A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Parker’s No. 193 begins with Batmasurā learning soothsaying from Īswara. A footnote connects the name with Bhasmāsura, but this version follows an unusual course. Pressured by his consort, Īswara teaches a dangerous incantation despite fearing betrayal. Batmasurā then pursues him, intending to kill him and take the consort. Īswara’s brother-in-law assumes a woman’s appearance to distract the pursuer; Parker identifies this figure as Vishṇu in the form of Mōhinī.
The apparent woman repeatedly sends Batmasurā to consult his existing wife about accepting her and an increasing number of children. Fascination makes him forget his incantations, and on his final return the woman and children have vanished. The tale does not end with him touching his own head and burning: after a long interval he dies and is reborn inside Īswara’s body.
Īswara’s swelling abdomen resists medicine. Another deity persuades him that an incision will preserve his life, opens his body and removes a lump of flesh. A Buddhist monk later pushes the discarded lump into a hole with his staff. On the following day it springs at him; his exclamation supplies the tale’s explanation of the word for bear, walahā. This entry concerns that explicitly narrated reincarnation and animal-origin ending, not a claim that an ordinary historical person founded the species. Parker’s separate European comparisons about bear cubs are editorial parallels, not additional events in the Sri Lankan tale.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan oral narrative in Parker’s English collection
Records & interpretation
Complete numbered main tale, ending and appended notes read from retained primary edition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume III
No. 193, pp. 57–61, including following comparative notes; Tom-tom beater, North-western Province; individual teller not named.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume III (1914)
Volume III. No. 193, pp. 57–61; following notes also read
Complete retained parker3-s193.txt read. Tom-tom beater, North-western Province; individual teller not named. Īswara’s swelling abdomen resists medicine. Another deity persuades him that an incision will preserve his life, opens his body and removes a lump of flesh. A Buddhist monk later pushes the discarded lump into a hole with his staff. On the following day it springs at him; his exclamation supplies the tale’s explanation of the word for bear, walahā. This entry concerns that explicitly narrated reincarnation and animal-origin ending, not a claim that an ordinary historical person founded the species. Parker’s separate European comparisons about bear cubs are editorial parallels, not additional events in the Sri Lankan tale.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary folklore collectionParker, Volume III, No. 193Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.