Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts)

by Debroy, Bibek

  ‘Dhoumya spoke these words, full of grave import, to the king. “O king! You are learned, self-controlled, true to your promises and in control of your senses. Such men are not confounded when they confront a calamity. In times of difficulty, even the great-souled gods have gone into hiding in many places, with the objective of subjugating their enemies. To accomplish the task of subjugating the strength of his enemies, Indra went to a hermitage in the land of the nishadhas, located on the slopes of a mountain, and hid there.33 To kill the daityas, Vishnu spent a long time in hiding in Aditi’s womb and was then born as Hayashira.34 Disguising himself in the form of a dwarf, the one whose form is that of the brahman, used his valour to rob Bali of his kingdom.35 You have heard about this. O son! You have heard everything about how brahmarshi Ourva accomplished the objective of the worlds while hidden in a thigh.36 O one learned in dharma! You have heard how Hari hid himself in Shakra’s vajra so that Vritra might be killed. You have heard everything about how Agni entered and concealed himself in the water to accomplish the task of the gods. O son! The supremely energetic Vivasvat lived in hiding in earth and later burnt up all his enemies. Vishnu, terrible in his deeds, lived in Dasharatha’s house and in disguise, killed Dashagriva in battle.37 Thus did the great-souled ones live in disguise. Then they conquered their enemies in battle and you will also triumph in that way.” Yudhishthira was thus comforted by the words of Dhoumya, who knew about dharma, and using his own intelligence and knowledge of the sacred texts, no longer wavered.

  ‘The mighty-armed and immensely strong Bhimasena, foremost among strong ones, spoke to the king and raised his spirits. “O great king! Look at Gandivadhanva.38 Because of his devotion to dharma and because of his own intelligence, he has not acted foolishly yet. Nakula and Sahadeva, terrible in their valour, are capable of slaying the enemies, but have always been restrained by me. We will not deviate from whatever task you assign to us. You must tell us what we should do and we will swiftly carry it out and vanquish our enemies.” When Bhimasena spoke these words, the brahmanas pronounced supreme benedictions on them. Having bid farewell to the descendants of the Bharata lineage, all of them returned to their own houses. All those who were foremost in knowledge of the Vedas, ascetics and sages, pronounced their blessings in the prescribed way and desired to see them again. The five learned Pandavas arose with Dhoumya. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The brave ones set out with Krishna. After traversing the distance of a krosha, they seated themselves at a spot. Those tigers among men were ready to begin their sojourn of concealment. Each of them was separately learned in the sacred texts. But all of them were also skilled in consultations. They were knowledgeable about when it was a time for peace and when it was a time for war. Before departing, they sat down and consulted each other.’

  This ends Aranyaka Parva.

  The fourth volume will have Virata Parva and Udyoga Parva and cover Sections 45 to 60 of the 100 parva classification. It describes the sojourn in disguise of the Pandavas in King Virata’s court and the cattle raid in which the Kouravas are defeated. With the period of banishment over, the Pandavas want their share of the kingdom back. When this is refused, Udyoga Parva has the preparations for the inevitable war.

  Mahabharata: Volume 4 will be published in November 2011.

  Acknowledgements

  Carving time out from one’s regular schedule and work engagements to embark on such a mammoth work of translation has been difficult. The past tense should not be used, since only 30 per cent of the road has yet been traversed. Sometimes, I wish I had been born in nineteenth-century Bengal, with a benefactor funding me for doing nothing but this. But alas, the days of gentlemen of leisure are long over. The time could not be carved out from professional engagements, barring of course assorted television channels, who must have wondered why I have been so reluctant to head for their studios in the evenings. It was ascribed to health, interpreted as adverse health. It was certainly health, but not in an adverse sense. Reading the Mahabharata is good for one’s mental health and is an activity to be recommended, without any statutory warnings. The time was stolen in the evenings and over weekends. The cost was therefore borne by one’s immediate family, and to a lesser extent by friends. Socializing was reduced, since every dinner meant one less chapter done. The family has first claim on the debt, though I am sure it also has claim on whatever merits are due. At least Suparna does, and these volumes are therefore dedicated to her. I suspect Sirius has no claim on the merits, though he has been remarkably patient at the times when he has been curled up near my feet and I have been translating away. There is some allegory there about a dog keeping company when the Mahabharata is being read and translated.

