Mahabharata

The Book And Its Author Smt. Kamala Subramaniam was born on October4, 1916 in Banglore. Her father was the eminent Kannada poet and dramatist, Shri T. P. Kailasam. She Studies under the distinguished scholar Prof. B. M. Srikantiah. She read avidly both classics and modern thrillers and her knowledge of English literature, especially of Shakespeare, was profound. She also loved philosophy and knew her Bible as well as she knew the Gita.

In 1937, Smt. Kamala married Dr. V. S. Subramaniam, a renowned E.N.T. Surgeon of Madras. In spite of her family concerns, she pursued her literary interests and wrote a series of imaginary conversations on the model of Landor’s for Triveni under the pen-name “Ketaki”.

Herlove of literature, nursed over the years, expressed itself in her developing a fascination for the Epics and Puranas of India.

In the late 60s Smt. Kamala underwent and operation for cancer, which gave her a ten-year lease of life. Lesser mortals would have been un-nerved by this but for Smt. Kamala it came as a challenge and this period turned out to be the most productive literary period of her life.

Her first labour of love was the retelling of the Mahabharata. In this masterly condensation, of India’s great epic, Smt. Kamala captures with dramatic intensity the movement of the story. As the episodes unfold in Smt. Kamala’s vivid narrative, one seems to hear Draupadi’s wail of distress, Duryodhan’s arrogant laughter, and even the twang of Arjuna’s bow, the Gandiva.

The epics and puranas epitomise our culture. The heroes and heroines set high standars of nobility, heroism, and chivalry. They have moulded the life and outlook of generations of Indians.

Smt. Kamala Subramaniam has left a priceless legacy for the young and the old.

The gifted author passed away on February 21, 1938.

Smt. Kamala was so self-effacing that she would not even permit her photograph to be printed on the jackets of her books. As a friend of hers wrote: as she wrote, she felt, as she felt, she lived in her invisible world and as she real for her and so it will grow for us when we read books.

Foreword Smt. Kamala Subramaniam has attempted not only a summary of the great and wonderful epic, Mahabharata, but has also brought out the magic of its human interest and spiritual profundity. Besides brining the central story into relief, she has give due place to all important conversations and episodes.

To quote, what I wrote about Mahabharata in 1951.

“The Mahabharata is not a mere spic; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival; but, above all, it has for its core the Gita, which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas the climax of which is reached in the wondrous Apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto. Through such books alone, the harmonies underlying true culture, I am convinced, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life.

To an English reader, this volume will bring home the validity of the comment made by generations of Indian authors that “what is not there is nowhere to be found”.

Smt. Subramaniam’s style is lucid and expressive. At places, it reads not as a summery, but the original.

Smt. Subramaniam has rendered great service to the English-knowing public which has neither the time nor ability to read the original.

I congratulate her on the conscientious labour that she has put in preparing this volume.

Preface For the last so may years the Mahabharata has held me in thrall. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two renowned epics of India. The Mahabharata is the longer of the two. There are more characters in it and the story too is more complicated than the Ramayana.

In those days, that is twenty-five o thirty years ago, children were more familiar with these two stories then they are now. It was then the fashion to stage these stories and also there used to be Harikathas where the stories were narrated to an audience. But now the days are changed. I have noticed that, on the whole, many children and youngsters today are almost strangers to the stories. This is indeed a sad state of affairs.

I have always wanted to share the Mahabharata with everyone, specially youngsters. There are a number of difficulties attending this. The most conspicuous of them is, of course, the length of the book. It is made up eighteen volumes, “Parvas” as they are called; and each is made up of roughly three to four hundred pages of poetry. Unless one is devotes to the epic it is not possible to read it through easily. The language is the next hurdle. Nowadays there are very few youngster who are familiar enough with Sanskrit to read through the book in the original.

