Why do four birds narrate the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa? Narrative enframement plays a crucial role in contextualizing Sanskrit literature. The narrative frame of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa exhibits acute awareness of the framing of the Mahābhārata. The Purāṇa’s Birds are in fact direct descendants of the Śārṅgakas escaping devastation at the cataclysmic burning of the Khāṇḍava Forest. This hair-raising episode serves as the monumental terminal frame of the Ādi Parvan, which, as the epic’s Book of Beginnings, itself serves as inaugural frame for the epic as a whole. The Śārṅgaka account is therefore laden with themes pervading the epic, themes upon which the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa Birds brilliantly comment. The Birds themselves partake in an even more involved intertextual device: they are deployed to address four questions which inaugurate the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, questions about the content of the Mahābhārata. This article examines the clever manner in which the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa’s opening frame intertextually harkens to the Mahābhārata’s Śārṅgaka episode, engaging the epic’s avian artistry through its own. Building on the work of Alf Hiltebeitel and Simon Brodbeck, this article reexamines the Śārṅgaka episode in light of the story of Śṛṅgin, demonstrating that the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa avian frame responds to a core riddle proper to the epic’s own masterful enframement, one dramatized in the plight of the Śārṅgakas. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa thereby not only demonstrates a sophisticated cultural literacy when it comes to Sanskrit narrative, but it also leverages that literary legacy to execute its own ideological agenda, invoking India’s great epic all the while.

中文翻译：

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鸟类艺术：解码摩诃婆罗多和 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 之间的互文性

为什么四只鸟会讲述 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa？叙事框架在梵文文学的语境化中起着至关重要的作用。Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 的叙事框架展示了对摩诃婆罗多框架的敏锐意识。Purāṇa's Birds 实际上是 Śārṅgakas 的直系后裔，他们在 Khāṇḍava 森林的灾难性燃烧中逃脱了破坏。这一令人毛骨悚然的插曲是 Ādi Parvan 具有纪念意义的最终框架，作为史诗的开端之书，它本身就是整个史诗的开始框架。因此，Śārṅgaka 的叙述充满了贯穿史诗的主题，Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa Birds 对这些主题进行了精彩的评论。鸟类本身参与了一个更加复杂的互文装置：他们被部署来解决四个问题，这些问题开启了 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa，关于摩诃婆罗多内容的问题。本文探讨了 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 的开篇框架与 Mahābhārata 的 Śārṅgaka 情节互文的巧妙方式，通过其自身吸引了史诗的鸟类艺术。本文以阿尔夫·希尔特贝特 (Alf Hiltebeitel) 和西蒙·布罗德贝克 (Simon Brodbeck) 的作品为基础，根据 Śṛṅgin 的故事重新审视了 Śārṅgaka 插曲，表明 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 鸟类框架对史诗本身的一个核心谜语做出了巧妙的反应Śārṅgakas。因此，Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 不仅在梵文叙事方面展示了复杂的文化素养，而且还利用这种文学遗产来执行自己的意识形态议程，并始终援引印度的伟大史诗。本文探讨了 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 的开篇框架与 Mahābhārata 的 Śārṅgaka 情节互文的巧妙方式，通过其自身吸引了史诗的鸟类艺术。本文以阿尔夫·希尔特贝特 (Alf Hiltebeitel) 和西蒙·布罗德贝克 (Simon Brodbeck) 的作品为基础，根据 Śṛṅgin 的故事重新审视了 Śārṅgaka 插曲，表明 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 鸟类框架对史诗本身的一个核心谜语做出了巧妙的反应Śārṅgakas。因此，Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 不仅在梵文叙事方面展示了复杂的文化素养，而且还利用这种文学遗产来执行自己的意识形态议程，并始终援引印度的伟大史诗。本文探讨了 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 的开篇框架与 Mahābhārata 的 Śārṅgaka 情节互文的巧妙方式，通过其自身吸引了史诗的鸟类艺术。本文以阿尔夫·希尔特贝特 (Alf Hiltebeitel) 和西蒙·布罗德贝克 (Simon Brodbeck) 的作品为基础，根据 Śṛṅgin 的故事重新审视了 Śārṅgaka 插曲，表明 Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 鸟类框架对史诗本身的一个核心谜语做出了巧妙的反应Śārṅgakas。因此，Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 不仅在梵文叙事方面展示了复杂的文化素养，而且还利用这种文学遗产来执行自己的意识形态议程，并始终援引印度的伟大史诗。