Mahabharata Vol. 2 (Penguin Translated Texts) (54 page)

‘Brihadashva said, “When the happy city had quietened down and a great festival had started, the king sent a large army to bring Damayanti. Damayanti’s father Bhima, terrible in valour, the destroyer of enemy heroes and indomitable in his soul, sent her with due honours. After the arrival of Vidarbha’s daughter with her children, King Nala spent his days in happiness, like the king of the gods in Nandana. The immensely famous king, having regained his kingdom, began to live there once more and became famous among all the kings of Jambudvipa.
¹⁹⁴
As is prescribed, he performed many sacrifices and gave away a lot of dakshina. O Indra among kings! Soon, together with your well-wishers, you will also spend this time. O bull among the Bharata lineage! O best of men! Thus did Nala, the destroyer of
enemy cities, confront this kind of unhappiness, together with his wife, because of gambling. O lord of the earth! Nala, who was alone, suffered this terrible and great grief. But he regained his prosperity. O Pandava! But you are accompanied by your brothers and Krishna.
¹⁹⁵
Thinking about dharma, you are enjoying yourself in this great forest. O king! The immensely fortunate brahmanas, learned in the Vedas and the Vedangas, are always with you. Where is the cause for sorrow? It is said that this account brings about the destruction of Kali. O lord of the earth! On hearing it, a person like you is capable of being consoled. Thinking that human prosperity is always transient, you should not sorrow over its coming and going. Those who recount Nala’s great tale and those who listen to it often, are never confronted by calamity. He obtains riches and prosperity flows towards him. He who hears this eternal, supreme and ancient history, obtains sons, grandsons, animals and an exalted position among men. There is no doubt that he is without disease and finds happiness. O king! I will destroy the fear that you see, that you may be challenged again by someone skilled with dice. O king! I know the heart of dice. Truth is your valour and I am pleased with you. O Kounteya! I will tell you. Learn it from me.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘The king
¹⁹⁶
was extremely happy and told Brihadashva, “O illustrious one! I wish to know the secrets about the heart of the dice from you.” Then the great-souled one gave the Pandava the secrets of the dice. Having given it, the immensely ascetic one went to Ashvashira
¹⁹⁷
to bathe. When Brihadashva had left, he
¹⁹⁸
heard from wise ones, brahmanas and ascetics that Savyasachi Partha was engaged in terrible austerities, surviving only on air. Those ones, who were rigid in their vows, had assembled there from large mountains and tirthas. They said, “The mighty-armed Partha is engaged in fearful austerities and so terrible are these austerities that the likes of them have not been witnessed before. Partha Dhananjaya
is eternally engaged in the vows of an ascetic. The fortunate one is living alone like a hermit and is like the god Dharma personified.” O king! On hearing that his beloved brother Jaya
¹⁹⁹
was tormenting himself in the great forest through austerities, Pandava Kounteya suffered on his account. Tormented in his heart, Yudhishthira sought refuge in the great forest and questioned brahmanas who were versed in different kinds of knowledge.’

Janamejaya said, ‘O illustrious one! When my great-grandfather Partha left Kamyaka forest, what did the Pandavas
²⁰⁰
do without Savyasachi? It seems to me that the great archer, the vanquisher of enemy armies, was their refuge, like Vishnu is that of the Adityas. Without him, who is the equal of Indra in valour and has never withdrawn from the field of battle, how did my brave grandfathers spend their time in the forest?’

Vaishampayana replied, ‘O son! When Pandava Savyasachi left Kamyaka forest, the Kouravas were immersed in sorrow and grief. The Pandavas looked like jewels from a string that has been broken or birds whose wings have been clipped. All of them were unhappy. Without the one whose deeds are undecaying, the forest became like Chaitraratha
²⁰¹
when Kubera is not there. O Janamejaya! In his absence, the Pandavas, tigers among men, lived joylessly in Kamyaka. O best of the Bharata lineage! Those valorous maharathas use pure-tipped arrows to kill many kinds of sacrificial animals for the brahmanas. Those destroyers of enemies, tigers among men, collected forest fare every day, and after having spread it out, offered it to the brahmanas.
O king! After Dhananjaya’s departure, those bulls among men lived there, unhappy in their minds and anxious about him.

