Mahabharata
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9. “The language of the gods” translates an ancient epithet for Sanskrit as a sacred medium.
10. See M. M. Bakhtin, Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, edited by Michael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), pp. 426–27.
11. Bakhtin, ibid., pp. 13–14.
Acknowledgments
In approaching the Mahabharata as a non-specialist, I have, throughout, had the benefit of advice from Dr. Simon Brodbeck, Sanskrit scholar and Reader in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University (UK). Many specialists would have been dismissive of an attempt by a non-Sanskritist to render the epic for the general reader. Simon’s support for the project has been unwavering, and the value to me of his expert and detailed knowledge and deep understanding of the epic is impossible to overstate. He was unfailingly tolerant of my errors and wrong turnings, and generous in sending me useful articles, referring me to others, and lending me books. His own books and articles on aspects of the Mahabharata were among the most illuminating. I cannot thank him enough. Needless to say, any errors are mine alone.
I am extremely grateful to Professor Vinay Dharwadker of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for his positive and scholarly response to the way I have attempted to render the Mahabharata; for his suggestions for improvement; for his very interesting Afterword; and for his help with ancillary materials, including the Glossary.
The team at Norton has done a wonderful job in producing a beautiful-looking book. My editor, Jill Bialosky, has been of immense help over the years it has taken me to complete it. I am grateful to her for her confidence in the project, her patience, and for her steady hand on the tiller, steering it through the publication process. Her colleagues, Rebecca Schultz and Angie Shih, have also been a great support. My copyeditor, Amy Robbins, did remarkable work on my enormous typescript, combining meticulousness with sensitivity. I very much appreciate her contribution.
Many thanks to the following friends and relations who read and commented on parts of the text, and whose response was encouraging: David Black, Robert Chandler, Patrick Early, Judy Gahagan, Mimi Khalvati, John Mole, Vaughan Pilikian, James Redmond, Emma Satyamurti, Manou Shama-Levy, Nancy and Al Stepan, Gregory Warren Wilson, and Martin Wilkinson.
I particularly want to thank Susanne Ehrhardt for her careful reading of my entire text, for her detailed comments and suggestions, and for her enthusiasm.
Thanks are due to the editors of Modern Poetry in Translation, New Walk, and Poetry Review, in which sections of this work have appeared.
I am grateful to Arts Council England for a grant which enabled me to concentrate on this project.
Genealogies
GENEALOGY ONE
The Older Generations
Simplified lines of descent for important characters spanning nine generations preceding the Pandavas and Kauravas, with characters only in six generations shown selectively. Each dotted line represents a marriage or sexual relationship; each continuous line descends from biological parents to offspring. More than one dotted line leading from or to a name indicates more than one relationship for that person; multiple relationships may be serial or simultaneous.
Parashara and Satyavati engender Vyasa before Satyavati becomes Shantanu’s queen and engenders Chitrangada (not shown) and Vichitravirya with the latter; Shantanu engenders Bhishma with Ganga before marrying Satyavati. Thus, both Bhishma and Vyasa, in that chronological order, are Vichitravirya’s elder half-brothers from different parents. Vichitravirya marries two sisters, Ambika and Ambalika, but dies without producing children. Satyavati, his mother and queen, then invokes the “law of levirate” to continue the royal line. Bhishma cannot participate because he has taken a vow of celibacy; so Vyasa steps in, and fathers Dhritarashtra upon the elder widow, Ambika, and Pandu upon the younger, Ambalika. Ancient Hindu levirate broadly resembles biblical levirate, as in Deuteronomy 25.
GENEALOGY TWO
The Younger Generations
Lines of descent for select characters in six generations, with two generations preceding and three generations succeeding the Pandavas and Kauravas. Each dotted line represents a marriage or sexual relationship; each solid line connects biological parents to offspring. More than one dotted line leading from or to a name indicates more than one relationship for that person; multiple relationships may be serial or simultaneous.
Dhritarashtra is in a monogamous marriage with Gandhari, whereas Pandu is in a bigamous marriage with Kunti (elder wife) and Madri; both families, however, have difficulty procreating. Gandhari, in a single supernatural pregnancy, conceives and gives birth to 101 children, of whom Duryodhana is chronologically the first. Kunti invokes three gods to father three biological sons, whereas Madri invokes twin gods to produce two; after Pandu’s and Madri’s deaths, Kunti raises the Pandavas as a widow.
