Reading Notes
Söhnen-Thieme points to the special place that the Epics continue to hold in the Indian consciousness:... nirgendwo im westlichen und mitteleuropäischen Raum (nicht einmal im Iran) bilden Epen (soviel ich weiß) noch heute einen kontinuierlichen Bezugs- und Identitätsrahmen (wie das Mahābhārata) oder eine normative Autorität (wie das Rāmāyana oder die dem Mahābhārata eingefügte Bhagavadgītā), soviel Anregungen epische Stoffe der späteren Literatur und (seit dem Barock) dem Musktheater (z.B. Monteverdi, Wagner) auch gegeben haben. [p.107]
... nowhere in the western or middle-European countries (not even in Iran) do epics (to the best of my knowledge) form either a continuous frame of reference and identity (as the Rāmāyana does) or a normative authority (as the Rāmāyana or the Bhagavadgītā, embedded as it is into the Mahābhārata), however much epic narratives have influenced the later literature (since the Baroque) the music theatre (e.g. Monteverdi, Wagner). [p.107]Söhnen-Thieme continues the theme of inspiration for the Western tradition in footnote #4 on the same page, noting that:
In den nationalistischen Bewegungen dieses [i.e. 20. Jhdt, RCK] Jahrhunderts sind zwar gelegentlich Figuren mittelalterlicher Epik als Exponenten der jeweiligen Ideologien wiederbelebt worden (z.B. Siegfried und Hagen im 3. Reich); dies ist aber (nach dem Bruch von Jahrhunderten) eher als Romantizismus anzusehen, der sich der veränderten historischen Bedingungen nicht bewußt ist oder sie nicht sehen will. [p.107]
The nationalist movements of this [i.e. the 20th, RCK] century occasionally revived figures of Medieval epics as exponents of the respective ideologies (e.g. Siegfried and Hagen in the Third Reich); however these cases are (after the interruption of centuries) more like Romanticism that is either ignorant of the changed historical conditions or purposefully ignoring it. [p.107]Söhnen-Thieme then turns to some of the differences between India and the West with respect to the oral tradition; in footnote #7 she stresses that India persisted much longer in its oral traditions than the West did and employed the same metres for grammars, legal texts, ritualistic literature and even dictionaries [p109]. (See also footnote #11.)
After reviewing the inspirational structure of Indian epic poetry, Söhnen-Thieme provides a graphic that shows how the influences of authorship run in the Rāmāyana [p.111]: In three consecutive chapters, Nārada, Brahman and meditative introspection of the eventual author lead Vālmīki to write the epic poem, then teach it to the Kusīlavau, who either sing it at the meeting of the ascetics and the seers in the city (with Rāma accidentally walking by) or in the palace for Rāma and his brothers [p.111].
Söhnen-Thieme suspects that the Brahmin influence, via their control of the Kusīlavau, dominates the later recensions of the main text.
Es wäre sogar nicht einmal ausgeschlossen, daß ein solcher, für uns namensloser, nicht-brahmanischer Verfasser das Epos mit einem berühmten brahmanischen Namen versehen hat, um es für die Überlieferung zu retten. [p.112]
It is not even inconceivable that one such poet, for us a nameless, non-brahmanic author, provided their epic with the famous brahmanic Name to secure traditioning for it. [p.112]Söhnen-Thieme then focuses the discussion on the last book, the "Appendix-Part" Uttarakāṇḍa, which book
... ist eine seltsame Mischung von allerlei Nachträgen, das dann in der späteren indischen Tradition eine immer grössere Bedeutung erlangt hat. [p.115]
... is a strange mix of assorted after-thoughts, which in the latter Indian tradition gained evermore in importance. [p.115]Söhnen-Thieme notes that two extensions ("Ausgestaltungen") of the story before the basic Rāmāyana, also made their way into the Mahābhārata, specifically the enhancement of the threatening nature of the opponent Rāvaṇas, and of Rāma being a re-incarnation of Vishnu, which may mean that the Mahābhārata can function as a snapshot of the Rāmāyana development.
Man mag daher annehmen, daß die Rāma Erzählungen im Mahābhārata eine Art Zwischenstadium in der Überlieferung des Rāmāyana reflektieren, in der zwar schon Legenden und Episoden aus der Vorgeschichte der beiden Kontrahenten im Umlauf sind, aber noch nicht in das Textkorpus des Rāmāyana eingedrungen sind. [p.115]
We may thus assume that the Rāma stories in the Mahābhārata form a type of intermediate state in the tradition of the Rāmāyana, during which legends and episodes from the pre-history of the two opponents are circulating, but have not yet invaded the textual corpus of the Rāmāyana. [p.115]Söhnen-Thieme notes how the person of Rāma himself changes as more traditions accrue; specifically in the new expulsion of Sita, Rāma has become more conservative in his outlook with respect to purity. And all such elaborations and additions are, with the trick of Vālmīki prophesying the future, continuously re-integrated under the authority of Vālmīki, even if he ends up vouching for himself.
Colophon
Purple translations from German to English are my own.
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