Csaba Dezső, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Indo-European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, will give a lecture on 17th August 2012 in the EFEO Centre of Pondicherry, at 4.30 pm in the Library Hall.Title: Sanskrit and Prakrit Versions of the Bṛhatkathā
 
Summary: Guṇāḍhya's Bṛhatkathā, written in Paiśācī around the beginning of the Common Era, was an epic-length work that combined realistic narrative and character study with fantastic adventures into the realm of magic. Though it was an inexhaustible storehouse of stories for classical Indian poets and playwrights, the Bṛhatkathā itself survives today only in the form of rewritings in various languages. The lecture will deal with the Sanskrit and Prakrit versions, examining, among others, their possible sources, their intertextuality, their style of narration, and their characters.

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