Draupadi is married polyandrously to all five Pandavas simultaneously. In the course of that marriage, Bhima also marries the metamorphosing female demon Hidinbaa; with her, he fathers Ghatotkacha, who is raised in the Pandava household. While in the polyandrous marriage with Draupadi, Arjuna also polygamously marries and has children with other women (not all shown). Among the latter is Subhadra, Krishna’s biological sister, with whom Arjuna has Abhimanyu. When the young Abhimanyu is killed in the war at Kurukshetra, his bride Uttaraa is pregnant with Parikshit, who inherits the Pandava kingdom later, and passes it on to his own biological son, Janamejaya.
Suggestions for Further Reading
TRANSLATIONS
I HAVE DRAWN on a number of translations of the Mahabharata. The only complete one, to date, is that by K. M. Ganguli, published at the end of the nineteenth century, (The Mahabharata of Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, republished by Munshi Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd, 4th edition, New Delhi, 2008). This translation is also available online (in the “Internet Sacred Text Archive”). Ganguli’s work predates the Sanskrit Critical Edition (1933–66), and is based on sources which differ from that work in some respects. But it is regarded by contemporary scholars as broadly accurate, and although the language is rather archaic, as one would expect, his often waspish footnotes about interpretations other than his own are a delight.
The University of Chicago Press has, since 1973, been bringing out a new translation, based on the Pune Critical Edition. The translators are, first, J. A. B. van Buitenen (Books 1–5) and, more recently, James Fitzgerald (Book 11 and part of Book 12). More volumes are to come. Apart from the texts themselves, the Notes and Introductions are very useful.
The Clay Sanskrit Library (published by New York University Press) has produced a number of volumes in parallel text, covering the war books in particular. Vaughan Pilikian’s translation of part of the Book of Drona is especially vivid.
John Smith’s abridged translation, The Mahabharata (Penguin Books, 2009), is an invaluable resource. It alternates passages of full translation with abridged passages. Apart from its intrinsic merits, it will enable any reader embarking on the vast ocean of Ganguli’s cumbersome prose to navigate far more easily.
W. J. Johnson has translated the Bhagavad Gita and The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata: The Massacre at Night as separate volumes, both published by Oxford World’s Classics, and both containing useful Introductions.
SECONDARY SOURCES
For an account of the history of ancient India, see Romila Thapar, Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).
There is a wealth of scholarly books and articles on the Mahabharata. Below is a short selection of books which I, as a non-specialist, have found interesting, and which will begin to open up, for the general reader, some of the main issues raised by the Mahabharata.
Brockington, John. The Sanskrit Epics. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
Brodbeck, Simon. The Mahabharata Patriline: Gender, Culture and the Royal Hereditary. Farnham, U.K.: Ashgate, 2009.
Brodbeck, Simon, and Brian Black, eds
. Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata. London: Routledge, 2007.
Das, Gurcharan. The Difficulty of Being Good: on the Subtle Art of Dharma. Delhi: Penguin Books, Allen Lane, 2009.
Dhand, Arti. Woman as Fire, Woman as Sage: Sexual Ideology in the Mahabharata. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2008.
Fitzgerald, James L. “Mahabharata.” In The Hindu World, edited by Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Hill, Peter. Fate, Predestination and Human Action in the Mahabharata. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 2001.
Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the Mahabharata. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1976.
———. Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader’s Guide to the Education of the Dharma King. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Hopkins, E. Washburn. The Great Epic of India: Its Character and Origin. New York: Scribner, 1901.
Karve, Irawati. Yuganta: The End of an Epoch. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 1969.
Katz, Ruth C. Arjuna in the Mahabharata: Where Krishna Is There Is Victory. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1989.
Lipner, Julius, ed. The Fruits of Our Desiring: An Enquiry into the Ethics of the Bhagavadgita for Our Times. Calgary: Bayeux Arts, 1997.
Matilal, B. K., ed. Moral Dilemmas in the Mahabharata. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989.
McGrath, Kevin. The Sanskrit Hero: Karna in the Epic Mahabharata. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
Sen, K. M. Hinduism. London: Penguin Books, 2005.
Sharma, Arvind, ed. Essays on the Mahabharata. Leiden: Brill, 1991.
