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This series is well-known to Indians under the Sanskrit name Vetala-Panchavimshati - which means "ghoul('s) N" which is short for "N (stories of the) ghoul [1]"
by vram22 8y ago
This series is well-known to Indians under the Sanskrit name Vetala-Panchavimshati - which means "ghoul('s) N" which is short for "N (stories of the) ghoul [1]".
Pancha means 5, I forget or don't know what vimshati means - could be that the whole number part (panchavimshati) means 25.
So the whole name of the series means 25 stories of the ghoul (vetala) - as told to king Vikramaditya, a famous king of ancient times, on whose back a ghoul somehow landed, and who then had to carry the ghoul on his back from somewhere to the cemetery 25 times.
Each time, while going there, the ghoul told him a different story ending in a puzzle or question.
Vikram was renowned as a good and fair judge.
The ghoul would tell him each time, that if he answered the question right (which involved judging the protagonists of the story, and saying who of them was right or wrong), he (the ghoul) would get off his (Vikram's) shoulders and let him go. But, if by the 25th time, Vikram still did not get the question right, the ghoul would kill him.
Entertaining stories we heard or read as kids. Often with some moral. Typical of Indian legends / folk tales.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul
Edited for better wording / typos.
- vram22 8y agoSorry: s/cemetery/burning ground since Hindus cremate, they don't bury.
- selimthegrim 8y agoThe Bhils in interior Sindh bury. Some sadhus bury as well.
- fellellor 8y agoSo do lingayats in Karnataka iirc.
- selimthegrim 8y agoYes, I had forgotten about them too
- vram22 8y agoInteresting, didn't know both those points, or that there were Bhils in Sindh, although I lived some years in Madhya Pradesh, a nearby state where Bhils also live.
- godzilla82 8y agoHinduism is so diverse and varies by region, that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect!
- vram22 8y ago>Hinduism is so diverse I'm well aware of that - Hindu here :), by birth anyway, and have read a lot of books about Hindu philosophies (note the double plural). >and varies by region, Not quite correct, only partially. I'm not an expert on the intricacies of it, but it is somewhat generally known to people that the are many branches / sects / whatever you want to call them, and they vary (or varied, originally, at least), by the main god / founding guru / philosophy for that sect or branch, not by region (although that may have even coincided in some cases, others were/are nationwide). Over time that variation may have morphed into being somewhat along regional lines, but even now, it is not fully so. You can find plenty of people of different branches of Hinduism, in the same town or city (even somewhat in villages, is my guess, though less so there). Just look at the print or online matrimonial ads, for example, of any leading Indian newspaper, and see how many ads there are for prospective brides and grooms from different Hindu sects, but from the same state or even city. >that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect! See above points. And anyway it was not meant as a blanket statement. We are talking about human affairs here, not algorithms, so a certain degree of looseness is generally acceptable and understood. In this context, we don't need to add (math) existential or universal quantifiers (like "there exists ..." or "for all ...") to every statement we make.
- godzilla82 8y agoI was responding to : >since Hindus cremate, they don't bury. Which seems a pretty blanket statement to me. There are other beliefs which many hindus believe are a core part of Hinduism for e.g. vegetarianism. I am not trying to create a strawman here. You will be surprised, how many regions (yes regions, not branches / sects as you put) have fish/meat as a part of their tradition.
- 8y ago
- markbnj 8y agoSeems like there are some interesting parallels with the 1001 Arabian Nights. Thanks for sharing it.
- vram22 8y agoThat's true. Welcome.
- yumraj 8y agoThere was even Television series many years ago.[0] [0] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/
- vram22 8y agoYes, good point. I think I may have seen parts of it, but forgot to mention it above.
- cmonnow 8y agoit is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. vimshati = 20
- vram22 8y ago>it is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. Right. >vimshati = 20 Good to know.