'Mahabharat- Different Versions -Perspectives' - Page 42

Originally posted by: ssroomani

I have read Abhijit Basu's book too...and it is good. One other good book on MB and its lessons is The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurucharan Das.

Parva is about 1000 pages...it took me nearly a month to finish it. I am sure a little something was lost in translation because some sentence structures were awkward and there were editing mistakes with homophones, but it is worth the read, even in English!

Originally posted by: bheegi

I know we all talk about the KMG version on this forum but after doing some research, it seems like the critical edition of Mahabharat done at BORI, Pune (under the supervision of VS Sukhtankar originally and then someone else) is based on the original manuscripts available (even though they used 1200+ manuscripts from all over India) They have included 3/4 of all the 100 000 verses.

There are very few English translations of the critical edition. One of them being, Bibek Debroy's volumes 1-10 (I don't know if he's completed all 10 yet)

Has anyone read Bibek's translation of the critical edition?

Apparently, KMG is not as authentic as the critical edition is.

Would love input from people who know more.

Originally posted by: AnjanaYYZ

I need to catch up on this thread. Am now reading some essays by Gurucharan Das and all the different things he is interlinking is boggling me.

To lighten my mood I watched a cartoon version with Vidya Balan as Draupadi, Amitabh as Bheeshma, Ajay Devgan as Arjuna, and Bhim as Sunny Deol🤣🤣🤣 It was less distorted though much much shorter. If anybody needs a kids version I would recommend it.😆 Available on U-tube

Originally posted by: Ashwini_D

Actually from what I've heard, the critical edition is quite similar to KMG barring a few aspects. That's the reason why I personally refer to KMG for the facts. Having said this, I also want to read a translation of the southern recension which I have no idea how to get my hands on. I just know the following points in which the critical edition differs from KMG:

1. Karna does not participate in Draupadi's swayamvar for her to reject him. (which makes a lot of sense to me because, based on my reading of the text, Karna's caste being the grounds for his discrimination has been blown out of proportion in my opinion)

2. There is no mention of Krishna saving Draupadi during her VH. The miracle is not attributed to him.

Even the critical edition has it's fair share of criticism, but yeah I would go by it were I to choose a definitive version as reference. I don't think Bibek Debroy has completed the translation yet. Hope he does, because nobody has done a complete translation of the edition yet.

I just read the preface by Debroy to one of his volumes and it was pretty good. He also takes the historicity rather than religious innuendos of the epic seriously, it seems, which appealed to me. Will definitely be reading it once I'm done with my exams.