kṚṢṆa, paris, and seven similar heroes

7/27/2019 KA, PARIS, AND SEVEN SIMILAR HEROES

1/11

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

KA, PARIS, AND SEVEN SIMILAR HEROESAuthor(s): Walter RubenSource: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 58/59, Diamond JubileeVolume (1977-1978), pp. 291-300Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41691699 .

Accessed: 25/04/2013 08:04

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 203.197.118.97 on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:04:31 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=borihttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41691699?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41691699?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bori


2/11

KRSNA, PARIS, AND SEVEN SIMILAR HEROESByWalter Ruben

In the lives of Krsna1and Kyros2 one has found some analogousmotifs; one can find such analogies also in respectas Krsna on the onehand and Paris3and seven otherheroes A-H ) on the other. About theTrojan or PhrygianParis we know onlywhat Horneroshas composed inhis twoepics and in the Kypriawhich oncepreceded he lias in the cycleofHomericepicsbut which s lost.4A ) Paris and Krsna : 1 According o theKypria thewar ofTroybecamenecessary ecause theearth-goddess ould no more beartheburdenofthemen,wandering in the period of Greek colonization . In ordertohelpher,Zeus decidedto start he Trojan war.- The earth, overburdened,madeVisnu startthe war of the Mahbhraa and Harivamsa.6- 2 ) Thefighting arties n theTrojan warweretheGreeks,helpedbyAphrodite,ndtheTrojans,helpedbyHera and Athene. Zeus managedthat Paris had tojudgewhoof thesethree goddesses was the most beautiful cfr.belowA10). - Krsna,the Ydava prince, the incarnationof Visnu, had to fightagainst Kamsa, the Bhoja-despot, the incarnation of Klanemi, andYudhisthira Dharma ) against Duryodhana Kali ). Ydavas and Bhojaswereno peoplesbut clans of Ksatriyas of the dynasty fthemoon. But,according o the 454thJtaka,kingMahsgara oftheUttaramadhura-coun-tryhad to fight gainst king Mahkamsa of the northern ountry ntheKamsa-region cfr.belowII).- 3 ) Paris and the Trojanwarbelonged othethird, heHeroicAge. - Krsnaand thewar oftheMahbhratabelongedto the periodbetween the third and the fourth uga. Thus, both heroeslived before heactual,the fourthnd worst ge. - 4 ) Paris was thesecondson of king Priam and Hecabe, born after Hektorand before17 youngersons; Priamhad altogether 0 sons and 12daughters. Krsnawas theeighthson of Vasudeva and Devaki, precededby sixsons and Baladeva; thisonewas regardedas a son of Rohini. Vasudeva pretended o havea daughter

1. Ruben,W. Krishna,stanbul943. The motifsre dentifiedherewithThompson,t.,Motif-IndexfFolk-Literature,elsinki932-36nsixvolumes.2. Ruben,W. Trkische,ersischend ndischeMaterialienurGeschichteerBiographie,ndoloji rastirmalari,stanbul 4 703sqq.3. Graves,. : TheGreek yths,- I, Penguinooks 955.4. Ruben,W. Die homerischennddiealtindischenpen, erlin975,5.5. Ib.50 sqq.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/11

