Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition

Pamela Lothspeich

Introduction

Epic tale, Hindu scripture, philosophical treatise, and national history, the Mahabharata ("the great Bharata") is
India’s most massive repository of knowledge about Hindu thought and life in classical India. Given that there are so many versions of
the Mahabharata (oral, textual, and performative), the work is best understand as narrative tradition rather than a discrete text. At around
100,000 verses in Sanskrit, it is one of the world’s longest (and oldest) epics. As a whole the work straddles the Vedic and classical
periods, giving insight into a tumultuous period of religious debate and cultural synthesis. The main narrative of the Mahabharata (which
includes the Bhagavad Gita) recounts the bitter conflict between the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra (the mostly nefarious
Kauravas) and their cousins, the five sons of the pale king Pandu (the mostly noble Pandavas). Ultimately this conflict escalates into a
devastating war that pits family against family, guru against disciple, and friend against friend. Although the Pandavas triumph in the end,
they pay dearly, as nearly all of their loved ones perish in the war. Basic themes in the Mahabharata—a grave injustice against the
heroine, an unjust exile of the heroes, and a cataclysmic war against a villainous enemy—are ones found in the other major epic of
India, the Ramayana. However, the scope of the Mahabharata is much broader and its narrative structure more complex. The
Mahabharata in all of its multifarious forms and relevant scholarship are considered here, not merely the Sanskrit Mahabharata.

General Overviews

Few are the scholars intrepid and skilled enough to maintain a sustained, pathbreaking investigation into the entire Mahabharata. The
most helpful late-20th- and early-21st-century scholarship tends to come from those engaged with large translation projects of classical
Mahabharatas or long-term studies of “lived” Mahabharatas (folk literature and theater). That is the case with Brockington 1998,
Buitenen 1973, Fitzgerald 2004, and Hiltebeitel 2001, insightful introductions to the Mahabharata covering much of the same ground
(dating, authorship, historical expansion, cultural significance, and the central story) but with somewhat different analyses, styles, and
foci. Many consider Brockington 1998 the best comprehensive treatment of both epics, but it is massive at around six hundred pages
and full of epic minutiae and citations that will be forbidding to the casual reader. The great contribution of Brockington 1998 is that it
brings together much scholarly thinking on the Mahabharata and Ramayana and considers them together rather than in isolation. The
introduction to Brockington 1998 and Buitenen 1973 and Fitzgerald 2004 would all be very much at home on an undergraduate syllabus:
all are first-rate and reasonably accessible introductions to the epic, but of these only Fitzgerald 2004 seriously considers female
contributions to what is a male-centric epic. Hiltebeitel 2001 is a bit more difficult, but advanced students will find it a rewarding read and
perhaps a segue to the author’s four other excellent monographs on the Mahabharata. At around 150 pages, the overview in the
pocket-size van Nooten 1971 is much more manageable than Brockington 1998. While it will strike some scholars as dated, van Nooten
1971 is still a useful text for a general readership. With a straightforward style, it explains difficult concepts, for example, the epic’s
narrative frames, in plain English. Sukthankar 1957, by the chief architect of the critical edition working during and after the last stages of
the British Raj, gives a fascinating view of what the Mahabharata means, philosophically and religiously, to the author and to many
Indians. Until the late 20th and early 21st centuries there were relatively few edited volumes on the epic, and most of these have been
disproportionately focused on the Sanskrit Mahabharata. The anthologies Rukmani 2005, Sharma 2005, and Dandekar 1990 illustrate
myriad scholarly approaches to the epic. Sharma 2005 has a number of classic essays and Rukmani 2005 some essays representative
of new directions in Mahabharata studies. Dandekar 1990 is more uneven.

Brockington, John. The Sanskrit Epics. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1998.
This is one of the most useful monographs for serious students of the Mahabharata by an eminent authority on the subject. It covers a

1 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

wide array of topics, for example, the relationship between Vedic and epic literature, the history of Mahabharata studies, epic language
and metrics, flora and fauna in the epic, Vishnu and Shiva, and Sankhya and Yoga.

Buitenen, J. A. B. van. The Mahābhārata. Vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
The introduction (pp. 1–16) is one of the best short overviews of the Mahabharata, appropriately at the head of the English critical edition
(Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971). It summarizes the main story and covers much familiar ground: the dating of the epic, its growth and
development, its reception by Western scholars, its framing devices, and its metrics. This work is suitable for a student pursuing serious
study of the epic.

Dandekar, R. N., ed. The “Mahābhārata” Revisited: Papers Presented at the International Seminar on the Mahabharata
Organised by the Sahitya Akademi at New Delhi on Feb. 17–20, 1987. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1990.
The essays here are of varying quality, but together they address the growth and development of the Mahabharata, the philosophy
behind the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), and some favorite scholarly themes like epic morality; śānta rasa (aesthetic
mood of dispassion) in the Mahabharata; the epic’s cultural milieu; and the Mahabharata in modern literature, theater, and art.

Fitzgerald, James L. “Mahābhārata.” In The Hindu World. Edited by Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, 52–74. New York:
Routledge, 2004.
This is a stellar introduction to the Mahabharata that will please many different readers. More than many others, Fitzgerald effectively
responds to the basic question: What exactly is the Mahabharata? And further, how did it come about? He particularly excels in showing
how the Mahabharata, a “library of ‘Hinduism,’” relates to earlier Vedic literature and yet captures new developments within Hinduism.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. Rethinking the “Mahābhārata”: A Reader’s Guide to the Education of the Dharma King. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2001.
This study, informed by classic Indology and performance studies, examines the critically reconstituted Mahabharata in Sanskrit,
revisiting vexing problems like dating and authorship (arguing for a very compressed period of composition) and considering the role of
the framing devices and characters in Yudhishthira’s orbit, especially Vyasa and various sages, to suggest in a meandering fashion the
epic’s inherent order.

Rukmani, T. S., ed. The “Mahābhārata”: What Is Not Here Is Nowhere Else (Yannehāsti na tadkvacit). Papers presented at an
international conference on the Mahābhārata held at Concordia University, Montreal, on 18–20 May 2001. Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 2005.
This nice collection of essays explores some expected topics, for example, particular characters (Karna, Bhishma, and Yudhishthira),
dharma and ethics, and dating of the epic, and various other interesting topics, for example, teaching the epic (Scharf), royal counsel in
the Udyogaparvaṇ (Crothers and Greer), epic infertility and bioethics (Bhattacharya), and folk deification of Duryodhana (Saklani and
Negi).

Sharma, Arvind, ed. Essays on the “Mahabharata.” Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Standouts in this already outstanding volume include Dunham on the formation of the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971),
Hiltebeitel on the relationship between the “dark” characters, Fitzgerald on the epic’s self commentary, Ramanujan on the epic’s
repetition, and Tubb on the epic’s chief ras. Many essays originally appeared in the Journal of South Asian Literature 20.1 (1985).

