Pradip Bhattacharya

Indologist, Mahabharata scholar

Archives for March 2018

The First Bengali Mahabharata in Verse and in Prose

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Towards the end of the 13th century A.D. we notice a common literary feature emerging in eastern India that becomes very prominent by the 16th century not only in the east but also in the south. Vyasa’s Mahabharata was translated first into Bengali and then into Assamese, Oriya, Telegu and Kannada. The reasons for this remarkable synchronicity deserve further study. For the present, let us look at the picture in Bengal.

According to Dinesh Chandra Sen, the renowned historian of Bengali literature,  it was a Muslim ruler of Bengal, Sultan Nusrat Khan or Nasir Khan (1285?-1325) who commissioned the first translation of Mahabharata in Bengali entitled “Bharat Panchali.”[1] The work is not traceable but Kabindra Parameshwar states in his Bengali Mahabharata: “The glorious leader Nasrat Khan had the panchali[2] composed, the ultimate in merit.” However, history is ignorant of any sultan of Bengal by this name ruling for forty years at that time. After examining the evidence, Major General S.K. Sen suggests that the reference might actually be to Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah (1519-1531 AD) who succeeded his father Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah of Bengal (1493-1519 AD). Nusrat Shah went to Chattagram (Chittagong) with general Paragal Khan as the king’s representative in 1515-1516. Paragal became governor there and got the Mahabharata translated by Kabindra Parameshwar, which came to be known as the Paragali Mahabharat. Hussain Shah was a distant ruler while Nusrat, the crown prince, was a powerful patron at hand in Chittagong as is evident from the verses of Shrikara. Kabindra would be referring to this Nusrat and to Srikara’s panchali, not to a distant ruler. Paragal’s son Chhuti Khan succeeded him as governor and got the Jaiminiya Ashvamedhaparva translated by Shrikara or Shrikaran Nandi which came to be known as Chhuti Khaner Mahabharat. Part of it was included in Kashiram Das’ Bengali Mahabharata (composed 1604-1610) and Krittibas’ Ramayana (c. 1st half of 15th century).

Kabi Sanjay is the first translator of the complete Mahabharata into Bangla for regaling rustic audiences, composed in payar metre in the first half of the 15th century, prior to the rule of Sultan Hussain Shah in Bengal. He precedes Chaitanya (1486-1533), unlike most other vernacular renderings of the epic, as there is no trace of Vaishnava bhakti in his work. His date is uncertain, but he might be a contemporary of Krittibas, the translator of the Ramayana (not later than the 15th century).[3] However, on the basis of language and style some scholars place him in the 17th century AD.[4] A resident of Laur in the Sunamganj subdivision of Shrihatta district in East Bengal, he belonged to the Bharadvaja gotra. An interesting point is that he praises Bhagadatta as the ruler of Laur and also calls him ruler of Bengal, although Vyasa’s Mahabharata does not do so, because Shrihatta was at one time part of Pragjyotishpura, the capital of Bhagadatta. While his version is almost unaffected by the devotional movement, it contains several unusual Shakta-influenced episodes. He departs quite freely from the Sanskrit epic’s contents, unlike Kashiram Das a later translator. The narration is interspersed with laachari to be sung and various ragas and raginis are indicated in the text such as Vasant, Kamod, Bhatiyal (not a raga, but the typical boatman’s song of Bengal), Shri, Barari, Pathamanjari.

Kabi Sanjay created a new genre, the Pauranik fairytale in his translation of the epic. The key elements are given below:-

