INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT LITERATURE OF BHARAT IN U.S.S.R
Dr. RAVINDRA RAMDAS

   Bharat had trade relations with Transcaucasia since very ancient times. There were Armanian trade posts in Bharat and the Panchatantra enjoyed enormous popularity in Georgia so much that the book was given in dowry. A Hindu temple was built near Baku, the capital of Azerbaizan. The monasteries in Buryatia are of great importance to Indologists.

   According to the linguist, Professor Oleg Trubachov, a whole series of names of ancient Black Sea regions can be explained by Indian onomastic data. For example the locality near Khersones in the Cremea called `Dandoke' (Dandaka), the Scythian names Butonotos and Magadeva (Bhutanatha and Mahadeva) etc.

   The Byanzantine Bulgarian influence came to Rus via the territory of Ukraine and stories of Bharat and motifs of Bharatiya origin began to appear. The Lithuanians and the Lativians belong to the people of the Indo European family of languages.

   Stories about the marvellous bird from Bharat, the Phoenix, which lived near the `Sun-City' (Heliopolis) were particularly popular in Rus. The Physiologus contains many stories of `ant-lion' of the kite, which extracts the quick birth stone (easing childbirth) of the mythical bird Strafil (Ostrich).

   The Romance of Barlaam and Joasaph enjoyed polularity in the l2th Century Rus. It is well known that the Romance is a transportation of the legendary biography of Buddha and the name Joasaph come from `Bodhisattva'. The Romance tells of the Prince's rejection of earthly blessings and tempations and his turning to a different better retreat into the desert.

   The influence of the literature of Bharat is also felt in the famous religious verse Dove-Book (Golubinaya Kniga) in which are posed questions of cosmogenic character. The lines in some variance of the religious verse dealing with the origin of the people are particularly interesting : The rulers in our world come from the sacred body of Adam - these lines are reminiscent of lines from the Purusasukta, the famous hymn of the Rigveda in the origin of the Varnas.

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