[INDOLOGY] suicide as a result of love

Mon Jun 6 11:59:54 UTC 2016

Other examples may be Satī burning herself at the sacrifice of her father
Dakṣa, where her husband was insulted, and of Ambā burning hurself after
being rejected for marriage by Bhīṣma in the Mahabharata.

Madhav Deshpande

On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 6:32 AM, Michaels, Axel <
michaels at asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de> wrote:

> Perhaps this question would also include some cases of suttee. Se for
> instance Manadeva’s inscription (464 CE) in Cangu Narayan (Nepal):
>
> „With affection (and) with a tearful face she addressed (her) son: "Your
> father went to heaven. O (my) son, as your father has gone today, what is
> the use of my breath [i.e. life]. Take over, o son, the kingdom! I (will)
> follow right now the path of my husband. What (use) is (it) for me to
> live without (my) husband by chains of hope made by the extension of
> (different) kinds of pleasures when the act of meeting is like an illusion
> and a dream. I will go!" Saying so, she (however) remained. Then she was
> addressed by her sorrowful son who had diligently pressed her feet against
> his head out of devotion: "What (to do) with pleasure, what with the joys
> of life when there is seperation from you? I will give up (my) life first,
> later I will go to heaven from here." With tears coming out from her
> lotus-like face, with a net made out of words she became like a trapped
> and tied bird, (and) therefore she remained. After she had, together with
> her noble son, performed her husband's obsequies she (lived) by the rules
> of good conduct, chastity, fasting (and) with a totally cleaned mind; (
> moreover) she always gave wealth to the brahmins to increase (her late
> husband's) merit, she remained, with him in her mind, according to the
> rule of the satī vow (so that) she really was like Arundhatī.“ (Trans.
> Th. Riccardi)
>
>
> Axel Michaels
>
>
> Von: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> im Auftrag von "
> mmdesh at umich.edu" <mmdesh at umich.edu>
> Datum: Montag, 6. Juni 2016 um 12:24
> An: Klaus Karttunen <klaus.karttunen at helsinki.fi>
> Cc: "indology at list.indology.info" <indology at list.indology.info>
> Betreff: Re: [INDOLOGY] suicide as a result of love
>
> In the Nalopākhyāna (in the Sanskrit Reader, Charles Lanman, p. 9-10) from
> the Mahabharata, Damayantī threatens to kill herself, if rejected by Nala.
> She refers to four alternatives to kill herself:  yadi tvam bhajamānām mām
> pratyākhyāsyasi mānada / viṣam agnim jalam rajjum āsthāsye tava kāraṇāt //,
> "O, Giver of Honor, if you reject me who is devoted to you, then on account
> of you, I will resort to poison, or fire, or water, or a rope."
>
> Madhav Deshpande
>
> On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 5:46 AM, Klaus Karttunen <
> klaus.karttunen at helsinki.fi> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>> in Harṣa’s Ratnāvalī Sāgarikā – sure that her love to the king is
>> unsuccesful – will hang herself, but luckily the king arrives in time and
>> saves her. There are certainly many other examples.
>>
>> Best,
>> Klaus
>>
>> Klaus Karttunen
>> South Asian and Indoeuropean Studies
>> Asian and African Studies, Department of World Cultures
>> PL 59 (Unioninkatu 38 B)
>> 00014 University of Helsinki, FINLAND
>> Tel +358-(0)2941 4482418
>> Fax +358-(0)2941 22094
>> Klaus.Karttunen at helsinki.fi
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 06 Jun 2016, at 11:50, Philipp Maas <philipp.a.maas at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Dermot and all,
>>
>> The story of the “Weaver as Viṣṇu” occurs indeed in Pūrnabhadra’s
>> recension of the Patañcatntra as well as in the exemplar of this recension,
>> the so-called *textus simplicior*. Pūrnabhadra censored the narrative
>> strongly from the perspective of conservative smārta-Hinduism and left out
>> the motive of suicide out of desire for the princess, which, accordingly
>> only occurs in the *textus simplicior*.
>>
>>
>> For a more comprehensive analysis of the two versions of the narrative
>> see my “On Discourses of Dharma and the Pañcatantra.” *Wiener
>> Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens* 55 (2013-2014), p. 5-31, of which
>> you find a pre-print draft version here
>> <https://www.academia.edu/13986474/On_Discourses_of_Dharma_and_the_Pa%C3%B1catantra>
>> .
>>
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>>
>> Philipp
>>
>>
>> 2016-06-06 10:09 GMT+02:00 <dermot at grevatt.force9.co.uk>:
>>
>>> In Purnabhadra's version of the Pancatantra (ed. Hertel 1908 pp. 46-55;
>>> tr. A.W. Ryder 1956,
>>> pp. 89-104), a weaver falls in love with a princess, swoons, then
>>> resolves on suicide by fire.
>>> He is saved by his friend, a chariot-builder or carpenter (rathakAra),
>>> who promises to use his
>>> skill to effect a union, and is spectacularly successful. It's a
>>> wonderful story, involving sex,
>>> politics, and religion.
>>>
>>> This is a mock-heroic example: the motif of suicidal despair resulting
>>> from love at first sight,
>>> which is expected of exalted characters, is transferred to a man of low
>>> degree.
>>>
>>> Dermot
>>>
>>> On 6 Jun 2016 at 8:51, Andrew Ollett wrote:
>>>
>>> I have the feeling that this is a relatively common motif in story
>>> literature. The one example
>>> that comes to mind is the Prakrit verse romance Lilavati, in which one
>>> of the characters
>>> (Kuvalayavali) has a "gandharva" wedding with a Gandharva (Citragada),
>>> and when her
>>> father finds out and curses them, she is so overcome with shame that she
>>> tries to hang
>>> herself from a tree. She is stopped at the last moment by her mother
>>> Rambha. This is around
>>> v. 658 in A.N. Upadhye's edition.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 8:25 AM, Alex Watson <alex.watson at ashoka.edu.in>
>>> wrote:
>>>     Dear List Members
>>>
>>>     A colleague, Madhavi Menon, who is writing a book entitled 'A
>>> History of Desire in
>>>     India', has asked me the following question. All help appreciated; I
>>> will forward your
>>>     responses to her.
>>>
>>>     "Are there any narratives in Sanskrit/Buddhist
>>> literature/philosophy/history that talk
>>>     about suicide, or atma-hatya, specifically in relation to love and
>>> desire?"
>>>
>>>     Yours Alex
>>>
>>>     --
>>>     Alex Watson
>>>     Professor of Indian Philosophy
>>>     Ashoka University
>>>     https://ashokauniversity.academia.edu/AlexWatson
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>     INDOLOGY mailing list
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Dermot Killingley
>>> 9, Rectory Drive,
>>> Gosforth,
>>> Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1XT
>>> Phone (0191) 285 8053
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Philipp A. Maas
>> Universitätsassistent
>> Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde
>> Universität Wien
>> Spitalgasse 2-4, Hof 2, Eingang 2.1
>> A-1090 Wien
>> Österreich
>> univie.academia.edu/PhilippMaas
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
> Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
> 202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
> The University of Michigan
> Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608, USA
>
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-- 
Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608, USA

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