Buryat Hesariad: Tengrist mythology and the epic interpretation

Authors

  • Bair S. Dugarov Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian branch, 6, ul. M. Sakh”ianovoi, Ulan-Ude, 670047, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2019.405

Abstract

In modern humanities, there is a heightened interest in the problems of religious mythology, which determine the spiritual aspects of the ethnic and cultural traditions of peoples. As is well known, many theological representations of antiquity are preserved in an epic interpretation, as evidenced by the famous mythological poems of the Near East, India, Greece, etc. Therefore, the study of the sacred world of the Buryat Hesariad, represented by the pantheon of epic deities, seems relevant. With a general lack of knowledge of the religious-mythological tradition of the Eastern steppe, a complex of Uranic deities of Buryat mythology is first interpreted in close connection with the heavenly genesis of the epic hero. First of all, this article explores the pantheon of deities in Buryat mythology associated with the cult of the sky. In comparative terms, a description is given of the world of the gods, contained in the heavenly prologue of the epos “Geser.” The author comes to the conclusion that in the epos of Geser, the most “hereditary” features of the original epic tradition of Central (Inner) Asia, as well as many elements of the ancient axiological fund of Mongolian peoples, remain. The article also examines the aspects of the image of Khormusta and its transformation in the system of the Buryat-Mongolian religious mythology and shamanist tradition.

Keywords:

Buryat mythology, epic, sacred tradition, Hesariad, Khormusta, the cult of the sky

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
 

References

References

1. Potanina, A. V. (1895), From travels along the East Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet and China, Geograficheskogo otdeleniia Imperatorskogo obshchestva liubitelei estestvoznaniia, antropologii i etnografii Publ.,Moscow. (In Russian)

2. Dugarov, B. S. (2005), The Buryat Hesariad: the heavingly prologue and the world of epic deities, Sibirskoe otdelenie RAN Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

3. Burchina, D. A. (1990),Hesariad of the Western Buryats, Nauka Publ., Novosibirsk. (In Russian)

4. Tushemilov, P. M. (2000), Abai Geser, Buriatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

5. Mikhailov, V. A. (1996), Religious mythology, Soyol Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

6. Skrynnikova, T. O. (1998), “Mongol-speaking peoples’ deities and ritual practitioners”, Sibir’: etnosy i kul’tury (traditsionnaia kul’tura buriat), no. 3, pp. 5–45. (In Russian)

7. Khangalov, M. N. (1958), Collected works, vol. 1, Buriatskoe knizhnoe Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

8. Manzhigeev, I. A. (1978), Buryat shamanistic and preshamanistic terms, Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

9. Abai Geser(1960), Buriatskoe knizhnoe Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

10. Khangalov, M. N. (1959), Collected works, vol. 2, Buriatskoe knizhnoe Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

11. Abai Geser Bogdo khan(1995), Buriatskoe knizhnoe Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

12. Kramarovskii, M. G. (2000), “Dzhuchidskii feast”, Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh. Otdelu Vostoka 80 let, Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha Publ., St. Petersburg, pp. 56–60. (In Russian)

13. Men-da Bei-lu(1975), Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

14. Lubsan Danzan (1973), Altan Tobchi, Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

15. Khangalov, M. N. (1961), Collected works, vol. 3, Buriatskoe knizhnoe Publ., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

16. Steppe true story and tall tales(2010), Buriat-Mongol nom Pub., Ulan-Ude. (In Russian)

17. Temkin, E. N. and Erman, V. G. (1982), Myths of Ancient India, Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

18. Podgorbunskii, I. A. (1894), “From the mythology of the Buryats and Mongol shamanists”, Sibirskii vestnik, prilozhenie k “Vostochnomu obozreniiu”, no. 5–6, Publ. N. М. Iadrintsev, Irkutsk. (In Russian)

19. Erman, V. G. (1980), Essay on the history of Vedic literature, Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

20. Volkova, O. F. (1992), “Traiastrinsa”, Mify narodov mira, vol. 2, Sovetskaia entsiklopediia Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

21. Sharakshinova, N. O. (1977), “Fantastic images of enemies in the heroic epic of the Buryats”, Fol’klor narodov R. S. F. S. R., Bashkirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta Publ., Ufa, pp. 23–24. (In Russian)

22. Lifshits, M. (1973), “Critical notes to the modern theory of myth”, Voprosy filosofii, no. 10, pp. 138–152. (In Russian)

23. Nekliudov, S. Iu. (1984), The heroic epic of the Mongolian peoples, Nauka Publ., Moscow. (In Russian)

Downloads

Published

2019-12-27

How to Cite

Dugarov, B. S. (2019). Buryat Hesariad: Tengrist mythology and the epic interpretation. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 35(4), 580–592. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2019.405

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 4 (2019): Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies

Section

Philosophy

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.