For the Hindu, there is no code or compendium for moral conduct, no final authority to guide him like the Bible or the Quran. The Vedas contain little by way of definite and concrete rules of conduct and remain largely esoteric. The term 'shastra' is a generic expression that embraces the entire non-secular literature in Sanskrit; it possesses different authority in different parts of the country and different relevance in different sections of the society.
So, the story or the katha holds a very important place in the Indian subcontinent. In a country where illiteracy is still a formidable statistic, the oral medium of telling stories as a means of promoting and propagating religious as well as moral culture is pre-eminent, and the ethical and spiritual culture remain best preserved this way. What makes the stories relevant through space and time is their ability to modify the characters and incidents to suit the mores and circumstances of diverse societies. Thus, the epics have been adapted to suit the reciter, the audience, or the particular occasion.
The compendium of stories in the Katha Sarita Sagara (An Ocean of Stories), embodied in Somadeva's version of Gunadhya's composition, is one such epic work. The latter portrayed commoners with Kubera, the god of wealth, as the presiding deity. Somadeva replaced Kubera with Lord Shiva but kept intact the general tone and mood of the tales. CH Tawney, blending pure Hindu mythology with Buddhist and tantric beliefs, translated the compendium into English. The setting of the stories is India in the 10th and 11th centuries, when the country was made of many small kingdoms and fiefdoms; there was no dearth of monarchs with dynastic ambitions and a desire for territorial aggrandisement. The king was usually advised by an intelligent and devoted brahman minister. The heir apparent, the crown prince, had a circle of friends, mostly sons of the king's ministers, who would be incorporated into the cabinet when the prince would become king.
Dynastic intrigue was rife, and matrimonial alliances were often a strategy to expand the kingdom. The stories indicate a practice prevalent then of befriending tribal communities to win their support for the Aryan kings. All four social castes-brahmans, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras-were given equal importance in the tales. 'Gandharva' marriages between different castes were common, and caste did not always dictate the occupation. The kings were invariably polygamous and maintained large harems. Widows did commit 'sati', but child marriages were unknown then.
Consumption of wine was popular, even among women. All cities had brothels and numerous gambling dens. Music, painting, and dance thrived, and sculpture and architecture flourished. Slavery was a recognised institution, but the bonds were not rigorous. Trade and commerce were honourable professions, and people loved to hoard gold. The land was covered with thick forests teeming with game, and hunting was a common pastime for royalty.
The 'Brihatkatha', or Lord Shiva's narrative to his wife Parvati, is presumed to confer the power of the celestial Vidyadharas to its readers, ridding them of all their sins and assuring them a place in heaven. The roller-coaster variety of telescoped stories form a complex garland, and the reader will be led through a labyrinth of stories, where it is possible to lose touch with the main thread of the narrative.
Each story is gripping, quaint, and carries a moral or a message for the reader, who may, instead of reading the book from cover to cover, pick stories from here and there, following his or her own whims and logic. The book is a treasure chest, a work of art, with its own secret internal geometry and myriad tales of imposture.
King Chandragupta 11 (376 to 413 A.D.) of the Gupta Dynasty received the epithet 'Vikramaditya' and ruled over Ujjayini, Pataliputra (modern Patna), and the territories of Malwa and Saurashtra. He was reputed for his courage and was a passionate big game hunter. The distinctive 'lion-slayer'-embossed gold coins were made during that period, depicting the monarch in action during a hunt to highlight his valour and project a macho image.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed about women in some of the stories are those held by Gunadhya and Somadeva and relevant to India in the 10th and 11th centuries. The author holds women in the highest respect and does not endorse these opinions in any manner, they have been incorporated only to present the full text to readers.
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