2 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Sukthankar, Vishnu Sitaram. On the Meaning of the “Mahābhārata.” Bombay: Asiatic Society of Bombay, 1957.
Based on a series of lectures, here the esteemed general editor of the critical edition shares his thoughts about the Mahabharata, which
he describes as “an inexhaustible mine for the investigation of the religion, mythology, legend, philosophy, law, custom, and political and
social institutions of ancient India” (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971, vol. 1, p. iii). Sukthankar’s ideas about the authorship and formation of
the epic have been seminal.

van Nooten, Barend A. The “Mahābhārata”: Attributed to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyaṇa Vyāsa. New York: Twayne, 1971.
Van Nooten intended this to be a guide for the nonspecialist. After a lengthy summary of the story, he discusses the epic’s structure;
religious, philosophical, and ethnical issues; dissemination of the epic; and modern iterations of the epic (now sorely out-of-date).
Chapter 6, “The Spread of the Mahabharata” (across geographic borders and sectarian lines), is among the most illuminating.

Reference Works

There are relatively few reference works to assist the reader in comprehending the Mahabharata. This section includes some of the most
useful for novice and serious readers stymied by the dizzying number of characters, convoluted side stories, and references to Hindu
mythology. Moreover there is much intertextuality (and variance) among iterations of stories in the epics and the Puranas. The standard
scholarly reference guide to characters in the Mahabharata is the Sörensen 1963 index, but it is not recommended for casual readers.
Mani 1975 is a more user-friendly yet scholarly guide to persons, places, and things in Hindu myths in various sources, primarily the
Puranas and the epics. However, unlike Sörensen 1963, Mani 1975 does not provide references to specific verses in specific versions of
the Mahabharata but rather only cites the relevant book and chapter of the Mahabharata in a general way. Still, Mani 1975 does give a
good sense of which stories and characters are found in which classical Hindu texts. Thus Sörensen 1963 is recommended for those
doing serious comparative, textual analysis and Mani 1975 for those who simply want to understand the characters and myths across
Hindu literature. Mazumdar 1988, while less available, is a convenient pocket guide to names in the Mahabharata suitable for quick
reference but not serious scholarly inquiry.

Mani, Vettam. Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
This resource is incredibly helpful in navigating all the allusions to Hindu mythology and the ancillary stories in the Mahabharata. A
citation to a character will typically explain his or her genealogy, previous birth(s), afterlife, and alternate names as well as details of
salient episodes in the character’s life or lives, noting the texts in which they are found. Originally published in Malayalam (Kottayam,
India: Gurunathan Publications, 1964–1965).

Mazumdar, Subash. Who Is Who in the “Mahabharata.” Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1988.
Much shorter and simpler to use than the Sörensen 1963 index, this is a good reference work for students.

Sörensen, Sören. An Index to the Names in the “Mahābhārata”: With Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay
and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy’s Translation. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1963.
This is an extremely useful index to names and epithets for characters in the Mahabharata, but it does take some getting used to. It also
includes a concordance to two translations of Sanskrit editions and an early translation by P. C. Roy as well as a handy synopsis of the
epic. Originally published in 1904 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass).

3 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Bibliographies

While published bibliographies quickly become obsolete, electronic ones are more likely to be up-to-date and relevant, which is the case
with the two resources cited in this section. Epic and Purāṇic Bibliography was created by a team of Western scholars, and Mahabharata
Resources was developed by several Bengali scholars. Epic and Purāṇic Bibliography is the preferred bibliography of most serious
Mahabharata scholars. In fact, credit should be given to Heinrich von Stietencron and his team of scholars who produced the original
1985 print edition, which this online bibliography includes and expands upon. Users should note that work on this bibliography is ongoing
and there are gaps in coverage for the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Mahabharata Resources, appropriate for both novices and
experts, conveniently provides links to many online sources as well as citations (many incomplete) for published materials. Thanks in
large measure to one prolific contributor, Pradip Bhattacharya, the website is particularly strong in its coverage of regional retellings and
Mahabharata-inspired modern literature, the latter showing a preponderance of works in Bangla.

Harindranath, A., ed. Mahabharata Resources.

This is a helpful list of links to various bibliographies, texts, translations, commentaries, and articles. However, it should be noted that the
website contains a somewhat eclectic assortment of materials and the many interesting articles found therein are of varying quality, not
being subject to outside peer review; but overall they are very accessible to the general reader.

Stietencron, Heinrich von, et al., eds. Epic and Purāṇic Bibliography.

Launched in 2009 and user edited, this is the most powerful electronic resource available to Mahabharata scholars. Building on the
bibliography originally compiled under the Tübingen Purāṇa Project, this resource is continually updated with entries on the latest
Mahabharata research. While a two-volume print edition is available (Epic and Purāṇic Bibliography, Wiesbaden, Germany:
Harrassowitz, 1992), it only covers the period up to 1985.

The Critical Edition

The critical edition of the Mahabharata, Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971, is also known as the Bhandarkar edition with reference to the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute which produced it. It is not based on any one manuscript but rather brings together all of the
most common elements in the various manuscript traditions, all of which are traditionally attributed to Vyasa. For this reason, it is thought
to be more in line with the earliest “mature” Mahabharata. It also includes the Harivaṃśa. The sources in this section represent the
critical edition in print (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) and in electronic (Smith, et al.) formats. The various volumes in Sukthankar, et al.
1933–1971 contain helpful scholarly introductions, the first explaining the rationale behind the formatting and organization of the text.
Smith, et al. is very user-friendly, offering a choice of two scripts and various computer platforms. It also includes supplementary
passages and a narrative describing the historical progression of bringing the critical edition out in electronic format. Despite the
convenience of this online resource, it should be noted that it lacks variant versions of verses that are in the reconstituted text. Readers
will have to look to the print edition for such material as well as a key linking particular verses to source manuscripts. Buitenen
1973–1978, Johnson 1998, and Fitzgerald 2004 and are scholarly English translations of Books 1–5, 10, and 11 and the first half of 12,
respectively. While they are all first-rate translations, together, they do not offer a full translation of the critical edition. For now, they must
suffice while we await translations of the remaining books. See English Translations for more details.

Buitenen, J. A. B. van, ed. and trans. The Mahābhārata. Vols. 1–3. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973–1978.
Books 1–5. For English speakers without the means or time to consult the Sanskrit critical edition, this is the place to start. Interested
readers should then turn to Fitzgerald 2004 and Johnson 1998.

Fitzgerald, James L., ed. and trans. The Mahābhārata. Vol. 7. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.

4 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Book 11 and first half of Book 12. This translation is a continuation of Buitenen 1973–1978, but it jumps ahead six books from where the
former translation leaves off.

Johnson, W. J., ed. and trans. The “Sauptikaparvan” of the “Mahabharata”: The Massacre at Night. Oxford World’s Classics.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Here is the last of the available partial English translations of the critical edition. The shortest, it covers only Book 10, but its riveting
theme, compact size and lyrical style lend it to teaching.

Smith, John D., et al, eds.The Mahabharata.

In Sanskrit. One of most spectacular resources available to Mahabharata scholars, this website contains the core of the (revised) critical
edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), available in Devanagari and roman scripts, for various computer platforms. A team of Sanskritists
from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute made corrections to the original 1994 electronic version of the critical edition, thanks to
the pioneering efforts of Muneo Tokunaga.

