Revenge, Hatred, Love, and Regret

The Use of Narrative Empathy in a Regional Purana

Authors

  • Noor van Brussel Ghent University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.34409

Keywords:

demon, Hinduism, Kerala, narrative empathy, rasa, regional Purāṇa

Abstract

This article analyses the character of the demon found in the Sanskrit Bhadrakalimahatmya. This regional Puranic text, pertaining to the narrative tradition of the Darikavadham from Kerala, adopts a specific stance with regard to its main antagonist, the asura king Darika. While the Bhadrakalimahatmya eagerly engages with various Mahapuranas such as the Linga and the Markandeya, the demon that it depicts contrasts with the rather rigid image set out by his counterparts in those texts. Instead, the demon's character is carefully drawn and led through an array of emotional states in a way that tempts the audience to empathize. In this article, I explore this strategic empathy. Perusing the narratives of the Bhadrakalimahatmya, I identify passages that are activated by strategies of affect and show how they construct the character of the demon. In the second part of the article, I attempt to unravel the motives for this alternative view of the demon, relying on frameworks stemming from contemporary studies of narrative empathy and classical Indian theories of aesthetics.

Author Biography

  • Noor van Brussel, Ghent University

    After concluding her MA in Indian Languages and Cultures at Ghent University, Noor van Brussel is now a PhD candidate in that same department. She is currently writing a doctoral dissertation entitled ‘Bhadrakāḷi and the Bhadrotpatti: a Comparative study of a regional Goddess and her Narrative Tradition’, which focuses on the Bhadrakālīmāhātmya, a regional Purāṇa from Kerala, and on the goddess it celebrates, Bhadrakāḷi. At the end of 2016, Noor was appointed as a teaching assistant for the Languages and Cultures department at Ghent University, complementing her research activities. She teaches and supports several courses on Sanskrit, Indian religions, and gender.

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Published

2017-08-10

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

van Brussel, N. (2017). Revenge, Hatred, Love, and Regret: The Use of Narrative Empathy in a Regional Purana. Religions of South Asia, 10(2), 193-213. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.34409