Sister Nivedita and Ananda Coomaraswamy - Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists (1879)

8/15/2019 Sister Nivedita and Ananda Coomaraswamy - Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists (1879)

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MYTHS

OF

THE

HINDUS SP

BUDDHISTS


8/513

Creer

un

mythe,

c

1

est-a-dire entrevoir

dernere

la

realite

sensible

une realite

superieure,

est le

signe

le

plus

mamfeste

de

la

grandeur

de

F

ame

humaineet

la

preuve

de

safaculte

de

croissance

et

de

developpement

infinis.

A.

SABATIER,

1879


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The

Victory

of

Buddha


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MYTHS

OF

THE

HINDUS

&

BUDDHISTS

THE

SISTER

NIVEDITA

(MARGARET

E.

NOBLE)

OF

RAMAKRISHNA-VIVEKANANDA

ANANDA

K.

COOMARASWAMY

WITH

THIRTY-TWO

ILLUSTRATIONS

IN

COLOUR

BY

INDIAN

ARTISTS

UNDER

THE

SUPERVISION OF

ABANINDRO

NATH

TAGORE

C.I.E.

LONDON

GEORGE

G.

HARRAP

tf

COMPANY

2

W

3

PORTSMOUTH

STREET

KINGSWAY

WC

1914


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PRINTED

AT

THE

BALLANTYNE

PRESS

LONDON,

ENGLAND


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PREFACE

SISTER

NIVEDITA,

to

whom

the

present

work

was

first

entrusted,

needs

no

introduction

to

Western

or

to

Indian

readers.

A

most sincere

disciple

of

Swami

Vivekananda,

who

was

himself

a

follower

of

the

great

Ramakrishna,

she

brought

to

the

study

of

Indian

life

and

literature

a

sound

knowledge

of

Western

educational

and

social

science,

and

an

unsurpassed

enthusiasm

of

devotion

to

the

peoples

and

the

ideals

of

her

adopted

country.

Her

chief

works

are

The

Web

of

Indian

Life,

almost the

only

fair

account

of

Hindu

society

written

in

English,

and

Kali the

Mother,

where

also

for

the

first

time

the

profound

tender

ness

and terror

of

the

Indian

Mother-cult

are

presented

to

Western

readers

in

such

a

manner

as to

reveal

its true

reli

gious

and

social

significance.

Through

these

books

Nivedita

became

not

merely

an

interpreter

of

India to

Europe,

but

even

more,

the

inspiration of

a

new

race

of

Indian

students,

no

longer

anxious

to

be

Anglicized,

but

convinced

that all

real

progress,

as

distinct

from mere

political

controversy,

must

be

based

on

national

ideals,

upon

intentions

already

clearly expressed

in

religion

and

art.

Sister

Nivedita

s

untimely

death

in

1911

has made

it

necessary

that the

present

work

should

be

completed

by

another

hand.

The

following

parts

of

the text as

here

printed

are

due

to Sister

Nivedita :

Mythology

of

the

Indo-Aryan

races

(pp.

1-5)

;

pp.

14-22

of

the

Introduction

to

the

Ramayana

;

the

whole

of the

Mahabharata

(except

pp.

186-190)

;

part

of

the

section

on

Shiva

(pp.

291-295)

;

the

comment

on

Kacha

and

Devayam

(pp.

339-342)

;

v


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Myths

of the

Hindus

&

Buddhists

and

the

Story

of

Dhruva,

Shani,

Star-Pictures,

etc.

(pp.

378-3^8).

The

present

writer

is

responsible

for

all

else rather

more

than two-thirds

of the

whole.

The

illustrations

are

reproduced

from

water-colour draw

ings

executed

specially

for this

book

by

Indian

artists under

the

supervision

of

Mr.

Abanindro

Nath

Tagore,

C.I.E.,

Vice-Principal

of

the Calcutta

School

of

Art,

who

has

himself

contributed

some

of

the

pictures.

The

stories

have thus the

advantage,

unique

in

the

present

series,

of

illustration

by

artists to

whom

they

have

been

familiar from

childhood,

and

who

are

thus well

able

to

suggest

their

appropriate spiritual

and material

environ

ment.

It

may

be

well

to

explain

briefly

the

principle

on

which

these

myths

and

legends

have

been

selected

and

arranged.

My

aim

has

been to relate

in

a

manner as

close

to

the

original

as

possible,

but

usually

much

condensed,

such

of

the

myths

as

are more

or

less

familiar to

every

educated

Indian,

with whom I

include

all

those

illiterate

but

wise

peasants

and women

whose

knowledge

of the

Puranas

has

been

gained

by listening

to recitations or

reading,

by

visiting

temples

(where

the

stories

are

illustrated

in

sculpture),

or from

folk-songs

or

mystery-plays.

The

stories

related

here,

moreover,

include

very

much

of

which a

knowledge

is

absolutely

essential

for

every

foreigner

who

proposes

in

any

way

to

co-operate

with

the

Indian

people

for

the

attainment

of

their

desired

ends

nowhere more

clearly

formulated than

in

mythology

and

art.

Amongst

these

are,

I

hope,

to be

included not

only

such

avowed

lovers

of

Indian

ideals

as

was

Nivedita

herself,

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Preface

but

also

civil

servants

and

missionaries.

The

Indian

myths

here retold

include

almost

all

those

which

are

commonly

illustrated

in

Indian

sculpture

and

painting.

Finally,

they

include

much

that

must

very

soon

be

recognized

as

belonging

not

only

to

India,

but to

the

whole

world;

I

feel that this

is

above

all

true

of

the

Ramayana,

which

is

surely

the

best

tale

of

chivalry

and

truth

and

the

love

of

creatures

that

ever

was

written.

ANANDA

K.

COOMARASWAMY

vii


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CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

I

MYTHOLOGY

OF

THE

INDO-ARYAN

RACES

i

II

THE

RAMAYANA

6

III

THE

MAHABHARATA

118

IV

KRISHNA

2I

7

V

BUDDHA

2

45

VI

SHIVA

286

VII

OTHER

STORIES

FROM

THE

PURANAS,

EPICS,

AND

VEDAS

3*4

VIII

CONCLUSION

3

8

9

GLOSSARY

AND

INDEX

4

01


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ILLUSTRATIONS

THE

VICTORY

OF

BUDDHA

GARUDA

RAMA

S

MARRIAGE

THE

DEATH

OF

MAR CHA

RAVANA

FIGHTING

WITH

JATAYU

RAMA

SENDING

HIS SlGNET-RlNG

TO SlTA

BURNING

OF LANKA

BUILDING

OF

RAMA

S

BRIDGE

THE

RETURN

OF

RAMA

EKALAVYA

THE

TRIAL OF

THE PRINCES

THE

HOUSE

OF

LAC

KIRAT-ARJUNA

KRISHNA INSTRUCTING

ARJUNA

YUDHISHTHIRA

THE

BIRTH

OF KRISHNA

KALIYA

DAMANA

RADHA

AND

KRISHNA

THE

BODHISATTVA

S

TUSKS

DEPARTURE

OF

PRINCE SIDDHARTHA

BUDDHA

AS

MENDICANT

THE FINAL

RELEASE

THE

ASCETICISM OF

UMA

THE

DANCE

OF

SHIVA

SHIVA

DRINKING

THE

WoRLD-PoiSON

THE

BIRTH

OF

GANGA

Abanindro

Nath

Tagore

Nanda LSI

Bose

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

K.

Venkatappa

Documents

Sister Nivedita and Ananda Coomaraswamy - Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists (1879)