292 ABORI : DiamondJubilee Volumeas hiseighthchild ( cfr.A 7 ). But,accordingto theJtaka,Upasgarahadone daughterand ten sons fromDevagabbh. The first two sons wereVasudeva and Baladeva ( cfr. 2). - 5 ) Hecabe had a dream before hebirth fParis. On accountofthishis elderbrotherAiakos,a seer,demandedof Priamthathe did away with hischildbecauseit would ruinTroy. A fewdays aterhe repeatedhis prophecy. Nrada( Hv ) or a voice fromheaven( Vi P ) warnedKamsa thattheeighthon of DevakI wouldkillhim. Jtaka:Brahmanical astrologerswarned Mahkamsa the day before thebirthofDevagabbh that her sonwould ruintheKaiiisa-land. She was imprisonedin an especial palace on a singlecolumn (cfr. II). - 6) Priamtriedtoavoid the fulfillmentf the prophecy nd, misunderstandingt, killedhissister Cilia and her son Munippos, born thatday; but he spared by hisweaknessParis and Hecabe. - Kamsa killedthe firstixsons ofDevaki; heintended o killall herchildren, ut he did not succeed cfr.12). JtakaNo childwas killed. - 7 ) Priam orderedhis chiefherdsman,Agelaos,tokillParis,but thisone exposedthechild on Mount Ida and after omedays,seeinghim suckledbya she-bear,brought imto his own home and rearedhim togetherwith his new-bornson. - Vasudeva carried the new-bornKrsnasecretlyo king Kamsa's herdsmanNanda whosewife,Yasod, hadjust bornea girl.Vasudeva exchanged the two childrenand delivered hegirl s his daughter,hiseighthchild ( cfr.A 4 ), to Kamsa who killedher.Nanda broughtKrsna ( and Baladeva upas his own son(s). Jtaka: ThetensonsofDevagabbh wereexchanged gainsttheten daughters fNanda-gop, the servant f Devagabbh, and all these tenboyswerebrought p inherpalace as sons ofNandagop. - 8 ) Paris as theyoungherdsman outeda band ofcattle-thievesnd recovered he stolen cows; he setAgelaos' bullsto fight ne another his consistentlywinningbull was defeatedbyAres,thegod ofwar, who had turnedhimself ntoa bull. Paris unhesitatinglyacknowledgedAresas thewinner,nd on account of this impartiality euschoseParisto arbitrate etweenHera, Atheneand Aphrodite cfr.A2 and10). - Krsnawas called Govinda,the discoverer f cattle; hemadebullsfightach other nd killed Arista,thebull-demon. He and Baladeva did alot of otherheroicdeedsprotectingheherdsmen gainst demons. JtakaThe ten brothersbecamebrutal robbers. Side byside with such heroicmotifs f the young herdsmantherewere bucolicones. 9 ) Paris on theMount Ida was thechosen overofOinone,a fountain ymph; bothused toherd her flockstogether. Krsnawas the lover of the gopls. His brotherthen was his companion as always. The women of the Brahmins n aneighbouringsramaalso fell in love withKrsna BbgP . - 10 Pariswasvisited by the threegoddesses ( cfr.A 2 and 8 ) and decided in favourofAphrodite cfr. A 12). - Not Krsna, but Baladeva was visited firstby



4/11

RUBEN : Krsna, Paris, and seven similarHeroes 293Madir, the deified lcoholicdrink nd daughter fVaruna she was sentbyher father nd was in love withBaladeva. So was Knti ( or rl BP 198 )or so wereMadir, Knti and ri, threegoddesses (Hv. II, 41, 12sqq). -11 Priam had to performhe annual funeralgames inhonourofhisdeadson ( Paris and neededa bull as the price at thesegames. Paris followedthe bull intoTroyand participated ictoriouslyn the funeral oxingmatchand footrace. His twoenviousbrothers ektor ndDeiphobos then ttackedhimwith heir words, butAgelaos convinced riam and Hecabe thatthisyoungherdsmanwas their son Paris. He was triumphantlyaken to thepalace and Priam said : " Better hatTroyshouldfall, han thatmywonder-fulson should die!". - Nrada told Kamsa about Krsna's heroicdeeds;Akrrawas sentto Krsna Krsnashould participate n the bow-festivalnMathurand -in contrast o Paris- should be killed then nd therebyanelephant and two wrestlers. But Krsna and Baladeva killed them andKamsa also; theymade Ugrasena king of Mathur; the prophecywasfulfilled. 12) Paris snatched Helena fromher husband Menelaos (cfr.A 10); she was welcomed by the Trojans.- Krsna snatched RukminIat her svayaiiivara,both loved each other. But her brotherRukminhadpromised her to Sisupla because both, being Bhojas, hated Krsna,theleading Ydava. Sisupla was the general of Jarsandha, he king ofMagadha, the cakravartin fthe period before Yudhisthira'sclaimto per-form he rjasya ( cfr.A 13) and at the same time the main enemyofKrsna,beingthe father-in-lawfKamsa. This is all missing n the Jtaka.- 13) Agamemnon, he elder brother f Menelaos, organised ll theGreekpeoplesforthe waragainstTroy n order o rescueHelena. The Trojanwarhelpedthe earth ( cfr.Al).- Krsna killed Sisupla ( Mbh. ) and his allyDantavakra PP) ; Balarma defeatedRukminand hisallies, thekingswhohad attended hesvayaiiivara fRukmini nd wantedto defeatKrsna Hv ).They depended on Jarsandha. This one attacked Krsna in Mathureighteen imes,but was defeated. Whilehe attacked Krsna from heeast,Klayavana did so from heNorthwest,ndKrsna had toflee o thesouth, oDvravati as hisnewcapitaltogetherwith heYdavas, etc. thereUgrasenaagain became theking. Krsna later on went to Girivraja togetherwithBhlma (not with Baladeva) and Bhima killed Jarsandha. Then onlyYudhisthira ould perform isrjasya Mbh. cf. A 12). Sisupla offendedKrsna, vengingJarsandha he was killedby Krsna ( cfr. bove). AfterYudhisthira's jasya,beganthewarbetweenhimandDuryodhana nwhichKrsnaparticipatedonly as Arjuna's charioteer. This Panindianepicwarbetween hese incarnations of Dharma and Kali ( Al ) corresponds o thePanhellenic picwar againstTroy. ButKrsna's fourwarsagainst Sisupla,Rukmin,Jarsandha and Duryodhana weretheresultof his killingKamsa



