In order to show the mutual importance and usefulness of classical and modern Indology to each other, the author presents a series of cases, where ancient things are present (and often reinterpreted and modified) in modern India, in fields such as religion and philosophy, social hierarchy, popular entertainment, language and linguistics and traditions of scholarship.
This article is a systematic approach to the character of deity, who bears the name Mitra in India, but in Iran is called Mithra (later Mihr). The study aims to give answers to three questions: 1) What are the similarities between the Indian Mitra and the Iranian Mithra, if we leave aside the name of the deity? 2) What are the differences between these two deities? 3) What are the changes that the depiction of Mitra/Mithra has gone through in Indian and Iranian mythologies? To answer these questions, the article first gives an overview of Mitra in India, then of Mithra in Iran, and finally compares the two. Both approaches start with a comprehensive overview of sources. In India the main source for the study of Mitra is Vedic literature (ca 1500/1200–600/500 BC), namely the Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda, and Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. These sources are consistent, describing Mitra as a deity connected with the Sun, the incarnation of divine order, harmony, and friendship among mankind. Some light is thrown also on Mitra in post-Vedic literature, mainly in epic literature (ca 300/200 BC–200/300 AD). In Iran, the sources are even more varied. They start with Iranian scripture Avesta (ca 1000–300 BC) and epigraphic sources from Achaemenian dynasty (6th–4th century BC), and continue with written sources from Greek and Roman writers (6th century BC to 3rd century AD), epigraphic material, and data from coins from Kushan (1st –3rd centuries AD) and Sassanid periods (3rd–7th centuries AD), not to forget Pahlavi writings from medieval Persia (7th–10th centuries AD). According to the sources, Iranian Mithra is a divine warrior, ruler of the worlds, judge of the dead, and protector against demons. He is still connected with the Sun, and helps the mankind, but more aggressively than Indian Mitra, who has ceded all his warlike attributes to his dual companion Varuṇa. The article concludes that the cult of Mithra that was so influential in the Mediterranean region has probably borrowed more from Iran than India.
The article tries to indicate the traces of Norwid’s interest in the culture of India. From the writings left by the poet it appears that India was not the main subject of his research. A chapter of the unfinished treatise Sztuka w obliczu dziejów (Art in the Face of History) (1850) is an exception here; Norwid devoted a fragment of the work to Indian art. From the fragment it appears that the author of Quidam had sufficient knowledge about India to formulate critical opinions concerning old caste laws interpreted in terms of Norwid’s conceptions of art-work and of the dogma. Also, in Notatki z mitologii (Notes on Mythology) there are sporadic, laconic remarks containing information about Indian art. The notes that are apparently out of context form a certain logical whole polarizing Norwid’s views and ystematizing his knowledge about the country on the Ganges, or about Orient in general. Certainly one may not speak about complete knowledge here, but the remarks noted by the poet are the essence of a particular problem Norwid knew more or less about. They are: Indian art and architecture, the crisis of art in the face of the schism, the caste system, old-Indian authoritative literature, the Hindu tradition and the Buddhist movement. Norwid’s knowledge of particular works of architecture is proven by Skorowidz (Index), where the most important architectural features of ancient India are mentioned: Ellora, Vishvakarma, Nashik, Jayanti in the province of Aurangabad, Elephanta and Salsette islands, Karla in Khandala, Dhumar and Panch Pandu Shrine in the province of Malwa, the famous “Seven Pagodas” of Mahabalipuram, Siringam and Bhagwati in Tanjore in Ceylon. The author’s footnotes reveal a wealth of sources used by Norwid. We find here, among others, references to ancient authors, to the 18th century explorer of India – John Zephanian Holwell, or to the lectures by Max Müller. The notes suggest that he also might have known original fragments of Rigveda. The poet also refers several times to Aranyakas – “Forest Books”, that preceded Upanishads, and his knowledge of the Vedic Hymn to Speech could have influenced the Norwidian theory of free speech. Norwid’s Indian episodes, succinctly marked in the notes, reveal another, still not very well known, image of the author of Vade-mecum
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