Cosmo-Psycho-Logos of the Erzya People in the Epic "Mastorava"

Sharonova Elena Alexandrovna ORCID: 0000-0003-0221-4427 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Russian and Foreign Literature, National Research Mordovia State University 430034, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Bolshevistskaya str., 68, office 503 sharon.ov@mail.ru Other publications by this author

G.D. Gachev in the book "Cosmo-psycho-logos: National images of the world" notes: "My main concept: Cosmo-psycho-logos, which means: the type of the local nature, the character of the person and the national mind are in mutual correspondence and complementarity. Labor and culture in the course of history make up for what is not given to the country by nature. Cosmosophy is how I would describe my approach. She explores the wisdom of Nature: the ideas and goals to which she leads her people. For the highlander people have different orientations than the seafaring people or the nomadic steppe people. Mountains, sea, steppe, forest predispose to a special kind of constructions in worldview and even in logic" ^{[1, p. 4]}. The cosmo-psycho-logos encodes the national image of the people. It is most fully expressed in the national epic, because the epic contains the maximum information about the people, their mental, psychological, linguistic, cultural, geographical, historical portrait. The national image of the people is formed in the epic from the image of the land (geographical landscape, "the image of the land") on which the people live, from the images of the gods in which the people believe and the national heroes whom the people admire, from the reflection of the specifics of the historical existence of the people, their historical preferences and antipathies, the nature of their historical thinking, the images he created of an enemy and a friend, the preferences he formed in choosing a bride or groom when starting a family, the rules of family life and raising children, ideas about the beautiful and the terrible, etc. About this: 2;3;4;5 ]. And, probably, the most important thing is from the image of the national worldview, encoded in the language of the people: the people express themselves to an absolute extent when they think and speak in their mother tongue, because at this moment they are completely freed from the influence of the "other", they turn to the beginning of the beginning and feel protected. The existence of a native language in the space is natural for a people, in the understanding that it is at these moments that the meanings that make up their idea, their image, are realized (the problem we have outlined in some way sounds in the following works: ^{[6;7; 8; 9; 10; 11;12; 13]}).

"Mastorava" is a book (literary) version of the Erzya heroic epic, therefore, along with the voice of the people, the voice of its author sounds in it, whose idea of the people is woven into its cosmo-psycho-logos, on the one hand, changing the outlines created by folklore, on the other hand, complementing them with the uniqueness of its own cosmo-psycho-logos. which qualitatively complicates them, adding layers to them. The sound of the voice of the people and the sound of the poet's voice have an independent value, but only their fusion gives rise to the very polyphony that forms the objective voice of the nation.

In the book epic, the interpenetration of the cosmo-psycho-logos of the people and the cosmo-psycho-logos of the author of the epic is important, only in this case they are equal, which allows them to be reflected in each other's eyes and conduct a dialogue. This kind of dialogue is present in "Iliad", in "Kalevala", in "War and Peace", in "The Quiet Don", in "Mastorava". Only the high talent of these writers allows them to survive in the face of the greatness of their peoples, not to become a victim of the idea of creating a national epic. It is well known that writing a Book means committing an act. An ordinary writer is not capable of this, he will not master the thorny path of comprehending his people, he will not be able to have a conversation with them on equal terms. And if he does decide to do this, then, in an effort to embrace the great (the people), he will only profane it, distort its true face.

Speaking about the cosmo-psycho-logos of the people expressed in the national book epic, one should think about the role of language, because it can support the significance of the image of the people or destroy it. Translations from the original source language into another language are especially dangerous in this regard. In Russia, this "other" language is usually Russian, the nature of which is so universal and complete that it responds adequately to the meanings of the works translated into it. The Russian Russian language, having a unique nature, turns out to be consonant with the philosophy and spirit of other languages and preserves their philosophy and spirit. Russian Russian language is also reflected in the linguistic assimilation observed today, when the peoples of Russia choose Russian as their predominant means of communication, preferring to speak, think and compose in it rather than in their mother tongue. And a paradoxical situation arises: by switching to Russian and losing their native language, Erzya, Mokshan, Tatars, Buryats, Chuvash, Mari, etc. They preserve the national mentality, worldview, philosophy, etc., i.e. they preserve the national cosmo-psycho-logos, their national image.

