Indian Mythology [antikvár]

PREFACEIndian Mythology is such a vast subject that I would really need a dozen volumes to give it justice. It is a big subject both in time and in space: in time because our earliest texts, the Hymns of the Rig-Veda, are dated c.1500 BC; in space since India is a large country, much larger than all the EEC countries together. Finally, it is a large subject in terms of quantity: more religions commenced their history in India than in any other country.Hinduism and Buddhism had to be compressed in this one volume although I had suggested two volumes, one for each of these rich religious, artistic and cultural traditions. In addition many adherents of religions from other countries have found refuge in India, such as the Parsis, so I have also dedicated a few pages to their beliefs.Many readers will be disappointed that so little is said in this work about the incredibly rich living traditions of the many peoples in India with little or no written traditions, the so-(wrongly)-called natives or tribals. Perhaps a later volume could do them justice.Of all the 745 languages of India, Sanskrit is best known to me, so naturally I have limited myself mainly, but not exclusively, to the vast Sanskrit literature which deals with both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Sanskrit has by far the richest literature of all the Indian literary traditions (of which the best-known are Gujerati, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Pali, Panjabi and Urdu). It has also the longest tradition to which able writers from all the corners of India have contributed, including Tamils, Bengalis, Oriyas, Biharis, etc. The powerful (almost 100 million) Muslim population of India has a literary tradition entirely its own, including many legends of saints unknown outside India. We had to leave all that fine literature to perhaps a later publication. Only a few references to Islamic traditions have been included.It should be stressed that this book is not about history. Although several of the persons mentioned in it are actually historical, such as Ashoka and Buddha, most of the events described in this book are mythological. For the history of India see the bibliography under Basham, Spear and Thapar, and the Introduction.I wish to thank the publishers for giving me this opportunity to publish the results of many years of study.