Diversities of Oral Epics: Content, Context and Meaning

(A comparative study between Kalevala and Indian Oral Epics)

Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra

Folklore Foundation , Bhubaneswar , India

Context
In any land, marginalization of local knowledge and subjugation of people’s wisdom is
counterproductive to the building of a national culture. Finnish literature, in this context has
shown the world a way to respect the people’s wisdom, culture and language. Coming out of the
hegemony of colonial rule Finnish language and folklore built up its national culture in 19 th
century which became the ideal model for those unwritten societies whose culture and
language are still marginalized. Kalevala, for such oral society is the symbol of empowerment
where land, people, history, culture, invention, creativity and life world of human society is
represented. The oral myths and epics found in the Indian oral society have also the same
theme and motifs that is amazingly fit into the themes and motifs of Kalevala.

The Siri Epic of South India was documented and published in Tidekirja, Finland under the
leadership of Prof Lauri Honko. This signifies the process of textualisation of oral epic to written
like that of Kalevala. Finnish theory of folklore is close to Indian folklore in the sense that both
the country are belong to Indo-European language family, though have distance in time and
space, but have the cultural commonalities that need to be studied through the people’s
performance, ethnic myths and their phenomenology.

Historical Background of Finnish- Indian Philological studies

Finland and India - these two countries have a history of comparative study of last 150 years.
The oriental scholars of Finland have studied Sanskrit philology and Finish language to search the
roots of Finnish language in Indi-European language family.

Some of the famous Indo-European scholars like Herman Kellgren (1822-1856); Burnouf and
Isaak Schmidt, Otto Donner (1835 – 1909), Pentti Aalto (1917 – 1998) are worth mentioning philologist
of exceptionally wide range. Klaus Karttunen has written the seminal book from the early Days
of Finnish indology was published by the Finnish Oriental Society, 1984. The aim of such
comparative study was to search a primordial Indo- European culture from which Western
languages and ways of thought were assumed to have developed. (Ulrik Wolf Knuts). I found
that most of the work they have undertaken are from the Sanskrit canons which represents
the ancient knowledge and culture of India.
From Philology to Folklore Studies

I found that the vast oral culture of India expressed in the living tradition, both in orality and
ritual performance representing the local epistemology and phenomenology are unexplored.
India is still an oral society maintaining the oral tradition. Interestingly the Kalevala contains
the themes and motifs of the unwritten cultures of Indian ethnic communities, which could be
compared with the religio-cultural practices of Indian folklore.

Max Muller said that comparative research is important to reach a deeper understanding of
human culture all over the world. (Ulrika Wolf Knuts). Rabindranath Tagore writes , “ From
narrow provincialism we must free ourselves, we must strive to see the works of each
author as a whole, that whole as a part of man’s universal spirit in its manifestation through
world literature.”

The aim of this comoparision is to conduct a comparative study of Kalevala, an oral

derived epic with the living oral epics of India. It is important to understand the universals of
oral epics in both the countries in their cultural context and explore the similarities,
dissimilarities and parallel in two different lands and culture in a given geo- historical context
followed by understand the diversities of content, context and meaning

Similarities :
1. The oral epics of two lands of the globe irrespective of time and space and context
could be similar in motifs and functions.
2. The singers of a living tradition in India bear the narrative pattern and rule governed
variations adopting the traditional rules in singing the oral epics.
3. A close affinity between the written with the oral to reduce the divide of literacy
and orality
4. The study explores the study of oral poetry from cultural context and possibly
the missing link of Vedic Aryan myth and Finnish Mythology with some evidence
from the commonalities of the themes.
5. The historically marginalized communities’ knowledge in India could be restored and
regenerated for their cultural identity

Kalevala is an oral derived mythical epic which is found in the textual form. In India many clan
bards of diverse ethnic groups sing their creation myth in ritual context. They also sing the epics
of culture heroes in their own language to assert their ethnic identity. Study of Kalevala is the
symbol of respecting the oral narration of Finnish people. Any oral tradition that is unwritten
and is in the making of written have to go through the historical process that Kalevala has
witnessed. It is liberation of the languages and culture those were subjugated by the system.

Comparative Folklore in Finland

Karle Krohn elaborated the comparative folklore in Finland. His focal theme was to say that
variants are geography dependent including the variation of space and time. Anna Birgitta Roth
inferred that the general cultural history and ethnological circumstances shed light on the value
of folklore studies for analyzing the relationship between different cultures.Matti Kuusi
emphasized on content and meaning of the text known as text critical method. However the
structure, function, content and meaning remain the four pillars of comparative study.
Current comparative folklore emphasized on comparison between different cultural
phenomena. These are a. Traditional historical dimension, b. traditional phenomenology of the
epic study and c.traditional ecological perspective. ( Ulrika Wolf- Knuts)

Comparison of themes and motifs

IN contemporary folklore study in Finland which has influenced the Indian folklore study
after Lauri Honko , a Finnish Folklorist unveils the possibilities of Indian oral epics and
Kalevala.