  • Sanjay provides a novel start to the epic. Janamejaya (J) charges Vyasa with failure to prevent his ancestors from the fratricidal battle of Kurukshetra. Vyasa laughs and says that people do not listen to prohibitions. As an example he issues an injunction that to avoid misfortune J must not make Kantavati his chief queen, which is precisely what he proceeds to do. He also insults sage Rishyashringa who curses him to be afflicted with bhagapida, syphilitic sores, all over his body. Vyasa reappears and tells him that to be cured he should listen to the epic recited by Vaishampayana. That is why the recital begins. At the end of Svaragarohana parva, J is cured, rounding off the narrative.
  • In Astika parva he adds a new story of Takshaka, pursued by Garuda, marrying his daughter Sarada to Parikshit and thus escaping death. A folktale of the ojha (curer of snake-bite) of Shankhapura is added and a novel treatment of J’s serpent sacrifice.
  • The Shantanu-Ganga story is given a novel twist. Brahma curses Mahabhisha for his shameless ogling of Ganga’s nudity to be born a vanara. He worships Shiva who grants his wish to possess Ganga. Shiva commands Ganga who takes the vanara aside and tells him that first he must become hairless like her and can do so by entering fire. To persuade him she magically protects him when he tests a finger in a flame and remains unhurt. When he enters the fire she does not protect him and he dies. King Kuru is performing a sacrifice and finds a dry place overflowing with hot water which he and the sages cannot cross. The monkey’s corpse comes floating by and they use it as a bridge. Thereupon the vanara is liberated and is born as Kuru’s son, Shantanu. Shiva berates Ganga and forces her to wed Shantanu.
  • Amba’s love for Bhishma is a creation of Sanjay’s who makes of it a long love-story.
  • Chitrangad dies of TB. Vichitravirya violates Bhishma’s injunction against entering his palace in his absence and is crushed there by the elephant with which Bhishma used to wrestle daily to exercise.
  • Dhritarashtra plots with Duryodhana to build the house of lac.
  • In the Khandava conflagration the survivors are sage Lomasha, Surabhi the cow, Danavendra lord of demons and Vishvakarma.
  • The Rajasuya yagya is held because Pandu, insulted in Swarga, sends Narada to urge his sons to hold this sacrifice so that he can regain status. During the conquests, on his return from Lanka Arjuna encounters Hanuman. This becomes an interesting folk-tale.
  • Duryodhana and Drona send a band of fasting sages to Yudhishthira in exile but Krishna’s miracle saves the Pandavas.
  • In Udyoga parva a folktale is added about Kakalilasura.
  • In Bhishma parva the story of Brahmachandala is added and the beauty and valour of horses are elaborated at great length.
  • In Drona parva after Abhimanyu’s death Draupadi leads an army of women against the Kauravas. Karna refuses to fight them. Duryodhana is routed.
  • In Karna parva the story of Tarakaksha and Makaraksha is added.
  • Ashvamedhaparva mostly follows the composition of Jaimini, Vyasa’s disciple, omitting the retelling of the Rama story. Sanjay adds Yadava and Pandava women fighting the enemy when the Pandavas are defeated. He has Surya give Vrishaketu a chariot during the battle with Anushalva. Jaimini’s Jvala is turned into Jana and glorified in particular. She dies and turns into an arrow that lies in Babhruvahana’s quiver with which he kills Arjuna. Girish Chandra Ghosh, the father of Bengali theatre, wrote an extremely popular play, Jana, about her in 1894. The battle descriptions surpass Vyasa’s. The stories of Jana, Sudhanva, Babhruvahana, Chandi, Chandrahasa are magnificently related. Chandrahasa’s story has been substantially changed, especially Vishaya’s subterfuge in replacing the word visha (poison) with her name, Vishaya. Jayadratha’s son does not die of fear but fights bravely with Arjuna. Jaimini’s Bakadalbhya has become Bakradanta and he steals the horse so that he can see Krishna. Viravarma becomes Virabrahma and his daughter Malini becomes Ratnavati. Uddalaka is renamed Udyana in the story of Chandi and the curse is dispelled when both the horse and Arjuna touch the stone. The remarkable story of the many-faced Brahmas is absent. Sanjaya describes Chitrangada as a veshya, a prostitute, while in Jaimini Arjuna says that Babhruvahana must be a son of a vaishya. The description of the horse required for the sacrifice is different too and the parva ends with Krishna’s return to Dvaraka with the Yadavas which is a departure from Jaimini.
  • In Ashvamedhaparva Sanjay goes beyond Jaimini to invent the grand episode of Vivek, son of Sudhanva, who immediately after birth takes on Arjuna and Krishna to avenge his father’s death, routs Arjuna’s army, vanquishes Arjuna and Krishna, defeats Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva and the combined army of Yadava and Pandava women. Finally, on his grandfather Hamsadhvaja’s request, Bibek surrenders to Krishna.
  • Certain incidents are taken from Vyasa: the Pandavas go to Kailasa with Krishna to obtain the wealth of Marutta, the story of Parikshita’s birth, Arjuna’s horse goes to Kirata and Yavana lands, Trigartya, Pragjyotisha, Chedi, Magadha, Kashipura, Deshartha, Nishada, Kirata again, the kingdoms of Ugrasena, Kuntibhoja, Panchala, Gandhara, etc.
  • Mausala parva has Arjuna accompany Krishna at the end and, as they rest together, Krishna is shot and killed.
  • Svargarohana parva has new tirthas come up where each Pandava falls. The route is along the Ganga. Meghanada Daitya tries to abduct Draupadi and is slain by Bhima.

In Bengal the influence Jaimini’s Ashvamedhaparva was felt most powerfully. According to Dinesh Chandra Sen, Sanjaya, Kabindra Parameshwar, Shrikara Nandi and almost all the later translators have recorded that they translated the Mahabharata following the Jaimini-Samhita. Little is taken from Vyasa, except a few references. Jaimini was a leader among the revivalists of Hinduism (Shankara came later). His disciple, Bhattapada, defeated the Buddhists in King Sudhanva’s court. Many ancient Bengali books contain references to the Jaimini Bharata.