Sukthankar, Vishnu S., Shripad Krishna, and Paraśurāma Laksmana Vaidya, eds. The Mahābhārata. 24 vols. Pune, India:
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–1971.
In Sanskrit. Given the multitude of Mahabharatas—textual, oral, and performative in various languages—there is certainly no one
definitive Mahabharata. Even so, this is the text many scholars treat as nearly the Ur-Mahabharata. All serious inquiry into the
Mahabharata ultimately leads to this text or a translation of it.

Other Mahabharatas in Sanskrit

When scholars speak of “the Sanskrit Mahabharata,” they generally do not mean only the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971)
but rather that work along with all of the various manuscript traditions collectively. For convenience, the latter have been categorized
according to their script or region, the variant readings among them numerous and interesting enough to occupy more than a few
scholars throughout their careers. The various manuscript traditions have been lumped together under the so-called northern or
southern recensions. They have also been further classified according to their scripts—Devanagari, Bangla, Sharada, Nepali/Newari,
Maithili, Grantha, Malayalam, and Telugu. Beginning in the colonial period, published versions of certain manuscripts led to authoritative
editions, typically affiliated with their city of origin, namely, Calcutta, Bombay, or Madras, and sometimes with commentaries. Dutt 2001
(“The Calcutta edition”), and Kiñjavadekar 1979 (“the Bombay edition”) are two such examples. The Sanskrit text of the former was first
published in 1834-1939 (4 vols., Calcutta: Asiatic Society), while the Sanskrit text of the latter was first published in 1863 (9 vols.,
Bombay). Kiñjavadekar 1979 contains the version of the Mahabharata that was purportedly familiar to Nīlakaṇṭha, whose commentary is
included. Bhattacharya 2008 and Jain 2006 may be thought of as “alternative” Mahabharatas in Sanskrit, distinct from the Mahabharata,
or rather Mahabharatas, attributed to Vyasa. Bhattacharya 2008, sometimes called the Jaimini Bharata, traces its lineage to Vyasa’s
disciple Jaimini and not his more famous disciple Vaiśaṃpāyana as in most iterations of the epic. This work only includes the Book of the
Horse Sacrifice, not the entire epic, but Jaimini’s handling of this book is quite novel and is infused with a bhakti ethos. Jain 2006, which
dates to the 8th century, is often called the Jaina Mahabharata, though there are other such Mahabharatas in the Jaina tradition. It does
include the Harivaṃśa, but the whole work has a distinctly Jaina orientation.

Bhattacharya, Pradip, ed. Jaiminīya Āśvamedha Parva. Attributed to Jaimini. Translated by Shekhar Kumar Sen. Kolkata:
Writers Workshop, 2008.
Kumar’s translation of Jaimini’s only surviving book of the Mahabharata, Book 14, features an internal narration of the story of Rama and
his sons and also shows Karna’s son in a major role. A sixty-page introduction and illustrations from the Razmnama (which included the
text of Jaimini’s Mahabharata) add to the appeal of this interesting work. The original Sanskrit text is not included.

5 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Dutt, Manmatha Nath, trans. Mahābhārata; Translated into English with Original Sanskrit Text; Translation According to M. N.
Dutt. Edited by O. N. Bimali and Ishvar Chandra. 9 vols. Delhi: Parimal, 2001.
While its English translation is not spectacular, this text does include the Sanskrit text of the Calcutta edition. Originally published in
1895–1905 (Calcutta: the author).

Jain, Pannālāl, ed. and trans. Harivaṃśapurāṇa: Hindī Anuvāda, Prastāvanā tathā Parisista Sahita. Attributed to Jinasena. New
Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith Prakashan, 2006.
This text is perhaps the oldest and most well known of the Mahabharatas in the Jaina tradition. At around twelve thousand ślokas
(couplets) in sixty-six cantos, it is also quite long. Here Vaishnava theology gives way to Jaina philosophy; renunciation and mokṣa are
the focus, not devotion to Krishna and the four puruṣārth (aims of life) system. The original Sanskrit text and a Hindi translation are
included. Originally published in 1962 (Varanasi, India: Bharatiya Jnanpith Prakashan).

Kiñjavadekar, Rāmacandraśāstrī, ed. The Mahābhāratam; with the Bharata Bhawadeepa Commentary of Nīlkantha. Attributed
to Vyāsa. 7 vols. Delhi: Oriental Books, 1979.
The “Bombay edition.” After the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), this is one of the Sanskrit Mahabharatas most often
consulted by scholars. Nīlakaṇṭha’s famous 17th-century commentary is included, but not an English translation. For the latter, see
English Translations. Originally published as Mahābhāratam: Nīlakanthakṛtayā Bhāratabhāvadīpākhyayā Tīkayā Sametam in 1929–1936
(Pune, India: Shankar Narhar Joshi).

Commentaries

Sanskrit sources in this section and in Sanskrit Poetics are basically early forms of literary criticism and literary theory. Thus premodern
(mostly classical) scholarship on the Mahabharata is in these two sections, while modern scholarship is in Scholarship on the Sanskrit
Mahabharata. As with all great Sanskrit literature, a commentarial tradition surrounds the Mahabharata. The benefit of such
commentaries is that they provide glosses on difficult words and phrases and explain figurative language and hidden meanings.
Commentaries, especially well-known ones, are therefore indispensable for anyone conducting serious study of any Sanskrit
Mahabharata. Interested readers would be advised to start with Nīlakaṇṭha 1979 as it is the only comprehensive commentary available
in print, though not in English translation. Nīlakaṇṭha 1979 considers the epic as a whole and understands it in terms of Advaita Vedanta
philosophy. Mādhava 1993 (13th century) too gives a sectarian interpretation but of the rival school of Dvaita Vedanta. This one includes
an English translation. Both help explicate the text but would be of most interest to those studying Vedanta philosophy. Devabodha 1942,
Devabodha 1947, and Devabodha 1949 provide commentaries (with English translation) on three books of the Mahabharata (the first,
sixth, and second, respectively) and are part of a larger work known as Jñānadīpikā. Devabodha is the earliest (11th century) known
commentator on the Mahabharata. He also wrote commentaries on the Udyogparvan and the Virātaparvan, but they have not been
published.

Devabodha. Commentary on the “Ādiparvan” from the “Mahābhārat.” Edited and translated by Raghunath Karmarkar
Damodar. Pune, India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1942.
This is a commentary on the Book of the Beginning, being a partial translation of Jñānadīpikā.

Devabodha. Commentary on the “Bhīsmaparvan” from the “Mahābhārat.” Edited and translated by Shripad Krishna Belvalkar.
Pune, India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1947.
This is a commentary on the Book of Bhishma, being a partial translation of Jñānadīpikā.

6 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Devabodha. Commentary on the “Sabhāparvan” from the “Mahābhārat.” Edited and translated by Raghunath Karmarkar
Damodar. Pune, India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1949.
This is a commentary on the Book of the Assembly Hall, being a partial translation of Jñānadīpikā.

Mādhava. Mahābhārata-tātparya-nirṇayaḥ. Edited and translated by K. T. Pandurangi. Chirtanur, India: Sriman Madhava
Siddhantonnahini Sabha, 1993.
Mādhava, the great exponent of the dualist system, Dvaita Vedanta, takes the opportunity to argue his philosophical position in his
commentary.

Nīlakaṇṭha. Bhāratabhāvadīpa. In The Mahābhāratam; with the Bharata Bhawadeepa Commentary of Nīlkantha. 7 vols. Edited
by Rāmacandraśāstrī Kiñjavadekar. Delhi: Oriental Books, 1979.
Nīlakaṇṭha’s commentary Bhāratabhāvadīpa is included here along with the full Sanskrit text of the Bombay edition (Kiñjavadekar 1979,
cited under Other Mahabharatas in Sanskrit). This commentary is the one most often consulted by scholars, but it should be noted that it
has an Advaita Vedanta orientation.

COMMENTARIES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA

No other part of the Mahabharata has been subject to more commentary than the Bhagavad Gita. Given the complexity and to some
minds the syncretic nature of the text, it is no wonder that so many commentators have found diverse philosophical and ideological
positions encoded in its message. A sampling of the most influential commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, all available in translation, is
included in this section, beginning with one of the earliest, Śaṅkarācārya 1977, by the 8th-century exponent of Advaita Vedanta. Two
modern commentaries, Gandhi 1946 and Tilak 1935–1936, illustrate the flexibility of the text. Whereas Gandhi 1946 sees it as a
testament to peaceful nonviolence, Tilak 1936 sees it as a call to arms against British oppression. Ghose 1995, by a contemporary of
Mohandas K. Gandhi, was written after the author’s transformation from revolutionary to yogi. This commentary reflects the author’s own
spiritual thought—a revision of Samkhya philosophy involving a kind of “spiritual evolution.”

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. The Gospel of Selfless Action; or, The Gita according to Gandhi. Edited and translated by
Mahadev H. Desai. Ahmadabad, India: Navajivan Publishing House, 1946.
Gandhi here interprets the epic battle allegorically, as an internal struggle of dharma versus adharma. Desai adds his much longer
introduction and notes (marked with brackets) to those of Gandhi, whose commentary first appeared in Gujarati in 1929. The more
verbose Desai helpfully explicates his mentor’s thought, often by way of example from Gandhi’s life.

Ghose, Aurobindo. Bhagavad Gita and Its Message. Edited by Anilbaran Roy. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Light, 1995.
Neatly divided into two series of essays (twenty-four each), this work is actually a compilation of (revised) essays first published serially.
In them Aurobindo Ghose preaches his message of truth, love, and saccidānanda (the state of ultimate reality) by reference to dialogues
in the Bhagavad Gita. Also available online. Vol. 19. Originally published in the journal Ārya in 1916–1920.

Śaṅkarācārya. The Bhagavad-Gītā with the Commentary of Śrī Śaṅkarācārya. 7th ed. Edited and translated by Alladi Mahadeva
Sastri. Madras: Samata, 1977.
While the translation is not wholly satisfactory, it is the one most frequently consulted. The commentary itself is of great historical
importance, given Śaṅkarācārya’s significance as spiritual head of the philosophical school of nondualism. Also available commercially
as print on demand through Kessinger or in electronic format for registered users through Center for Research Libraries. Originally

7 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

published in 1897 (Madras: Thompson and Co.).

Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā Rahasya; or, Karma-Yoga-Śāstra. Translated by Balachandra Sitaram Sukthankar.
Pune, India: Tilak, 1971.
Leader of the extremist faction within the Indian National Congress, Tilak wrote this commentary during one of his many stints in jail, this
time 1910–1911. Unlike the more moderate Mohandas K. Gandhi, he took literally Krishna’s advice to Arjuna that one must fight, without
thought of the consequences, as a matter of personal responsibility. Originally published in Marathi in 1915.

Sanskrit Poetics

Verses from the Mahabharata occasionally show up in Sanskrit treatises on aesthetics, where examples of both worthy and unworthy
poetry are required to illustrate fine points. However, the Sanskrit Mahabharata is not known for having particularly “ornamented”
language or even a particularly high style of discourse, suggesting it began as a story for the masses. Sanskrit critics in the classical
period therefore most often sought to critique the Mahabharata in terms of rasa theory, not alamkāra (“ornamented” speech theory. The
great critic Ānandavardhana led the way in the 9th century by pronouncing that the predominant poetic sentiment in the Mahabharata is
śānta (dispassion or spiritual peace). He and another critic, Kuntaka, both commented favorably on the long-standing tradition of
adapting the epics into courtly plays and narrative poems. Interested readers would be advised to start with the classic statement in
Ingalls 1990 and then, for more explication of Ānandavardhana’s thought, two very readable essays, Singh 1994 and Tubb 2007. To
delve deeper into the contentious debate about the relationship, if any, between śānta rasa (aesthetic mood of dispassion) and tragedy
in classical Sanskrit, readers should consult Gerow 1985, which concerns primarily the dramatic adaptation Ūrubhaṅga. On a related
subject, Gerow 1979 discusses rasa theory (though not tragedy) in Abhijñānaśākuntala, a play many consider the crown jewel of
dramatic adaptations in classical Sanskrit.

Gerow, Edwin. “Plot Structure and the Development of Rasa in the Śakuntalā, Part I.” Journal of the American Oriental Society
99.4 (1979): 559–572.
Part 1 investigates and praises the plot construction of Kalidāsa’s play (a classical romantic comedy) as it relates to ras theory and
saṃdhi (transitions in the plot). Gerow maintains that scholars have not fully appreciated the structure of Abhijñānaśākuntala and other
Sanskrit plays because they assume their merit relates only to language, not plot. Continued in “Plot Structure and the Development of
Rasa in the Śakuntalā, Part II,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 100.3 (1980): 267–282.

Gerow, Edwin. “Bhāsa’s Ūrubhaṅga and Indian Poetics.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 105.3 (1985): 405–412.
In this brief but fascinating analysis, Gerow considers Ūrubhaṅga in light of ras theory and addresses the question: Is the play an
example of Indian tragedy? He concludes that the play is dominated by the dayāvīrya (compassionate heroism) of Duryodhana, so it
would be misguided to label the play a tragedy in any Western sense.

Ingalls, Daniel H. H., ed. The “Dhvanyāloka” of Ānandavardhana with the “Locana” of Abhinavagupta. Translated by Daniel H.
H. Ingalls, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, M. V. Patwardhan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Although the Mahabharata only comes up in a few places in Ānandavardhana’s classic Dhvanyāloka, he notably argues that the
predominant ras of the Mahabharata is śānta rasa and suggests that skilled poets can (and presumably should) breathe new life into
familiar narratives from the epics. In his 10th-century commentary, Abhinavagupta concurs and expands on the former idea.

Singh, Namwar. “Ānandavardhana: Reading the Mahābhārata.” In East West Poetics at Work: Papers Presented at the Seminar
on Indian and Western Poetics at Work, Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, January 1991. Edited by C. D. Narasimhaiah, 162–168. Mysore,

8 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

India: Dhvanyaloka, 1994.

One of the most influential critics in the Hindi-speaking regions, Singh gives a brief and accessible overview of Ānandavardhana’s
understanding of the Mahabharata as a Śāstra predominated by śānta rasa. The value of this essay is that it shows how
Ānandavardhana’s views have shaped critics’ understanding of the epic since the 9th century.

Tubb, Gary A. “Śāntarasa in the Mahābhārata.” In Essays on the “Mahābhārata.” Edited by Arvind Sharma, 171–203. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 2007.
A must-read for those interested in the epic and Sanskrit poetics, this essay explores how, thanks to Ānandavardhana, critics have
accepted that the predominant ras of the Mahabharata is śānta (dispassion), not the expected vīra (valor). Perhaps most helpful, Tubb
explains how critics thought about the functioning of ras in the minds of the audience. Originally published in the Journal of South Asian
Literature 20.1 (1985).

Scholarship on the Sanskrit Mahabharata

While there have been myriad scholarly approaches to interpreting and understanding the Mahabharata in the modern period, two of the
most important scholarly methods have been identified in Comparative Philology and Mythology and Character Studies. The former may
involve comparison of the language, structure, style, and stories of the epic with those of other literatures in India or from other parts of
the Indo-European world. Historically, this latter method of inquiry has been more fascinating to European and American scholars, who
are inclined to find epic linkages in Germanic, Celtic, and Greco-Roman literatures, as opposed to Indian scholars, who are, in general,
more content to consider the Mahabharata strictly within its Indian context or alternately in its South and Southeast Asian context. Of
course it has always been popular for scholars to compare the Mahabharata with Indian literature from other periods, especially the
Vedic period. The point is often to show a continuity in thought or a repetition of motifs and narratives or alternately the epic’s break with
the past. Then, too, it has been natural for scholars to compare passages within and across Sanskrit Mahabharatas in order to speculate
on such things as the epic’s organic development, internal structure and style, or distinctive ideology. Character Studies includes studies
focused on one or more key characters in the epic, applying psychoanalytic, anthropological, and literary methods of inquiry.
Psychological investigations have been especially popular with Indian critics (and creative writers). Indeed many novels based on the
Mahabharata also take this approach. A common method employed by scholars is close readings of episodes involving the character(s),
usually in the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) and sometimes in other Mahabharatas or Hindu texts, often to elucidate
hidden meanings, underlying structure, or intertextuality. Not all such studies concern published texts; some address oral traditions.

COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY AND MYTHOLOGY

Dumézil 1988, Hiltebeitel 1976, Allen 2002, and Jamison 1999 draw comparisons, to various degrees, between the Sanskrit
Mahabharata and Indo-European literature, chiefly myths and epics. Dumézil 1988 is the natural starting place for students of
comparative Indo-European work on the Mahabharata. It is an influential study of royal kingship in both the Mahabharata and Celtic and
Iranian mythology. Drawing on and revising the thought of Georges Dumézil (and also of Madeleine Biradeau), Hiltebeitel 1976
understands the Mahabharata as a kind of Brahmanic sacrifice officiated by Krishna. Neither is easy reading, but both are foundational
texts utilizing a comparative method. Allen 2002 and Jamison 1999 suggest epic parallels between the Iliad and the Odyssey,
respectively, both making a case for “cross-fertilization.” While this is not a new idea, Sullivan 1999 suggests that the great battle in the
Mahabharata has deep resonances with the paradigmatic struggle between the suras (gods) and asuras (demons) in Vedic literature.
But most interestingly, the work further argues that the hidden model behind Bhishma is actually the Vedic god Brahma. Goldman 1977
compares the epic with itself, that is, it compares various manuscript traditions to make a case for what has come to be known as the
Bhargava theory. Drawing on the seminal ideas of Vishnu S. Sukthankar, Goldman 1977 makes the case (with striking examples) that
Brahman priests of the Bhargava clan deliberately expanded and revised the Mahabharata around the beginning of the Common Era to
bring it more in line with their Brahmanic ideology. While this view has since been widely accepted, it is controversial and not supported
by any irrefutable evidence.

Allen, Nick. “Mahābhārata and Iliad: A Common Origin?” Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 83 (2002):

9 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

165–177.
This essay draws a comparison between the Mahabharata war and the Trojan War to suggest that they have certain structural parallels.
It concludes with the tantalizing speculation that both narratives emerged from the same source.

Dumézil, Georges. The Destiny of a King. Translated by Alf Hiltebeitel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
A classic in the field of comparative Indo-European mythology, this work considers kingship generally and the character of Yayati
specifically alongside other famous Indo-European kings, especially those in Celtic and Iranian mythology. Originally published in French
in 1973 as Mythe et épopée, Volume 2 (Paris : Gallimard).

Goldman, Robert P. Gods, Priests, and Warriors: The Bhṛgus of the “Mahābhārata.” New York: Columbia University Press,
1977.
Goldman details how Bhargava priests supposedly added new layers of narrative and meaning to the Mahabharata during a long period
of epic expansion. While this study is important, its conclusions have subsequently been challenged if not revised by others.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the “Mahābhārata.” Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1976.
The first of a series of works on the Mahabharata, this volume examines structural features and symbolism in the Mahabharata in the
context of comparative Indo-European (especially Greek) mythology and ritual. Hiltebeitel suggests there is a proto-Indo-European core
story behind the Mahabharata but cautions against efforts to historicize the Mahabharata.

Jamison, Stephanie W. “Penelope and the Pigs: Indic Perspectives on the Odyssey.” Classical Antiquity 18.2 (1999): 227–272.
Like Allen 2002, this essay finds common Indo-European ground between the Mahabharata and the Odyssey, here focusing on certain
narrative features of the Greek epic (in comparison to those in Sanskrit sources) rather than its overall structure.

Sullivan, Bruce M. Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the “Mahābhārata.” Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Essentially a reprint of Sullivan’s earlier title, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and the “Mahābhārata”: A New Interpretation (Leiden, The
Netherlands: Brill, 1990), this study examines the character of Vyasa, drawing interesting though sometimes strained parallels between
him and the god Brahma. In fact he considers Vyasa—both character and compiler—as an incarnation of Brahma.

CHARACTER STUDIES

Brodbeck and Black 2007, Katz 1989, and Sullivan 1999 are the most scholarly of the works in this section, meant for earnest students
of the epic. Brodbeck and Black 2007 chiefly examines female and sexually ambiguous characters, Katz 1989 the “middle Pandava”
Arjuna, and Sullivan 1999 Vyasa. At least as brilliant and overall more interesting are the “lighter” works by Indian authors, Karve 2006
(on various characters) and Bose 1986 (on Yudhishthira). Lacking copious notes and citations, they are much more accessible to the
general reader. Their style is informal and at times almost confessional in their frank assessments of what seem to be old family friends if
not relatives. Chatterji 1991, from the late 19th century, is the oldest of the lot. It powerfully documents how intellectuals of this period
came to view the epic as national history. It also emphasizes a quite human Krishna and overall, is fascinating reading.

Bose [Basu], Buddhadeva. The Book of Yudhisthir. Translated by Sujit Mukherjee. Hyderabad, India: Sangam, 1986.
Originally titled Mahābhārater kathā (The story of the Mahabharata), this work examines the character of Yudhishthira, making the
interesting case that he is the true hero of the epic given his philosophical leanings and progressive development of consciousness.
Originally published in Bangla in 1974 (Calcutta: M. C. Sarkar).

