The Mahabharata , livre ebook

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traduit par Bibek Debroy

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333 pages

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The Greatest Story Ever ToldDispute 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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Publié par	Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd
Date de parution	14 juin 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184756814
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Translated by Bibek Debroy

THE MAHABHARATA
Volume 5 (Sections 60 to 66)
Contents
About the Translator
Praise for the Series
Dedication
Family tree
Map of Bharatavarsha
Introduction
SECTION SIXTY AMBA-UPAKHYANA PARVA A short account of Amba, who was reborn as Shikhandi
SECTION SIXTY-ONE JAMBUKHANDA-VINIRMANA PARVA Gives the measure of Jambukhanda, the central continent on earth
SECTION SIXTY-TWO BHUMI PARVA A description of the earth
SECTION SIXTY-THREE BHAGAVAD GITA PARVA Includes the Bhagavad Gita, the teachings of Krishna to Arjuna; the section begins with the dramatic news that Bhishma has been killed
SECTION SIXTY-FOUR BHISHMA VADHA PARVA Describes the first ten days of the battle with Bhishma as the commander-in- chief; the tenth day is marked by Bhishma s downfall
SECTION SIXTY-FIVE DRONABHISHEKA PARVA Drona is consecrated as the supreme commander; the eleventh day of the battle is described
SECTION SIXTY-SIX SAMSHAPTAKA VADHA PARVA Samshaptakas take an oath to die or kill Arjuna; on the twelfth day of the battle, Arjuna kills several of the samshaptaka warriors
Footnotes
Introduction
Section Sixty: Amba-Upakhyana Parva
Section Sixty-One: Jambukhanda-Vinirmana Parva
Section Sixty-Two: Bhumi Parva
Section Sixty-Three: Bhagavad Gita Parva
Section Sixty-Four: Bhishma Vadha Parva
Section Sixty-Five: Dronabhisheka Parva
Section Sixty-Six: Samshaptaka Vadha Parva
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright Page
About the Translator
B ibek Debroy is a member of NITI Aayog, the successor to the Planning Commission. He is an economist who has published popular articles, papers and books on economics. Before NITI Aayog, he has worked in academic institutes, industry chambers and for the government. Bibek Debroy also writes on Indology and Sanskrit. Penguin published his translation of the Bhagavad Gita in 2006 and Sarama and Her Children: The Dog in Indian Myth in 2008. The 10-volume unabridged translation of the Mahabharata was sequentially published between 2010 and 2014 and he is now translating the Hari Vamsha, to be published in 2016. Bibek Debroy was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.
Praise for the Series
The modernization of language is visible, it s easier on the mind, through expressions that are somewhat familiar. The detailing of the story is intact, the varying tempo maintained, with no deviations from the original. The short introduction reflects a brilliant mind. For those who passionately love the Mahabharata and want to explore it to its depths, Debroy s translation offers great promise . . .
- Hindustan Times
[Debroy] has really carved out a niche for himself in crafting and presenting a translation of the Mahabharata . . . The book takes us on a great journey with admirable ease.
- Indian Express
The first thing that appeals to one is the simplicity with which Debroy has been able to express himself and infuse the right kind of meanings . . . Considering that Sanskrit is not the simplest of languages to translate a text from, Debroy exhibits his deep understanding and appreciation of the medium.
- The Hindu
Overwhelmingly impressive . . . Bibek is a truly eclectic scholar.
- Business Line
Debroy s lucid and nuanced retelling of the original makes the masterpiece even more enjoyably accessible.
- Open
The quality of translation is excellent. The lucid language makes it a pleasure to read the various stories, digressions and parables.
- Tribune
Extremely well-organized, and has a substantial and helpful Introduction, plot summaries and notes . . . beautiful example of a well thought-out layout which makes for much easier reading.
- Book Review
The dispassionate vision [Debroy] brings to this endeavour will surely earn him merit in the three worlds.
- Mail Today
Thoroughly enjoyable and impressively scholarly . . .
- DNA
Debroy s is not the only English translation available in the market, but where he scores and others fail is that his is the closest rendering of the original text in modern English without unduly complicating the readers understanding of the epic.
- Business Standard
The brilliance of Ved Vysya comes through.
- Hindustan Times
For my wife, Suparna Banerjee (Debroy), who has walked this path of dharma with me
Ardha bh ry manu yasya bh ry re hatama sakh Bh ry mulam trivargasya bh ry mitram mari yata
Mahabharata (1/68/40)
N sti bh ry samo bandhurn sti bh ryasam gati N sti bh ryasamo loke sah yo dharmas dhana
Mahabharata (12/142/10)
Family Tree
Bharata/Puru Lineage
Map of Bharatavarsha
Bharatavarsha (Sixth Century BCE)
Introduction
