' (Brihat-katha-shloka-sangraha, बृहत्कथाश्लोकसंग्रह), ''"Verse Abridgment of the Great Story"'', is Budhasvāmin's abridgement into Sanskrit verse of the now lost ''Great Story'' ('). It tells the legend of the youthful exploits of prince Naravāhanadatta (Nara-vahana-datta).

Story

The main story narrates Naravāhanadatta’s progress culminating in his destined enthronement as the emperor of the vidhyādharas, celestial beings with magical abilities, winning twenty-six wives along the way. The surviving manuscripts of the text break off while he is in pursuit of his sixth wife. The narrative is fast-paced and eschews lengthy description.

It is also unusually homogeneous and hasn’t suffered the intrusion of interpolation: Budha·svamin’s laconic style remains consistent throughout. ... Occasional allusions show that Budha·svamin had a thorough grounding in the various sciences that made up the traditional brahmin education ... nda wonderfully wide acquaintance with all manner of people and places in the ancient Indian world. The action happens in cities like Ujjayinī odern_Ujjain.html"_;"title="Ujjain.html"_;"title="odern_Ujjain">odern_Ujjain">Ujjain.html"_;"title="odern_Ujjain">odern_Ujjain_Vārānasi_[modern_Varanasi.html" ;"title="Ujjain">odern_Ujjain.html" ;"title="Ujjain.html" ;"title="odern Ujjain">odern Ujjain">Ujjain.html" ;"title="odern Ujjain">odern Ujjain Vārānasi [modern Varanasi">Ujjain">odern_Ujjain.html" ;"title="Ujjain.html" ;"title="odern Ujjain">odern Ujjain">Ujjain.html" ;"title="odern Ujjain">odern Ujjain Vārānasi [modern Varanasi or Benares], Champapuri, Champa and Madurai, in royal palaces and their harems and parks, in courtesans’ parlours and boudoirs, in merchants’ mansions, caravans and ships, in paupers’ hovels and slums, in outcastes’ villages, in ascetics’ hermitages, in cremation grounds, on festive pilgrimages, in gambling dens and in jungles, mountains and deserts. The incidental descriptions of these places suggest their authors’ personal acquaintance with them.

Somadeva's ''

Kathāsaritsāgara The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva. ' ...

'' (''Ocean of Streams of Story'') and

Ksemendra Kshemendra (; ) was an 11th-century Sanskrit polymath-poet, satirist, philosopher, historian, dramatist, translator and art-critic from Kashmir in India. Biography Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family. His father wa ...

's ''Brhatkathamanjari'' are other works said ultimately to derive from the same lost ''Great Story''.

Notes

References

''Budhasvamin’s : A Literary Study of an Ancient Indian Narrative'' by E.P. Maten, Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1973.

English translations

* (2 Volumes)

External links

* About Budhasvāmin o
eNotes

Clay Sanskrit Library
(official page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brhatkathaslokasamgraha Sanskrit literature