Dr.M.Mazumdar

The Jataka is part of the canon of sacred Buddhist literature, a collection of some 550 anecdotes and fables which depicts earlier incarnations -- sometimes as an animal, sometimes as a human -- of the being who would become Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha. Traditional birth and death dates of Gautama are 563-483 BC. The Jataka tales are dated between 300 BC and 400 AD. And Jataka may mean births. Jataka, any of the extremely popular stories of former lives of the Buddha, which are preserved in all branches of Buddhism. Some Jataka tales are scattered in various sections of the Pali canon of Buddhist writings, including a group of 35 that were collected for didactic purposes. These 35 constitute the last book, the Cariya Pitaka (“Basket of Conduct”), of the Khuddaka Nikaya (“Short Collection”). Beyond this, a Sinhalese commentary of the 5th century that is questionably attributed to a Buddhist scholar named Buddhagosa and called the Jatakatthavannana, or Jatakatthakatha, gathers ...

The Panchatantra is written in Sanskrit and is collection of animal fables. While Panchatantras are animal fables, the Jatakas describe the previous existences or births of the Buddha when he appeared as Bodhisattvas (beings who are yet to attain enlightenment or moksha), in both human and non-human forms. Therefore it can be stated that Jatakas has a greater religious influence on them more than the Panchatantras. The Jatakas are in Pali and primarily deal with the themes of rebirth, virtue ,sacrifice and peace. The plot revolves around the Bodhisattva who is depicted as the embodiment of righteousness and wisdom. The Jataka contain more than 500 tales .Some Jataka Tales are excerpts from Cariya Pitaka, presented in a positive or negative light in different tales .For instance in the fable King Great Virtue , the demons are shown as taking advice from the King of Benares and helping him in return for his valuable guidance. While in some other tales like Demons in Desert and Monkey Ch...

1. Ved Vyas is considered to be the reincarnation of God Vishnu by the Hindus. Satyabati and Rishi Parashar were his parents. (Dritirashtra and Pandava brothers are said to have been the sons of Rishi Parashar). The meaning of Ved Vyas is, the collector of Vedas. He compiled the Vedas, composed Mahabharata and 18 Puranas. He is said to have divided the Vedas into four parts. Shastras and Vedas have been written thousands of years back. But the fundamentals of these writings have remained the same. Birth, disease, old age and death are the inescapable relevant realities from Bhagwad Gita in Mahabharata. Vedas contents also preceded with Varna system, birth hierarchy, praises for Gods that represented the natural forces. Vedas consist of 6000 verses in each, that is total 24,000 verses. BORI or Bhandari Oriental Research Institute, UNESCO archives, and 15th century writings of Rig Vedas are some of the valuable sources of Vedas. (2) Shanti Parva Rajdharma The Mahabharata has been divided...

History and Genesis of Indian Aesthetics or Indian Classical Literature. The ancient literature of India reflects the cultural, social, religious, philosophical, and political development. There have been classical languages like Pali, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and many others. These worked upon the Indian literary traditions but affected global thought and culture. Indian classical literature is said to begin with the Vedas which is considered as the oldest and sacred text and composed around 1500-500/300 BC. Its Rig Veda is a collection of poems or hymns that formed the core of Indian spirituality. These texts were orally transmitted which continued for centuries. This vedic period continued in epic literature. These epic literature of manifested in Mahabharata and Ramayana. They were huge repositories of mythology, philosophy, society, culture, morality, and written in Sanskrit. Mahabharata written by Ved Vyas is the longer epic and contains around one lakh poems, covering stories of...

"Abhigyan Shakuntalam" has been considered the best known play in India and is also popular all over the world. It has been written by Kalidas who possibly belonged to the times of Chandragupta II or 3rd century AD. But for Kalidas, centuries doesn't matter. His this particular ancient play has transcended times. The word, Abhigyan means knowledge or recognition. And Shakuntalam means the narrative of Shakuntala. Ancient storytelling is, picking up a tale which was already available. And people would pick up episodes most of the time from the two great ancient epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. So is Shakuntala's narrative picked up from Mahabharata by Kalidas. He has gone into the details of the epic Mahabharata and visualised it with Shakuntala and Dushyant. However, kalidas has inserted a few changes in the story. It is estimated that he came after 400-500 years later than the writings of Mahabharata and there would be singers who would move from village to village s...

"Everyday Use" is a short story written by Alice Walker, an Afro-American writer. She was born in 1944 in Georgia in the US. She was hugely influenced by Martin Luther King Jr and became an activist in the civil rights movement under his influence. "Once" was her first collection of poetry. "Her famous novel "The Colour Purple" was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg. The story "Everyday Use" took place in the mid to late 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech occurred in 1963. Setting: This era features the explosion of the civil rights movement when Malcolm X encourages African Americans to shake off the limitations of racism by any means necessary. He also helps establish the Nation of Islam while celebrating Black Nationalism. Analysis: The story "Everyday Use" has the themes of family, home, self-reflection, and tradition. The relationship between siblings and parents is dealt in this story....