And yet: when we talk about Russian literature, we refer to the spiritual principle as its basic feature, which modern literature inherited from ancient Russian literature and continues to persist in the 21st century. But the spiritual principle is inherent in the entire multinational literature of Russia. Russian Russian national code Scientific research of this circumstance is one of the ways leading to the deciphering of the Russian national code, which opens access to such an actualized concept as the "Russian world" today.

In addition, the religiosity inherent in them, regardless of their religion, is of crucial importance for studying the national picture of the world of the peoples of Russia and Russia as a whole as a country (whether they are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, pagans, experiencing a high religious feeling and are in search of God and thinking about him). The reason for this, perhaps, lies in the geographical outlines of Russia, which, due to its "boundlessness", due to the possession of a vast territory of the earth, has the opportunity to accommodate God, God is not cramped in our open spaces.

Returning to the epic "Mastorava", we note that naturally the goddess of the earth Mastorava (mastor – earth, ava - goddess, woman, mother) is one of the four main Erzya gods: Ineshkipaz, Ange-patiai, Purginepaz, Mastorava. G.D. Gachev reflects: "What is the most stable thing in national integrity? An ethnic group? The language? The psyche? Customs?.. Everything is subject to change. The main thing that constantly nourishes and extensively reproduces national integrity is nature, where the history of this people takes place. She–True to him. Her people are both her son and her husband (like Uranus. Heaven is for Gaia-Earth). The people and the country are inherent in each other, they make up the "one flesh", there is a one-to-one correspondence between them. Nature is not a "geographical environment", It is the Mother (self). <...> if Nature is understood as it is interpreted by the people, folklore, and poetry <…>,

then she is the Great Mother (I) and, as a mother–nurse and caregiver, radiates a soul- Psyche, her phenomena ooze with meaning. Nature is the commandments, tablets and writings of Existence itself, which must be understood and deciphered by this people. Nature exudes the will to be – and that is what the history of the people goes for. This is how we come to a crucial node of problems: the correlation in the national – nature, people, history, culture" ^{[14, pp. 156-191]}.

The epic "Mastorava" begins with the episode of the creation of the earth: The god of gods Ineshkipaz, in the midst of endless darkness, vastness of water and in a state of complete loneliness, thought about the creation of the World. Paradoxically and naturally, the first creation of Ineshkipaz turns out to be Idemes – damn, and together they begin to make the earth.:

"The sand began to groove over the water surface

Slowly disperse in a circle,

That a field of wheat should be sown.

The sand began to grow and transform

The pattern is very smooth and beautiful ^{[15, p. 24]}. <…>

I'm going to start furiously

Spewing sand, screaming, moaning,

He started coughing with such great force –

Like a host of storms, seven hurricanes

Released from the womb.

These storms have stirred up Mastor,

His wet skin was agitated.

That's why there are hills and mountains on it,

Spoiling his beauty, they stood up

And ravines and valleys appeared. <…>

- It's a big evil, come on, you've done,

But I can fix it.

I will turn your corruption into good.

I'll fill it with silver and gold

I have high mountains, in ravines

The springs will be filled with cold water.

May they bring benefits to people

And the beautiful Mastorava.

I'll create them for myself.

After that, I made Ineshkipaz sky –

The blue roof of Mastorava.

He splashed up the ocean waters

And with his breath he scattered –

They became a silk canopy.

The sun was released into the sky by Inepase –

And it became light all around instantly.

The sun has set, and he has released a month –

It was like taking a millet pancake out of the oven.

Into the darkness of the night he sketched the stars –

That he threw millet grains on the arable land… <…>

- Pazchangot, my Master! Be handsome! –

Paz exclaimed, pleased with himself…

Show your beauty quickly!

Overgrown with trees and grass.

Let the meadows be green with forests

They'll spread all over you.

Become abundant and free.