In the early 16th century AD Kabindra Parameshwar translated the Mahabharata in brief (so that it could be heard in a single day) up to Stri Parva[5] under the patronage of Paragal Khan. This came to be known as the Paragali Mahabharata and also as Pandab Bijoy.[6] This includes basically the battle stories, especially in the Ashvamedhaparva which, as in Sanjaya, is taken from Jaimini. Most of the stories of the original epic are omitted.  

Dinesh Chandra Sen states that after this there are many translations of which the important ones are Dvija Abhirama’s Ashvamedhaparva, Ananta Mishra’s Ashvamedhaparva, Nityananda Ghosh’s Mahabharat, Dvija Ramchandra Khan’s Ashvamedhaparva, Kabichandra’s Mahabharat, Shashthibar Sen’s Bharat, Gangadas Sen’s Adi and Ashvamedhaparva, Rameshwar Nandi’s Mahabharata, Kashiram Das’s Mahabharat, Trilochan Chakravarty’s Mahabharat, Nimai Das’s Mahabharat, Dvija Krishnaram’s Ashvamedhaparva, Dvija Raghunath’s Ashvamedhaparva, Bhriguram Das’s Bharat, Dvija Ramkrishnadas’ Ashvamedhaparva and Bharat Pandit’s Ashvamedhaparva.[7] W.L. Smith[8] mentions complete Bengali versions of Ashvamedhaparva by Ghanashyam Das and Dvija Premananda and more recent versions by Rajaram Dutt (19th century), Kaliprasanna Vidyaratna (Jaiminibharata in verse, 1884). Chandranath Basu’s Ashvamedhaparva in free prose came out in 1317 B.S. i.e. 1910-11 AD.[9] Munindra Kumar Ghosh mentions Nandaram Das, Dvija Govardhan, Bhabani Das and Dvija Srinath among others. Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay mentions the name of Dvija Haridas too. It is not clear whether these works are based on Vyasa or on Jaimini.

The most popular Bengali verse translation remains Kashiram Das’ Mahabharat which follows Jaimini’s Ashvamedhaparva. In him the influence of Chaitanya’s Vaishnavism is overwhelmingly perceptible. The work was a major influence on Bengali literature.

Kaliprasanna Singha (1840 or 1841 to 24 July 1870) authored the first prose translation of the Mahabharata. Educated in Sanskrit, Bengali and English, he left school in 1857 at the age of 16 and established the Vidyotsahini Theatre in his own house where he enacted Venisamhara. Encouraged by its success, in the same year he translated Kalidasa’s Vikramorvashiya. In 1858 he wrote the play Savitri-Satyavan and in 1859 Malati-Madhava. These plays were staged in his theatre with him in the main roles. Purana-sangraha, a collection of Puranic stories from the Mahabharata was published between1860-66. His greatest literary feat was translating the Mahabharata into Bangla in 17 volumes, for the first time in Bangla literature. The work was begun in 1858 with a team of seven pandits and completed in 1866, omitting and adding nothing. 3000 copies of each parva were printed, being unsure of the reception. He excluded Harivamsha as he found its composition to be plainly later than the epic. However, he had a plan to publish its translation along with those of the Puranas, as the title page indicates.

What the BORI editors of the critical text of the Mahabharata have done now, Kaliprasanna began at the age of 18 in 1858 all by himself, collating manuscripts from the Asiatic Society, Shobhabazar Palace, the collections of Asutosh Deb, Jatindramohon Thakur and his own great-grandfather Shantiram Singha’s collection in Kashi. He acknowledges with gratitude the help he received in resolving contradictions in the texts and making out the meaning of knotty Vyasakuta verses from Taranath Tarkavacaspati teacher at the Calcutta Sanskrit Vidyamandir. He records with profound gratitude that Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar began a translation of the epic and had published some parts of it in the Brahmo Samaj’s Tattavabodhini magazine, but stopped the work on hearing of Kaliprasanna’s project. Vidyasagar not only went through Kaliprasanna’s translation but supervised the printing and the work of translation in his absence. Kaliprasanna writes that he has no words to express the benefits Vidyasagar showered upon him. Apparently, Vidyasagar provided him seven pandits for the project.[10] Kaliprasanna gives special thanks to several friends viz. the famous poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt for promising to turn the best parts of the translation into Amritakshar metre and a play; the Purana expert Gangadhar Tarkabagish, Raja Kamalkrishna Bahadur, Jatindramohon Thakur, Rajendralal Mitra, Dvarkanath Vidyabhushan (editor of Somprakash), Rajkrishna Bandopadhyay (professor of Bengali literature in Presidency College), Nabinkrishna Bandopadhyay (former editor of Tattvabodhini), Dinabandhu Mitra (the playwright of Nil Darpan) and Kshetramohon Vidyaratan (editor of Bhaskar). Deploring the death of ten members of his team of translators, he thanks by name those engaged till the end and the proof readers (mentioning all their names).

