This book is the first critical edition of a comprehensive Sanskrit version of the Nasiketa myth, with a full translation into English. The text is composed of several manuscripts belonging to the same branch of the story development, and is compared to the printed Sanskrit versions and to some others, still in manuscript form.
The introduction presents a short analysis of the religious-philosophic ideas conveyed by the Naciketa story throughout the generations, based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation. It divides the Naciketa story corpus into three patterns, and leaves extensive scope for further research-literary, religious, philosophic, etc. |