[INDOLOGY] Enkidu and Ṛṣyaśṛṅga

[W S]

This might be worth a try:

Tzvi Abusch und Emily West: „The Tale of the Wild Man and the Courtesan in
India and Mesopotamia: The Seductions of Ṛśyaśṛnga in the Mahābhārata
and Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh “. In: Markham J. Geller (Hrsg.), *Melammu:
The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization* (= *Max Planck Research
Library for the History and Development of Knowledge. Proceedings*, Bd. 7).
Berlin: Edition Open Access, 2014, pp. 69–109. ISBN 978-3-945561-00-3.
https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/proceedings/7/6/index.html

Regards,
WS

Am Mo., 19. Okt. 2026 um 12:16 Uhr schrieb Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> I am not sure that there is an important spatial distance - it's quite
> direct from Mesopotamia to the Indus and beyond via the sea route. Recall
> that the Baveru JAtaka makes clear that seafaring to Babylon (Babbilu) was
> well-known to early Buddhists. And there are other cases in which
> apparently Near Eastern tales are found in Buddhist materials - another is
> Solomon's judgement, which has a well-known parallel in "Mahosadha's
> judgement," from the commentary on the MahomaggajAtaka and conveniently
> given in Andersen's Pali Reader.
>
> Matthew T. Kapstein
> Professor emeritus
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies Emeritus
> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>
> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>
> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>
> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>
>
> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>
> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>
> Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email.
>
> On Monday, October 19th, 2026 at 7:40 AM, Hélène de Brux via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Dear Valerie,
>
>
> You may look into Giacomo Benedetti’s 2015 article in the Journal of Asian
> Civilizations 38(1) “The story of Ekaśṛṅga in the Mahāvastu with its
> parallels,” where he discusses its similarity with the story of Enkidu and
> its line of transmission, as well as refers to previous studies on the
> subject.
>
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Hélène
>
>
> Dr. Hélène de Brux
> Postdoctoral fellow
> École française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2026 at 12:54 AM Valerie Roebuck via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Dear Colleagues
>>
>> While listening recently to a dramatisation of the Epic of Gilgamesh on
>> BBC Radio 4, I was very struck by the similarity of the story of the taming
>> of the wild man Enkidu with that of the (temporary) taming of the sage
>> Ṛṣyaśṛṅga/Ekaśṛṅga (Pali Isisiṅga) found in the Mahābhārata and the
>> Jātakas. In view of the rather large disparity in space and time between
>> these accounts, is there any possibility of a common influence? Has anyone
>> looked into this?
>>
>> Thank you
>>
>> Valerie J Roebuck
>> Manchester, UK
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
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