‘In particular, Panchali remembered the husband who was in the middle, the brave one who was absent. She told the foremost of the Pandavas,
²⁰²
“In the absence of the two-armed Arjuna, the equal of the many-armed Arjuna
²⁰³
and the best of the Pandavas, this forest seems cheerless to me. Wherever I look, the earth seems to be empty to me. This forest, with its many marvels and blossoming trees, no longer seems to be attractive in Savyasachi’s absence. This Kamyaka is as blue as monsoon clouds and is frequented by elephants in rut. But without Pundarikaksha,
²⁰⁴
it has no charm. The twang of his bow is like the roar of the thunder. O king! I remember Savyasachi and without him, I cannot find any peace of mind.” O great king! On hearing this lamentation, Bhimasena, the destroyer of enemy warriors, told Droupadi, “O beautiful one! O slim-waisted one! The words that you speak please the mind and they gladden my heart, like a sip of ambrosia. His arms were long and smooth and thick like clubs. They were round and marked from the string of the bow. With swords, weapons and clubs, with golden rings and arm-guards, they were like five-headed serpents. Without that tiger among men, the forest seems to have lost its sun. Depending on that mighty-armed one, the Panchalas and the Kurus do not fear even the powerful gods in battle. All of us found refuge in the arms of that great-souled one. We considered that we had routed our enemies and had obtained the earth. Without the brave Phalguna, I find no mental peace in Kamyaka. As I look upon this earth, it seems to me to be empty everywhere.” Nakula said, “He went to the northern directions and
defeated immensely powerful ones in battle. Vasava’s son
²⁰⁵
obtained hundreds of excellent gandharva horses. O king! They had the colour of partridges and were dappled. They were as fast as the wind. He gave them to his beloved brother at the time of the great rajasuya sacrifice. Without that terrible archer, Bhima’s younger brother, without the one who is an equal of the gods, I no longer wish to live in Kamyaka forest.” Sahadeva said, “He won riches and women in battle. He defeated maharathas. In earlier times, he brought them all to the king at the time of the great rajasuya sacrifice. He is an immensely radiant one who vanquished all the Yadavas in the field of battle. With Vasudeva’s consent, he single-handedly abducted Subhadra. When I see that Jishnu’s seat is empty in our house, there can never be any peace in my heart. O great king! I think we should no longer live in this forest. O destroyer of enemies! Without that brave one, none of us finds this forest to be attractive.”’

The third volume will complete Aranyaka (Vana) Parva, the story of the sojourn in the forest and will cover Sections 33 to 44 of the 100-parva classification. This volume has detailed descriptions of tirthas and recounts the stories of Agastya, Rishyashringa, Kartavirya, Sukanya and Chyavana, Mandhata, Jantu, Shibi, Ashtavakra, Yavakrita, Jatasura, Markandeya and Arjuna’s slaying of the Nivatakavacha demons. The Kouravas are defeated by the gandharvas and freed by the Pandavas. Droupadi is abducted by the Kouravas (Jayadratha) and freed. Karna is robbed of his earrings by Indra.

Mahabharata: Volume 3
will be published in April 2011.

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 20 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 second 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 20 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
Droupadi.

²
Depending on the context, dharma is translated as law, virtue or religion. None of these captures the exact nuance of dharma holding things up and dharma has therefore been retained in the translation.

³
Divine sage.

⁴
Narada was Brahma’s son, born from Brahma’s mind. He was a messenger of the gods, travelling back and forth between the world of men and the world of the gods. He also had a tendency to create dissension and conflict.

⁵
Arghya
, offerings made to those who are revered, including guests.

⁶
Sage.

⁷
Panchala was Drupada’s kingdom.

⁸
Demon. Asura or demon is used as the antithesis of
sura
or god.

⁹
Svarga
(heaven),
prithivi
(earth) and
patala
(the nether world).

¹⁰
Actually, the Pandavas haven’t been told that Tilottama was an apsara. An
apsara
is a celestial maiden. Apsaras are sometimes described as Indra’s servants and sometimes as wives of the
gandharva
s. They are also dancers and a bit like celestial courtesans.

¹¹
Kunti.

¹²
Hiranyakashipu was the son of Kashyapa and Diti and his son was Prahlada. Vishnu killed him in his
narasimha
incarnation.

¹³
The daityas are the sons of Diti and were demons.
Danavas
are the sons of Danu and are also demons. Daitya, danava and asura are usually used synonymously, though the etymology is distinct.

¹⁴
Delusion.

¹⁵
Demon.

¹⁶
Koumuda
is the month of Kartika and koumudi is a festival that is observed on the full moon day in Kartika (sometimes the full moon day in the month of Ashvina), when everything is illuminated.

¹⁷
Magha is one of the twenty-seven lunar mansions or
nakshatra
s, specifically, the tenth. Nakshatra can be translated as star, but not all nakshatras are stars. Sometimes, they are constellations. For instance, Magha is actually a constellation with five stars.

¹⁸
The critical edition has dharma. Some other editions have
varma
or armour, in which case, the army would have been clad in armour. Given the context, varma is more appropriate.

¹⁹
Bards.

²⁰
Heaven needs explanation, the word used in Sanskrit is
trivishtapa
. More accurately, the word should be translated as Indra’s world. There were thirty (or thirty-three) gods. Even more accurately,
trivishtapa
should be translated as the world of the thirty.