Kathasaritsagara
The Kathāsaritsāgara (Devanagari कथासरित्सागर "Ocean of the Streams of Stories") is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by a Shaiva named Somadeva.
Kathasaritsagara is said to have been adopted from Guṇāḍhya's Brihatkatha, which was written in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work is no longer extant but several later adaptations — the Kathasaritsagara, Brihatkathamanjari and Bṛhatkathāślokasaṃgraha. However, none of these recensions necessarily derives directly from Gunadhya, each may have an intermediate versions. Scholars compare Guṇāḍhya with Vyasa and Valmiki even though he did not write the now long-lost Brihatkatha in Sanskrit. Presently available are its two Sanskrit recensions, the Brihatkathamanjari by Kshemendra and the Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva.
Content
The work consists of 18 books of 124 chapters and approximately 22,000 ślokas (distichs) in addition to prose sections. The śloka consists of 2 half-verses of 16 syllables each. Thus, syllabically, the Kathāsaritsāgara is approximately equal to 66,000 lines of iambic pentameter; by comparison, John Milton's Paradise Lost weighs in at 10,565 lines. All this pales in comparison to the (presumably legendary) 700,000 ślokas of the lost original Brihatkatha. The principal tale is the narrative of the adventures of Naravahanadatta, son of the legendary king Udayana. A large number of tales are built around this central story, making it the largest existing collection of Indian tales. It also contains early recensions of the Panchatantra in Book 10; and the Vetālapañcaviṃśati, or Baital Pachisi, in Book 12.
Podcasts:
Some Tv
by: Jon AndersonSomething in the dark is staring much to bad beginnings
Gangs of hungry kids are out stealing all the winnings
Strip the tourists on the floor, he is left with nothing
All he's got is life, his soul and bad dreams ever more
Someone in the dark is fixing dynamite, destroying
Put it in the main street where the shops are full of bodies
Agents have protection, cold religious killing
Market their releases though they're sent from heaven's door
Now we're not blind, now we can see
The truth is out, on your TV, on your TV
See it every day we focus CNN for dinner
Not so many killings everybody is a winner
Down in the dark the main street for the power and the glory
Must be something on the news to set our hearts on fire
We're not blind, yes we can see
The news is bad, the big TV
One thing hits me more and more, I know you're gonna get it
Good news doesn't sell at all, no point in trying to tell it
More and more you realise good news is not important
Look around there's so much more, my TV is distorted
Don't be so blind, yes you can see
Distorted minds, on our TV
One thing hits me more and more, I know you're gonna get it
Good news doesn't settle all, no point in trying to tell it
More and more you realise good news is not important
Look around there's so much more, my TV is distorted
Don't be so blind, yes you can see
There is good news, on your TV
So this morning I went to turn on my tape
On my Magnavox colour TV
It turned around and said "good morning Jon
How are you today, today"
Are you ready for some football?
Are you ready for The Price Is Right?
Are you ready for some football?