Let rivers flow through your meadows,

Let there be countless fish in the rivers,

Let the birds breed in the fields.,

Let bears and wolves live in the forests.,

Hares, foxes, sables, martens;

Let cows, sheep, pigs, goats

They graze and get fat in the meadows, -

Let every animal breed" ^{[15, pp. 25-28]}.

In the Erzya myths about the birth of the world and man, two important details are, firstly, that the first creation of God is the devil, and secondly, their mutual participation in these processes. The national man (the creator of the myth), who stood at the origins of the universe and actually observed with his own eyes the fusion of faceless time and space in the name of creating a unique portrait of the Earth, sought to realize his role in this action. Each nation, claiming to be unique, sees only the meanings revealed to it. Why does light triumph over darkness, good over evil, and God over the devil? Because God was born before everything else and created everything else.

"It is necessary, Master, to create the Earth for me,

To breed people, to nurture nations,

To establish customs and laws.

But I guess I can't do it alone.,

I probably won't be strong enough.

If there's enough, maybe not enough for everything.

I don't have a brother who would

My strong support;

I don't have a friend who would give advice.,

I would help with my business and thoughts.

And with bitter vexation he spat into the water.

And he continued on his way, cherishing the thought.,

It's like doing what you're planning to do" ^{[15, p. 20]}.

In Mastorava, God reflects, doubts, has a poetic creative soul, needs someone to conduct a dialogue, to be reflected in another. "Mastorava" is the author's text by Alexander Markovich Sharonov, a philosopher, historian, folklorist, poet, a man who thinks complexly, ambiguously, is in search of truth, leads an active intellectual and emotional life, and needs an antagonist ‒ another person with opposing beliefs and views. For him, the "other" is valuable because he does not speak his own language, sees the world differently – in different colors, resides in different value coordinates, etc. That is why the author of "Mastorava" chooses Melnikov's version of the myth of the creation of the World. God and the devil:

"He looked back, restless.

He sees a huge hillock floating behind him.,

He follows at a distance relentlessly.

Then his spit turned into a black stone.

God swung an iron rod

And he hit a hillock-a stone.

The stone shattered into pieces.

A screech came from under the rubble of the stone

Then he jumped up, thin and terrible" ^{[15, pp. 20-21]}.

P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky in "Essays on Mordovia" publishes "the story of the creation of Shaitan", "recorded in 1853 by priest Fyodor Shaversky in the village of Vechkamovo (Buguruslansky district of Samara province)": "Once, when there was nothing in the world but water, Chama-paz sailed on a stone on the seaI was thinking to myself how to create the visible world and how to control it. Then he said, "I have neither a brother nor a comrade with whom I can consult about this matter," and with these words he spat out of frustration into the sea and sailed on. After swimming some distance, Chama Paz looked back and saw that his saliva had turned into a huge mound and was floating after him. To destroy the hillock, Chama Paz struck it with his baton; immediately Shaitan jumped out of it and said: "You wish, Lord, that you had neither a brother nor a companion with whom you could think and consult about the creation of the world; perhaps I am glad to be your brother." Chama Paz was delighted and said, "Well, well, at least be a friend, not a brother. Let's create the earth. What are we going to make it out of? After all, there is nothing but water" ^{[16, p.45]}. It is obvious that God is pleased with the appearance of Shaitan, and is sincerely ready to cooperate with him in the creation of the earth, and only after Shaitan makes all his efforts worthless, tells him: "No, you cannot be my companion, you are evil, but I am kind; be damned and go to the bottom of the sea, to hell, to the very fire that burned you because, out of pride, you did not want to remember." the name of his creator. Sit there and suffer forever and ever" ^{[16, p.47]}. Nevertheless, although it is paradoxical, the phenomenon of Shaitan has a fruitful effect on both God and the World he created. First, God feels the fullness of goodness in himself and discovers the ability to turn evil into good, and generally realizes that evil exists only after the appearance of the devil. Before, God did not know this, because there was no "other" by which he could measure himself. Secondly, the damage inflicted by Shaitan on the Earth and God's desire to heal the corrupted by giving it positive properties, complicating the nature of the Earth, made it not only more beautiful, but also full of benefits. God creates a trait primarily to create a dialogical context, because there is nothing more fruitful than a dialogue of dissimilar phenomena.

