The stories tell of merchants and kings,
romance and adventure, quite unlike the tra-
ditional Sanskrit PURANAS. The central hero is
Naravahanadatta, the son of Udayana. Common
in these stories is the appearance of semidevine
wizardlike beings called Vidyadharas, who per-
form magic.
Further reading: J. A. B van Buitenen, Tales of Ancient
India (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969); Jag-
dishchandra Jain, The Vasudevahindi: An Authentic Jain
Version of the Brhatkatha (Ahmedabad: L. D. Institute of
Indology, 1977); Sarla Khosla, Brihatkatha and Its Con-
tributions (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 2003).
Brindavan
For KRISHNA worshippers, the Brindavan region
in Uttar Pradesh has for centuries been one of the
main pilgrimage sites, a center for various cultic
developments, and the focus of much Vaishnavite
devotion. No prayer or song to Krishna will fail
to mention it.
Although born in Mathura, Krishna spent his
childhood and young life in the beautiful environs
of Brindavan. There he encountered demons of
various sorts and defeated them while just a child.
There he became the butter thief who stole from
all the families in his neighborhood. And it was
there that he dallied with the cowherd maidens,
the GOPIS, choosing for his favorite RADHA. In Brin-
davan a pilgrim can visit, walking barefoot, all the
places of Krishna’s young life, and sense firsthand
his divine presence.
CHAITANYA’s followers moved from Bengal to
Brindavan to develop their philosophy and path.
The region also hosts a center for followers of
VALLABHA.
Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); David L. Haberman, Journey through the
Twelve Forests: An Encounter with Krishna (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1994); John Stratton Hawley
and Shrivatsa Goswami, At Play with Krishna: Pilgrim-
age Dramas from Brindavan (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1981).Brunton, Paul (1898–1981) British philosopher
and spiritual teacher
Paul Brunton was a spiritual writer and philoso-
pher. His self-appointed task was to interpret what
he learned in the East to Western audiences. He
became a major figure in the spread of Eastern
teachings in the West.
Brunton was born Raphael Hurst on Novem-
ber 27, 1898, in London. (When he first became
prominent as Brunton, he never explained why or
when he had changed his name.) His mother died
when he was young; his father remarried, and
when he too died Brunton took care of his widow.
At age 16 he had a mystical experience, and by
1923 he was a member of a small bohemian group
who were interested in spiritual matters. Recog-
nizing that he had occult and clairvoyant powers,
he joined the Spiritualist Society of Great Britain.
He married Karen Augusta Tottrup and a son was
born in 1923. Barely three years later, Brunton
and his wife divorced and she married another
member of their circle who became a leader in the
Anthroposophical Society, another esoteric orga-
nization with roots in THEOSOPHY.
In 1930, Brunton traveled to India, where
he met yogis and sages. His popular account,
A Search in Secret India, introduced significant
Indian teachers of the time, particularly MEHER
BABA and RAMANA MAHARSHI, to a Western audi-
ence. His writings indicate that he practiced
Ramana’s technique of meditating on the question
“Who am I?” and gained some degree of peace of
mind and inner illumination from this discipline.
From 1934 to 1945, Brunton traveled even
more extensively throughout the East and wrote
six books about his experiences and his growing
commitment to create a complete spiritual teach-
ing for the modern world. Most of his writingsBrunton, Paul 95 J