Say to the Sun, Dont Rise, and to the Moon, Dont Set: Two Oral Narratives from the Countryside of Maharashtra*

This book presents translations of two lively and wellcrafted examples of the ov, a genre typical of the oral literature of Marathispeaking Dhangar shepherds. These two ovs narrate the stories of Biroba and Dhuloba, two of the most important gods of the Dhangars. Each of the ovs tells an elaboratestory of the birth of the goda miraculous and complicated process in both casesand of the struggles he went through in order to find and win his bride. Moreover, an extensive Introduction provides a literary analysis of the ovs and discusses what they reveal about the cosmology, geography, society, administrative structures and economy of the Dhangars world, as well as their views on pastoralists and women.