H. Paasonen is a well‒known Finnish collector and publisher of Mordvinian folklore. In the sixth volume, the Mordwinische volksdichtung includes another version of the creation myth written by Ignatius Zorin (Buguruslansky district, Samara Province):

"Nishkepazon- Skipazon,

Verepazon - Pokspazon

Menel action, pelle action

Uli puton kudozo.

Uli sonze melese,

Uli paro olazo.

Pokshke sonze melese,

Sedeyak poksh valoso.

Mastorlangso kineyak

And saevi olyazo,

Menel aldo kineak

And eutavit tevenze.

Paro olyasonzo

Meze arsi, senor thei,

Kurgso valnesense

Vesey mastor son kirdi.

Koda arse Nishkepaz

Mastoravant teeme -

Avoldyz kedenze,

Yevtyze kurgso valonzo:

Mastorava appeared

Sleep latkonek-pandonek.

Latkokshnene was wrong, wasn't she,

Witte ezga kalt noldas" ^{[17, pp.162-164]}

The Niche has a Groove of the creator,

At Verepaz – The Great Groove

In the sky behind the clouds

There is a furnished house.

He has a desire,

He has a will.

He has a great desire,

His word is even stronger.

Nobody on earth

Not to recognize his will,

Under heaven, no one

Don't make it work.

With his good will

He'll do whatever he wants.,

In your own word

He holds the whole earth.

When I decided on a niche order

Create a Mastorava -

He waved his hands,

He said his word:

Mastorava appeared

With ravines and mountains.

He let water into the ravines.,

He let the fish into the water (a line-by-line translation from Erzya into Russian by Alexander Markovich Sharonov).

Ineshkipaz creates everything with thought and word. Here he does not need an assistant who would go down to the bottom of the ocean for building materials to create the Earth. He is absolutely self-sufficient. He is God, and through his thought and word the Earth that was born does not know the influence of Idem (Shaitan). Everything fulfills his will: the sun and moon shine in the sky, three fish hold the earth on their backs, trees and grass grow, peoples speak different languages, owns the waters of Vedyava, forests – Viryava, winds – Warmava, cares about the welfare of the Erzya land of Mastorava ^{[17, p.158-164]}.

In Mastorava, A.M. Sharonov uses as a plot-forming myth about the creation of man, recorded by P.I. Melnikov: "Chama Paz molded a man out of clay and had not yet put his soul into him, went to another place for a while to create a soul, and so that Shaitan would not spoil the created body, he put a dog to guard him. <...> Shaitan spat on the whole person, from which the diseases originated, then began to breathe his evil breath into him, Chama paz came and drove Shaitan away, ... and in order to fix the corrupted human body, he turned it inside out, but the diseases that originated from Shaitan's saliva still remained in him. Then, having breathed his good breath into the man, he left him" ^{[16, p. 53]}. The folklore source contains "dry" information about how man was created by God and how Shaitan insisted on his participation, and therefore man became the owner of both good and evil inclinations. But in this one information is the main thing – a reflection of the cosmo-psycho-logos of the Erzya people, based on a dialectical understanding of national space, national soul and national mind. It turns out that Erzyanin's worldview is based on a dialectical approach. This allowed the author of "Mastorava" to form the concept of the epic.

Being a great personality and a passionate person, the author of "Mastorava" needs to solve complex problems, to exist in a voluminous world of great achievements and conflict-forming situations that contribute to the discovery of the truth. He perceives the Erzya people to be the same, i.e. full of passion and powerful creative energy. Therefore, in "Mastorava", the Erzya man/Erzya people is also created by the efforts of Ineshkipaz and Idem and becomes the owner of a beautiful but contradictory nature, in which there is both from God and from the devil. God makes erzyanin perfect:

"Ineshki picked up the white clay

And he began to sculpt a man, Erza.,

I got to work with a will,

With joy in my soul, with excitement in my heart.

