There have been quite a few attempts to delineate the nature and character of Vedic Deities on the basis of Vedic Samhitas by European scholars like Macdonell, Hillebrandt, Oldenberg, Luders and, of late, by Oberlies, etc. However, none of these scholars has made attempt to trace the subsequent development of their character and personalities through the later Vedic texts, epics and the Puranas, etc., whereas it goes without saying that the concept of Hindu gods today in the minds of the people is exactly the one which we encounter in the Puranas and in the folk literature.
This obviously means that the personalities of the Vedic Deities did not freeze with the end of Vedic literature but continued to develop in later period as well through the subsequent literarary activities. Taking rather vague clues from the Vedic texts, the authors or narrators of the Puràõas, augmented and supported by folk beliefs, further expanded, modified and developed the personalities of these gods so that, for the most part, the intangible character of these gods acquired a concrete shape and form, a body of flesh and blood, so to say.
The book tries to trace the historical development of the personalities of Vedic Deities through the subsequent Vedic literature, as well as the epics and the Puranas till they acquire the shape and form in which they are conceived and venerated today.
The experiences and knowledge from our past are recorded in manuscripts which have been handed down to us over several thousand years. The Government of India, through the Department of Culture, took note of the importance of this vast tangible heritage and, in order to preserve and conserve as well as to make access to this wealth easy, established the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM). In order to disseminate the knowledge content of manuscripts, the Mission has taken up several programmes such as lectures, seminars and workshops. The Mission has published the proceedings of the above-said programmes under the following series: Samrakshika (on conservation), Tattvabodha (comprising lectures based on manuscripts delivered by eminent scholars), Samikshika (research-oriented papers presented in the seminars), and Kritibodha (transcribed and edited texts prepared at advanced level manuscriptology workshops conducted by NMM.
NMM has taken up a project for publishing rare and unpublished manuscripts in three formats (a) Facsimile, (b) Critical edition with annotation and (c) Critical edition with translation. This series has been named as Prakashika. Suparnadhyaya critically edited by Prof. G.C. Tripathi comes under this Prakashika series.
Suparnadhyaya, Suparnadhyanam or simply Sauparnam is a later Vedic text of Indian dramatic tradition, lesser known to scholars primarily due to the fact that it was never translated into English language. This play, normally enacted during the festival of Indradhvaja, has a plot which is woven around the story of the incredible dexterity and strength of Garuda and his wondrous deed of bringing soma (amrita) from Indras heaven for the sake of Snakes, after defeating Indras guards and ridiculing his divine weapon. This story finds a mention even in Mahabharata. This short play is in a metrical form, interspersed with occasional prose-pieces.
This text has come down to us in an incorrect form due to faulty manuscript tradition. In this volume, the author has tried to restore the text with the help of higher textual criticism and has given due justification for his amendments. It presents the text with English and Hindi translations for the benefit of those readers who are not conversant with Sanskrit.