Daily in the evening the translation, as it progressed, was read out to Raja Radhakanta Deb and other prominent leaders of Hindu society like Raja Kamalkrishna Bahadur and Rajkrishna Mitra. In villages, he writes, the translation is read out in important gatherings morning and evening. He pays a fulsome tribute to Kashiram Das’ translation in Bengali verse, regretting that details of his life and dates are not recorded anywhere. He leaves out discussion and summaries of Sanskrit literature based on Asiatic researches and Max Muller’s edition of texts to avoid any controversy that might harm the unrestricted acceptance of his translation.

The work took eight years to complete and was printed at his Tattvabodhini Press. It was provided to readers who wrote in, free of charge. Readers were advised not to send any postage stamps. In every district an agent was appointed to distribute the book so that it could be obtained without spending anything. It was and remains a unique project of making wisdom literature available without charging anything for it.

Many laughed his herculean effort to scorn, ascribing it to a quest for immortal fame by buying up pandits to translate. In response he merely stated that he had no craving for public fame, but only that should, by the grace of God, the Bengali language exist anywhere and this book fall into someone’s hands who might be able to make out its meaning and understand the pillar of glory of the Hindu race that was the Bharat, then all his labour would have been successful.[11]

Kaliprasanna dedicated his translation to Empress Victoria in gratitude for the British rescuing Bharatavarsha from the mortal clutches of the Mughals. He compared his offering to the gods offering the Parijat flower churned out of the ocean to Purandara-Indra. The intention behind the translation was a faith that it would redound to the country’s good. He hoped that Hindusthan would be lit up during her reign by hundreds of lamps of Sanskrit literature as it was during Vikramaditya’s reign by Kalidas etc. and in Queen Elizabeth’s reign by Shakespeare etc. to make her reign unforgettable.

Today one is surprised that there is no mention of the 1857 Mutiny although the translation was started the next year. The elite of Bengal were not enamoured of the aborted effort, preferring to proclaim their loyalty to the British Empress as vociferously as possible.

* This article draws heavily on the research by Maj.Gen. S.K.Sen VSM whose generous assistance is acknowledged with gratitude.

[1] Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bangabhasha O Sahitya, Gurudas Chattopadhyaya & Sons, Kolkata, 7th edn, 1st edn. 1896

[2] Rhyming verse that can be sung.

[3] Sen op.cit. and Munindra Kumar Ghosh, Kabi Sanjaya birachita Mahabharata, Calcutta University, 1969, p. 153

[4] Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Bangla Sahityer Itivritta, Vol 1, Modern Book Agency, Kolkata, 2006, p. 462

[5] According to Munindra Kumar Ghosh up to Ashvamedhaparva, the later parvas being interpolations.

[6] Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay, op. cit. p. 441-2

[7] Dinesh Chandra Sen, ibid, p. 455-456

[8] W.L. Smith, “The Jaiminibharata and Its Eastern Vernacular Versions,” Studia Orientalia, The Finnish Oriental Society, Vol 85, Helsinki, 1999, p. 402

[9] Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay, op. cit. p. 434

[10] Binod Ghoshal, “Kaliprasannar Katha Amrita Saman,” Binodon supplement to Ananda Bazar Patrika, 20.8.2016, pp. 10-4.

[11] Binod Ghoshal, op.cit.

THE MAHABHARATA IN ARABIC AND PERSIAN

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The record of foreign invasions in India’s own itihasa is not available in any systematic form. However, the references to foreign tribes are several, as in the Vashishtha-Vishvamitra conflict, Sagara’s conquests, the Rajasuya sacrifice, the Kurukshetra war and Kalayavana’s attack. What we do not find is accounts of foreign rulers except in the cryptic statements regarding the descendants of Yayati’s four sons, Yadu, Turvasu, Anu, Druhyu. In historical times when the Arabs and Mughals invaded and settled down here, they found that to understand Indians it was necessary to comprehend the two poetic compositions that appeared to wield overpowering influence over the population. The unfortunate fact is that in modern India there has been no effort to study what these foreigners made of the Ramayana and theMahabharata. The only papers available are quite old: R.G. Harshe’s on the Arabic version of the Mahabharata (Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, Pune, Vol.2), and the studies by M.A. Chaghatai (BDCRI, vol.5) and J.J. Modi (ABORI, vol.6) on Akbar’s illustrated edition of the Persian Razm Nama (the Book of War, as Akbar named the Mahabharata).

