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The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 Books 4, 5, 6 and 7
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2511 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 401
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 15, 2023
The Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation of the Mahabharata is generally considered the best, and certainly the definitive translation, but it is also dated (the work was completed around 1885, close to a hundred and fifty years ago!) and ponderous. The language is pure and clear, and it merges the Sanskrit voluptuousness of poetry with a stern adhesion to classical (think Milton) English. Where the richness of Sanskrit is too purple to be cowed down by Victorian prudery, Mr Ganguli coyly translates such passages into Latin.
I have spent hours wondering who Mr Ganguli thought his target reader might have been. I cannot imagine the average British adminstrator, Oxford educated though he might have been, taking an interest in The Mahabharata, least of all in Sanskrit. That was reserved for specialists in linguistics and archeology. At the time that this was first published, most educated Indian men knew Sanskrit, and didn't need an English translation. Many women were educated as well, but in their own languages, rarely in English. A few, a very few women belonged to families who felt that no woman was complete without a grounding in Sanskrit, if only to understand her daily ritual prayers. There also existed a strong superstition in many households, most of which consisted of extended families living under one roof, that no copy of the Mahabharata should be kept in the house, as it inevitably led to the break up of family systems.
All that as background. The Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation remains my favourite, although it is patchy and archaic. Volume II, for instance, which contains the Bhagavad Gita, also has the year-in-hiding of the thirteen year exile, the diplomatic overtures before the battle, the leadership of Bhishma and the death of Abhimanyu. The breakdown of honour the warrior code also begins here.
One of the most charming passages is when Arjuna's horses, divine though they be, are spent by a morning's hard driving, and wounded by enemy arrows and spears, on the point of collapse.. When the Charioteer points this out to Arjuna, he stops, and in the middle of a raging battlefield, sinking an arrow into the earth, he fetches up a lake complete with swans and lotuses and fish. He next builds the tired horses a shelter with walls and pillars and roof and beams all of arrows. There they rest from the noonday sun and slake their thirst, while around them the battle rages, and the Charioteer, running His hands over them, heals their injuries.
While the rest of the book is immersive and satisfying, the chapters containing the Gita were very disappointing, as the translator assumes that the reader had already a Sanskrit background, and so does not translate the key concepts, like "jnana", "bhakti" and so on, merely transliterates them from Sanskrit to English. The Notes portion sheds no light on the meaning, but simply discusses other authorities and their views, equally cryptic to the uninitiated.
There are more modern versions of the Mahabharata in contemporary English, and the ten-volume translation by Bibek Debroy has received the most critical positive reviews. It is simple and yet poetic. Prose translations by Ramesh Menon and Devdutt Patnaik have also proved to be immensely popular, attesting to their contemporaneity. The abridged children's version by C Rajagoplachari, though slightly dated, is a classic. It is said that he used to recount the stories to the convicts in prison, while he served time as a political prisoner, and later put them together in the version we have today. The Clay Sanskrit Library has a modern poetic translation side by side with with the original Sanskrit, but this is not a particularly easy version. All the modern editions are still copyright. For modern novels based on individual events or legends, including regional legends that are recounted in part of the country but not another, there are literally thousands of books of a new sub-genre we may call pseudo myths from the Mahabharata!
I have spent hours wondering who Mr Ganguli thought his target reader might have been. I cannot imagine the average British adminstrator, Oxford educated though he might have been, taking an interest in The Mahabharata, least of all in Sanskrit. That was reserved for specialists in linguistics and archeology. At the time that this was first published, most educated Indian men knew Sanskrit, and didn't need an English translation. Many women were educated as well, but in their own languages, rarely in English. A few, a very few women belonged to families who felt that no woman was complete without a grounding in Sanskrit, if only to understand her daily ritual prayers. There also existed a strong superstition in many households, most of which consisted of extended families living under one roof, that no copy of the Mahabharata should be kept in the house, as it inevitably led to the break up of family systems.
All that as background. The Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation remains my favourite, although it is patchy and archaic. Volume II, for instance, which contains the Bhagavad Gita, also has the year-in-hiding of the thirteen year exile, the diplomatic overtures before the battle, the leadership of Bhishma and the death of Abhimanyu. The breakdown of honour the warrior code also begins here.
One of the most charming passages is when Arjuna's horses, divine though they be, are spent by a morning's hard driving, and wounded by enemy arrows and spears, on the point of collapse.. When the Charioteer points this out to Arjuna, he stops, and in the middle of a raging battlefield, sinking an arrow into the earth, he fetches up a lake complete with swans and lotuses and fish. He next builds the tired horses a shelter with walls and pillars and roof and beams all of arrows. There they rest from the noonday sun and slake their thirst, while around them the battle rages, and the Charioteer, running His hands over them, heals their injuries.
While the rest of the book is immersive and satisfying, the chapters containing the Gita were very disappointing, as the translator assumes that the reader had already a Sanskrit background, and so does not translate the key concepts, like "jnana", "bhakti" and so on, merely transliterates them from Sanskrit to English. The Notes portion sheds no light on the meaning, but simply discusses other authorities and their views, equally cryptic to the uninitiated.
There are more modern versions of the Mahabharata in contemporary English, and the ten-volume translation by Bibek Debroy has received the most critical positive reviews. It is simple and yet poetic. Prose translations by Ramesh Menon and Devdutt Patnaik have also proved to be immensely popular, attesting to their contemporaneity. The abridged children's version by C Rajagoplachari, though slightly dated, is a classic. It is said that he used to recount the stories to the convicts in prison, while he served time as a political prisoner, and later put them together in the version we have today. The Clay Sanskrit Library has a modern poetic translation side by side with with the original Sanskrit, but this is not a particularly easy version. All the modern editions are still copyright. For modern novels based on individual events or legends, including regional legends that are recounted in part of the country but not another, there are literally thousands of books of a new sub-genre we may call pseudo myths from the Mahabharata!
January 16, 2018
Has some good stories and imagery, but it's way too detailed and repetitive. Too bad an editor wasn't available.
June 11, 2023
It's all interesting. But it gets really serious in the Sanatsujatiya part in book five. A lot of things to to think about.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews