Ramayana of Krittibas - How Krittibas reordered History for the People

Krittibas reconfigured the Solar Dynasty (Suryavansha) to align the Sanskrit epic's historical claims with the cultural and territorial identity of the region. These discrepancies are not errors but deliberate changes that " familiarized" the epic, turning a history into a living part of the land. The genealogical shifts occurred within a unique political environment. In 15th-century Bengal, the rulers tried to patronize the translation of Sanskrit classics into the vernacular (Bengali). This allowed poets like Krittibas to democratize sacred knowledge, moving it from the domain of the elite to the general public.

Ramayana of Krittivasa - 0007 - The Fall of Danda and the Birth of Harita: A Story of Redemption

Table of Contents

• Birth of Harita
• Analysis
• Characters
• Significance
• Meaning of Names in Context
• Texts where this story is found
  • The Valmiki Ramayana (Uttara Kanda)
  • The Krittivasi Ramayana
  • Puranic References
• Detailed Look at the Lineages Mentioned
• Parallels with Other Scriptures
• Lessons to Learn

Birth of Harita

This post is a continuation from the last post on Krittibas's Ramayana. 

Mahabharata of Kashidas - 0022 - From Earrings to Revenge: The Story of Uttanka

In the works of Vyasa, the story of Uttanka in the start of the Paushya Parva. The work of Vyasa is much more detailed than what Kashidas shared. As stated in the start of the post on Aruni, King Paushya is missing from the work of Kashidas. 

The Guru of Upamanyu and Aruni also had a disciple called Veda. Veda, when he was older, also became a teacher, like his guru before him. He had students come and stay with him and learn. One such student was a person called Uttanka, who lived in his guru’s household. This tale is about Uttanka.

Uttanka, Janamejaya and Paushya shared the same guru, Veda.

Hitopadesha - The Beginning : How Vishnu Sharma became the teacher for the princes

This post here is a continuation from the Introduction post.

Here, in this post, you will get to know why Vishnu Sharma tells the stories to the princes.

Unlike Panchatantra, which had 3 princes with names, this text does not name the princes, or the numbers. 

They, like the princes in Panchatantra, avoid learning and are called fools. 

Their father, the king, wants them to become wise, and this is why Vishnu Sharma takes it up as a challenge, saying he will make the princes wise.

Hitopadesha - An Introduction

Hitopadesha is a collection of Sanskrit animal tales. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit words Hita (beneficial) and Upadesha (advice or instruction), translating literally to "Beneficial Instruction."

Compiled roughly between the 9th and 14th centuries CE, it is attributed to a scholar named Narayana Pandit, who served in the court of King Dhavalachandra of Bengal.

Ramayana of Krittivasa - 0006 - Lineages of Chandra and Surya: From the Churning of Nimi to King Mandhata

I am resuming the Ramayana posts here. There are some posts, prior to this, that I had posted on my Substack page. 
This is a continuation from there. If you want to see the Substack posts, you can:

• Click the link here and go to the Ramayana posts.
• Click the link here and then select Ramayana for the Mahabharata posts.
• Click the link here to visit Substack and view the posts there. 

There is a difference between the way Valmiki's Ramayana flows and the way the Bengali text flows.

I will be making a post of the order and why it was done so. 

A recap:

Ratnakar has become Valmiki, and the first shloka is born. Narada comes and tells Valmiki to start writing. That is the point where I had stopped on Substack. I am resuming from that point, onwards.

Mahabharata of Kashidas - 0021 - How Upamanyu and Aruni Gained Their Education

I am resuming the Mahabharata posts here. There are some posts, prior to this, that I had posted on my Substack page. 
This is a continuation from there. If you want to see the Substack posts, you can:

• Click the link here and go to the Mahabharata posts.
• Click the link here and then select Mahabharata for the Mahabharata posts.
• Click the link here to visit Substack and view the posts there. 

A recap:

The last post was about the birth of Astika. 

Note : The order in which the Bengali texts flow is not in the same order as that of Vyasa. Also the Bengali texts has chapters but it has not classified them into Parvas. I am following the order of the Bengali text. This post here is part of Paushya sub-parva, in Adi Parva in Mahabharata. 

The Paushya Parva contains this as well as the story of Uttanka, which will be the next post in this series. 

For Kashidas, the narrative flow is what mattered. Which is why the re-ordering.

The conversation between Uttanka and King Paushya is about ritualistic purity. To make his work available to the masses, the intellectually dense content. If anyone wants to know about this, I can share a post on that.

Featured Post - Navigating the Blog, Publishing Schedule and Usage Policy

Navigating the site

The post below tells you about the structure of the blog and how to navigate it.

Navigating the Blog.

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My posting schedule

Vernacularisation of the Epics: Literary Transformation and Regional Identity in Medieval Bengali Ramayana and Mahabharata

Before, I get into details and start posting on Bengali Ramayana and the Mahabharata, I want to share a brief background on why these texts were written and also how they differ from the main Sanskrit texts. 

How to navigate this site

Hello,

Thank you for visiting my space.

I publish content on the Ramayana of Krittibas, the Mahabharata of Kashidas, and Hitopadesha.

This post will explain how to navigate this blog.

When you visit the home page, you will find a featured post and below that the menu in the form of a navigation bar.

• Clicking on Home will bring you to the home page.
• Clicking on About this site will bring up a page which talks about this site and why I started it.
• Clicking on Table of Contents will bring up a list of all the posts on the blog, oldest first. Blogger, by default, publishes content in the newest-first order. If you want the oldest posts first, the 'Table of Contents' will help you.
• Clicking on Itihasa - Index will open up the Itihasa page. Itihasa means 'So it happened', and comprises the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. On this page, you will find the links to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata posts.
• Clicking on Hitopadesha - Index will open up the Hitopadesha page. This has a retelling of the stories from Hitopadesha.
• Clicking on 'Contact Me' will share my social media handles and also show you how to reach me using this site.

This is the index as of today. Based on future plans to expand this blog further, I could be adding more menu items. I will share an update on that.

Enjoy your visit. Navigate the site and let me know how I could improve this further.