2023-03-09 08:45:33 by Jayashree
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INTRODUCTION
7
collections. While the maxims in Cāṇakya collections
apply to human beings and human affairs in general,
they refer in the Burmese sources to the king; nara was
changed there to rāja. Thus maxims dealing with
qualities of certain animals which should be imitated
by men (in some Cāṇakya versions), are recommended.
for imitation by kings in the Burmese texts. Several
such examples have been found.¹
8. Indian writers have mastered the art of didactic
and gnomic poetry and acquired complete facility in
expressing their thoughts with conciseness and
originality through a variety of literary media the more
typical of which were similes and metaphors; the
thoughts were expressed with precision and were often
rendered in the form of paradoxes. These general
thoughts, turned into truth drawn on wisdom and
experience, were condensed into aphorisms, maxims,
sayings, adages, and proverbs. They often appeared in
India in such literary works as tales, epics, dramas,
novels and Dharmaśāstra-s, but most of all in special
collections of maxims and aphorisms-the Subhāṣita-
samgraha-s, a literary form to which Indians took a
particular liking. One of the most famous collections
¹ See vv. 11-8 in text. Cf. S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De,
A History of Sanskrit Literature, I, p. 196. Differently V. Henry in
Les Littératures de l'Inde, Paris, 1904, p. 238; referring to Cāṇakya's
aphorisms Henry said: 'Quand le ton n'y descend pas à la banalité ou
même à la platitude, il ne s'élève du moins jamais au-dessus d'une sagesse
terre-à-terre versifiée que bien que mal. Cāṇakya a rarement des idées
qui ne soient pas celles de tout le monde.' An excellent rebuttal to this
view was given by E. Bartoli in his CLB, pp. xiii sqq.
7
collections. While the maxims in Cāṇakya collections
apply to human beings and human affairs in general,
they refer in the Burmese sources to the king; nara was
changed there to rāja. Thus maxims dealing with
qualities of certain animals which should be imitated
by men (in some Cāṇakya versions), are recommended.
for imitation by kings in the Burmese texts. Several
such examples have been found.¹
8. Indian writers have mastered the art of didactic
and gnomic poetry and acquired complete facility in
expressing their thoughts with conciseness and
originality through a variety of literary media the more
typical of which were similes and metaphors; the
thoughts were expressed with precision and were often
rendered in the form of paradoxes. These general
thoughts, turned into truth drawn on wisdom and
experience, were condensed into aphorisms, maxims,
sayings, adages, and proverbs. They often appeared in
India in such literary works as tales, epics, dramas,
novels and Dharmaśāstra-s, but most of all in special
collections of maxims and aphorisms-the Subhāṣita-
samgraha-s, a literary form to which Indians took a
particular liking. One of the most famous collections
¹ See vv. 11-8 in text. Cf. S. N. Dasgupta and S. K. De,
A History of Sanskrit Literature, I, p. 196. Differently V. Henry in
Les Littératures de l'Inde, Paris, 1904, p. 238; referring to Cāṇakya's
aphorisms Henry said: 'Quand le ton n'y descend pas à la banalité ou
même à la platitude, il ne s'élève du moins jamais au-dessus d'une sagesse
terre-à-terre versifiée que bien que mal. Cāṇakya a rarement des idées
qui ne soient pas celles de tout le monde.' An excellent rebuttal to this
view was given by E. Bartoli in his CLB, pp. xiii sqq.