"Ich schlug den Vritra mit der Kraft des Indra!
Durch eignen Grimm war ich so stark geworden!
Ich machte fur die Menschen frei die Wasser"[6]
And the impersonated rivers speak for themselves.
"Indra, den Blitz im Arm, brach uns die Bahnen,
Er schlug den Vritra, die Strome einschloss."[7]
There is no need to insist further on the point that the task of the
Grail hero is in this special respect no mere literary invention, but
a heritage from the achievements of the prehistoric heroes of the
Aryan race.
But the poems selected by Professor von Schroeder for discussion offer
us a further, and more curious, parallel with the Grail romances.
In Section VIII. of the work referred to the author discusses the
story of Rishyacringa, as the Mahabharata names the hero; here we find
a young Brahmin brought up by his father, Vibhandaka, in a lonely
forest hermitage[8] absolutely ignorant of the outside world, and even
of the very existence of beings other than his father and himself. He
has never seen a woman, and does not know that such a creature exists.
A drought falls upon a neighbouring kingdom, and the inhabitants are
reduced to great straits for lack of food. The King, seeking to know
by what means the sufferings of his people may be relieved, learns
that so long as Rishyacringa continues chaste so long will the drought
endure.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69