5/11

294 ABORI : DiamondJubileeVolumeand carryingwayRukmini A 11, 12) and correspond lso to the Trojatwar. - The Andhaka-Vrsni-brotherstartedto conquer the wholeofIndiaand wonDvravat Jt. . - 14) A decisive event inthe Trojan warwasthedeathofAchilleus,killed by Paris who hit him withhis arrowin hisright eel,theonly vulnerable partofhis body. Paris' shaftwas guidedbyApollon. Paris was shot by Philoktetos. After the defeat of iupala,Rukmin, Jarsandha and Duryodhana all the Andhakas and Vrsnis inDvravat,cursedby the saintsVisvmitra,Kanva and Nrada, killed oneanother. Krsna participatedin this fightup to its end; then he sawBaladeva die and sethimself o practiseyoga in order to returno heaven.A hunter rroneously hot him in thesole ofhis foot, heonly vulnerablepartofhisbody cfr. 2). Missing nJt.Out of these fourteenmotifs there are only ten in the life ofZeus ( B ), eight nthat of Iason ( C ) and ofAjataatru D ), seven nthatofKyros ( E ), five r four nthat of Oidipous ( F ) and Perseus G ) andperhapsten in thatof Christ H ).B ) Zeus : Zeus' fatherKronos, the second kingof the gods in thegolden,thefirstge (A3), playedhisrole in thestruggle etween hegodsand theantigods A 2 ). He was the son ofOuranos and Gaia ( heavenandearth . He had killedhisfather nd was warnedbythedyingOuranosandbyGaia that one of his childrenwould dethronehim A 5 ). He thereforeswallowedthe fivechildrenwhom Rhea borehim A 6 ) ; her sixth child,Zeus (A4), Rhea secretlybore on mount Lykaionin Arkadia, and Gaiacarriedthe new-bornchildto a cave on a hill in Kreta, to be nursedtherebya nymph.Rhea wrapped a stone in clothesand gave it to Kronos toswallow.Zeus grewup among shepherds f Mount Ida near Troy A 7).He made Kronos vomit his stone and hisfiveelder children. These askedZeus to lead them in a waraginstthe Titans whichwent on fortenyears( A 8?). Then the three brothersHades, Poseidon and Zeus attackedKronos Zeus struckhim with histhunderbolt nd banishedhim A 11 #WhenZeus had become king of thegods he begana series of love affairs(A 9, 12?), and Gaia incited her sons, theGigants, to fight gainstZeusand thegods ( A 13 .