Where did he begin to create man?

Where did he become the owner of the earth?

On the beautiful Ra, the great river,

On a colored meadow, in a pine forest.

With both his face and his mind, he did

A person who looks like himself.

He looks at his handiwork,

He sees that there are no flaws in it.

He's blond-haired and bright-eyed.,

Slender, full of strength, broad-shouldered,

The face is beautiful and pleasant –

Only there is no soul in it yet.

We must give him consciousness, a soul.,

Put a good mind in your head,

So that he could talk and think.

Ineshkai ponders, fusses,

He cooks for the land of the owner,

The originator of the foundations of life,

Ploughing machines for wide fields,

Lumberjacks for high forests..." ^{[15, p. 33]}.

Of paramount importance for understanding the cosmo-psycho-logos of the Erzya people is the so-called landscape, against which God creates an Erzya man: "On the beautiful Ra, the great river, / On a colored meadow, in a pine forest" ^{[15, p. 33]}. In this case, the landscape, in Gachevsky, is "as a means of cognition and self-discovery."… Here– one unknown comprehends another: to penetrate the essence of Russia, the Russian cosmo–psycho-logos, like a picture before his eyes. For here there is Space, Soul, and mind-logic. The landscape throws a lasso over existence, a net, a veil – and catches on – to understand something" ^{[1, p. 606]}. We will allow ourselves to paraphrase the quote, replacing "Russian cosmo-psycho-logos" with "Erzya cosmo-psycho-logos", because the essence of the conclusion will not change from this. The creation of the Erzya man takes place against the backdrop of the great Volga River (Ra), in the middle of a blooming meadow surrounded by a clean, fragrant, transparent and light pine forest. The epic insists: in such a place, the first representative of only an outstanding people can appear. Note that all these details appear in "Mastorava", but they are not in the prosaic source written down by PI Melnikov-Pechersky. It is natural that such a picturesque picture arose in the poetic author's text, because poetry is intended to express a high idea of the world and to create a majestic national image. The signs of beauty in the landscape, against which man is created, constitute the cosmo-psycho-logos of the author of the epic, for whom, as for a man and a poet, the Volga, a blooming meadow, and a pine forest represent beauty. And they manifest themselves not only in the text of "Mastorava", but also in his lyrical poetry ^{[18; 19;20]}. Having been born in the village of Shoksha, a place surrounded on all sides by pine forests, blooming meadows, endless expanses, protected by blue skies and illuminated by the golden sun (this is an incomplete list of elements of genetic information that make up the national genetic code of the author of the epic), he cannot but perceive them as beautiful and cannot but think of these concepts in his poetry. In the work of every artist, there are stable images associated with his Homeland, with his mother, with childhood, and they necessarily form his mentality. Thus, the cosmo-psycho-logos of the author, who possesses only his own peculiar worldview, a unique idea of his people and an impression of nature, influences the formation of an objective cosmo-psycho-logos of the people. Here, according to M.M. Bakhtin, "the word about the world merges with the confessional word about oneself. The truth about the world ... is inseparable from the truth of the individual" ^{[21, p. 115]}.

The image of the people presented in the epic consists of the expression of the people themselves, from the concept of the people developed by the poet writing about them, and from the image of the poet through his view of the people. The poet places the people he sings about in an idyllic space that can only be reserved for them. The landscape here plays a crucial, life-shaping role.

"That's what you are, a creation of Paz! –

He exclaimed, looking at Erza. –

There's not a single flaw in you.,

You're artfully made by Ineshkaem.

But it won't be as he intended.

Let me fix you in my own way.

On a beautiful face and on a body

I'll put up the signs."

Paz's enemy got sick from envy,

He groaned as if in great pain.

Angry with the black soul,

He began his evil work again.

Spat on, soiled a man,

His body was pierced by a branch.

I've ruined him from head to toe.

He tried to breathe his spirit into him.,

But I tried in vain, I puffed in vain.

His spirit did not enter into the man" ^{[15, p. 34]}.

