Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 8, Part 1 (1966)
68 (of 340)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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60
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷�- [辫耻谤腻峁嘺尘- ] 笔鲍搁膧狈础
[Vol. VIII., No. 1
The
The published Parasuramar膩m膩ya峁嘺, is a kavya in Kannada,
in the v膩rdhaka峁tpadi metre. It consists of 17 adhy膩yas and is
written by Babburu Rangappa whose date is not known definitely.18
In the prefatory verses, however, he offers a challenge to the
famous Jaimini Bharata of Laksm墨艣a. There is a published prose
version of the above Parasuramar膩m膩ya峁嘺 by Narahari Sastri in
42 chapters, from where the following summary of the story is
given. There are some notable details in the trend of the Para艣u-
r膩ma anecdote, the most important of which is the equal
prominence given to both Parasur膩ma and K膩rtav墨rya.
whole story, is narrated by N膩rada to Bharata at Nandigr膩ma,
while he was eagerly expecting the arrival of R膩ma. Another
noteworthy feature is the conception of Bharata as the same as
K膩rtav墨rya of the previous birth. The first two chapters relate
the circumstances under which N膩rada appeared before Bharata,
and narrated the story to him. On seeing N膩rada, Bharata gives
expression to his joy, as equal to that of meeting his own brother
R膩ma. The strife-loving Narada then instigates Bharata agaist
R膩ma, adding incidentally that the separation between them was
only the continuation of the strained relationship between Para艣u-
r膩ma and K膩rtav墨rya; for, R膩ma was identical with Para艣ur膩ma
and Bharata was the same as K膩rtav墨rya. This naturally rouses
the curiosity of Bharata who asks N膩rada to relate his own
previous birth. The story, therefore, starts in the second chapter
itself, with pratin膩yaka, K膩rtav墨rya, who is described as the
incarnation of Vi峁u's cakra, the Sudarsana. Once, the story
says, the cakra became conceited enough to relegate into
secondariness Lord's own inherent prowess. To humble its pride,
Vis峁噓 decides to divest Himself of it, and causes it to be born as
K膩rtavirya. Chapters 3 to 13 narrate K膩rtav墨rya's activities as
a child; his tutelage under Dattatreya on the banks of the
Ganges; marriage with Ka艣m墨re, daughter of Bhadranka, ruler
of Ka艣墨, Sandipi, daughter of K膩rtavirya's brother-in-law, Dilipa
of Ayodhya and many other princesses; coronation of K膩rtav墨rya,
13. R. Narasimhacari, op. cit. Vol. III, p. 63 assigns him to 1750 A. D.
while the preface to the Parasuramar膩m膩ya峁嘺 places the author
problematically in the 13-14th Century.