C) Iason : Pelias,kingof Iolkos inAiolia, alreadyan old man,waswarnedbyan oraclethathe wouldbe killed by an Aiolian (AS). He putto deathevery rominent iolian (A 6) exceptAison,hishalf-brotherhomhe had deprived f the throne nd kepta prisonernthepalace. Aison gota son ( A4), Diomedes,overwhom hismotherweptas thoughhe werestill-born; she smuggled imout of thepalace to mountPelion ( A7 ) where hefcentaurheirongave himthename Iason. A second oracle warnedPelias



6/11

RUBEN : Krsna Paris semz simitarHeroes 29$to bewareof ason ( A5). On account ofthat,Pelias senthimto Kolchisinorderto carry romthere the golden ram's fleece to Iolkos. Thiswas adangerous ask mposed6on the hero (instead of A8, cfr.G. ); afterhissuccessfulreturnPelias would resignhis kingship n favourof Iason, theproperheirto thethrone. This Panhellenicundertaking f the Argonautsunder ason was the Aiolian analogy to the Mykenian myth f thePan-hellenicTrojanwar A 13 . FromKolchis, ason ranaway withMedea, thedaughter ftheking fKolchis A 12 . When she ateronkilledkingPeliasbyhermagicthepropheticwarning ecametrue A 11). Medea left ason,killedherchildren,nd Iason killed himself r was killed by an accident nan unheroicway bya piece of wood falling rom he Argo,his ship A 14 .

D) Ajtasatru king ofMagadha : akala, a ministerof Videha,retired o Yaisll and gottwo sons,Simha and Gopla ( this name remindsus of Krsna; Al). Gopla, leadinga wild life ( Jtaka A8) was sentbyhis father o a far away mountainas a peasant A7 ? . Simha had twodaughters, savi and Upavsavi; theson of Vsav would kill hisfatheraccording to a prophecyand become king A5 ). The son of Upavasavwas to becomea manwith marvellous haracter.Gopla became thehead-ministerfkingBimbisra of Magadha and offeredhim Upavsav as hisqueen,telling ll about the prophecy. He advised the kingthathe himselfwouldcarryUpavsavi out ofVaisliso that theking mightrun awaywithher A 12 . But Vasav tookherplace, and Gopla warned heking again.The king intended o avoid the fulfillmentfthe prophecy ( cf. A6 ) anddeclaredthathe would renouncethe throne cfr.Pelias : C ) whenhis sonwould be born then this son would have no reason to kill him ( but itseemshe did not do so ). Withoutgoing nto details the BuddhiststellthatDevadatta, thebad cousin of Buddha, induced Vsavi's son Ajtasatruto kill his father nd become king A II)7. It is knownfromhistory hatAjtasatru onqueredVaisli and other tates A 13 . His three successorsin this ineoftheisunga-kings eremurdered ytheir ons ( cfr.B ).E ) Kyros8 The fighting artieswere two peoples, the dominatingMedians (Turanians) under king Astyages Afrasiab and the suppressedPersians Iranians underking Kambyses ( Sijawush ( A2 ). Kyros ( KeiChosrew was the only son of the Persian Kambyses and Mandane( Ferengis, thedaughterof the Median Astyages A4 ). Mandane oncehad a warningdream,and her fathergot its explanationfromhis magi-cians : He had to fear his grandchildfromMandane who would replace