Sullivan, Bruce. Seer of the Fifth Veda: Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa in the Mahabharata. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Sutton, Nicholas. Religious Doctrines in the Mahabharata. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
Woods, Julian F. Destiny and Human Initiative in the Mahabharata. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Glossary
THE FOLLOWING ALPHABETICAL list identifies the principal characters in the narrative, and provides basic explanations of the Sanskrit terms that appear in the text. Among the headwords, characters’ names are given in bold roman type, whereas other terms are in bold italics.
Each headword is followed by a brief annotation in square brackets. For most headwords, this information consists of the syllabification of the term, its scansion in English, and its scansion in Sanskrit, in that order. The syllables in a word are separated by dots; thus, “Abhimanyu” is broken up into four syllables as A·bhi·man·yu. The English scansion is specified using S for a stressed syllable and U for an unstressed syllable; the metrical pattern of A·bhi·man·yu is thus displayed as SUSU. The sound pattern of Sanskrit words is measured in “duration” rather than stress; L represents a short or “light” syllable, and H represents a long or “heavy” syllable. The scansion of A·bhi·man·yu in the original language is LLHL, which is different from the SUSU pattern in English.
In some instances, the annotations identify the grammatical gender or number of a term. Whenever the syllabification of a headword involves significant differences between the English spelling and the original Sanskrit spelling, both spellings are provided. For example, for the word “danda,” the entry in square brackets gives us “dan·da, SU; dan·da, HL”; the (latter) Sanskrit spelling indicates that both n and d are retroflex sounds in this instance, as in English dent. Readers will find the annotations in square brackets useful for the pronunciation of unfamiliar terms.
In many cases, the English spelling provided here reflects the Sanskrit pronunciation quite accurately. Sometimes, however, diacritical marks have to be added to it in order to capture the original spelling or pronunciation. The transcriptions in square brackets use a simplified system of essential diacritical marks.
BASIC PRONUNCIATION OF SANSKRIT TERMS
The common vowels in Sanskrit are consistently transcribed and pronounced as follows: a as in “about”; ā as in “father”; i as in “bit”; ī as in “beet”; u as in “put”; ū as in “boot”; e as in “they”; and o as in “go.” Three other vowels can be approximated thus: r as in “rig”; ai like the i in “high”; and au like the ou in “house.” When no ambiguity is involved, the long ā is represented in the English spelling of a word as aa.
The majority of Sanskrit consonants can be pronounced as they appear in English. The unusual consonants are represented or simplified as follows: ch as in “chew”; t as in “but”; d as in “do”; n as in “tint”; t as in French “tu” or in Italian “pasta”; and d like the th in “thou” or “though.”
Sanskrit distinguishes between two sibilants, both of which are simplified here to sh, as in “ship.” Hence, the main text uses “Shiva” and “Vishnu” as the Anglicized names of these gods, and the Glossary adds “Vishnu” as the more precise transcription of the latter (with the n as in “tint”).
Whenever a appears at the end of a Sanskrit word, it should be pronounced as a short vowel (as in “about”), and not as a long ā. Sanskrit distinguishes clearly, for example, between “Krishna”/“Krishna” (short a at the end) and “Krishnā”/“Krishnaa” (long at the end). Likewise, the language distinguishes between “Chitrāngada”/“Chitraangada” and “Chitrāngadā”/“Chitraangadaa.”
Whenever an h appears after a consonant, the sound of the latter is aspirated (pronounced with an accompanying expulsion of air from the mouth). Thus, t is pronounced as at the end of “goat,” whereas th is pronounced as the conjoined th in “goatherd.” Hence, “Dhrishtadyumna” and “Yudhishthira.”
