Epic in India

Through Indian life and culture, the epics of the subcontinent flow like the subterranean River Saraswati. Like Yuddhishthira, who is faced with the puzzling questions posed to him by the enigmatic Yaksha in the Mahabharata, the Indian Everyman, conscious of dharma and niti, is expected to find answers to ethical and existential dilemmas. While the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Silappadikaram are the best known of the sacred narratives of the past, there exists a vast reservoir of other epics—many still in the oral tradition. This compendium, the first of its kind, explores the many literary traditions and strands that run parallel but also provide interesting contrasts in the experience of the epics. The multiple frames provide a cultural continuum which shapes and is shaped by the epics.