6. Thompson:cfr. . 1 III, 356 H. 900: Tasksmposed.7. Schiefner,. : inMelangessiatiquesIII, 1877,728. Cfr. ote .



7/11

296 ABORl : DiamondJubileeVolumehim as king (A5). Therefore he marriedher to the PersianKambyseswhowas inferior o theMedian. In the first earafterMandane'smarriageAstyageshad a similardream A5 ). He orderedhis relative and mostintimate fficial arpagos ( Piran to kill the child just borneby Mandane.Harpagos did not like to do thishimself;he orderedMithradates, ne ofthe Medianherdsmen f Astyages o expose the child on a highand wildmountain. But the wifeof Mithradateshad just borne a dead child andpersuadedher husbandto expose this one instead. Harpagos, threedayslater, informedby the herdsman, senthis soldierswho buriedthe deadchild. Kyroswas broughtup under anothername as the child of theherdsman A7 ). When he was tenyearsofage he foughtwithhispastoralstaff against lions, bears and tigers A8 ). Some years later Rustemkilled the demon ( diw Akwan in the formof a wild ass who did greatdamage to the herds.Krsna and Baladeva killedDhenuka and his relativeswho attacked hem n the form of a herd of wild asses ( A8 ). Astyagesand hismagiciansbecame convinced thatthe prophecy about Kyros hadalreadybeen fulfilled n a harmless way by the motif I 2. Astyagespunished Harpagos in a barbarous way because he had not killed thechild,but he sentKyros home to his parents A 11). Harpagos wantedrevenge n Astyages nd stirredKyros to make the Persiansrise againsttheMedian Astyages. Thusbeganthe long historicalwar of independenceof the Persians under Kyros who succeeded and became master ofAsia (A 13).F ) Oidipous Laios, kingofThebes in Boiotia, was warnedby theoracle in Delphi thathis son from queen Iokaste would become hismurdererA5 ). Iokaste did not know this and got a child fromthedrunken ing this was his only son (A4). The father rdered servantto exposethenew-born hild on mountKithairon,but the servantdeliveredthechild on thatmountainto a herdsmanof theking of Korinthos whobrought t to his master A7 ). Oidipous was brought up as the son ofthe king of Korinthosand was warnedby the same oracle of the samecrime of killinghis father. He misunderstoodhis,and avoided return-ing to Korinthos and his "father"; but he met on the road his un-knownfatherLaios ( byfate . He killed him because theold kingon hischariotorderedhim roughly o stepout of theway ( All ). He killedtheSphinx A8?) and becamekingofThebes All ) and husband of Iokaste.Whenhe understoodhis double crimehe blindedhimself,efthiscountrysa beggar,wanderedforyearsfromtown to town,and finally ied in thegroveof the Erinyesnear Athens whereking Theseus buried his ashes.These were to bring uck to Athens A 14?). Afterhis death,hissons,cursedbytheirfather,tarted hewararoundThebes (A 13?).



8/11

RUBEN : Krsna Paris and seven similarHeroes &1G ) Perseus Perseus was theson of Zeus and Danae who was thedaughter f Akrisios,kingofArgos; he had usurped he throne fhistwin-brotherProitos (A4) in Tiryns.These two town-stateswere the place ofthismyth A2 ). Akrisios had receivedthe oracle thathisgrandson,theson of Danae, would killhim A5 ). He therefore epther in a well-pro-tectedpalace ( A5 : Jtaka). ButZeus came upon her n a showerof goidand sheborehimPerseus. Akrisios ockedDanae and Perseus n a woodenark whichcarried themto an island. Therea fishermanound themandcarried hem o hiskingPolydektes A7). Someyears ater he demandedof

Perseusthe head of the Gorgon Medusa, a dangeroustask (A3? cf.D).On his way back he rescued the naked Andromeda A9?), marriedher,wenthome, and turnedPolydektesntostonebythehead ofthe Medusa (A11). AkrisiosfledfromArgos to Larissa, but Perseuscame there, nvitedfor somefuneralgames All ), and withhisdiscuskilledAkrisios A13 ).H ) Christ : In his life there are several parties : Jews andRomans,Jews nd Christians, nd the poor people and the Jewish riests(A2). Christwas the only child of his parents (A4). Joseph,Maria,Johannes, imeon and Zacharias had propheticdreams' and, thethree wisekingsof theOrientas astrologersknewof Christ's birthA5); theytoldkingHerodes. This one ordered thatall children n Bethlehemhouldbekilled A6 ). Christ'sparents ookrefugewithhim n Egypt ( A7 ). Herds-menwerethe firsto adore the new-bornChrist n his crib. He is oftenrepresenteds a shepherd A7 ? ). When twelveyears old, he taughtinthetempleforthe first ime A8 ). He defendedsinningwomen ( Lukas7, 36sq. , and Maria Magdalena and otherwomen followed him (ib. 8,lOsq. 10,38sqq. ) (A9?). He went home fromEgypt to Nazarethandfinally nteredJerusalems a triumphantspiritual) king (All). In themean timehe had wanderedfromplace to place, teaching, reaching cfr.Bh. GL), healingsick people, doing marvellousdeeds ( A8, 13?) and pro-phecising is sufferings cfr.Gndhri's curse on Krsna Mbh. XI, 25 ).Finallyhe was judged by king Herodes and by Pilatus, crucified, ndreturnedo his father in heaven A14). -Besides these fewhints tneedsan especialstudy o compareand contrast he New Testament nd the Hari-vamsa,these supplementso the Old Testament nd theMahbhrata ( orthe varhsa respectively.I ) This comparing and contrasting f the motifs nd the lives ofthese heroes is, of course,only preliminary. The Krsnacaritacontainssome 170motifs9,nd therewillbe found other similarheroes nthese nd