Idemes (the devil) is depicted in the epic as filled with a thirst for creation. He also thinks of himself as a creator god, but he does not have the creative ability. He does not create anything unique, but encroaches on what God has done and spoils it. In the national picture of the world, the Erzyan devil is angry and envious, because he is secondary, therefore, doomed to fruitlessness of his efforts. He doesn't have a self of his own, and it depresses him. In fact, he is a plagiarist who steals ideas, but does not know how to embody them because the volume of his essence is less than the volume of the essence of the idea he is stealing.

The duel waged by Ineshkipaz (God) and Idemevs (devil) in the struggle for Man leads to the fact that the influence of both forces is revealed in it:

"That's why he took it inside out

I turned out the spoiled Erzya.

And there are traces of wounds inside,

Becoming the cause of all his illnesses.

They do him a lot of harm.,

Tormenting from birth to death.

Having cleaned and washed a person,

Ineshki gave him a clear mind

And a mighty spirit for a long life" ^{[15, p. 35]}.

The epic, insisting that the presence of light and dark principles is obvious in the world and in man, demonstrates at the same time the active attraction of goodness.

This is especially vividly revealed in the third part of the "Mastorava" "The Age of Tyushtian" in the ninth legend "The Life of the Mastorava". Tyushtyan is a democratically elected ruler of the people who has gone through the ordeal of divine destiny, through victory over the serpent, through the need to confirm his royal and military worth by marrying the best Erzya woman named Paksin (Polyushko) ‒ he goes on a trip to the Erzya land to get acquainted with the people who chose him, to understand what he is capable of, what strength he has, what beauty he is beautiful.

This author's technique – the hero's journey is not on a real geographical map, but wandering along the map of ideas ‒ allows you to see the people in all their diversity and beauty. Inyazor Tyushtyan's "Roads" are ideal "thought paths" that form the image of the Erzya people according to the mosaic principle, where without one detail unlike the others, it is impossible to create the whole picture.:

At sunrise on a high mountain

Tyushtyan, the king of Erzya, lives there.,

Mastorava inyazor, ruler.

His two-storey house is pine

Visible from afar over the whole area:

Under the cheerful radiant sun

The walls are ablaze with golden fire…

Tyushtyan is sitting at a table in the wards,

Decides on his royal affairs,

Thinks inyazorsky thoughts.

Friends and servants are sitting around him.

And his advisers, his mainstay.

To his right sits the closest

The joy of the heart and the friend of life,

Like a meadow flower, Pinkish.

The elders sat down to his left.,

Connoisseurs of ancient customs

And the keepers of the rites of the ancients…

What was he thinking about, Tyushtian?

What kind of big deal is he thinking?

- Our native land is great

And her people: on the Rave – Erzya,

And on the full–water Moksha - Moksha.

Let me go around Mastorava.,

I'll stay among my people,

I'll look at the tribes and clans.

I'll see how the Erzya people live.,

What makes you sad makes you happy, I'll find out,

The Moksha tribes in the south" ^{[15, p. 242]}.

Driving around his Mastava, inyazor (tsar) Tyushtian not only gets to know the people, he finds and recognizes himself. He is trying to realize how capable he is of governing the people who called him, and he is learning to govern. Meeting with different erzans who embody different meanings and ideas, he sees what they are similar in - in the high perception of themselves as full–fledged, godlike and even God-like people.

Despite the fact that each stop in inyazor has a specific name (the village of Prundaz, the village of Purgaz, the village of Ermush, the village of Ordat, Staraya Kadma, the coast of Sura and Rava (Volga)), it is quite obvious that everything described expresses ideal national ideas, the fearless aspiration of the people to perfection, i.e. it is formed a highly abstract world, a concept world.

The uniqueness of the Erzyan cosmo-psycho-logos is also manifested through its relationship to the gods. The national man thinks of himself as equal to the gods, and the gods allow him to do so. There is not a single plot in "Mastorava" in which a man would be punished by the gods. Even Death has reverence for a person who passionately perceives life (the plot of "The Moksha guy and death"). In the legend "The World of Mastorava" in the part "The Village of Ermush" Tyushtyan meets an extraordinary man: he is very successful and rich, but considers his big family to be his main achievement (he has seven sons, seven daughters-in-law, who gave birth to seven beloved grandchildren). Having a large family allows Agudai to compete with the God of Gods Ineshkipaz and feel superior to him, because

"Agudai has seven sons in his house,

The sons have seven wives, his daughters–in-law.

