വ്യാസ മഹാഭാരതം: മഹാഭാരതകഥ

by Vidwan K. Prakasam

7140 pages

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Siddhartha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great effort put into the translation deserves 5 stars for the effort and till date this is the only complete prose translation of Mahabharata in Malayalam. There are some minor mistakes you might notice which might have corrected with more thorough proof reading. At times you feel the story is going in circles and you think these may be parts added by people to give more impact on the reader. As there is no unique version of Mahabharata that can be claimed the original version, it is always possible the portions might be added over the time.

The complete Mahabharatam is split into 6 volumes of almost 1200 pages each and it contains, all 18 parvas of Mahabharatam alongwith Harivamsa Parva which is not part of most of the complete Mahabharatam available and it contains stories of Hari (Srikrishna).

First volume covers story till the Pandavas are starting their 12 year vanavasa. Second volume finishes with the beginning of the war with first 4 chapters of Gita. Third volume ends with end of Drona Parvam, death of Drona. By a third of fourth volume, the war is over and Shantiparva starts, which is the longest parva in Mahabharatam. Fifth volume is mostly Shantiparva along with some others. Into the first few 100 pages of the last volume Mahabharatam ends and the rest of the book is Harivamsaparva.

There are many parts where you can feel repeat of the story happening especially during war scenes. During the cow stealing incident at the end of Anjathavasa, there is a short chapter on how Arjuna defeated the Kauravas. After that next few chapters keep on elaborating this same incident with very detailed description. In Drona Parvam, in the description of the most intense war, many parts are repeated, maybe to give more impact on the reader or were added on.

In Vol 3 in Dronaparva, the detailed story telling of Jayadradha killing and Khadolkkacha killing, you will see the story goes in loops a few times. I feel that the original which was based for this translation might have many parts added by people who wanted to glorify their heroes.

Of the 5 volumes of Mahabharatam, the story that we always know and tell is maybe slightly more than a third of its total length. What surprised me most is that, the story of Pandavas and Kauravas are used only to make all the spiritual teaching they are trying to do more interesting. The many teachings are to make the caste system stronger and how the upper caste especially Brahmins are special compared to rest of the people. Shantiparva which is a very long list of teachings is the longest Parva in it and it’s presented as if something told by Bhishma in his deathbed to Yudishtra who is going to be the next king and to guide him in his rule.

You will see some kind of backstory is brought into the main story, the moment the main characters do some not so good things to justify them or make them good people.

VedVyasa appears in the story so often especially when the story becomes a level that can't be explained by reason. I think it's very difficult to accept the whole story on a human level on the way it's described in Mahabharata.

You can see very clearly that Mahabharata is not a story but a religious book written to share the theories and practices of the religion. When read now, the whole justification of the caste system and the portions written to glorify the upper caste or the way the lower castes are described feels out of time.

I feel the authors has come with a very gripping story to spread their religious principles. In the middle of the story, Ved Vyasa appears and then explains the religious principles and normalizes the morally incorrect actions of the heroes with some back stories from prior births or some religious concepts.

So if you are reading this complete Mahabharatham for some new stories about Pandavas and Kauravas, you will be disappointed as the story inside it is well known to most. This may not be the best book, if you are interested only in the story of it, you could try Parvam by S. L. Bhyrappa which is far more interesting depiction where all characters are human beings with no divine power or the very long Mahasamar series by Narendra Kohli or Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari . There many other books focusing on one main character like Panchali's Pledge by Subramania Bharati or Bhima Lone Warrior By M.T. Vasudevan Nair or Mrityunjaya, The Death Conqueror By Shivaji Sawant.

[Thara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book