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 11, Part 1 (1969)
89 (of 216)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Jan., 1969] PURANIC WISE SAYINGS Subhāṣita-s in the Literature of "Greater India" 81 1. The Sanskrit literature was very fond of wise sayings,
sententious verses, adages, maxims, aphorisms, etc. and there exists
a great number of anthologies, Subhāṣita-samgraha-s, containing
such subhasita-s.
Even some of the literary works, particularly belonging to
the katha literature, are in reality works composed for the purpose
of creating Subhāṣita-samṃgraha-s tied together by a story. These
literary works were written in particular in order to teach princes
through subhäsita-s the way of life and their moral conduct. To
such katha works belong the Pañcatantra, the Hitopadeśa and to
a lesser extent the Vetāla pañcavimśatikā, the Vikramacarita and
the Sukasaptati.
2. Subhasita-s were not only popular in India, but with the
spreading of the Indian culture into "Greater India", they become
also popular among the Tibetans, Mongolians, Manchurians,
Nepalese, Ceylonese, Burmese, Siamese, Chams, Khmers, Javanese,
Balinese, etc.
3. We find in the Tibetan Tanjur the wise sayings of
Masūrākṣa and even the whole Caṇakya-rāja-nīti-śāstra version,
and such works as the She-rab Dong-bu and the Vimala-praśno-
ttara-ratnamālā, as well as the Subhāṣita-ratna-nidhi (Sa-skya-
legs-bead); the latter contains several hundred subhasita-s, some of
Indian origin, of such a high moral value that they were also
translated into Mongolian and Manchurian and were included in
the Mongolian literature.
4. In Nepāl, the whole Caṇakya-sara-samṃgraha version
was well-known and many Subhāṣita-samgraha-s, e. g. the
Subhāṣita-ratna-koṣa were prevalent.
5. In the katha literature of the Simhalese we find also
many subhāṣita-s of Sanskrit origin; the literature of Ceylon
contains the whole collection of the Caṇakya-nīti-śāstra version
as well as two Sanskrit Subhāṣita-samṃgraha-s in Simhalese script
known under the name of Vyāsakāraya and the Pratyayaśatakaya.
The first one, despite the name Vyāsa in its title does not
contain, as far as could be ascertained, any Mahābhārata verses.
