Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

so that the deep, diachronic structures of
the Hindu religious as well as folk
traditions could be realized and explained
synchronically, i.e., in the context of
contemporary Indian society.
If one looks into some of the major
modern styles of Hindu religious traditions
such as Radha Soami, Brahma Kumaris,
Satya Sai Baba and many more, one will
not fail to understand beyond doubt the
fundamental unity in these styles of
modern Hinduism and the single source
all these derive from. In this respect then,
these modern styles demonstrate the
continuity of the basic core of Hindu
religion, world-view, folk metaphor and the
philosophy of life. Although one cannot fail
to see that the belief system of these
modern religious movements are different,
yet they can only be understood properly
in the wider context of Hinduism. The basic
“images” of ancient Hindu religious
culture, which are present in these modern
styles, re-emphasize the continuity to
religious metaphor and its importance in
modern Indian society. For example, the
concept of plurality, cyclical history or the
theory of yuga (world time), ingesting or
identification and union with the object of
worship, seeing or awakened vision in
which one sees himself and others “as
souls not as bodies,” and last but not the
least, self realization. These basic
metaphors of the Hindu traditions are then
the elements which continue to shape and
reshape these modern religious
movements and link them very
appropriately to the wider context of the
ancient Hindu tradition. For example, is
it not true that the pan-Indian cultural
traditions, which are partly strengthened
by the core of ancient Hindu religious
thought, consistently rank scholarly
ritualistic values above political power. The
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meditative life-style is deemed superior to
an assertive, active pursuit of comfort and
status. Non-violence is honoured above
warriorhood as a technique of coping with
life’s problems. The civilization-wide
orthodoxy of this value perspective is well
known to Indian mind and continues to
shape the political and social life-style of
modern Indians.
Epic Metaphor
At this point one might ask, do Indian
epic traditions, just like the religious
tradition, support this theory of the
continuity of folk or epic metaphor in
modern Indian society? The answer,
though highly tentative, seems to be yes.
It is believed that to become an epic, a
legend or a narrative must become
embroided with a wide array of cultural,
mythological and religious motifs. In such
a process of transformation the original
heroic tale need not lose its links with key
historical events. It should, however, be
remembered that the historical, political,
religious and a variety of social factors
shape the growth, development and
popularity of an epic. Scholars have
observed that ballads and epics grow and
flourish during period of political upheaval.
Moreover it has also been recognized that
both ballads and epics as strong folk
genres have initially tended to develop
mainly among politically marginal people.
It is difficult to know exactly what pressing
political, social or cultural needs of India
forced the simple narratives of Rama,
Krishna and Arjuna to become the basic
frame for a mass of mythological,
historical, religious and social information
frame for a mass of mythological,
historical, religious and social information
and blend these into the most important
narrative epics of the sub-continent and