T he Hindu tradition has an amazingly large corpus of religious texts, spanning Vedas, Vedanta ( brahmana s, 1 aranyaka s, 2 Upanishads,), Vedangas, 3 smriti s, Puranas, dharmashastras and itihasa . For most of these texts, especially if one excludes classical Sanskrit literature, we don t quite know when they were composed and by whom, not that one is looking for single authors. Some of the minor Puranas (Upa Purana) are of later vintage. For instance, the Bhavishya Purana (which is often listed as a major Purana or Maha Purana) mentions Queen Victoria.
In the listing of the corpus above figures itihasa, translated into English as history. History doesn t entirely capture the nuance of itihasa, which is better translated as this is indeed what happened . Itihasa isn t myth or fiction. It is a chronicle of what happened; it is fact. Or so runs the belief. And itihasa consists of India s two major epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The former is believed to have been composed as poetry and the latter as prose. This isn t quite correct. The Ramayana has segments in prose and the Mahabharata has segments in poetry. Itihasa doesn t quite belong to the category of religious texts in a way that the Vedas and Vedanta are religious. However, the dividing line between what is religious and what is not is fuzzy. After all, itihasa is also about attaining the objectives of dharma , 4 artha , 5 kama 6 and moksha 7 and the Mahabharata includes Hinduism s most important spiritual text-the Bhagavad Gita.
The epics are not part of the shruti tradition. That tradition is like revelation, without any composer. The epics are part of the smriti tradition. At the time they were composed, there was no question of texts being written down. They were recited, heard, memorized and passed down through the generations. But the smriti tradition had composers. The Ramayana was composed by Valmiki, regarded as the first poet or kavi . The word kavi has a secondary meaning as poet or rhymer. The primary meaning of kavi is someone who is wise.
And in that sense, the composer of the Mahabharata was no less wise. This was Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. He was so named because he classified ( vyasa ) the Vedas. Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva isn t a proper name. It is a title. Once in a while, in accordance with the needs of the era, the Vedas need to be classified. Each such person obtains the title and there have been twenty-eight Vyasadevas so far.
At one level, the question about who composed the Mahabharata is pointless. According to popular belief and according to what the Mahabharata itself states, it was composed by Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa (Vyasadeva). But the text was not composed and cast in stone at a single point in time. Multiple authors kept adding layers and embellishing it. Sections just kept getting added and it is no one s suggestion that Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa composed the text of the Mahabharata as it stands today.
Consequently, the Mahabharata is far more unstructured than the Ramayana. The major sections of the Ramayana are known as kanda s and one meaning of the word kanda is the stem or trunk of a tree, suggesting solidity. The major sections of the Mahabharata are known as parva s and while one meaning of the word parva is limb or member or joint, in its nuance there is greater fluidity in the word parva than in kanda.
The Vyasadeva we are concerned with had a proper name of Krishna Dvaipayana. He was born on an island ( dvipa ). That explains the Dvaipayana part of the name. He was dark. That explains the Krishna part of the name. (It wasn t only the incarnation of Vishnu who had the name of Krishna.) Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa was also related to the protagonists of the Mahabharata story. To go back to the origins, the Ramayana is about the solar dynasty, while the Mahabharata is about the lunar dynasty. As is to be expected, the lunar dynasty begins with Soma (the moon) and goes down through Pururava (who married the famous apsara Urvashi), Nahusha and Yayati. Yayati became old, but wasn t ready to give up the pleasures of life. He asked his sons to temporarily loan him their youth. All but one refused. The ones who refused were cursed that they would never be kings, and this includes the Yadavas (descended from Yadu). The one who agreed was Puru and the lunar dynasty continued through him. Puru s son Duhshanta was made famous by Kalidasa in the Duhshanta-Shakuntala story and their son was Bharata, contributing to the name of Bharatavarsha. Bharata s grandson was Kuru. We often tend to think of the Kouravas as the evil protagonists in the Mahabharata story and the Pandavas as the good protagonists. Since Kuru was a common ancestor, the appellation Kourava applies equally to Yudhishthira and his brothers and Duryodhana and his brothers. Kuru s grandson was Shantanu. Through Satyavati, Shantanu fathered Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. However, the sage Parashara had already fathered Krishna Dvaipayana through Satyavati. And Shantanu had already fathered Bhishma through Ganga. Dhritarasthra and Pandu were fathered on Vichitravirya s wives by Krishna Dvaipayana.
The story of the epic is also about these antecedents and consequents. The core Mahabharata story is known to every Indian and is normally understood as a dispute between the Kouravas (descended from