Debroy - Mahabharata, Volume 8

Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 7th Floor, Infinity Tower C, DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon - 122 002, Haryana, India
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Block D, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

www.penguinbooksindia.com

First published by Penguin Books India 2013

Translation copyright Bibek Debroy 2013

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-0-143-42521-2

This digital edition published in 2015.
e-ISBN: 978-9-351-18567-3

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this book.

Let the conversation begin...

Follow the Penguin Twitter.com@PenguinIndia

Keep up-to-date with all our stories YouTube.com/PenguinIndia

Like Penguin Books on Facebook.com/PenguinIndia

Find out more about the author and
discover more stories like this at penguinbooksindia.com

For Suparna

Ardha bhry manuyasya bhry rehatama sakh
Bhry mulam trivargasya bhry mitram mariyata

Mahabharata (1/68/40)

Nsti bhrysamo bandhurnsti bhryasam gati
Nsti bhryasamo loke sahyo dharmasdhana

Mahabharata (12/142/10)

Praise for the Series

The modernization of language is visible, its easier on the mind, through expressions that are somewhat familiar. The detailing of the story is intact, the varying tempo maintained, with no deviations from the original. The short introduction reflects a brilliant mind. For those who passionately love the Mahabharata and want to explore it to its depths, Debroys translation offers great promise...

Hindustan Times

[Debroy] has really carved out a niche for himself in crafting and presenting a translation of the Mahabharata... The book takes us on a great journey with admirable ease.

Indian Express

The first thing that appeals to one is the simplicity with which Debroy has been able to express himself and infuse the right kind of meanings... Considering that Sanskrit is not the simplest of languages to translate a text from, Debroy exhibits his deep understanding and appreciation of the medium.

The Hindu

Overwhelmingly impressive... Bibek is a truly eclectic scholar.

Business Line

Debroys lucid and nuanced retelling of the original makes the masterpiece even more enjoyably accessible.

Open

The quality of translation is excellent. The lucid language makes it a pleasure to read the various stories, digressions and parables.

Tribune

Extremely well-organized, and has a substantial and helpful Introduction, plot summaries and notes... beautiful example of a well thought-out layout which makes for much easier reading.

Book Review

The dispassionate vision [Debroy] brings to this endeavour will surely earn him merit in the three worlds.

Mail Today

Thoroughly enjoyable and impressively scholarly...

DNA

Debroys is not the only English translation available in the market, but where he scores and others fail is that his is the closest rendering of the original text in modern English without unduly complicating the readers understanding of the epic.

Business Standard

The brilliance of Ved Vysya comes through.

Hindustan Times

Family Tree

Bharata/Puru

Introduction

T he Hindu tradition has an amazingly large corpus of religious texts, spanning Vedas, Vedanta (brahmanas, smritis, Puranas, dharmashastras and itihasa. For most of these texts, especially if one excludes classical Sanskrit literature, we dont quite know when they were composed and by whom, not that one is looking for single authors. Some of the minor Puranas (Upa Purana) are of later vintage. For instance, the Bhavishya Purana (which is often listed as a major Purana or Maha Purana) mentions Queen Victoria.

In the listing of the corpus above figures itihasa, translated into English as history. History doesnt entirely capture the nuance of itihasa, which is better translated as this is indeed what happened. Itihasa isnt myth or fiction. It is a chronicle of what happened; it is fact. Or so runs the belief. And itihasa consists of Indias two major epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The former is believed to have been composed as poetry and the latter as prose. This isnt quite correct. The Ramayana has segments in prose and the Mahabharata has segments in poetry. Itihasa doesnt quite belong to the category of religious texts in a way that the Vedas and Vedanta are religious. However, the dividing line between what is religious and what is not is fuzzy. After all, itihasa is also about attaining the objectives of