  Most people have thought I was mad, even if they never quite said that. Among those who believed and thought it was worthwhile, beyond immediate family, are M. Veerappa Moily, Ashok Desai, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Laveesh Bhandari. And my sons, Nihshanka and Vidroha. The various reviewers of the first volume have also been extremely kind. Incidentally, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Vaman Shivram Apte. When he compiled the student’s Sanskrit dictionary more than a hundred years ago in Pune, I am certain he had no idea that it would be used so comprehensively to translate the Mahabharata.

  Penguin also believed. My initial hesitation about being able to deliver was brushed aside by R. Sivapriya, who pushed me after the series had been commissioned by V. Karthika. And then Sumitra Srinivasan became the editor, followed by Paloma Dutta. The enthusiasm of these ladies was so infectious that everything just snowballed and Paloma ensured that the final product of the third volume was much more readable than what I had initially produced.

  When I first embarked on what was also a personal voyage of sorts, the end was never in sight and seemed to stretch to infinity. Now that 30 per cent is over (and 10 per cent more is in the pipeline), the horizon can be seen. And all the people mentioned above have had a role to play in this journey.

  1 Brahmana is a text and also the word used for the highest caste.

  2 A class of religious and philosophical texts that are composed in the forest, or are meant to be studied when one retires to the forest.

  3 The six Vedangas are shiksha (articulation and pronunciation), chhanda (prosody), vyakarana (grammar), nirukta (etymology), jyotisha (astronomy) and kalpa (rituals).

  4 Religion, duty.

  5 Wealth. But in general, any object of the senses.

  6 Desire.

  7 Release from the cycle of rebirth.

  9 Krishna or Krishnaa is another name for Droupadi.

  1 A maharatha is in general a mighty warrior. More specifically, a maharatha is skilled in the use of all weapons and can take on ten thousand warriors single-handedly.

  2 Divine sage.

  3 The supreme soul or paramatman.

  4 Yudhishthira.

  5 Shatakratu is one of Indra’s names, meaning the performer of one hundred (shata) sacrifices (kratu).

  6 The sacred savitri mantra from the Rig Veda, also known as the gayatri mantra. This is an incantation to the sun.

  7 Mount Meru, mythical mountain that is the centre of the earth.

  8 Droupadi’s name.

  9 Sons of Pritha or Kunti, that is, the Pandavas.

  10 Vaishampayana is speaking to Janamejaya and telling him the story.

  11 Sage.

  12 Yudhishthira is Dharma’s son.

  13 Yudhishthira’s name.

  14 The word used is pradakshina, which is much more specific than a mere act of circling. This circling or circumambulation has to be done in a specific way, so that the right side (dakshina) always faces what is being circled. If one is undertaking a tour of pilgrimage, this must begin with the south, then move to the west, then the north and finally the east. The right side, so to speak, then always faces the centre of the earth.

  15 One of the seven great sages.

  16 Bhishma was Shantanu’s son. It never becomes clear what vow Bhishma observed for Shantanu. H
owever, Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati and Bhishma took the vow that he would never marry. This vow could have had something to do with that.

  17 Bhagirathi is one of Ganga’s names and the river is so named because King Bhagiratha brought Ganga down from heaven.

  18 Gandharvas are celestial musicians and semi-divine.

  19 Arghya (or argha) is an offering made to a guest as a sign of veneration.

  20 Because there is no desire for material possessions.

  21 Because there is no desire for the fruits of undertakings.

  22 Agnishtoma is more than a sacrifice performed with fire (agni). There was a class of soma sacrifices known as jyotishtoma and agnishtoma was part of this, performed for several days during the spring.

  23 Pushkara is near Ajmer and there is a temple to Brahma there. There are several other temples too. However, there is also a Pushkara in the village of Ponkar Kheri in Jind district (Haryana).

