ORAL TRADITION
By Dipankar Sengupta

It is a common belief that education and literacy are closely related and one can not be looked upon in isolation of the other. However, this axiom is not found to be true in some poorer countries where the illiteracy rate is high and yet the people are surprisingly educated when it comes to the knowledge of their cultural tradition, local politics and customs. These people do not spend time in front of the TV nor can they read the newspaper but they preserve a treasure of knowledge which passed on to them through oral tradition. Indeed rather than distorting that tradition, oral transmission can preserve history and culture in the best way possible.

The Vedas, the holy scriptures of Hindus contain hymns, incantations and rituals of ancient India . The Vedas originating nearly five thousand years ago are considered apouresheya (not by humans) which were delivered to the Rishis during their meditation by God or Brahman. The Vedas were recorded in Sanskrit around 300 BC. Until that time for over two thousand years they remained an oral tradition transmitted from Guru to disciple. Because the Vedas were remembered by heart and recited from memory alone they were also called ‘sruti’- that which is heard. This form of oral tradition strictly remained in the domain of a handful of learned Sanskritists mostly Brahmins. The language of common people was Prakrit; Sanskrit was spoken by Vedic Brahmins only.

Two Indian epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata and numerous puranas were perpetuated in the remotest parts of India through oral tradition alone. A class pf professional people known as Kathaks (katha meaning words spoken) roamed from villages to villages and narrated the stories through verses, sometimes acting and dancing. The villagers were by and large illiterates and so were the kathaks. After the harvesting season the farmers had time to relax; the kathaks showed up in village squares or in fairs and began their narration which continued through several nights. This tradition is dwindling now because of spreading of literacy in India and publishing of books and comics especially written for the children.

Oral tradition is not found in India alone. For example, it took 400 years to compile Bible and another 1000 years to invent printing press. Until that time words of Jesus were communicated through oral tradition only by the bishops of various churches. Examples of oral tradition were found until the last century among village bards in the Balkan States of Europe reciting thousands of verses narrating stories of battles and heroics that happened many years ago. The stories of Homer’s epics Iliad and Odyssey had perpetuated through such oral tradition in the medieval centuries. These poets or bards were illiterates and depended on their memories since the time of their early childhood. Mr. Kamal Kothari, an Indian folklorist believes that illiterate people have better faculties to memorize than literate people who have to consult their notes to refresh their memories.

William Dalrymple, a travel writer and historian, who spent many years in India recently wrote in the New Yorker about bhopas who belong to the Gujar community in Rajasthan. The bhopas tell epic stories of imaginary heroes who might have existed at some point of time through verses and couplets. Some of the verses are over thousands in number. They learn them from their father or uncle since childhood in a methodical way committing a few verses to memory each day. The bhopas also act as healers among villagers who are their listeners and who believe in their super natural power. The narration goes on for several nights in the desert towns and fairs in front of a colorful woven tapestry hung between poles depicting pictures of the heroes, the horses, battles, women and men doing their customary work in the villages.

Although the children of the bhopas may not choose to be narrators because of economic pressures in today’s society, the attraction of the oral tradition will remain strong in the hearts of these people as long as they love to hear stories.

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