Abhimanyu [A·bhi·man·yu, SUSU; LLHL]: son of Arjuna by Subhadra, Krishna’s sister
Adhiratha [A·dhi·ra·tha, SUSU; LLLL]: adoptive father of Karna
Agastya [A·gast·ya, USU; LHL]: a great seer
Agni [Ag·ni, SU; HL]: god of fire
ahimsa [a·him·saa, USS; LHH]: non-harmfulness
Ajatashatru [A·jaa·ta·shat·ru, USUSU; LHLHL]: “unrivaled,” a name of Yudhishthira
Alambusha [A·lam·bu·sha, USUU; LHLL]: rakshasa killed by Ghatotkacha
Alayudha [A·la·yu·dha, UUUU; LLLL]: rakshasa killed by Ghatotkacha
Amba, Ambika, Ambalika [Am·baa, SS; HH. Am·bi·kaa, SUS; HLH. Am·baa·li·kaa, USUS; HHLH]: daughters of the king of Kashi, abducted by Bhishma as brides for Vichitravirya
Anga [An·ga, SU; HL]: kingdom given to Karna
Apantaratamas [A·paan·ta·ra·ta·mas, USUUSU ; LHLLLL]: seer; previous incarnation of Vyasa
apsarases [English plural; singular: ap·sa·ras, SUU; HLL]: beautiful celestial nymphs
Arjuna [Ar·ju·na, SUU; HLL]: third son of Pandu and Kunti; fathered by the god Indra
ashrama [aa·shra·ma, SUU; HLL]: one of the four approved life paths
Ashvapati [A·shva·pa·ti, SUSU; HLLL]: king of the Madras, father of Savitri
Ashvasena [Ash·va·se·na, SUSU; HLHL]: son of Takshaka, the snake king
Ashvatthaman [Ash·vat·thaa·man, SUSU; HHHL]: son of Drona
Ashvins [English plural; singular: Ash·vin, SU; HL]: twin deities, fathers of Nakula and Sahadeva
Astika [Aas·ti·ka, SUU; HLL]: snake-brahmin, savior of the snakes at Janamejaya’s sacrifice
astra [as·tra, SU; HL]: supernatural weapon
asura [a·su·ra, SUU; LLL]: demon
atman [aat·man, SU; HL]: human self or soul; an aspect of Brahman
Babhru [Ba·bhru, SU; HL]: a Vrishni warrior
Babhruvahana [Ba·bhru·vaa·ha·na, SUSUU; HLHLL]: Arjuna’s son by Chitrangadaa
Baka [Ba·ka, SU; LL]: rakshasa killed by Bhima
Balarama [Ba·la·raa·ma, UUSU; LLHL]: Krishna Vasudeva’s older brother
Ballava [Bal·la·va, SUU; HLL]: Bhima’s alias at Virata’s court
Bhagadatta [Bha·ga·dat·ta, SUSU; LLHL]: an ally of the Kauravas
Bhangashvana [Bhan·gaash·va·na, USUU; HHLL]: king who becomes a woman
Bharadvaja [Bha·rad·vaa·ja, UUSU; LHHL]: seer; fathe
r of Drona
Bharata: (1) [Bhaa·ra·ta, SUU; HLL] lineage of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas; (2) [Bha·ra·ta, SUU; LLL] king, founder of the royal lineage
Bharatavarsha [Bhaa·ra·ta·var·sha, SUUSU; HLLHL]: ancient name for India south of the Himalaya
Bhargavas [English plural; singular: Bhaar·ga·va, SUU; HLL]: brahmin descendants of Bhrigu
Bhima [Bhee·ma, SU; HL]: (1) second of the five Pandava brothers; fathered by Vayu, god of the wind; (2) Damayanti’s father
Bhishma [Bheesh·ma, SU; HL]: son of Shantanu and Ganga; Bharata patriarch
Bhrigu [Bhri·gu, SU; HL]: a seer
Bhurishravas [Sanskrit singular; Bhoo·ri·shra·vas, SUSU; HHLL]: an ally of the Kauravas
Brahma [Brah·ma, SU; HL]: god of created beings
Brahma’s Head [Brahma as above]: powerful celestial weapon, also known as Pashupata
Brahmadatta [Brah·ma·dat·ta, SUSU; HLHL]: king; friend of the bird Pujani
Brahman [Brah·man, SU; HL]: universal soul; essence of all that is
brahmins [as in English; SU]: highest class in the social hierarchy; priests, guardians of the Vedas
Brihadashva [Bri·ha·dash·va, UUSU; LLHL]: a sage
Brihannada [Bri·han·na·daa, USUU; bri·han·na·dā, LHLH]: Arjuna’s alias at Virata’s court
Brihaspati [Bri·has·pa·ti, USUU; LHLL]: preceptor/priest to the gods
Chandalas [English plural; singular: Chaan·daa·la, SSU; chān·dā·la, HHL]: a lowborn and despised community
Charvaka [Chaar·vaa·ka, SSU; HHL]: a rakshasa posing as a brahmin
Chekitana [Che·ki·ta·na, SUSU; HLLL]: Vrishni warrior; ally of the Pandavas
Chitrangada [masculine; Chi·traan·ga·da, USUU; HHLL] elder of Shantanu’s two sons by Satyavati
Chitrangadaa [feminine; Chi·traan·ga·daa, USUS; HHLH] mother of Arjuna’s son Babhruvahana