9. Cfr. ote .38AnnlasD.J.



9/11

298 ABORI : Diamond JubileeVolumeother regions of the world. Furtheronsome of these motifshave somepeculiarities 1 The motifsA2 and 5 in theJtakadiffer rom hose n theotherKrsna-texts, ut correspond o analogous motifsn a Persian nd aGreektexton Kyrosand Perseus. 2 ) According o Mbh. I, 92 Ganga killedherfirstevensons,bornetoantanu; the atter ucceededonly npreservingtheeighth, hlsma. Her eight ons weretheVasu-gods,cursed to becomemen and be killed, imilar o the firstixsons ofDevaki who had been sonsofthe AsuraHiranyakasipu, ursedby theirgrandfathero their ate A6 ).The eightbrothers f Vsudeva and Baladeva in the 454th Jtaka,Candra-deva, Sryadeva, tc. look like a Buddhist version of the eight Vasus( cfr.A4 ). - Thetyskilled her first ixsons,borne to Peleuswho could saveonlyhisseventh on,Achilleus;his body'was charmedby Thetyswiththeexception f hisright eel cfr.A14 ). - 3 ) InsteadofA8, Herodotos1,114tellsthat whenKyroswas twelveyearsof age ( cfr.H8 ) hewas electedkingbytheboysofthe herdsmennd thathe punished heboyArtemberos hodid not obey his orders cf. B6 ). A similar story is told in Kathsarit-sgaraITI,4, 28 sqq. - Thesemotifs,hus,canbe found ncertainGreekandIndian textswhichdo not deal withour nineheroes.

K ) This observationsuggests hat not only thesebut all our motifsweremoreor less wide-spreadn the regions between Northern ndia andGreece. They wereused in forming he biographiesof our heroes. Butthesemenwereofquitedifferentharacters,times and places. There s noreasonforthe other heory hattherewas one original biography n whichtheotherswerebased. Two of our heroes were and still are great gods,Krsnaand Christ, nd Kronos and Zeus werekingsoftheGreekgods. An-otherpair was of the historicalkingsKyros and Ajtasatru; but neitherKrsnanor Parisbecamea king. Paris and Iason were the mythical eroesofthetwogreat Panhellenic expeditions gainst Troyand Kolchis, corres-pondingto Krsnaand thePanindianwar of theMahbhrata. OnlyKrsnaand Parishad to helptheearth-goddesswhen she was overburdenedAl );only in the lives of thesetwothe bucolic element A9 ) and the motifoftheheelof Achilleus Al4 ) playan importantole. But in contrast oParis,Krsnawas one of thegreatest ods and was a hero,wandering hroughhiswhole ifefrom ne adventure o another ike Herakles,Theseus,Gilgameshand others;the character f Paris is not so grand as thatof Krsna. TwoGreek heroes, Perseus and Iason, had to fulfil dangerous task. Thecarryingwayofa woman as the cause ofwarhappened n the ivesofParis,Krsnaand Iason. OnlyOidipouswas a tragichero misledby the oracle,he killedhis fatherbut was himselfwithoutguilt. His tragic life is soimpressivebecause the classic dramatist of Athens, Sophokles, made



10/11

RUBEN : Krsna, Paris and seven similarHeroes 99himthe hero of one ofhistrilogies. In a similarway Iason looks tragic naccountofEuripides'tragedy fMedea.

L ) It is understood that the tradition f all these biographieswasfirstral,handeddown in families or schools of bards. About 700 B. C.Horneros ixed hetextof his epics, and Hesiodos the myth f theages oftheworld,nearly in thetime of the old Upanisads with the teachingsofArunawho dealt with his topic for thefirst ime in India ( Ch. Up. III.1-11 , of Nrada who alreadymentionedthe itihsa and purna side bysidewith theVedas (ib. VII, 1,2), of Krsna Devakputra and his moralteachingsib. Ill, 17), and of the speculationsof epic kingslike Avapati(ib. V, 11 and Janaka (Br. Up. III sq. ).