Indian Oral Tradition in the Lens of Kalevala

Indian society is primarily oral and the non literate people of India retain the nature myth
through their rituals. The oral myths and mythical epics represent the cosmogony aspect of
the world. The languages and oral literature of many ethnic groups are still unexplored and
the rich tradition is still untouchable in the universities. The oral myths and epics that I have
collected and researched since last 25 years have the elements of creation myth, nature
myth , myth of human origin and the vegetation myths that has striking resemblance with
the themes and motif of kalevala.
The themes of Kalevala as a supernatural narratives bear the creation myths from the cosmic
egg, Earth mother goddess A the primal mother ( Ilmatar), Vainamoinen( the great sage and
musician and singer ( poet? )with power of divine strength , the archetype of wise old man
like sage poet Vyasa and Valmiki ) conflict of South and North Finland of gendered
contestation( kaleva and Pohjola) , power of magic and charm over the human
energy( Ilmarinen and Vainamoiinen) invention of iron (Ilmarinen , compared to Viswakarma
of Sanskrit) invention of liquor( Soma in Veda and Sura in Kumbha Jataka) ( , shampoo( iron
technology) ,herbal medicines,( ayurveda) magical knowledge ( Savari Vidya), Aino ( a maiden
with half fish and half human- matsakanya in Sanskrit ) ,Louhi ( a woman with witch and
magic power) , Maryaata( virgin maiden) are some of the instances that has striking
resemblance with the themes of kalevala. Kalevala is the embodiment of mind and matter and
has a universal truth of human evolution in the mysterious world. The myths and rituals of
traditional Indian ethnic communities live in a world of such a state of mind that represents
their racial memory. It is different from the world of elites. India is land where one can still see
these supernatural world in their mythic thought and ritual action expressed in the oral myths.

The important aspect of this study will be to examine how and why any item of text is
imagined in the oral text of ethnic communities of India in comparison to the written text of
Indian myths and epics with Kalevala. Some themes and motifs could be as following

Comparision of some words in Kalevala found in Finnish and Sanskrit

Finnish Sanskrit English
Ahto , king of all the water Ap + water Water
Ahtola ,( bottom of the sea) Patala Nether region ( below the
earth)
Ahtolaiset are the water Sata bagini jalakamini Seven sisters water fairies
deities , they are seven in ( Sanskrit)
number Allotar, Iku- Turso,
Koskenneiti, Melatar,Pikku
Mies,wetehillen,
Annikki ( Daughter id dawn) Usha- daughter of sun Dawn as a maiden
Panu Agni putra Son of fire
Hiisi Dusta atma Forest devil spirit
Ilmarinen ( smith Viswakarma ( smith with Creator of technology and a
extraordinary) supernatural power- fight divine architect( worshipped
with evil spirit ) by the Iron smith in many
rituals)
Ilmatar 'Adi – mata' who created the Primal mother - Earth mother
world Goddess
Kala-ma( God of Death) Kala-yama ( God of Death )
Kamo ( patron of rocks) Khaman ( mountain)
Kun ( Moon or Moon God) Janha Moon- male god
Louhi ( powerful with magic Chuhini(a witch) Motif of testing the hero to
and charm, blackmagic) get her daughter in marriage,
Lowyatar ( goddess of disease) Sitalamata Goddess of small pox and all
diseases
Lounannotar Devakanya Mystic maiden
Maa- Emae Dharni mata ( Kondh Myth) Mother Earth in creation
myth
Marjatta Kumari mata ( kunti of Virgin mother
Mahabharata )
Mehilainen Madhumakshi Honey bee
Murikki (Cow) Go mata , Gavi Cow , mother cow
Niyrikki ( Aranya devta( vana devata) Forest deity
Osmotar ( female) ( kalar- Male) A caste group prepare beer
 Otava ( Polar star , polar beer
Otso Bhalluka A ethnic group call
Jambuban in Ramayana
Paivae ( Male God) Surya ( male God) Sun God
Panu
Pallervoinen Bhima ( Gond creation myth – Either little man or a huge
helper of God in cultivation) man (born out of the body of
supreme God to fulfill his
work.
Satka Samudra Sea
Sima- Suu Sikara devi Goddess of hunting

Sinetar Goddess of the blue sky

Suoyatar Sarpini Mother of serpent and evil
doer
Tapio Vana devata An imaginary God like
Navagunjara in Sarala
Mahabharata
Tontu Duma ( Gond clan deity ) House spirit
Tuoni Kala Yama ( God of death)
Ukko Indra God of water, rain, cloud, sky
king of Gods, vegetation,
Untamo Swapna devata God of dream
Vainamoinen Hanuman , Varuna Hanumaan is the son of Air
God, and Varuna is the God
of water – a mix up of these
two characters is blended in
Vainamoinen

From this preliminary research it is evident that there is a close cultural link between Indian epics and
Kalevala. Te polygenetic development of mythic narratives shows the striking resemblance although the
languages of these two regions are different, but the human thought and epistemology about the
universe is alike. From the above etymological words from Kalevala and Sanskrit it could be inferred
that there must have some migrations of human race across two regions which signifies the
phonological and cultural functions of Finland and India.