Mahabharat Analysis and Debate - Page 53

Originally posted by: Mister.K.

hey, you edited after I posted my reply!

alright, i didn't say ganguli was a dullard or his translations were spurious. i was talking about the websites that have mushroomed everywhere.

most stories (of yore) have a clear cut depiction of black and white. it's easy to tell who is who. they served the purpose from a moralistic point of view. the good guys always won.

the current ones that are translations of the original works are muddling things up only to cater to all kinds of castes / creeds / religions / races and so on. i wouldn't put too much stock in those translations.

Edited by Gauri_3 - 13 years ago

Originally posted by: Emptiness

good question... Gandhari was already a few months pregnant before Kunti conceived, but "conveniently" her pregnancy gets delayed.... the epic says that Yudhishtira was born before Duryodhana, how soon was he born?, few days/weeks/months/years??... does anyone know?, how were they able to determine that Yudhishtira was infact born earlier, when Kunti was living in some jungle completely detached from civilisation, whilst Gandhari was under the watchful eyes of the state?

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath

 

Yudhisthira was three years older than Duryodhana, Bhima two, and Arjuna and he were around the same age except that Duryodhana was a few months older.

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

But why would any one accept the status quo just because they are told so?

Yes, Mohan Ganguli's version is supposed to be faithful in its translation. It's in the public domain and quotes from that text are completely acceptable to any one. Source material for Sacred-texts.com and boloji.com are not well "audited / cited" and therefore are not of good standing, as far as I am concerned.


Edited by Mister.K. - 13 years ago

Re: Gandhari's pregnancy: This is the first time I am hearing of Gandhari being pregnant before Kunti and Kunti racing to pregnancy. I had mentioned I need to research this. However, this is what I remember. When Dhrithrashtra finds out Gandhari is pregnant he laments to Vidura that has not Pandu had a son yet. Vidura responds by saying Kunti was graced with Yudhishthir son of Dharma and recently gave birth to Bheema son of Vayu.

Re: Online texts & interpretations: While I don't subscribe to all the views introduced by Empti I find some of them interesting. In fact I do enjoy pondering texts like MB from different perspectives. The MB itself is not a clear cut black and white story. It is full of shades of grey. Yes, Krishna is the supreme consciousness and he is always behind dharma - but the characters themselves are grey. It offers perspective on how the best of people can be flawed and how even the sinners can try to redeem themselves. Its greatest guidance is in providing insight on how to make the difficult choices between greater good and lesser evil. For example in contemporary thought - breaking the thigh, killing an unarmed may seem as gravely wrong the supreme consciousness explains why such things were needed in the name of dharma.

I personally like new perspectives on MB or trying to see things from the perspective of Duryodhana or Karna or the other villains. Not because I want to make them less evil, or prove them as heroes or distort the story - because I find looking at different perspectives can give us a better understanding of the nature of good and evil. I'm a big fan of Wicked and how the beloved Oz story was rewritten from Elphaba's perspective. I often ponder what would MB be from the perspective of Duryodhana or Karna or the other minor characters.

Interpretations may not always be truthful or accurate but they provide fascinating aspects to ponder on. For example Anita Diamant's Red Tent provides such a startingly different take on the scriptures Dinah. I've been recommended some interpretative books on Hindu myth and I wish to read more such interpretative works. They make scripture even more multidimensional and thought provoking.

As for the actual texts - I know the Kisari Mohan Ganguli version is to be the best and most comprehensive English translation. Many Sanskrit and MB scholars have said so too. However, I agree with Mister. K that it can be challenging to find an authentic source online. Many of these sites are user editable and the content is not always accurate. Either way I've never come across sacred-texts.com before Empti introduced it - so I am yet to discover its accuracy/inaccuracy.

Mister. K what do you think of this - http://manybooks.net/authors/gangulik.html  . It is affiliated with Project Gutenberg which I know is a very authentic source for unabridged classical literature online. Do you think this could be a reliable source for those who wish to read MB?

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

Do you think this could be a reliable source for those who wish to read MB?

Sarina, whether I answer in the affirmative or in the negative, I will be falling in my own trap if I venture a guess. Reason being, I am not better positioned than sacredtexts.com or boloji.com. Nobody should take my word for it, so to say.

I bookmarked that link. Will download the book later. How about you? Did you read the entire volume? Is it available for Kindle?

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

 

If I am not mistaken, the news of Gandhari's pregnancy came in to light before Kunti's pregnancy.  Somehow, Kunti beat Gandhari in delivering Yudhishthir.  Hearing this news, gandhari beat her womb in frustration and ultimately gave birth to a mass of flesh.  This mass is divided into 101 pieces and put in pots by Rishi Vyaas.  these pots were burried underground and dug out after 9 months.  Hence, Yudhishthir can not be three years older to Duryodhan. 

 

And Gandhari's dilemma was never addressed in the epic again --- what caused Kunti to deliver before Gandhari when it was Gandhari who got pregnant first.  

Originally posted by: Mister.K.

Sarina, whether I answer in the affirmative or in the negative, I will be falling in my own trap if I venture a guess. Reason being, I am not better positioned than sacredtexts.com or boloji.com. Nobody should take my word for it, so to say.

I bookmarked that link. Will download the book later. How about you? Did you read the entire volume? Is it available for Kindle?

I'm sure Kisari Mohan's might be available for Kindle. I read the Amar Chitra Katha as a kid and then the Kamala Subramanium translation. My translation is more abridged for contemporary English readers.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

I'm sure Kisari Mohan's might be available for Kindle.

If you are sure, why did you use the word "might"?

Hi guys!! Wow I had no idea this thread's come back to life, but I'm glad to see that it has... congrats 😆 will catch up on the current discussion some time this week, I'm sure I'll like... but until then, just wanted to throw out a new MB related curiosity your way and get your thoughts:

The character of Drishtadyumna is basically created as a mechanism for revenge, an instrument of brahma-hatya at that... how much control did such a character have over his karm, and how would he incur karm-phal if he was made for murder? Did he have some sort of conscience which could influence him and make him lead a different life, other than what Dhrupad wanted him for? And if not, could he really suffer any consequences or would they go straight on Dhrupad's books?