10 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Brodbeck, Simon, and Brian Black, eds. Gender and Narrative in the “Mahābhārata.” London: Routledge, 2007.
This is a welcome collection of essays informed by gender and queer studies by many leading authorities and rising stars. The focus is
on female perspectives and contributions to the epic. Gender ambiguity is examined, especially through the characters of Bhishma,
Arjuna, Shikhandi, and Samba. The thirty-one-page introduction helps situate the volume within late-20th- and early-21st-century trends
in Mahabharata studies.

Chatterji [Chattopadhyay], Bankim Chandra. Krishna-charitra. Translated by Pradip Bhattacharya. Calcutta: M. P. Birla
Foundation, 1991.
Like many Indian interpreters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Chatterji considers the Mahabharata the story of India’s origins,
albeit one tainted by fanciful storytellers. Along these lines, he also favors the treatment of Krishna in the Mahabharata as opposed to
that in the Puranas. Somewhat didactic, this work both extols and humanizes Krishna, dispensing with fantastic elements. Originally
published in Bangla in 1894.

Karve, Irawati. Yuganta: The End of an Epoch. Rev. ed. Hyderabad, India: Disha, 2006.
This short, insightful work analyzes a number of key characters and moments in the epic. Characteristic of many modern interpretations
coming out of India, this one treats epic characters as historical figures and almost as familiar family members. Karve’s most provocative
claim is that Vidura actually fathered Yudhishthira. Originally published in Marathi in 1967 (Pune, India, Deśamukha).

Katz, Ruth Cecily. Arjuna in the “Mahabharata”: Where Krishna Is, There Is Victory. Columbia: University of South Carolina
Press, 1989.
Katz argues that she focuses on both the mythic and the Puranic elements in the Mahabharata as a text that straddles the Vedic and
bhakti periods and, unlike her direct predecessors, sets out to illustrate the human dimension in the epic. Her treatment of Arjuna in the
critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) emphasizes his divine qualities and especially his human ones. This is a meticulous work
that may not be suitable for novices.

Sullivan, Bruce M. Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the “Mahābhārata.” Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Essentially a reprint of Sullivan’s earlier title, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and the “Mahābhārata”: A New Interpretation (Leiden, The
Netherlands: Brill, 1990), this study examines the character of Vyasa, drawing interesting though sometimes strained parallels between
him and the god Brahma. In fact he consider Vyasa—both character and compiler—as an incarnation of Brahma.

English Translations

The earliest English renderings of the Mahabharata were carried out in the colonial period, with two complete translations (Ganguli and
Dutt 2001) and an ambitious condensed Mahabharata (The Ramayana and Mahabharata, cited under English Abridgements). Yet all of
these works suffer from archaic language, errors, and in the case of Dutt 2001, forced end rhyme. The respectable translation in
Victorian English in Ganguli is considered the best, while the other two are now mostly of historical importance. After a lull in
Mahabharata translations in English, there was a resurgence in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Lal 1968–2005 is a serially
published “transcreation” of the Mahabharata, a poetic translation that is suitable for the general reader and the specialist. However,
scholarly readers tend to gravitate to two Western translations, both incomplete, one published by the University of Chicago Press
(begun in Buitenen 1973–1978 and continued in Fitzgerald 2004) and the other sponsored by the Clay Sanskrit Library (Wilmot, et al.
2005–2009). Both translations are incomplete, but the former is still actively under way by a team of Sanskritists with a complete
translation a likely prospect in coming years. Although both translations are of high quality, each has certain merits and idiosyncrasies.

11 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

The University of Chicago Press translation retains helpful though cryptic synopses at the head of each section, and Sanskrit words are
rendered with scholarly diacritic marks. Unfortunately J. A. B. van Buitenen chose to translate certain critical words from Sanskrit, for
example, “baron” for “Kṣatriya.” James Fitzgerald ameliorates this weakness while retaining much of van Buitenen’s pleasing style. The
Clay Sanskrit Library translation has the Sanskrit text (regrettably in roman script) on opposing pages with the English translation, but
instead of diacritic marks it has quaint accent marks on stressed syllables. Because the University of Chicago Press translation is based
on the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), many consider it more representative of a hypothetical original Mahabharata.
However, being based on an actual, discrete manuscript tradition published as the Bombay edition (Kiñjavadekar 1979), the Clay
Sanskrit Library translation is in some sense more authentic. Many will find the language of the University of Chicago Press translation
rather formal and elevated in epic style and that of the Clay Sanskrit Library translation a bit more readable. But it should be noted that
the quality and style of the Clay Sanskrit Library translation varies considerably across volumes produced by different hands. The Clay
Sanskrit Library translation also has a charming Old World look and feel that is easy on the eye and sits well in the hand. Both
translations contain scholarly introductions, indexes, guides to names, and copious notes. Johnson 1998 is simply an independent,
lyrical translation of Book 10 of the critical edition with a useful introduction and copious notes.

Buitenen, J. A. B. van, ed. and trans. The Mahābhārata. Vols. 1–3. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973–1978.
Books 1–5. Van Buitenen was only able to complete three of the projected ten volumes of his translation of the critical edition
(Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), but he provided an immeasurable service to Mahabharata studies. While this outstanding translation
was intended for a scholarly audience, it is accessible to the resolute nonspecialist. It has a useful general introduction and a detailed
genealogy chart.

Dutt, Manmatha Nath, trans. Mahābhārata; Translated into English with Original Sanskrit Text; Translation According to M. N.
Dutt. Edited by O. N. Bimali and Ishvar Chandra. 9 vols. Delhi: Parimal, 2001
This translation, while not entirely reliable, is interesting to read alongside Ganguli. It includes the original Sanskrit text of the Calcutta
edition. Originally published in 1895–1905. (Calcutta: Elysium).

Fitzgerald, James, ed. and trans. The Mahābhārata. Vol. 7. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Book 11 and first half of Book 12. Fitzgerald has taken up the mantle of J. A. B. van Buitenen and leads a project to bring the remainder
of the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) into English translation. Like Buitenen 1973–1978, this is a superb translation.
Fitzgerald has put his own imprint on the translation project in his useful introduction to the seventh volume, which discusses the
meaning and aftermath of the war. Other volumes are forthcoming (as of 2010) by Fitzgerald and others.

Ganguli, Kesari Mohan, trans. The Mahabharata.

Although this translation is available in various multivolume print editions, most readers will find the electronic text more convenient. The
translation is based on both the Bombay and Calcutta editions. Unfortunately, this prodigious translation was, for many years, wrongly
attributed to its editor and sponsor, P. C. Roy, though it was virtually the work of one man. Originally published in 1884–1896 as The
Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Translated into English Prose (Calcutta: Bharata Press).

Johnson, W. J., ed. and trans. The “Sauptikaparvan” of the “Mahabharata”: The Massacre at Night. Oxford World’s Classics.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
This is a scholarly, annotated translation of the tenth book of the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971). It recounts how an
embittered Ashwatthama led a heinous night raid on sleeping Panchala soldiers at the end of the war. Johnson provides a useful
introduction to the epic and especially the dramatic end of the war and an insightful analysis of fate, free will, and dharma in the epic.

