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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, LTD., LONDON © 1984 by the University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 1984 Paperback edition 1986 Printed in the United States of America 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 5 6 7 8 9 ISBN-10: 0-226-61855-2 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-61855-5 (pbk.) ISBN: 978-0-226-30809-8 (e-book) LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Dreams, illusion, and other realities. Includes tales from the “Yogavāsiṣṭha.” Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Dreams. 2. Mythology, Indic. 3. Yogavāsiṣṭharāmāyaṇa. 4. Yoga—Early works to 1800. I. Yogavāsiṣṭharāmāyaṇa. II. Title. BF1078.0'45 1984 111 83-17944 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty DREAMS, ILLUSION, and other REALITIES The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London A Möbius Snake/Rope. Painting by R. Williams for David Grene Contents ILLUSTRATIONS GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION AND TERMINOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION. TRANSFORMATION AND CONTRADICTION 1. THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS Indian Texts Dreams in Vedic and Medical Texts Dreams in the Rāmāyaṇa: Sītā and Bharata Dreams in the Mahābhārata: Karṇa and Kārtavīrya Buddhist Dreams: Kunāla and the Wicked Queen Western Arguments Pindar and Plato Freud on the Reality of Dreams The Dreams of Post-Freudians and Children 2. MYTHS ABOUT DREAMS Indian Texts The Shared Dream Vikramāditya Finds Malayavatī The Rape of Uṣā The Brushwood Boy Western Arguments Shared Dreams and Archetypal Myths The Rêve à Deux in Psychoanalysis 3. MYTHS ABOUT ILLUSION Indian Texts Nārada Transformed into a Woman Magic Doubles Śuka and Śukra Shadows of the Rāmāyaṇa: Sītā and Rāvaṇa Double Women Māyāvatī in the House of Śambara The Two Līlās Double Universes Viśvāmitra’s Upside-bown World Inside the Mouth of God: Yaśodā, Arjuna, and Mārkaṇḍeya Arguments Indian: The Meaning of Illusion (māyā) Western: The Hard and the Soft and Mr. Shlemiel 4. EPISTEMOLOGY IN NARRATIVE: TALES FROM THE Yogavāsiṣṭha Indian Texts The King Who Dreamed He was an Untouchable and Awoke to Find It Was True The Brahmin Who Dreamed He Was An Untouchable Who Dreamed He Was a King Lavaṇa and Gādhi: Mutual Similes The Suffering of the Hindu King Hariścandra among the Untouchables The Suffering of the Buddhist King Vessantara’s Gift Gautama’s Visions Suffering among the Others Folk Variants on the Tales of Lavaṇa and Gādhi Indian Arguments Ways of Knowing for Sure: Authorities Unreality-Testing Common Sense and Contradiction Western Arguments Reality-Testing The Receding Frame 5. ONTOLOGY IN NARRATIVE: MORE TALES FROM THE Yogavāsiṣṭha Indian Texts and Arguments The Monk Who Met the People in His Dream Karma and Rebirth Déjà vu: Memory and Emotion The Monk and the Narrator The Girl inside the Stone The Möbius Universe Western Texts and Arguments: The Furies and the Red King The Dreamer Dreamt 6. THE ART OF ILLUSION Indian Texts: The Root Metaphors of the Yogavāsiṣṭha The Serpent and the Rope as a Metaphor for a Mistake The Son of a Barren Woman as a Metaphor for Impossibility The Crow and the Palm Tree as a Metaphor for Pure Chance The Magic City in the Sky as a Metaphor for Illusion Indian and Western Arguments Projection in Art and Reality Detail and Banality in Surrealistic Illusion The Artist as a Magician God as an Artist CONCLUSION Serendipity and Obsession The Dream That Wanders in the Daylight APPENDIXES 1. The Erotic Dream in China 2. The Dream Adventure in China and Ireland 3. Stories from the Yogavāsiṣṭha Told (or Cited) in This Book NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX OF NAMES AND TERMS SUBJECT INDEX ADDENDA TO THE SECOND PRINTING Illustrations FRONTISPIECE A Möbius Snake/Rope. Painting by R. Williams. PLATES 1. Nārada sees the water nymphs 2. Bhṛgu takes his son back from the god of death 3. King Vidūratha and King Sindhu wage war 4. King Lavaṇa falls from his horse 5. King Lavaṇa enters the Untouchable village 6. King Lavaṇa returns to the Untouchable village with his court 7. Viṣṇu appears to the Brahmin Gādhi in the pond 8. King Lavaṇa performs a sacrifice in his mind 9. Queen Cūḍālā creates an illusion of herself with a lover 10. The ogress Karkaṭī is instructed by a king 11. An ogre instructs a king 12. The brothers Puṇya and Pāvana discuss rebirth 13. The desires of Vasiṣṭha become personified as demons 14. The god Rudra, with his wife, visits Vasiṣṭha 15. Drawing Hands, by M. C. Escher 16. The gods and demons wage war FIGURES