods, protectors of the worlds and great sages hear that Indrajit has been slain, they will sleep comfortably without fear. With the singular absence of Indrajit, this entire earth with its forests and even the three worlds seem empty to me.
    [Show full text]
  • News Letter Dec2010-Feb2011
    Dharma Sandesh kÉqÉïxÉlSåzÉ a quarterly newsletter of Bharatiya Mandir, Middletown, NY AÉ lÉÉå pÉSìÉÈ ¢üiÉuÉÉå rÉliÉÑ ÌuɵÉiÉÈ| Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere. RigVeda 1.89.1 n first part is appearing in this issue and the second part lÉqÉxiÉå Namaste will appear in the next issue of this newsletter. Á – OM. With the blessings and grace of the Dr. Padma Sundaram continues to write on the Supreme Spirit (mÉUqÉÉiqÉÉ), we bring to our dear readers “Consorts of Lord MahaVishnu”. In this issue, she this issue of Bharatiya Mandir‟s quarterly newsletter tells us about Devi Jambavati and Devi Satyabhama, “Dharma Sandesh”. the second and third consorts of Lord Krishna. Dr. Madhu P. Godsay writes about the “Hindu View on Winter has arrived in our midst already. Although Truth”. This is an excellent article that portrays the Surya Deva is shining brightly outside as I write this views held by many Hindus on Truth (xÉirÉ). newsletter, Vayu Deva is blowing with great force, and it is freezing outside. This is a reminder of the We hope that readers will continue to enjoy reading upcoming harsh winter. Perhaps the harshness of the the articles and gain some insight into our Sanatana winter will be mitigated by the warmth of our Dharma. Let us all pray to the Paramaatma (mÉUqÉÉiqÉÉ - devotion to the Lord and the warmth of the Agni who Supreme Lord) to shower His blessings upon all His will be blazing in all His glory during the Sri children!! Bhagavad Gita Yajna on December 18 at the Mandir.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ramayana in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia
    FROM LANKA EASTWARDS From Lanka Eastwards Lanka From The Ramayana in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia FROM LANKA EASTWARDS The Ramayana in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia The Ramayana in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia The Kakawin Ramayana, arguably the oldest Old Javanese epic text in Indic metres (circa 9th century AD), holds a unique position in the literary heritage of Indonesia. The poem has retained a remarkable vitality through the centuries in the Archipelago, inspiring many forms of artistic expression not only in the domain of literature but also in the visual and performing arts, from the reliefs of the majestic Central Javanese temples to modern puppet-show performances. Displaying a virtuoso array of metrical patterns, the Kakawin Ramayana is among the very few Old Javanese texts for which a specific Sanskrit prototype has been identified, namely the difficult poem Bhattikavya (circa 7th century AD), itself a version of the great Ramayana epic ascribed to Valmiki (circa 6th–1st century BC). The Old Javanese poem is an original and skillful work of re-elaboration that documents a fascinating interaction between cultural elements of the Sanskritic tradition with those indigenous to the Javanese setting. The studies included in this volume, written by experts in a wide range of disciplines, focus on disparate aspects of the Kakawin Ramayana and the constellation of cultural phenomena revolving around it, providing the reader with a key to the understanding of the rich Old Javanese textual heritage and the transcultural intellectual dynamics that contributed to shaping the cultural heritage of Indonesia up to the present.
    [Show full text]