The first Arabic text on the Mahabharata belongs to the 11th century AD. In 1845 M. Reinaud, Membre de l’Institut, Paris, published a book containing French translations of Arabic and Persian fragments about India with a chapter entitled, “History of the kings of India and their chronological order according to the information which has come to our knowledge”. This was a translation thrice removed, being a French version of the Persian work Modjmel-altevarykh (1125 AD) by Abul-Hasan-Ali, keeper of the city library of Jurjan located near the Caspian seashore, written for a chieftain of the Dilemites. This Persian work was itself a translation of the Arabic “Instruction of the Princes” (1026 AD) by Abu-Saleh who had translated it from the Sanskrit. The first Arab invasion was of Sind in the early 9th century AD, co-terminus with the Umayyad invasion of Spain. Kunti’s narration of the Vidula’s fiery exhortation to her son Sanjaya in the Udyoga Parva of theMahabharata could have this in the background. Abu-Saleh’s work contains not only the Mahabharata story but also others that have not been identified. A summary, based on Harshe’s paper, is given below of what is found in the French translation pertaining to the Mahabharata. Typically, it begins with Sind.

“Two tribes, Meyd (Madra) and Zath (Jat), descended from Ham, dwelt in Sind. In Arabic the Indians are referred to as from the country Zath. Driven out by the Meyd, the Zath withdrew to the banks of the river Pehen and becoming expert navigators overcame the Meyd. Desiring a settlement, the Zath approached king Dujoshan (Duryodhana?) son of Daharata (Dhritarashtra) requesting that he depute a ruler over them and the Meyd. Dujoshan gave the land of Sind to his sister Dusal (Duhshala), daughter of Daharata. She married Jandrat (Jayadratha), a powerful chieftain, who ruled for over 20 years till power went from the hands of the Bharata. The princess was extremely wise and wrote to her brother about the lack of learned, wise people. At her request her brother sent thirty thousand Brahmanas from different parts of India along with their families to Sind. Lengthy accounts of their discussions are given in the original work along with descriptions of the country and its strange features. The capital was called Askelend (Asandivat, capital of Janamejaya, ancestor of Pandavas). One part of Sind was given to the Zath whose chief was named Joudarat (Yuddharatha?). The Meyd received another territory.

Fur (Puru?) emperor of India was a son of Mahran (Mandhata?) at the time of Dahak/Zahak and Faridun, descended from Ham. Ham left two sons, blind Dehran (Dhritarashtra) and the minor Fan (Pandu). Enemies seized parts of the kingdom. After Fan came of age, at Dehran’s behest he rid the kingdom of evils and enemies. Dehran offered him the throne and, when he refused, gave him half the kingdom.

Dehran’s wife Qandhar (Gandhari) gave him a daughter Dusal and many sons of whom the eldest was Dujoshan. All of this dynasty were called Bharata. The other family was named the Fanimin (Pandava) consisting of five sons of Fan. The eldest was Jehtal, the second Bhimasena, the third Ajun, these three from Fundar; the fourth Shahdeb, the fifth Newal, being twins. Each had a special talent. In addition, Fan had another son like himself (Karna?) who lived with king Dehran.

The incident of Fan killing a coupling hermit couple metamorphosed into gazelles and being cursed to die on trying to satisfy his passion is related. Fan’s wives were Fundar and Madhar. Being cursed he withdrew to the mountain, informing king Dehran. One day near sunset Fan was asleep. Madhar asked Fundar to wake him to eat as customary at this time. Fundar refused and waited till he awoke at night, being amorously moved. He asked her what she wanted. She told him. Fan said, “What pleasure do I derive from my wives when even the Sun halts to look at them?” He got a funeral pile prepared, gave away all he had to the Brahmanas and told his wives, “No human being can, nor ever will, gratify your desires.” Then, while gratifying Fundar, he died and was burnt. The two wives lived for a long time. The dwellers of the air would gather round them out of desire and they were overcome by their passions for these jinns. “The author tells the most ridiculous stories about this subject”, writes the translator.

Each son of Fan was educated by a pious man who prayed to God to grant whatever the pupil would desire. Jehtal asked for a mighty rule and a firm minister; Bhimasena for great strength; Ajun for mastery of the bow; Newal for skill in horsemanship and courage; Shahdeb for wisdom, knowledge of hidden things, astronomy. The empire left the Bharatas to come to them.