  24 Sandhya means union and is used for morning (dawn) and evening (dusk) twilights, when night unites with day. That makes it two sandhyas. The third one is midday (noon), uniting forenoon with afternoon.

  25 The Adityas are the sons of Aditi and the expression is used for gods in general. More specifically, there are twelve Adityas who are manifestations of the sun and shine together at the time of destruction. The names of these twelve Adityas vary, but the most common list is Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Daksha, Bhaga, Amsha, Tvashtra, Savita, Pusha, Shakra, Vivasvat and Vishnu. Sometimes, Varuna, Daksha and Amsha are replaced by Dhata, Rudra and Surya.

  26 There are eight Vasus. According to the Mahabharata, they are descended from Brahma. The names of the eight Vasus vary from one text to another. According to the Mahabharata, the names are Anala (alternatively Agni), Dhara (Prithvi elsewhere), Anila (alternatively Vayu), Aha (Antariksha elsewhere), Pratyusha (Aditya elsewhere), Prabhasa (Dyaus elsewhere), Soma (alternatively Chandrama) and Dhruva.

  27 By the time of the Mahabharata, the god Rudra was identified with Shiva. In the plural, the Rudras are slightly inferior companions of Shiva and there are eleven of them. The names of the eleven Rudras vary from one list to another and one such list has Mrigavyadha, Sarva, Nirriti, Ajaekapada, Ahirbudhnya, Pinaki, Dahana, Ishvara, Kapali, Sthanu and Bhava.

  28 Relatively minor gods.

  29 Gods of storm and wind, companions of Indra. The number of Maruts varies.

  30 Apsaras are celestial dancers who serve Indra, sometimes regarded as wives of gandharvas.

  31 Literally, union. Stands for the union between the human soul and the supreme one.

  32 Brahma.

  33 A horse sacrifice.

  34 Vishnu’s name, because Vishnu killed a demon named Madhu.

  35 Obtains the fruits of all the sacrifices.

  36 Maintenance of the sacred fire and the offering of oblations to it.

  37 It is impossible to identify this. Jambudvipa is one of the seven continents (dvipa) that surround Mount Meru and Jambumarga is probably a road (marga) leading to Jambudvipa.

  38 Famous sage.

  39 Merits of a fire sacrifice.

  40 Kartikeya’s name.

  41 Famous sage.

  42 The story of Yayati’s fall from heaven has been described in Section 1 (Volume 1).

  43 Mahakala is Shiva’s name and Mahakala can be the name of any place where there is a temple to Shiva. However, the most famous of Mahakala temples is in Ujjain (Ujjayini).

  44 A place of pilgrimage in the vicinity of Ujjain, impossible to identify. Koti not only means crore, but also highest point. So this could be a nearby tirtha that was at a high altitude.

  45 Uma is Parvati and Uma’s consort is Shiva.

  46 Today’s Barwaha in Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of the river Narmada.

  47 Shiva’s name.

  48 Shiva’s name.

  49 Ganapati is Ganesha’s name and means the lord (pati) of ganas (companions of Shiva). The status of ganapatya can mean that one becomes devoted to Ganapati. Alternatively, it can mean that one becomes a chief among men.

  50 Usually interpreted as a celibate person. One who is observing brahmacharya, the stage of celibacy, when one is studying. However, brahmacharya means worship of the brahman or following the path of the brahman.

  51 Attains the fruits of agnishtoma.

  52 Charmanvati is the river Chambal. King Rantideva was born in the Bharata lineage. He performed many sacrifices and slaughtered animals, both for sacrifices and for food. Thus, a river of blood issued from the hides (charma) of the animals he killed and came to be known as Charmanvati.

  53 There is a minor internal inconsistency, because Pulastya is actually speaking to Bhishma, and Narada is repeating the conversation to Yudhishthira.

  54 Arbuda is Mount Abu in Rajasthan. Arbuda is also the name of a naga and the sage Vasishtha had his hermitage in Arbuda. There are many myths connected with the hole in the earth in Arbuda. One of these is the Utanka story, recounted in Section 1 (Volume 1). The hole in the earth that Utanka followed in search of the earrings is the one in Arbuda. In other stories, Indra created the hole in the earth there.