12 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Lal, P., ed. and trans. The Mahābhārata. 143 vols. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1968–2005.
This is the only complete post-independence English translation of the Mahabharata. It is available in handsome though regrettably very
slim volumes bound in homespun, however, a new, more manageable edition in four volumes (three already released) is expected from
the Writers Workshop. This inspired translation draws freely on various versions.

Wilmot, Paul, William Johnson, Kathleen Garbutt, Alex Cherniak, Vaughan Pilikian, Adam Bowles,Justin Meiland,Kate Crosby,
and Alex Wynne, trans. Mahābhārata. 15 vols. Clay Sanskrit Library. New York: New York University Press, 2005–2009.
Books 2–12. Although it was proceeding at a breakneck speed, this worthy translation was abandoned due to a lack of funding. About
half of the translation was completed, or fifteen of the projected thirty-two volumes. The source is the manuscript tradition known to
Nīlakaṇṭha, later published as the Bombay edition (Kiñjavadekar 1979), hence it is not artificial in the sense of the critical edition
(Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971). The translation is suitable for both the specialist and the nonspecialist.

English Abridgments

Harried Mahabharata enthusiasts have several options to choose from in terms of abridgments. While they are not slim books, most still
only give the barest outline of the core story within the Mahabharata. Yet they (along with cinematic adaptations) are popular with
nonspecialists and novice scholars. Casual readers would be advised to begin with Narayan 1978 and Rajagopalachari 1951. The latter
goes into much more detail than the former, being about twice as long (around four hundred pages), and is reflective of which episodes
are most endearing or meaningful to a 20th-century Indian audience. While shorter, Narayan 1978 has its own charm, being written in
English in a lyrical style by one of India’s greatest novelists. More serious readers should turn to Narasimhan 1965 (around two hundred
pages), as it more faithfully adheres to the core story of the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971), though James Fitzgerald
estimates that it only covers about 4.5 percent of the material in the critical edition. One caveat is that nonspecialists often find the
Narasimhan 1965 stripped-down abridgment dry and uninspiring. Only the most determined students of the Mahabharata should
consider the Smith 2009 abridgment, as it runs about eight hundred pages. However, readers will surely be rewarded by this outstanding
work, which alternates between direct translation of the critical edition and paraphrasing of the same, the latter delineated by italics. This
and Narasimhan 1965 are probably the best abridgments for teaching purposes. The Dutt abridgment from the late 19th century is
probably the least useful of all, composed as it is in stilted English with rhyming couplets in about 250 pages in print. It is included
because of its historical significance and wide availability.

Dutt, Romesh Chunder, trans. The Ramayana and Mahabharata.

This once-useful abridgment provided an entry to the epic for many English speakers in the colonial period, as it was the first English
abridgment. It runs about 250 pages in print editions, which typically include Dutt’s abridgment of the Ramayana and a translator’s
epilogue as well. Originally published in 1898.

Narasimhan, Chakravarthi V. The Mahābhārata. New York: Columbia University Press, 1965.
This accessible abridgment faithfully recounts the main story of the Sanskrit Mahabharata and contains a helpful list of the names,
genealogy charts, and an index to the sources consulted, that is, the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) and the Kesari
Mohan Ganguli translation. But it does feel skeletal and devoid of context. Even so it is suitable for students as a gateway to the critical
edition itself or other lengthier treatments.

Narayan, R. K. The “Mahabharata”: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. New York: Viking, 1978.
Here one will find the “essential” Mahabharata to be savored by children and adults alike in just under two hundred pages. The author is
a celebrated novelist and the illustrator, the author’s brother, R. K. Laxman, a masterful cartoonist.

13 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Rajagopalachari, Chakravarti. The Mahabharata. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1951.

While many scholars prefer Narasimhan 1965 and Smith 2009, many general readers favor this one by a well-known statesman and
contemporary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This and the Chopra television series (Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990, cited under
Cinematic Adaptations) are canonical works for many Indians. This work is written in a simple, episodic style, bringing together 107
stories first published serially in Tamil.

Smith, John D. The “Mahābhārata”: An Abridged Translation. London: Penguin, 2009.

According to Smith, his work actually gives us direct translation of about 11 percent of the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971)
and is interspersed with a paraphrasing of the same. To be sure, this is the most scholarly and ambitious abridgment of the Mahabharata
available and one that would appeal to both novice and advanced students.

Literary Adaptations

The epics were elevated to new literary heights when court poets began to write refined plays and narrative poems (prabandh kāvya)
based on them. Due to the aesthetics or ras (aesthetic mood) and the constraints of staging, such treatments usually concerned only
one major episode or a small portion of the whole epic. Meant for an urbane audience, these works delighted not through their original
plots but through feats of poetic brilliance. The golden age of such adaptations was from about the 3rd century to the 10th century.
During the intervening medieval period prior to British colonization, poets continued to retell the Mahabharata only now in various
regional vernacular languages. During the renaissance of Hindu myths in the colonial period, there began a new wave of literary
adaptations of the Mahabharata that continued into the early 21st century. Works from about the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries often
present the epic as glorified national history—the story of the imagined Indian (Hindu) community. Colonial era adaptations are often
tinged with nationalist rhetoric and sometimes veiled anticolonial sentiments. While dramatic adaptations (see Plays) of the Mahabharata
are still perennial favorites, epic poetry in imitation of the classical style has fallen out of favor since independence (see Epic Poetry). At
the same time novels have increasingly become the medium of choice for a great many authors (see Novels). Such fictional
reworkings—some with first-person narrators or omniscient narrators—afford unprecedented insight into the inner lives of characters
who often seem more human and less divine. The latest trend in epic appropriation involves not wholesale retellings of the epic but
rather extended allusions to epic material in novels (and films) set in the modern period. Frequently such novels comment on if not
critique late-20th- and early-21st-century social and political realities.

IN SANSKRIT

This section includes a representative sample of Sanskrit adaptations in the high style meant for a refined, educated audience. However,
it is somewhat misleading to call these Sanskrit works, as the plays freely mix literary Prakrit and Sanskrit, although the latter
predominates. Bhāsa 1993 includes six unsigned plays from the collection known as the Trivandrum plays (after the site where they
were discovered) and English translations. Although the plays are most often attributed to Bhāsa, these are the earliest extant
adaptations from around the beginning of the Common Era, and late-20th- and early-21st-century scholarship has questioned this
attribution and dating. They have a number of plot twists and shifts in emphasis (including sympathy for Duryodhana) that make them
depart from the presentation in the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971). The plays in Kālidāsa 2008, from the 4th through the
5th centuries, and Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa 1971, from the 8th century, are among the finest examples of classical plays based on the
Mahabharata and are also available with English translation. Two more celebrated adaptations, Bhāravi 1998 (incomplete) and Māgha
1998, are both mahākāvyas, great or extended narrative poems, and date from the 6th and 7th centuries, respectively. Unfortunately
they lack translations. Only one work is not from the classical period: Nīlakaṇṭha’s 17th-century play (Nīlakaṇṭha 2000). Nīlakaṇṭha is
also the author of a well-known commentary on the epic. For Sanskrit adaptations used in late-20th- and early-21st-century performance
traditions, see Regional Styles of Theater and Dance.