The pious men took the princes with their mothers to king Dehran who gave half his kingdom to them, appointing Jehtal their overlord. The other half he gave his own sons led by Dujoshan. People preferred Jehtal, which aroused Dujoshan’s jealousy who built an inflammable pavilion and persuaded the Fanimin to reside in it. Dehran warned Jehtal to be obedient to Dujoshan who was his elder and not to trust him. The Fanimin had an uncle Bhimasena (Vidura) who sent a sapper to prepare an underground passage for them to escape from the pavilion, and informed his nephews of the danger. Soon thereafter Dehran died and Dujoshan took charge of all royal authority. The Fanimin with their mothers, a group of seven, went into Saman (wilderness?) and had many adventures before joining king Droupada whose daughter Dropadi became their wife when Ajun hit with his arrow the eye of a golden fish atop a tower. She was the wife for all five brothers, “the narrative tells strange things in regard to this subject.” Thereafter they went into another land and the story of their adventures with the divs (gods) is too long to reproduce. Finally they obtained kingship.

After some years, war began between them and Dujoshan who would not agree to any settlement and called his brother-in-law Jandrat from Sind. Finally all were killed. Jehtal pierced Dujoshan with an arrow. When Dusal heard of it, she burnt herself. Thus ended the empire of the Bharata. When grieving Qandhar refused to be consoled by a Brahmana, he left and she found herself going mad with grief not having eaten anything. One night, seeing something resembling food in the air, she stood up on the corpse of one of her sons but could not reach it. Vainly she kept making a pile of the corpses of her sons but it was always too high. The Brahmana appeared again, urging her to heed his advice. She replied, “What you say is true. The veil is rent: you see how far the desire to eat has carried me.” He gave her something to eat. Then she burnt all the bodies of her children and rested.

Jehtal ruled over all Hindustan. Sendjura, son of Jandrat, was pardoned and Sind given to him. Finally, Jehtal decided to retire to the mountain of hermits like his forefathers. His brothers agreed, installed Parik, son of Ajun, on the throne and withdrew to the mountain where they performed religious practices till their death. Parik reigned for thirty years and was succeeded by Janamedjaya who reigned for twenty years and was replaced by his son Sahdaniq (Satanika) who ruled for twenty five years. Then Safsanica (Sahasranika) ruled justly for twenty four years, followed by his son Yesra who ruled for fifty years and people tired of him. There was disorder. After his death his brother Couyahour (Citraratha or Shuchidratha?) ruled but was a bad ruler. He was killed after fifteen years and the empire went out of the hand of the Fanimin.”

This version is veritably Hamlet without the prince of Denmark, for where is Krishna? His absence is, indeed, most intriguing.

In the early 9th century AD Khalifa Al-Mamun, son of Haroun-al-Rashid, who had two Hindu doctors in his court, used to hold religious conferences like Akbar in which Sanskrit knowing scholars were included. Indian medical works of Charaka and Sushruta were translated into Arabic in the court of the Pahlavi Gajashta Abalis (c. 825 AD). The Tarikh-i-Ferishta records that Feroze Shah Tughlaq got some Sanskrit works lying in a Hindu temple in Nagarkote (Nagrota in Kangra valley) translated into Persian. According to the local legend Alexander had placed an image of his wife Nowshaba here, which was worshipped by the Brahmins as Jwalamukhi.

Akbar got as many as 15 Sanskrit texts translated into Persian. These were: Atharbedby Badaoni and others; Bhagwad Gita by Faizi and another; Gangadhar by Abul Fazl; Haribans by Maulana Sheri; Jog-Bashishta by Maulana Faraniuli; Katha Sarit Sagara by Badaoni; Kishen Joshi by Abul Fazl; Lilavati and Nal Daman by Faizi;Mahesh Mohanand by Abul Fazl; Singhasana Battisi by Badaoni, called “Nama-i-Khird Afza”; Tajak on astronomy by Muhammad Khan; treatise on elephants by Mulla Sheri; Ramayana and Mahabharata by Badaoni and others.

Abdul Qadir Badaoni records that in 1582 AD Akbar felt that instead of translating fictitious narratives like Ferishta’s it would be worthwhile to get translated into Persian the rich material of philosophy and history in the Mahabharata for the edification of his nobles. Badaoni states that it narrates the wars of the tribes of Kurus and Pandus who ruled in Hind more than 4000 years ago, which the people commonly say is over 80,000 years ago. Akbar took personal interest in the enterprise, explaining the meaning to Naqib Khan the first few nights so that he could make a Persian summary. Some of the Sanskrit scholars who were called in to assist were: Debi Misra, Satavadana, Madhusudana Misra, Rudra Bhattacaraj, Chaturbhuja, Sheikh Bhawan (a Dakhini Brahmin converted into Islam). Of these Debi Misra (author of Bharata artha dipika), Chaturbhuja Misra (author of Bharata upaya prakasaka bharata tatparya prakashika) are from Bengal, well known for their commentaries on the epic. Madhusudana Misra edited the play Mahanatakam. They assisted Naqib Khan, Shaikh Sultan (Haji) Thanesari, Mulla Sheri and Abdul Qadir Badauni who wrote the text in Persian.

