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Abstract:

This article is devoted to the novel “Gegeenten” (“The Saint”, 2012) by Mongolian writer G. Mend-Ooyoo, which has received little attention in the Russian Mongolian studies. The aim of this work is to examine the character of the 19th-century Mongolian poet D. Ravji, a Buddhist religious figure. The novel was written at the turn of the last two centuries — during a transitional era, when the established foundations of Mongolian society — political, social, and aesthetic ones — were actively underway. It is no coincidence that the author turns to the early 20th century, when the Mongolian steppes were undergoing radical changes in all areas of life. The author focuses on the 1920s and 1930s, linking this time period to the novel’s protagonist, the real-life historical figure of Ravja, who lived and worked in the first half of the 19th century. The author concludes that, in artistically interpreting the image of the Buddhist saint (khutukhtu), which was perceived ambiguously in the Mongolian historical and cultural milieu of the 19th and subsequent centuries, the author draws on real historical and cultural events, documentary materials, and historical figures from Mongolia to reveal the uniqueness of the well-known Buddhist legend on Mongolian soil. In the classical Indo-Tibetan-Mongolian philosophical heritage, the Buddhist legend of the sacred land of Shambhala, incorporated into the Kalachakra teaching, occupies a special place. It is with the name of Ravja that the secret, sacred land of Shambhala and special energetic sites in the Gobi are associated in Mongolia, which G. Mend-Ooyoo captivatingly recounts in his novel.