Bhāravi. Kirātārjunīyam: Cantos I–III. Rev. ed. Edited and translated by Moreshwar Rāmachandra Kāle. Delhi: Motilal

14 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Banarsidass, 1998.
Bharavi describes the fateful scene in which Arjuna encounters Shiva while performing penances in the forest. After tangling with Shiva
disguised as a coarse mountain man, Arjuna is rewarded with his divine paśupata arrow by the god who was merely testing him. This
incomplete work lacks an English translation but includes Mallinātha’s 14th-century commentary.

Bhāsa. “The Shattered Thigh” and the Other “Mahābhārata” Plays of Bhasa. Translated by A. N. D. Haksar. New Delhi: Penguin,
1993.
The contents of this volume (Dhūtavākya, Karṇabhāra, Madhyama vyāyoga, Pañcarātra, and Ūrubhaṅga) are five of the six
Mahabharata plays discovered only in 1912. They concern, respectively, Krishna’s failed peace mission, Karna’s anguish in the war, a
strange incident involving Bhima, events toward the end of the Book of Virat, and Duryodhana’s demise in a mace battle with Bhima.

Bhaṭṭanārāyana. Veṇīsaṃhāra-nātakam. Edited and translated by Rāmcandra Śukla. Allahabad, India: Ramnarayanlal
Venimadhav, 1971.
As the title suggests, this play recounts how Bhima made good on his famous promise, though not in the critical edition (Sukthankar, et
al. 1933–1971), to plait Draupadi’s hair “oiled” with Duhshasana’s blood. Both Hindi and English translations are provided by an eminent
critic of Hindi literature.

Kālidāsa. The Recognition of Śakuntalā: A Play in Seven Acts. Edited and translated by W. J. Johnson. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2008.
By all accounts this pinnacle of courtly Sanskrit drama, Abhijñānaśākuntala, is based on an ancillary story relating to Bharata, an
ancestor of the Pandavas, and the inspiration for the title Mahabharata as well as the name of the country. Bharata is the son of
Shakuntala, a maiden seduced and temporarily abandoned by her husband King Dushyant due to a curse.

Māgha. Śiśupālavadha-mahākāvyam. Edited and translated by Gajānanaśāstrī Musalagāṃvakar. Varanasi, India: Chaukhamba
Sanskrit Bhavan, 1998.
This classic work depicts the episode of Yudhishthira’s coronation ceremony in which Shishupala, king of Chedi, heaps abuses on his
cousin Krishna, whom he envies. After pardoning Shishupala one hundred times, Krishna finally decapitates him with his divine discus.
This edition includes the original text, a Hindi translation, and two commentaries—a 14th-century one by Mallinātha and a late-20th-
century one.

Nīlakaṇṭha. Bhīma in Search of Celestial Flower. Edited and translated by K. G. Paulose. Delhi: New Bharatiya, 2000.
This translation of the play Kalyānasaugandhikavyāyoga depicts a popular minor episode in which Bhima fulfills Draupadi’s wish for a
magical lotus, along the way literally stumbling upon his half-brother Hanuman.

SCHOLARSHIP ON SANSKRIT ADAPTATIONS

Miller 1984, Peterson 2003, and Gitomer 1988 each discuss a great classical Sanskrit poet—Kālidāsa, Bharavi, and Bhaṭṭanārāyana,
respectively—and his most famous adaptation of the Mahabharata—Abhijñānaśākuntala, Kirātārjunīya, and Veṇīsaṃhāra, respectively.
However, Miller 1984, required reading for all students of classical Sanskrit, ranges far beyond the discussion of this one play and helps
explicate the Sanskrit courtly drama generally. Peterson 2003 likewise is useful for understanding Sanskrit courtly poetry, especially the
genre of mahākāvya (great or extended narrative poems). All of these worthy studies will help students divine the meaning of the original
works and their cultural contexts. Varadpande 1990 takes a different approach altogether, surveying a serendipitous selection of
dramatic adaptations and performance traditions based on the Mahabharata. Although the work is not comprehensive, it does give
rather extensive treatment to the classical period, as does Thapar 1999, a fascinating study by one of the greatest scholars of Indian

15 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

history. However, Thapar 1999 is limited to a discussion of the Shakuntala narrative, and the focus is literature, gender, and society, not
so much performance.

Gitomer, David Laurence. “The Veṇīsaṃhāra of Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa: The Great Epic as Drama.” PhD diss., Columbia University,
1988.
Includes both an annotated translation of Veṇīsaṃhāra and five chapters of literary analysis.

Miller, Barbara Stoler, ed. Theater of Memory: The Plays of Kālidāsa. Translated by Edwin Gerow, David Gitomer, and Barbara
Stoler Miller. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984.
A fine work for all students of Kālidāsa, this volume brings together both annotated translations of three of his plays, including
Abhijñānaśākuntala, and three insightful scholarly essays by Barbara Stoler Miller, David Gitomer, and Edwin Gerow on Kālidāsa, his
plays and cultural milieu, Sanskrit poetic theory, and the staging of classical Sanskrit plays.

Peterson, Indira Viswanathan. Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic: The Kirātārjunīya of Bhāravi. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2003.
This useful study is illuminating not only for its discussion of the structure, style, and themes in Bharavi’s poem but also for its treatment
of the larger context of courtly Sanskrit literature. It also considers the episode of Arjuna and the mountain man (Shiva) in later literature
and even temple architecture.

Thapar, Romila, Śakuntalā: Texts, Readings, Histories. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999.
Thapar surveys the many iterations of the Shakuntala narrative, one of the chief upākhyānas (little stories) in the epic, but it should be
noted that Thapar’s focus is on premodern reworkings.

Varadpande, Manohar Laxman. “Mahabharata” in Performance. New Delhi: Clarion, 1990.

This is a classically oriented study of how the Mahabharata has been adapted for the theater, especially with respect to the Sanskrit
tradition and folk styles. Treatment of modern plays is light.

IN MEDIEVAL LANGUAGES

Although Sanskrit had ceased to be a widely spoken language by the time of the great classical adaptations by Kālidāsa and others (if
not centuries earlier), it was not until the middle period that poets started composing reworkings of the Mahabharata in vernacular
languages in earnest. This was the time of Muslim rule and social revolution spurred by the bhakti movement. Not surprisingly, many of
the works from this period reflect a profound devotional and sometimes sectarian sensibility. They also tend to be much shorter than
most Sanskrit Mahabharatas. None of the works included in this section is available in English translation, though two (Cauhan 2003 and
Śaṅkarpanikkar 2003) have glosses in their modern equivalents.

Cauhāna, Sabalsiṃha. Mahābhārata: Manohārinī Bhāsā-Tīkāsahita. Edited and translated by Ramalagna Pandeya. Varanasi,
India: Savitri Thakur Prakashan, 2003.
Originally composed in Braj Bhasha in the 17th century. This edition includes a translation in modern Hindi.

Kāśīrāmadāsa. