A review on the similarities of three works in sanskrit kathā literature: VetālapañcaviṂśati, simhāsanadvātrimśikā and śukasaptati
| dc.contributor.author | Ven. Indananda, Welipitiye | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-02T08:23:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-12-02T08:23:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-03-29 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Kathā Literature is a broad division of the narrative literature in classical Sanskrit. The Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, the two great epics in Sanskrit, symbolize a significant juncture of this literary tradition. The three Sanskrit compositions discussed in this paper, Vetālapa caviṃśati, Siṃhāsanadvātriṃśikā and Śukasaptati, are considered as individual works. This research study was carried out as a comparative study where the structures and styles of the three aforesaid works were compared. Although those works have been written independently, it can be identified through a comparison of the works that there are a number of similarities among them. These similarities include the use of a frame story/main story and binding different sub-stories around the that, the expansion of the frame story for a particular length using substories, the setting of each sub-story in a single structure, the telling of sub-stories by main characters and the finalizing of the whole work by returning to the frame story. Those similarities in terms of narrative structure cannot be seen in other famed works in the Sanskrit Kathā Literature. Besides, these three works have been titled in a similar manner, indicating the content and the quantity of the stories. Although the period and authorship of these books are still controversial, it can be imagined that they all have been written during a particular era perhaps with short gaps between each other. On the other hand, these writings assist us in identifying a new trend in the Sanskrit literature that prevailed after the 11ᵗʰ Century A.D. as per the comments made by critics. The specific narrative structure that appears in these three books differs from the structure of the Pañcatantra and the Kathāsaritsāgara but remains quite similar to that of the wellknown Persian work One Thousand and One Nights/The Arabian Nights. Books composed in the same structure but in two different literary traditions in the world draw considerable attention. Accordingly, it can be said that they show an attempt to introduce some stories selected from ancient Indian sources and folktales through new narrative structures. The similarities in these works may have not been random circumstances but due to the influence they had on each other. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Proceedings of the PGIHS Research Congress ( PGIHS-RC) -2019, University of Peradeniya, p. 30 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-955-7395-02-9 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/4353 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Peradeniya | |
| dc.subject | Sanskrit Narrative Structure | |
| dc.subject | Similarities | |
| dc.subject | New Trend | |
| dc.title | A review on the similarities of three works in sanskrit kathā literature: VetālapañcaviṂśati, simhāsanadvātrimśikā and śukasaptati | |
| dc.type | Article |