  55 The fruits of donating one thousand cows.

  56 Obtain the fruits from donating one hundred tawny cows. The word pinga also means reddish-brown or tawny.

  57 Prabhasa is near Dvaraka or Dvaravati.

  58 The god of fire. The fire-god is the mouth of the gods because oblations to the gods are offered to the fire.

  59 Atiratra is another sacrifice that was part of jyotishtoma.

  60 Donating one thousand cows.

  61 The fruits of ashvamedha.

  62 There is a minor internal inconsistency, because Pulastya is actually speaking to Bhishma, and Narada is repeating the conversation to Yudhishthira.

  63 The fruits of donating one thousand cows.

  64 In Gujarat.

  65 Pindaraka.

  66 The river Indus.

  67 There is a minor internal inconsistency, because Pulastya is actually speaking to Bhishma, and Narada is repeating the conversation to Yudhishthira.

  68 Ten times the fruits of an ashvamedha. Lord of Shankukarna can be interpreted in more than one way. Shanku is a spike and karna means an ear. Shankukarna means spike-eared and means an ass. However, there is no god identifiable as the lord of asses. Shankukarna was one of Brahma’s servants. Therefore, lord of Shankukarna might mean Brahma. However, this Shankukarna was born as Prahlada, devoted to Vishnu. Hence, lord of Shankukarna might also mean Vishnu.

  69 Mahadeva or Shiva.

  70 The fruits of a horse sacrifice.

  71 That is, the demons.

  72 The fruits of a horse sacrifice.

  73 Indra’s.

  74Siddhi means accomplishment. Siddhas are semi-divine species who have attained these superhuman accomplishments or faculties.

  75 The land of the five (pancha) rivers (nada), Punjab. The five rivers are Shatadru, Vipasha, Iravati, Chandrabhaga and Vitasta.

  76 The fruits of the five sacrifices. The five sacrifices are those required to be performed every day by householders—studying and offering oblations to brahmanas, ancestors, gods and all other beings.

  77 This has been identified with Kapildhara (or Kapiladhara) in Madhya Pradesh, near Amarkantaka. But this is contrived, since one is in the region around Punjab. Bhimasthana is more likely to be Uddiyana or Oddiyana, in the Swat Valley.

  78Yoni means womb, but this is a reference to a geographical place. It is probably Shahbaz Garhi in Mardan division in Pakistan. This was an important place in Gandhara, was known as Varshapura, and there used to be a temple of Parvati there.

  79 Donating one hundred thousand cows.

  80 Brahma.

  81 Donating one thousand cows.

  82 Vimala is identified with Baramula in Kashmir, on the banks of the Jhelum. Baramula is derived from varaha (boar) and mula (origin or source), a reference to Vishnu’s boar incarnation. There was a lake there and Vishnu drained it in the form of
his boar incarnation. Vimala tirtha is thus also known as Varaha tirtha.

  83 The fruits of a horse sacrifice.

  84 That is, in the evening.

  85 An oblation made of rice, barley and pulses and boiled in milk and butter.

  86 Donating a hundred thousand cows.

  87 Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir. Udhampur was once known as Devika nagari (city) on the banks of the Devaka or Devika river. There is an ancient Devika temple in Udhampur.

  88 The wielder of the trident is Shiva. There is a famous Shiva temple in Udhampur.

  89 Not to be confused with the famous Kamakhya temple in Guwahati in Assam.

  90 This is Yaajana, while the earlier one is Yajana.

  91 A yojana is between 8 to 9 miles.

  92 Other than being a specific geographical place, dirghasatra means a long or prolonged (dirgha) sacrifice (satra).

  93 The stipend or fee paid to brahmanas and thus, gifts given at sacrifices.

  94 Vinasana is also known as Adarshana and was probably near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

  95 The same as Chamasa.

  96 Donating one thousand cows.

  97 Nagas aren’t snakes. In this translation, they have throughout been translated as serpents, rather than snakes. Nagas live in a distinct geographical region of their own and possess semi-divine attributes. For instance, they can assume any form at will.