Razmnama is not an exact translation but a free Persian adaptation, as Badaoni states. Badaoni translated two of the 18 books. In 1588 he finished translating the Ramayana for which he received 150 Ashrafis and 10,000 tangahs, the Singhasan Battisi as “Nameh-i Khirad-Afza” and the Atharva Veda in which he found that Hindus eat beef, bury their dead and that it has a passage guaranteeing salvation that resembles the Muslim “La-illah illa ‘llah”. Mulla Sheri (who also translated the Harivamsa asHaribans, which Albiruni says is an authority on Indian matters) and Naqib Khan did a part. The rest was finished by Sultan Haji of Thanessar. Faizi, Abul Fazl’s brother and Akbar’s personal friend, converted two books into elegant language. Sultan Haji further revised these two and his own portion for over four years, carefully checking against the original, saying, “I render into modern language the knowledge of 10,000 years.” Badaoni, on the other hand, calls it as “puerile absurdities, of which the 18000 creations may well be amazed…Two parts were written. Such discussions as one never heard! As, Shall I eat forbidden things? Shall I eat turnips? But such is my fate to be employed on such works…But the Emperor took exception to my translation and called me a Haramkhur and a turnip-eater, as if that was my share of the book.” He felt that all the translators were destined for hell. Akbar suspected him of importing his bigoted ideas into the translation and Badaoni had to defend himself at length over a passage in the Shanti Parva dealing with rebirth.

The first draft of the text was completed in August-September 1584 and contained translations of one lakh verses of the epic. It was then copied by expert calligraphists. Abul Fazl wrote a lengthy preface. According to him, recital of the Harivamsha was known to cure sterility. After the text was prepared, Akbar asked his court artists to illustrate it. Prominent among these master artists were Daswant, Basawan, Lal, Mukund, Kesav, Muhammad Sharif and Farrukh Chella who produced some of the finest specimens of Mughal miniature painting. There are 168 paintings in Akbar’s copy (the Ramayana translation has 176). It was bound in four lavish volumes and presented to the emperor who named it Razmnama, The Book of War. The Sanskrit word “bhaara” means “war”, as in the play Karnabhaara. Akbar asked his nobles to get copies made for their own study. Akbar’s own copy, acquired by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur in the 1740s, is in the Maharaja Sawai Mansingh-II Museum in Jaipur City Palace, unavailable for study owing to court cases. Jai Singh ripped off the gold-embroidered goat-skin covers of the original like a vandal on religious grounds. Another copy of lesser quality was produced in 1598-1599. Most of the other illustrated Razmnama are lost or scattered all over the world in museums and personal collections. One was prepared for Jahangir’s commander-in-chief, Abdur Rahim Khankhanan, in 1616-17, which too has been dispersed across the world. In 1602 AD Tahir Muhammad prepared an abridgement of the Persian translation including the Harivamsha. Firishta states in the introduction to his history of India and Hindus that he used the Razmnama as his source. Unfortunately, the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata did not study the Razmnama to check what episodes featured in the epic in the 16th century, which would have enabled us to determine what, if any, has been interpolated since then.

The parva-wise summary of contents of the Persian adaptation are given below as stated by the translators, indicating the number of verses in the original (southern recension) and the Persian separately as in Chaghatai’s paper. The differences in names of characters of the later parvas show Thanesari’s correction of Naqib Khan and others’ errors in the earlier parts.