The Greek epics werewritten n thetime of Peisistratos 560-527B.C.); Herodotosdealt with Kyros, and Sophokles and EuripidesdealtwithOidipous and Medea respectivelyn the classic periodofAthens n thefifthentury . C. The lifeof Christ s, of course, some five enturiesaterand belongsto the Roman period. The Indian epics werewrittentill ater,in theGupta period about 400 A. D. The Greekdevelopment rom bout1500 B. C. up to Horneros 700 B. C. ) and Euripides (480-406 B. C. )was quicker han that of India from about 1500B. C. to theGuptas about400 A. D. Writingwas used in India for literarypurposesnotbefore heKushan times. The Shahnameh of Firdewsi,withhisbiography f Kyros,belonged o the middle ages as did the Kathsaritsgara cfr.12). Theproseof the 454thJtakaalso mayhave been written nlyfrom heKushanperiod on. But the Greek biographies died with the decayof antiquityabout 500A.D., in contrast o thebiographyof Krsna whichis still liveas part of theGaiig-societywhich lived continuously ormore than2500years. The New Testamentremainedalive for nearly 2000 yearsof theRoman, feudaland capitalist imes.

How old thetradition f thesemotifs nd biographieswas is notyetcertain. The destructionfTroy and theRgvedic battle of thetenkingswhichmayhave been the historical event which developed into theepicbattleon theKuru-fieldan have happenedabout 1200B. C. Kyros lived nthesixth entury . C, Ajtasatru n the fifth. uring this relatively hortperiodof700 years livedour heroes as faras they ived at all, butsome ofourmotifsmaybe older. That ofthe singlevulnerable artofthebodywasperhaps ndo-European,because it is found n Indian, Iranian( Isfendiyar,Greek and German (Siegfried) mythology; it may belong even to theoldestprimitive unters, ribes in Asia, Africa and Americamakinguse of



11/11

300 ABORI : DiamondJubilee Volumeit.10The prophecysingf thebirth f a dangerous hild occursalready n atale of thebeginning f the fifthynasty fEgypt n the 17th entury . C.11

Thus,one is tempted o imagine hatour motifs elongto theancientoriental ocietywhichprecededGreek antiquity n the Near East. Theyspreadto ancientGreece and India. They ived in India inthe timeoftheold Upanisads,beforePersians or Greeks came to India. They belongtoGreeks,Phrygians,raniansand Indians, those Indo-europeanpeopleswhoconqueredsomepartsof the ancientorientalworld after 500 B. C. In theinterestftheirkings nd priests t was importanto makethe massesswhodid notwantwar,as it seems,believe nthefatalnecessity f war Al ); anditwas also necessary orthem o makethe massesand themore or less crueldespots A6 ) believe ntheunavoidability ffate All ). The masseshadto believe n wonderful rinces s killersofdespots12nd as helpers f man-kind,destroying evilishenemies,and also as lovingmen, carryingwaytheirbridesat thecost ofwars. These heroeswere, n theiryouth,herdsmenand as such wereromantic ideals in theeyes of thetowns-peoplekingsoftheseold timescorrespondinglyiked the titleHerdsman of the people.All thiswas a long time before historywas forthe first imewritten yHerodotos.

Studying ur heroes we must keep inmind thattheirbiographieswerecomposed n partbytheir dmirers nd inpartbytheir nemies. TheBuddhists id not likeKrsna cfr. heJtaka orAjtasatru, heGreeksthePhrygian aris,Herodotos thePersian Kyros, but the Hindus loved andadmiredKrsna, theChristiansChrist,the Greeks Iason, Perseus nd evenZeus althoughhe had killed his father, hiskingofthe gods in thegoldenage of mankind. Thus,we see no end of studyinghese motifs nd heroes,these mportantlements f Indian, Iranianand European culturalheritage.We need internationaldiscussion n such topics, and theauthor of thispaperis thankfulnd proudto be in scholarly ontact withthe BhandarkarInstitute incefifty ears go whenhe, togetherwithVishnuS. Sukthankar,studied n BerlinunderHeinrichLders.

10. Thompsoncfr.note V,437 Z 311 Achilleseel.11. Reeder, . : AltgyptischerzhlungenndMrchen,ena 927,1 qq.12. Ruben,W. FightinggainstespotsnOld ndian iterature,oldenubileeVolume BORI1968, 11 qq.

kṚṢṆa, paris, and seven similar heroes

Documents