The only alternative is to read translations. I have seen several translations of the Mahabharata, and not one is satisafactory. They are all literal translations. A literal translation is like the wrong side of a tapestry: the threads are all there but the pattern is missing. It is so with this great epic. It is not possible to do full justice to it in a literal translation. The English used by the translator is not suited to the elaborate similes which are common to Sanskrit. Let me quote a couple of instances. In Sanskrit Arjuna is called “Bharatarshabha”. This is very Pleasing to the ear in Sanskrit. But, when translated into English it has to be” “O Bull of the Bharata Race!”. One can see how awkward it sounds. Again, a woman is addressed as “Mahagajagaamini” In Sanskrit. In English it has to be “O woman with the gait of an elephant in rut!” This sounds so ridiculous. Literal translations fail because of the vat difference between the Eastern and the Western ways of description. Indian ideas of beauty are far different from those of the West. Again, I have seen several condensation of the Mahabharata: books which give us just the story of the epic. Here again, there is a handicap. The story is there of course. But the characters in the story are not handled properly. They cannot be, since there is not enough space for it.

For a long time I have wanted to write a book which will rectify these faults. I have wanted to present the book in such a manner that the story will capture the imagination of the reader. I want my book to be a narration of the stupendous drama which was enacted years ago. To me the Mahabharata is like a Greek Tragedy. I am fascinated by the many characters who appear in it. I have tried to bring out the characters of the many heroes who appear in it, as sympathetically as I could. Having studied Shakespeare, one cannot help studying the angle the epic present immense possibilities.

Considering all these things, I have rendered the epic into English. It is not quite a translation” into in the usual sense of the word. One might call it a ‘free translation’. I have tried to narrate the story as dramatically as possible. I have narrated it in simple straightforward English. In this task, if one has to retain the spirit of the epic and the atmosphere, one has to fall back upon the quaint, old-fashioned English. This seems to suit the epic perfectly. At times, crisp clear English does not work. I find the blending of the old and the new to be the perfect medium for the narration. So I have deliberately adopted the style, which to my thinking, is absolutely perfect.

My aim, as I said before, is to bring out the dramatic significance of the many scenes. Wherever the situation was worth some trouble, I have taken the trouble and added a few touches, a few thoughts of my own, to enhance the dramatic value of the situation. But I have been faithful to the original throughout: except, perhaps, in two places or three. Even there, I have not-departed from the facts. Only I have tried to intensify the dramatic value of the situation by my embellishments. One of them, if I remember right, is the names of the villages which Yudhisthira asks for. The names Indraprastha, Vrikaprastha, jayanta and Varanavata do not occur in the context. But they are mentioned in the play Venisamhasa and I have used them. The other, is perhaps the scene in which parikshit is given life. But the scene itself is so sublime that no exaggeration can be considered sufficient for the grandeur of the scene.

If, after reading the book, a few at least will read the epic in the original, my desire will be fulfilled. May I say that my book is just a guide into vast ocean called the Mahabharata?

Back of The Book The Mahabharata is not a mere epic; it is romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who were divine; it is whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative though on human problems that is hard to rival; but, above all, it has for its core with Gita, which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sages the climax of which is reached in the wondrous Apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto. Through such book alone, the harmonies underlying true culture, I am convinced, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life.

To an English reader, this volume will bring home the validity of the comment made by generations of Indian authors that “want is not there is nowhere to be found.”

