Essay name: Vasudevahindi (cultural history)
Author:
A. P. Jamkhedkar
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute Pune
This essay is an English study of the Vasudevahindi reflecting cultural history and traditions of the life of people in ancient and medieval India during the 6th century. The Vasudevahimdi is a romantic and religious tale that revolves around the wanderings of Vasudeva (a former Jain monk) and religious teachings in the guise of love stories, a common theme of poetry in Jainism.
Chapter 3 - Social Conditions
125 (of 228)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
272
of the sun was supposed to bring evil in this world鹿.
Earth-quakes, fall of meteors, dimness of the sun during day
time, an irregular eclipse, a dust storm and the winds
2 were also taken to be ill omens. The occurrence of the
above phenomena was interpreted by people
of creating danmer to the life of the king鲁.
as one capable
The Vh(P) also refers to the technical names
4 of rough winds such as samvatta This wind was thought to
鈥�
be capable of sweeping the whole world. The wind coming
from the south-western direction, presided over by Nirrti,
goddess of the evil, was supposed to be the dispeller of
clouds 5.
Omens :
Manifestation of good omens was thought to be
Many good and
conducive to the success of a new enterprise.
bad omens have been referred to in the course of the story
of Vasudeva in the Vh(P). Vasudeva blamed his fate when he
was separated from his wife, princess Nilajasa. In dejection
1. Vh(P), 315.
2. Ibid.; 317.
3. Vh(P), 317.
4. Ibid., 160.
5. Ibid.; 207.
