Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA
described are endowed with cosmic
significance.
The Story
Few of us approach the world simply
as object; we encounter it within whatever
frame of reference we live. Whatever we
describe reveals as much about our own
presumptions as it does about the object
being described. Gods, then—whether in
India, Greece, or Canaan—are neither
separate entities nor concepts so much as
they are projections of human searches of
significance and meaning and the
preservation of order. Theoretical
explanations, which can satisfy the minds
of a spiritual or intellectual elite,
disappoint most persons who turn more
readily to a narrative.
The story inevitably takes on certain
archetypal aspects as it is told and retold
because it becomes community property.
The repetition of the story brings salvation
by recalling an archetypal event in which
God acted—in which he is still acting—for
human benefit. In saving stories, persons
see themselves and the world not just as
they are but as they believe they ought to
be.
In many cases there may be some
factual basis for the narrative, but the
mature form of the story will almost
invariably be told in an archetypal mythic
pattern. Hence, the episodes recounted are
not merely historisch (“something that
happened”), they constitute a Geschichte
(“an event of enduring significance”), or to
rebaptize a world that has often a
particularistic connotation, a
Heilsgeschichte (“the story of an archetypal
event that brings salvation”). The narrative
recalls God’s redemptive acts, but it also
recreates them. Such a story is more than
story. It is a reality lived, a sanction for a
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way of life, and a pattern for conduct and
for worship. In it, the power of the Word
itself releases grace by its repetition.
(Extracted from “The Ramayana
Tradition in Asia” Sahitya Academi
Ed.V.Raghavan, New Delhi 1989.)