Contents

		Page
	Foreword	v
	Preface	vii
	Adi Parva
1.	On the banks of the Ganga	3
2.	Sixteen Years Later	6
3.	The Fisherman’s Daughter	7
4.	The Vow of Celibacy	9
5.	The Swayamvara at Kasi	12
6.	Amba’s Thirst for Revenga	17
7.	Satyavati and Bheeshma	18
8.	The Advent to Vyaasa	21
9.	The Marriages of Pandu and Dhritarashtra	23
10.	Born of the Sun	25
11.	Pandu is Cursed	28
12.	The Birth of the Pandavas and Duryodhana	31
13.	The Death of Pandu	34
14.	Towards Hastinapura	37
15.	Jealousy: Its First Sprouts	40
16.	Enter Drona	44
17.	Drona and Drupada	45
18.	Ekalavya the Nishada	48
19.	Radheya	50
20.	Bhargava’s Curse	53
21.	The Tournament	58
22.	Gurudakshina: Drona’s Revenga	66
23.	The Plot	69
24.	The Pandavas sent to Varanavata	73
25.	In Varanavata	76
26.	The Burning of the House of Lac	79
27.	News Reaches Hastinapura	82
28.	Bheema’s Marriage with Hidimbi	83
29.	The Birth of Ghatotkacha	89
30.	Ekachakra and The Killing of Baka	90
31.	The Brahmin’s Story	96
32.	The Advent of Dhaumya	100
33.	Kampilya	102
34.	Draupadi’s Swaya,avara	105
35.	The Lord Meets the Pandavas	109
36.	“All Five of us Will Marry Your Daughter”	112
37.	Panic in The Kaurava Court	114
38.	The Assembly All	118
39.	Khandavaprastha, the Gift of the King	122
40.	Arjuna’s Teerthayatra	125
41.	Subhadra’s Gardens	127
42.	Subhadraarjuna	131
43.	Arjuna’s Return to Indraprastha	134
44.	The Hungry Brahmin	137
45.	The Burning of The Khandava Forest	140
	Sabha Parva
1.	Maya Builds a Hall	145
2.	Narada’s Visit to Indraprastha	149
3.	Yudhishthira’s Desire	150
4.	Jarasandha	154
5.	The Rajasuya	160
6.	Krishna, the Guest of Honour	164
7.	The killing of Sisupala	169
8.	When Draupadi Laughed	172
9.	The Sabha at Jayantra	176
10.	Farewell to Indraprastha	179
11.	The Die is Cast	181
12.	Draupadi a Slave	185
13.	Draupadi Loses a Question	188
14.	Insult Heaped on Insult	191
15.	The Terrible Oaths	195
16.	The Game to be Played Again	198
17.	The Banishment of the pandavas	200
	Vana Parva
1.	Kamyaka Forest	207
2.	The Curse of Maitreya	210
3.	Krishna’s Oath	212
4.	Dwaitavana	215
5.	Bheema, Draupadi and Yudhishthira	218
6.	Arjuna’s Journey to Indrakila	223
7.	Pasupata	225
8.	The Other Astras	229
9.	Urvasi’s Wrath	231
10.	Yudhishthra’s Teerthayatra	235
11.	Toward Himavan	239
12.	Bheema and Hanuman	243
13.	The Return of Arjuna	247
14.	Nahusha, The Fallen God	251
15.	Two Years More	256
16.	Duryodhana’s Ghoshyatra	259
17.	Praayopavesa	264
18.	Duryodhana’s Rajasuya	267
19.	Jayadratha	269
20.	The Lake of Death	273
21.	Yaksha-Prasna	277
	Virata Parva
1.	Plans for The Thirteenth Year	287
2.	Kanka in The Court of Virata	291
3.	The Pandavas in Virata	295
4.	Saisandhri	298
5.	The Wrestling Match	300
6.	Radheya’s Dream	302
7.	The Begging-Bowl of Indra	306
8.	Keechaka-The Brother of The Queen	310
9.	Sairandhri in The Court Hall	315
10.	Bheema and Sairandhri	318
11.	The Dance Hall-The Trysting Place	321
12.	The Assembly in Hastinapura	325
13.	Virata’s Cows Stolen!	330
14.	Uttara Kumara-The Young Prince	333
15.	Arjuna and The Young Prince	336
16.	The Sami Three	341
17.	Radheya and Aswatthama	344
18.	Duryodhana’s Heart-Break	349
19.	The Routing of The Kaurava Army	351
20.	Yudhishthiras Blood	357
21.	After The Eclipse, The Full Moon	362
22.	The Wedding of Abhimanyu	365
	Udyoga Parva
1.	The Council Hall in Virata	369
2.	Arjuna and Duryodhana in Dwaraka	376
3.	Kishna-The Charioteer of Arjuna	380
4.	Eighteen Aksauhinist	383
