Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA
not changed much since the epic days.
The opposition between the city and the
non-city in its all semantic dimensions in
the Indian context seems to exist even now
which very appropriately justifies not only
the presence but also the continuation of
these folk metaphors in the symbolic
context of modern Indian society.
Of equal importance is the concept of
Ramarajya in post-independent India:
which, needless to emphasize, is a
conglomerate of well-knitted folk
metaphors into an ideal holloistic
metaphor of a dream-like social and
political order. The padayatra, and similar
concepts are in fact the basic structures
of such a multi-dimensional metaphor.
Similarly, the position of woman and
her relationship with fire, which may not
suit the modern Indian mind particularly
the feminist mind, is nevertheless, in my
opinion, an important aspect of the
metaphor and has gained significance in
the present context of, by and large, maledominant
Indian society and its attitudes
towards women’s participation in India’s
political and social management. The
selection of fire by Indian woman (who,
more than man, works with it her whole
life as the house-keeper, food-creator and
food-giver) as the instrument of survival,
power and purification and also of ultimate
self- destruction (agni pariksha, Sati, and
dowry death or bride burning), even in the
present context in modern Indian society.
Cultural experts and folklorists need
to discover these and similar ancient folk
and epic metaphors and trace their
patterns and continuities in modern Indian
society. besides the ones we discussed
above, we need to discover various other
related metaphors such as of protest,
violence, and change which, in my opinion,
have deep roots in Indian oral and literary
paradigm and which are so relevant in the
context of present Indian society.
(Adapted from “The Mahabharata in
the Tribal and Folk traditions of India,
I.I.A.S. Shimla 1993).