First of all I express my heartfelt gratitude to University Grants Commission for granting me financial assistance without which the making of the present book was almost impossible. I am also grateful to the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Helsinki, Finland, for presenting me a valuable book on folklore. Special mention should be made of eminent folklorist Late Prof. Dr. Tushar Chattopadhyay who first encouraged me to trace folkloric elements in Vedic texts and also advised me to read Stith Thompson's world-famous work Motif-Index Of Folk- Literature. I also owe a great deal to my guru Prof. Dr. Bhabani Prasad Bhattacharyya who has come to my rescue times without number by giving his valuable suggestions on various aspects of my work. I also like to express my indebtedness to Dr. Abhijit Ghose, Reader in Sanskrit, Jadavpur University, for supplying xerox copies of two valuable sanskrit texts. It will be -an ungrateful act on my part if I fail to mention the name of Dr. Madhusree Banetji, Principal of my College, whose continuous support and protection have enabled me to concentrate exclusively on my research work. How can I forget Prof. Sanghamitra Sarkar ard Dr. Papiya Mitra-both my colleagues-who have helped me to get many valuable books. I am also thankful to the staff of the libraries of the Asiatic Society (Calcutta), University of Calcutta, Sanskrit Col/ege, Sanskrit Sahitya Parisad and of my own college. Last but not least is Mrs. Lalita Sinha whose untiring efforts have ultimately given my work the shape of a complete book.