2023-02-16 06:27:23 by ambuda-bot
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INTRODUCTION
45
Agun, the convention of having exactly one
thousand names is more a disadvantage than an advan-
tage It is no doubt a mercy to the reader as well as to
the temple priest that the line is drawn at a thousand
But it is not always easy to devisc a thousand names for
the god or goddess you worship without repeating
yourself And repetition of a name with the same
meaning IS forbidden by "the rules of the
game" So, when the legitimate subject-matter
is over in five or six hundred names the poet is
forced to complete the list by something far fetched
or fanciful, just as in actual worship of the
deity when all the flowers on hand are over we
use coloured rice (aksata) in their stend to complete
the ritual And if, by mischance, he repeats a name
which has already been used, the commentator who
comes in his wake has to rack his bruns to give it
a different meaning or cut it into two different bits and
give some forced interpretation to each of the bits
Moreover, if logical connection has no leg to stand on
even when coherent material is at hand, it vanishes into
the thin air amidst these insubstantial word juggleries
Fortunately, there are not many instances of these
defects in the Lalitasahasranama On the whole the
poet has been able to raise a very noble monument to
the Goddess in spite of the exceedingly difficult literary
form he has chosen to adopt here
45
Agun, the convention of having exactly one
thousand names is more a disadvantage than an advan-
tage It is no doubt a mercy to the reader as well as to
the temple priest that the line is drawn at a thousand
But it is not always easy to devisc a thousand names for
the god or goddess you worship without repeating
yourself And repetition of a name with the same
meaning IS forbidden by "the rules of the
game" So, when the legitimate subject-matter
is over in five or six hundred names the poet is
forced to complete the list by something far fetched
or fanciful, just as in actual worship of the
deity when all the flowers on hand are over we
use coloured rice (aksata) in their stend to complete
the ritual And if, by mischance, he repeats a name
which has already been used, the commentator who
comes in his wake has to rack his bruns to give it
a different meaning or cut it into two different bits and
give some forced interpretation to each of the bits
Moreover, if logical connection has no leg to stand on
even when coherent material is at hand, it vanishes into
the thin air amidst these insubstantial word juggleries
Fortunately, there are not many instances of these
defects in the Lalitasahasranama On the whole the
poet has been able to raise a very noble monument to
the Goddess in spite of the exceedingly difficult literary
form he has chosen to adopt here