Narratives of the common man: Multivalent narratives and Value systems from the Kathasaritsagar

Dr. G. Geetha

Kathasaritsagar, multinarrative, values, marginalised text

The concepts of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha have been deliberated upon by different philosophers over time. Originally, there were only Dharma, Artha and Kama, and after renunciatory practices originated from Shramanism, Buddhism and Jainism, Moksha became a centrefold in the religious arguments. These divergent value systems are depicted in the ancient text, Somadeva's Kathasaritsagar, a collection of stories translated from Brihatkatha, written by Gunadhya in 200 BCE-500 CE in a now lost language, Paisachi. It is about royal families, courtiers and commoners living during the early medieval times. The narratives in the Kathasaritsagar (KSS) dwell into the frameworks of ethics that encompasses Buddhist value systems before it was accepted into the Hindu philosophical thoughts and religious folds. Multinarrative also play a part in KSS since some stories could be interpreted variedly as per the speaker and listeners. Since the narrator shifts the perspective, there are stories where gambling is a vice, and stories where gamblers are praised for their intelligence in outwitting everyone, including gods. Intersecting storylines are also another characteristic of stories in the KSS which bring out various perspectives emphasising simplicity, stupidity, or intelligence as per the intention of the story. The Kathasaritsagar has not been considered an elitist text since its protagonists varies from courtly men to barbers, fishermen and asuras. Therefore, it has not been brought into any mainstream study of Indian culture or literary studies unlike the other two classics Ramayana and Mahabharata although once Kathasaritsagar was equally exalted by litterateurs of the 4th-6th century since most of their Sanskrit plays originated from this text. This paper looks at multivalent narratives as well as stories of the common man advocating and imparting values to high profile individuals of the time like kings and sanyasis.

Volume 14 Issue 3, March-2026

Pages : g780-g783