  • Adi: 8884 verses in both (Persian “Ad”), giving an account of the Kurus and Pandavas. Sabha: 2511 verses in both. Jadthal sends his brothers on world-conquest; Rajasuya held; gambling assembly arranged.
  • Vana: 11664 verses Sanskrit; 11360 Persian “Ban”. 12 years exile of Pandavas in the forest.
  • Virata: 2050 verses Sanskrit; 2005 Persian “Barat”. Return of Pandavas from forest to city of Barat to hide there.
  • Udyoga: 6698 verses Sanskrit; 6238 Persian “Odam”. Pandavas reveal identity and move to Kurkhat and arrange army.
  • Bhishma: 5884 verses in both (Persian “Bhikam”). Battle and Bhikam’s fall. Death of many sons of Dhartashak over 10 days battle.
  • Drona: 8909 verses in both (Persian “Daruna”). Jarjodhan holds council; fall of Dorun on 5th day. Account of other 5 days concerning Bhikam’s sustaining wounds
  • Karna: 4964 verses in both (Persian “Karn”). 2 days’ fighting and death of Karn. Account of his fight with Jadshal and being killed by Arjun.
  • Shalya: 3230 verses Sanskrit; 3208 verses Persian “Shal”. Account of Shal and others being hanged. 90 persons killed. Daryodhan hiding and his brothers killed by mace in battle lasting 18 days.
  • Sauptika: 870 verses Sanskrit; 880 verses Persian “Sapat”. Night attack led by Karl Barmha (Kritavarma), Astham, Karya (Kripa) on army of Pandavas.
  • Stri: both 775 verses; Persian “Astari”. Weeping of women of both sides. Gandhari, mother of Daryodhana, curses Krishna.
  • Santi: 14725 verses Sanskrit; 19374 verses Persian “Sant”. After the victory Jadshall wanted to renounce the world. Krishna urges him in the company of Bhikam who was still alive and Jadshall listens attentively to the advice and admonitions.
  • Anusasana: 8000 verses both versions. Bhikam’s alms and charities.
  • Asvamedhika: 3320 verses Sanskrit; 3308 verses Persian “Asmed”. An account of the Asmed sacrifice when Bhikam, on copletion of the admonitions, renounces the faithless world. Jadshall wanted to follow the path of renunciation. Vayas praised supremacy and urged Yudhishtar and for his satisfaction ordered a sacrifice.
  • Asramavasika: 1506 verses Sanskrit; 300 verses Persian. Renuniciation of Dhrastik, Gandhari the mother of Jarjashan, Kunti the mother of Jodishtar and their going to the jungle in Kurukshetra where Vayas lived and Pandavas followed to see them.
  • Mausala: 320 verses Sanskrit; 300 verses Persian “Mosal”. Account of Jadwan (Balarama) and Krishan dying in miserable circumstances and other events.
  • Mahaprasthanika: 360 verses Sanskrit; 320 verses Persian “Jan”. Jadishtar and his brothers’ renunciation of the world and entrusting the kingdom to people and their departure to the Himalaya (ice-hills).
  • Svargarohana: 209 verses Sanskrit; 200 verses Persian “Sarkawahan”. Pandvas resigning the souls to the mountain and the physical ascencsion of Yudhishthira to the higher world.
    Harivamsha: Khatimas Harbans: account of Jadwan (Balarama).

Recently Mapin Publishing has brought out the Birla Razmnama edited by Prof. Asok Kumar Das (formerly curator of the Sawai Man Singh museum in Jaipur) containing the paintings. This Birla Razmnama, kept in the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, is a signed work of Mir Sayyid Ali Tabrizi Judai in three volumes with 629 folios including 84 full-size miniatures by the court artists of Akbar. Its scribe is Pir Muhammad bin Muhammad Hafiz and it is dated the year of Akbar’s death, 1605 AD. Das has pointed out that when compared to the Jaipur Razmnama, “the subjects vary widely.” Some stories chosen are not common and some others that are depicted in more than one miniature in the Jaipur copy have been condensed into one in the Birla copy.

The Ashvamedhaparva is of particular interest because, as Das writes, “The exploits of the sacrificial horse—related in the Ashvamedhika parva—are shown in 47 illustrations in the Jaipur copy, 22 in the 1598-99 copy against only four in the Birla copy.” In fact, as Shekhar Sen has pointed out, there are five illustrations, not four. Das has missed the fifth one, plate 79. In the Razmnama this particular parva is taken from Jaimini, not Vyasa. The episodes depicted in the Birla copy are those of Babhruvahana, Yudhisthira’s yajna, Anushalva, Hamsadhvaja and the demon Bhishana.

Why did the authors of most of the medieval vernaculars, especially the eastern, prefer Jaimini to Vyasa? Vyasa had asked each of his four disciples to compose their versions of his work. Of these, only Jaimini’s single parva exists today. This version is much more sensational. Vyasa’s parva is full of philosophical issues that do not appeal to the ordinary reader and the tour of the horse is very brief. Arjuna runs through the opposition, stumbling only once at Manipura (also called Manalura, located near Madurai). After the tumultuous war books the story of these battles comes as a damp squib. Jaimini, however, is full of action, variety, color and a series of absorbing stories with few philosophical outpourings. It celebrates the exploits of the children of the heroes slain in the great war and Arjuna comes off quite poorly. In addition, it is liberally spiked with Krishna-bhakti, which must have appealed particularly to the sensibilities of medieval readers and re-tellers. For these reasons, perhaps, the Jaimini parva almost invariably replaced Vyasa’s Ashvamedhika Parva in later renderings of the Mahabharata. Jaimini has not been accessible to the English reading public so far. The first shloka-by-shloka English translation by Major General Shekhar Sen has now been published by Writers Workshop, Kolkata to sate the curiosity of Indologists.