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OF CULTURE
 
&
 
an
 
IT has been the ambition of Mr. G. A.
Natesan to popularise the three most
mportant poems in the sacred literature
of India by bringing out abridgments of
the original Sanskrit texts with
English translation. He first brought out
an abridgment of Valmiki's Ramayana,
the most famous Kavya in the classical
literature of India. This was immediately
followed by the abridgment of the
Mahabharata, the greatest Itihasa. His
latest venture is the abridgment of the
Srimad Bhagavata which may be justly
described as the greatest and most
popular of the Puranas. Every Purana
has necessarily to deal with a certain
number of topics according to traditional
conventions, and the manner of treatment
of these topics is more or less on similar
lines. But each Purana is further intended
to serve a special purpose. The Puranas
generally contain a strange medley of
fables and fairy tales, philosophy and
religion, myth and legend. It is not easy
for a Western reader to appreciate the
teaching and value of our Puranas with-
out a knowledge of the methods employed
by the ancient Indian sages for inculcating
 
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पर्यंत याच्य
 
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FOREWORD
 

 
IT has been the ambition of Mr. G. A.
Natesan to popularise the three most
mportant poems in the sacred literature
of India by bringing out abridgments of
the original Sanskrit texts with
English translation. He first brought out
an abridgment of Valmiki's Ramayana,
the most famous Kavya in the classical
literature of India. This was immediately
followed by the abridgment of the
Mahabharata, the greatest Itihasa. His
latest venture is the abridgment of the
Srimad Bhagavata which may be justly
described as the greatest and most
popular of the Puranas. Every Purana
has necessarily to deal with a certain
number of topics according to traditional
conventions, and the manner of treatment
of these topics is more or less on similar
lines. But each Purana is further intended
to serve a special purpose. The Puranas
generally contain a strange medley of
fables and fairy tales, philosophy and
religion, myth and legend. It is not easy
for a Western reader to appreciate the
teaching and value of our Puranas with-
out a knowledge of the methods employed
by the ancient Indian sages for inculcating