India’s Great Epics

South Asia 142

Spring Semester 2020
MWF 10–11
VLSB 2040
Professor Robert P. Goldman
346 Dwinelle Hall
Phone (message): (510) 642-4089
email: rpg@berkeley.edu
Office Hours: Monday and Friday 9:00–10:00
and by appointment
Class Requirements: Midterm Quiz (30%); Term Paper (40%); and Final Exam (30%).

Important Dates:
Midterm Exam: Friday March 20.
Term Paper: Due: Friday, April 10.
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 12, 7:00–8:30 PM. (Location TBA)

Required Texts:
1. The Mahābhārata. Abridged and Translated by John Smith. Penguin Classics. 2009 (Smith)
2. Course Reader in India’s Great Epics. Two Volumes (CR I and CR II) Available at Copy Central,
2411 Telegraph Avenue (between Channing and Haste). (CR II will be available shortly)

Requirements
EXAMS: There will be one midterm exam administered in class. The final exam will be
administered during the regularly scheduled examination period. Each of these exams will
account for 30% of the grade.
PAPER: There will be one ten–page research paper (around 3000 words) due on Friday April
12 . It must be submitted both in typed or printed and as an email attachment in MS Word or pdf
th

format to be emailed to the instructor at rpg@berkeley.edu. The paper will account for 40% of
the course grade.
A Selected Bibliography for Term Paper Research is found on pp. 159–177 of CR I.
READINGS: Students will be responsible for all required readings listed in the syllabus.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is mandatory at all meetings of the class and will be monitored
through the use of sign–in sheets that will be passed around at each meeting. It is the
responsibility of each student to see that he or she signs the sheet. Unexcused absences during
the first two weeks of the term will be grounds for dropping the student from the course. Any
unexcused absences will negatively affect the final grade.
 REQUIRED READINGS
Course Readers:
All required readings, including both primary and secondary materials will be available in the
form of a paperback abridgement and translation of the Mahābhārata (Smith) and a two volume
Course Reader (CR I and CR II). The Readers will be available for purchase at University
Copy 2425 Channing Way.
SYLLABUS AND READING LIST
The Mahābhārata (Smith):

Week 1– Jan. 20– Jan.24 Introduction, Scope, and Outline

Week 2 – Jan. 27–Jan. 31
(MONDAY, Jan. 20–MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY–NO CLASS)
Week 3 – Feb.3–Feb. 7
Week 4 – Feb. 10–Feb. 14
Vedic and Epic Culture and Society
Readings: Smith: pp. xi–lxx. CR I: Sukthankar, The
Mahābhārata and its Critics pp. 1–18.
Readings:
Smith: pp. 1–63, 68–89. CR I: Sutherland,
“The Bad Seed” pp. 20—33.
Readings: Smith: pp. 104–163, 214—233. CR I:
Goldman, “Masters of the Earth pp. 38—48.
Readings: Smith: pp. 166—176. CR I: Ramanujan,
“Repetition in the Mahābhārata pp. 50—74.

Week 5 – Feb.17–Feb. 21 Readings: Smith: pp. 243—281. CR I: Goldman,

“Gods in Hiding” pp. 112—126
(MONDAY, FEB. 17–PRESIDENTS’ DAY HOLIDAY–NO CLASS)

Week 6 – Feb. 24–Feb.28 Readings: Smith: pp. 305—316, 349—412. CR I:

Goldman, “Fathers, Sons, and Gurus” pp.
75—110.
Week 7 – Mar. 2–Mar. 6 Readings: Smith: pp. 454—525. CR I: Matilal,
“In Defense of a Devious Divinity” pp.
127—137.
Week 8 – Mar. 9–Mar. 13 Readings: Smith: pp. 538—581. CR I:
Goldman, “Eṣa Dharmaḥ Sanātanaḥ”
pp. 140—158.
Week 9–Mar. 16 – Mar. 20 Readings: Smith: pp. 703—791.

FRIDAY, MARCH 20 MIDTERM EXAM (Mahābhārata)

MARCH 23–27
The Rāmāyaṇa: Course Reader II
Mar. 23–27 (Spring Break)
Week 10–Mar.30–April 3
Week 11–April 6–10
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
Week 12–April 13–17
Week 13–April 20–24
Week 14 — May 27–May 1
Week 15 —May 4–8
TUESDAY, May 12, 7:00–8:30 PM.
SPRING BREAK
Readings: CR II: Goldmans, The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition; Goldman Bāla
Kāṇḍa, pp. 1–115 and Goldman “Matricide,
Renunciation, and Compensation in the
Legends of Two Warrior Heroes of the
Sanskrit Epics,” pp. 116–124.
Readings: CR II: Pollock, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, pp. 125–
230; Goldman “Rāmaḥ
Sahalakṣmaṇaḥ: Psychological and Literary
Aspects of the Composite Hero of Vālmīki’s
Rāmāyaṇa,” pp. 231–252.
Readings: CR II: Pollock Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa
pp. 253–279;
Araṇya Kāṇḍa pp. 280–348;
Ramanujan, “Three Hundred
Rāmāyaṇas,”pp. 349–363.
TERM PAPER DUE
Readings: CR II: Pollock, Araṇya
Kāṇḍa pp. 364–412;
Lefeber, Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa pp. 413–447;
Masson, “Fratricide Among the Monkeys,”
448–455.
Readings: CR II: Lefeber, Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa pp. 456–
471;
Goldmans, Sundara Kāṇḍa
pp. 472–601.
Goldmans, Yuddha Kāṇḍa
pp. 602–648.
Goldmans Uttara Kāṇḍa pp. 649œ–737;
Mumme “Rāmāyaṇa Exegesis,” pp. 738–
745.
REVIEW
(RR&R Week)
FINAL EXAM (Rm. TBA)