5.	Dhritarashtra’s Reply to Yudhishthira	386
6.	Sanjaya Sent Back to Hastinapura	394
7.	Vidura-Neeti	400
8.	Sanjaya in The Kaurava Court	410
9.	”Give us Five Villages”	414
10.	Krishna leaves for Hastinapura	421
11.	Hastinapura Prepares Herself	428
12.	Krishna and Vidura	432
13.	Krishna-The Peacemaker	434
14.	Duryodhana’s Anger	439
15.	Viswaroopa	445
16.	“Surya is Your Father”	448
17.	Krishna Returns to Upaplavya	455
18.	Bheeshma-The Commender of The Kaurava Army	458
19.	Radheya And Kunti-I	460
20.	Radheya And Kunti-II	464
21.	Radheya And Kunti-III	466
22.	Balarama And Rukmi	470
23.	Uluka in The Pandava Camp	472
	Bheeshma Parva
1.	The Field of Kurukshetra	479
2.	Yudhishthira’s Chivarly	482
3.	The Bhagavad Gita	485
4.	The Beginning of the End	496
5.	The Second Day	499
6.	Krishna’s Anger	503
7.	Duryodhana’s Despair	508
8.	The Fifth and Sixth Days	513
9.	Sikhandi’s Vain Attempts	518
10.	Ghatitkacha’s Valour	523
11.	The Night in Bheeshma’s Tent	528
12.	Bheeshma-The Forest Fire	531
13.	The Pandavas at The Feet of Bheeshma	536
14.	Sikhandi in The Forefront	542
15.	The Fall of Bheeshma	546
16.	Radheya and Bheeshma	551
	Drona Parva
1.	Radheya Enters The Field	557
2.	To Capture Yudhishthira	560
3.	The Trigartas	564
4.	Supritika, Bhagadata’s Elephant	566
5.	The Fall of Bhagadatta	571
6.	Drona’s Promise	574
7.	The Chakravyuha and Abhimanyu	577
8.	Jayadratha is Formidable	580
9.	The Killing of Abhimanyu	584
10.	Arjuna’s Oath	588
11.	Jayadratha’s Panic	594
12.	Krishna’s Preparations	599
13.	The Fourteenth Day Dawns	603
14.	Arjuna Ploughs Through The Army	606
15.	The Glory That was Drona	609
16.	Arjuna’s Horses are Tired	613
17.	Yudhishthira’s Fears	618
18.	The Prowess of Satyaki	623
19.	Yudhishthira Hears The Pachajanya	627
20.	Bhema’s Dual With Drona	631
21.	Bheema and Radheya	636
22.	Bhoorisravas	639
23.	The Death of Jayadratha	644
24.	Drona Touched to The Quick	647
25.	Radheya and Kripa	652
26.	The Mignight Battle	656
27.	Ghatotkacha	660
28.	The Death of Ghatotkacha	664
29.	Drona Harassed by Duryodhana	668
30.	The One Lie	674
31.	The Fall of Drona	680
32.	Discussions in The Pandava Camp-I	682
33.	Discussions in The Pandava Camp-II	688
34.	The Narayanastra	690
	Karna Parva
1.	Radheya in Command	697
2.	The Sixteenth Day	701
3.	The Last Night of Radheya	702
4.	Salya The Charioteer of Radheya	706
5.	Yudhishthira Hurt by Radheya	709
6.	In Yudhishthira’s Tent	714
7.	The Death of Dussasana	718
8.	Radheya and Arjuna	722
9.	The Death of Radheya	725
10.	The King-A Picture of Woe	731
11.	With His Grandfather	734
	Salya Parva
1.	Kripa and The King	739
2.	Death of Salya	742
3.	Sakuni Dead	746
4.	Dwaipayana Lake	748
5.	Duryodhana Ready to Fight	752
6.	Samantapanchaka	756
7.	The Fall of Duryodhana	759
8.	Balarama’s Wrath	762
	After The War
1.	Arjuna’s Chariot	771
2.	Aswatthama;s Grief	774
3.	The Mignight Massacre	777
4.	Krishna’s Curse	780
5.	The Embrace of Death	783
6.	The Curse of Gandhari	787
7.	“Radheyawas My Son”	790
8.	Yudhishthira’s Unhappiness	795
9.	The Crowning of Yudhishthira	799
10.	Bheeshma on the Bed of Arrows	800
11.	Talks on The Dharma of a King	804
12.	The Passing of Bheeshma	821
13.	Krishna Returns to Dwaraka	824
14.	Parikshit: The Aswamedha Yaga	827
15.	The Death of The Elders	831
16.	The Tragedy at Prabhaasa	834
17.	The Death of Krishna	837
18.	The Sea Enters Dwaraka	840
19.	Yudhishthira Reaches the Heavens	842
20.	The Rules of Heaven	846
	Epilogue	850
	Glossary	851