Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of Buddhist motifs in one of the Buryat versions of the Epic of King Gesar. The object of this research is the text of the Ehirit-Bulagat Uliger “Abai Geser Hubun” by M. Imegenov, which is considered most archaic, and thus, least susceptible to Buddhist influence. The subject of this research is the Buddhist motifs reflected in the epic narrative. The article also employs the texts of other Buryat Uligers as a comparative material. Special attention is given to the semantic analysis of the motifs under review. The author provides the historical data and refers the comparative-typological method. It is determined that the Buddhist motifs ingrained into the texts of Western Buryat Geseriada function on a surface semantic level and do not affect the narrative framework of the epic. The conclusion is made that the Ehirit-Bulagat version of Geseriada, unlike Unging versions, is less susceptiple to Buddhist influence; therefore, the research in such context allows understanding the peculiarities of the Buryat Geseriada as a whole, and furthermore, the disclosure of the key mechanisms of plot transformation of the Central Asian epic tradition.

Abstract: The subject of the research is the motive about transformation of Geseriada into animals who discover these transformations as a result of Buddhist character being embodied into them. Based on the analysis of several variants of Buryat Geseriada, the researcher analyzes the mechanisms of replacement of characters and completing the episode motive with Buddhist additions. As a result of the spread of Buddhism throughout the territory of ethnic Buryatia, buddhist images are interweaved with Buryat epos which causes transformation of motives and changes of the semantic contents of individual motives. In her research Ayusheeva analyzes transformation of motives based on the example of the analysis of one episode that is a combination of motives. The researcher has applied the comparative classifidation analysis to find similar episodes in epic texts in order to define their typological features. The results of the research has allowed the author to conclude that the ingression of Buddhist images and motives into an epic piece, as a rule, results in the transformation of traditional motives and gives the sound of Buddhism to Buryat uliger.