Who Was Śalya’s Father? Examining the Genealogy of an Epic Hero
Abstract
To the question, “Who was the Śalya of the Mahābhārata?”, a wide scale of different answers can be given. Without being exhaustive, Śalya can be described as a king, a general, a friend, a charioteer or even as a traitor. The high number of his roles indicates that he is among the most prominent epic heroes. On the other hand, it is striking that none of the answers given above refers to Śalya’s ancestry. The importance of the genealogical lists in the Mahābhārata is well established. For an epic hero it was his ancestry that determined his real identity. Therefore it is surprising that our knowledge about Śalya’s family is so meagre. As a matter of fact, the only thing we know about his birth is that he was an offspring of a prestigious royal dynasty. Śalya himself was, however, very proud of his descent and considered his service as Karṇa’s charioteer as a disgrace on his family. This paper attempts to identify this highly honoured dynasty from which Śalya arose. Many passages of the epic give the impression that Śalya was also of Kuru descent just as the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava heroes. This interpretation may shed new light on such events as Śalya’s appointment as general and Pāṇḍu’s second marriage.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Csaba Dezső for having read my article and polishing my English.
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- Who Was Śalya’s Father? Examining the Genealogy of an Epic Hero
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Nachruf – Nécrologie – Obituary
- Jacques May, une vie (1927–2018)
- Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
- 100 Jahre Seminar für Nahoststudien in Basel
- The Philosophical Proof for God’s Existence between Europe and the Islamic World: Reflections on an Entangled History of Philosophy and Its Contemporary Relevance
- Neo-Liberal Economic Reform, Social Change, and Inequality in the Post-Crisis Period in South Korea
- Who Was Śalya’s Father? Examining the Genealogy of an Epic Hero
- Unfertige Studien 5: Angeberei und Sufikleidung
- Chinese Geopolitics in Southeast Asia: A New Pattern of Economic Power within ASEAN?
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
- McAllister, Patrick: Reading Bhaṭṭa Jayanta on Buddhist Nominalism
