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396. DSC 253: The Jataka

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 ...
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395. DSC 253/4th Sem- The Jataka: Demons in the Desert (1)

The Jatakas recount the development of the Bodhisatta—the being destined to become the present Buddha in his final life—not just through the events of one lifetime but of hundreds. Written in Pali; the language of the Theravada Buddhist canon; the Jatakas comprise one of the largest and oldest collections of stories in the world dating from the fifth century BCE to the third century CE. Generations in South and South-East Asia have grown up with these tales.  The key to understanding the Buddhist cosmological scheme lies in the principle of the equivalence of cosmology and psychology. In the traditional understanding the various realms of existence relate rather closely to certain commonly (and not so commonly) experienced states of mind. This powerful Jataka tale, the Buddha — in a past life — reveals how wisdom and clear thinking can save lives, even when lies sound sweet and tempting. This tale is one of the Jataka tales — stories from the Buddha’s previous lives that teach mora...
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394. DSC 253: Rajdharma (3)

1. Ved Vyas is considered to be the reincarnation of God Vishnu. 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 Vedas into four parts. Satyabati and Rishi Parashar were his parents. (Dritirashtra and Pandava brothers are said to have been the sons of Rishi Parashar). 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 inescapable relevant realities from Bhagwat Gita in Mahabharata. Vedas contents also preceded with Varna system, birth hierarchy, praises for Gods that represented the natural forces.  BORI or Bhandari Oriental Research Institute, UNESCO archives, 15th century writings of Rig Vedas are some of the valuable sources of Vedas. Vedas consist of 6000 verses in each, that is total 24,000 verses. (2) Shanti Parva Rajdharma Ved Vyas is the author of Indian epic Mahabharata. It ...
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393. DSC 253- History of Indian Classical Literature

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...
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392. DSC 253/ 4th Sem: Abhigyan or Abhijnana Sakuntalam

"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...
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391. DSC 251/4th Sem: Everyday Use (1)

"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....
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390. DSC 151/2nd Sem: Lord of the Flies

Island was Edenic. Slowly metamorphoses into a sinister place. Microcosm of the outside world. Lord of the Flies represents the serpent. Biblical dimension. We are genetically divine but we become beastly if, moral policing, laws, beliefs in heaven and hell, education, etc is needed. Otherwise, we can become very dangerous people. Otherwise, fear of the mythical future will break. Fear of the mythical beast grows. Civilisation of the boys break. Ralph's group shrinks. Evil takes over. Jack's camp grows. His boys colour the faces and chant. Ralph symbolises order and harmony. Jack is for megalomaniacal power. He represents the destructive principle. Simon is the saviour figure. Christ figure. Only boy in the novel who emphasises truth and encounters the beast. Piggy is the intellectual. Piggy represents rational thinking. Roger embodies malevolent aspects of human nature. Sam and Eric represent crowd mentality. Signal fire goes out. Conch shatters. Civility dies. Inherent evil c...
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