ABSTRACT
Yet the simple narration of such passages can be deceptive. Whatever the HarivaTflSa's composer was doing, it was something more complex than telling a plain unvarnished tale. Both the episodes mentioned in the previous paragraph, for instance, are preceded by long descriptive passages: 49.15-30 paints a picture of the countryside and the herder settlement which is to be the setting for KJ;'~J).a's earliest years, while 55.27-39 is a description of the Yamuna, depicted as a woman in a series of similes. Such passages as these support Ingalls' view that the HarivaTflSa's Vi$~uparvan is a mahakavya which makes use of various literary devices and has 'literary merits, which are considerable'. 2
Throughout the Harivaf!lsa's KY$1;lacarita runs the theme of concealment and revelation. To some extent there is a progressive revelation of KJ;"!?l)a's identity, but it is not a straightforward progression. Disguise and recognition alternate with one another as the story proceeds. There is another sense also in which the progression is not straightforward. The hearers/readers of the Harivarrt§a know already when KJ;"!?l)a's story begins that he is Vi!?l)u descended to earth. Therefore when they encounter a phrase like 'and cloud-dark KJ;"!?l)a was Hari changed into another shape' (meghakY$r:ws tu kmw 'bhlld dehantaragato hari~, 50.3), although this is a reference to KJ;"f?l)a's concealment, it is also a reminder of his true identity, and in that sense part of revelation. Concealment and revelation will therefore refer to the experience of the other characters in the story and what it is that conceals KJ;"!?l)a's identity from them or reveals it to them. It will be assumed that the hearers/readers know throughout who KJ;"f?l)a is, so that some of the mistaken perceptions of these other characters will strike them with the force of irony.
