The Markandeya Purana
Page 56
Ever since this translation journey started in 2006, my wife, Suparna Banerjee Debroy, has been a constant source of support, ensuring the conducive and propitious environment for the work to continue unimpeded. As the Markandeya Purana says, in obtaining success in the pursuit of dharma, artha and kama, the wife and the husband are each other’s aides. When they are devoted to each other, they become a true wife and a true husband. धर्मार्थकामसंसिद्धै भार्या भर्त्तु: सहायिनी । या च भार्या च भर्ता च परस्परमनुव्रतौ (19.70). Sometimes, the wife desires the husband. Sometimes, the husband desires the wife. In a couple, it is extremely rare to find both deeply devoted to each other. अभीष्टा कस्यचित्कान्ता कान्त: कस्याश्चिचदीप्सित: । परस्परानुरागाढयं दाम्पत्यमतिदुर्लम् । (69.10).
All of us owe our origins to the goddess. In the immediate, my wife owes her origin to her mother, who coincidentally, is named Uma. For the love and affection she has showered on me, this translation is dedicated to my mother-in-law, Uma Banerjee.
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THE MAHABHARATA: VOLUMES 1–10
Translated by Bibek Debroy
Dispute over land and kingdom may lie at the heart of this story of war between cousins—the Pandavas and the Kouravas—but the Mahabharata is about conflicts of dharma. These conflicts are immense and various, singular and commonplace. Throughout the epic, characters face them with no clear indications of what is right and what is wrong; there are no absolute answers. Thus every possible human emotion features in the Mahabharata, the reason the epic continues to hold sway over our imagination.
In this superb and widely acclaimed translation of the complete Mahabharata, Bibek Debroy takes us on a great journey with incredible ease.
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THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA: VOLUMES 1–3
Translated by Bibek Debroy
The Valmiki Ramayana remains a living force in the lives of the Indian people. A timeless epic, it recounts the legend of the noble prince Rama and his battle to vanquish the demon king Ravana.
Even before he is crowned king of Ayodhya, Rama is exiled to the Dandaka forests where he is accompanied by his beauteous wife Sita and loyal brother Lakshmana. Deep in the jungle, Sita is abducted by Ravana and taken to his island kingdom Lanka, setting into motion a dramatic chain of events that culminates in an epoch-defining war. Filled with adventure and spectacle, the Ramayana is also the poignant story of a family caught up in the conflict between personal duty and individual desires.
In Bibek Debroy’s majestic new translation, the complete and unabridged text of the Critical Edition of this beloved epic can now be relished by a new generation of readers.
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THE BHAGAVATA PURANA: VOLUMES 1–3
Translated by Bibek Debroy
A seamless blend of fable and philosophy, the Bhagavata Purana is perhaps the most revered text in the Vaishnava tradition. It brings to life the legends of gods, asuras, sages and kings—all the while articulating the crucial ethical and philosophical tenets that underpin Hindu spiritualism.
The narrative unfolds through a series of conversations and interconnected stories. We are told how the sage Vyasa was inspired by Narada to compose the Bhagavata Purana as a means to illumine the path to a spiritual life. We learn of the devotion of Prahlada, the austerity of Dhruva and the blinding conceit of Daksha. Also recounted are tales of the many incarnations of Vishnu, especially Krishna, whom we see grow from a beloved and playful child to a fierce protector of the faithful.
THE BEGINNING
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This collection published 2019
Copyright © Bibek Debroy 2019
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Jacket images © Shamanthi Rajasigham
This digital edition published in 2019.
e-ISBN: 978-9-353-05671-1
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 publisher’s prior 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.