Ancient Indian Tales: 'Baital Pachchisi' and 'Betal Panchavinshati'/ প্রাচীন ভারতীয় উপাখ্যান : ‘বৈতাল পচ্চীসী’ এবং ‘বেতালপঞ্চবিংশতি’

Abstract

In ancient India, anecdotes served as a primary vehicle for folk education. One of their main purposes was to educate the unlearned masses and to instill ethical values in children, preparing them to become civilized adults. Anecdotes were a pervasive form of cultural transmission, often carrying the lessons of folk education even without a formal teacher. This made them a powerful tool not just in Eastern traditions, but in Western ones as well. The 'Betal Panchavinshati' seems to have emerged from this ancient Indian tradition of anecdote writing. Its style of storytelling is influenced by the anecdotes found in the 'Vedas', 'Upanishads', 'Ramayana', 'Mahabharata', and 'Jataka Tales'. The original style, known as Baddakaha, was written in the Paishachi-Prakrit language. This style later evolved and was incorporated into the Sanskrit work 'Katha saritsagar', a section of which became widely known as the 'Betal Panchavinshati'. We can analyze the similarities and differences between two modern versions of this classic: Hindi writer Lallulal's 'Vaital Pachchisi' and Bengali writer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's 'Betal Panchavinshati'. Both authors avoided the original source material, creating unique works with natural similarities. Despite their constraints, both books were written with a distinctiveness that makes their differences just as significant as their similarities.