He gave all the daughters-in-law a hard time.

In every tremor, his grandson is his favorite.

If he approaches the ripples, he will shake them.,

He'll play happily with his grandchildren.

He'll shake his grandchildren head first –

Let them have plenty of intelligence.;

He will push them forward with his feet –

Let them grow up to be healthy guys.;

It will push you left and right –

Let them become wise in their speeches.

How will the ancient Day of prayer come?,

How will the great day of the year come? –

All people pray to Ineshkai.

Agudai does not pray to Ineshka,

He does not ask for help from him" ^{[15, p. 247]}.

Agudai explains his arrogant attitude towards God:

"Because I don't pray to Ineshki.,

That's why I don't worship Paz.:

Ineshka has only one daughter-in-law,

There's only one flicker in his mansions.,

Yes, and in that shakiness it's not a grandson, but a granddaughter.

That's why I don't pray to Ineshki.,

That's why I don't worship Paz.:

I'm better off than anyone else.,

I am seven times richer than Ineshkai.

I've raised seven good sons.,

I took seven daughters-in-law into the house who were all handsome..." ^{[15, p. 247]}.

Tyushtian warns:

"Nice to know, Agudai, you're the boss.

But, however, don't brag in vain.

You'll lose your head, I'm afraid.,

If you don't know your own measure..." ^{[15, p. 247]}.

The gods do not destroy Agudai's perfectly arranged world, they allow him to show off his family, because this is the only wealth that causes sincere admiration. Agudai has a land where a lot of grain grows, his bees bring a lot of honey, his cattle breed well, but he needs all this only to provide for his children and grandchildren, he knows no other self-interest.

The value of family relations is another important element in the national portrait of the Erzya people. In the name of the family, says the epic, erzyanin is ready to sacrifice his life. Family relations are based not only on subordination and hierarchy, but also on the love of family members for each other: parents love children, children love parents, husbands love wives, wives love husbands, and together they love their native land – Mastorava.

The main feature of the national epic is ethnocentrism, which focuses on the glorification of the Fatherland, the people, and the idealization of its best qualities. An epic is impossible based on the denial of the national principle, on the search for the flawed in the national. Only the affirmation of the national uniqueness of the people allows him to introduce him into the circle of other peoples and show their mutual beauty.

Reflections on the problem of the cosmo-psycho-logos of the Erzya people in Alexander Markovich Sharonov's "Mastorava" led to the conclusion that in the literary epic the cosmo-psycho-logos of the people, manifested in the authentic epic, and the cosmo-psycho-logos of the author intertwine and, amplifying the sound of each other, create a more complete portrait of the ethnic group. It is quite obvious that the author is reflected in his people in the same way as the people are reflected in the author, who is their ethnophore.

G.D. Gachev's idea of national images of the world is extremely fruitful and can never be exhausted, because the interest in understanding the nature of the national is as constant as the interest in understanding human nature. According to the fair opinion of U.M. Bakhtikireeva, an authoritative philologist and student of G.D. Gachev, "there is no doubt that G.D. Gachev's works will remain in demand not only by humanities scholars, but also by representatives of exact sciences (mathematics, physics, etc.). Gachevsky bridge, spanning between the humanities (philosophy, literary studies, cultural studies, linguistics, etc.) and natural science, while it is out of the field of interested attention of researchers. This particular synthesis experience remains a prelude to future multi- and transdisciplinary research. The scientific reflection of productive ideas for such branches of knowledge as ethnolinguistics, ethnopsycholinguistics, ethnic cultural studies, etc. remains insufficient" ^{[12, p. 15]}. Of course, Gachev's idea of cosmo-psycho-logos, as applied to the study of the national epic, has the same boundless scientific potential.