Pastoralist traditions have long been extraordinarily important to the social, economic, political and cultural life of the Maharashtra region in western India. The oral literature of the Marathi-speaking Dhangar shepherds of Maharashtra is not only an important element of the traditional cultural life of the region, but also a treasure of world literature. This volume presents translations of two lively and well-crafted examples of the ovī, a genre typical of the oral literature of the Dhangars. These two ovīs narrate the stories of Biroba and Dhuloba, two of the most important gods of the Dhangars. Each of the ovīs tells an elaborate story of the birth of the god?a miraculous and complicated process in both cases?and of the struggles he went through in order to find and win his bride. The extensive introduction provides a literary analysis of the ovīs 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.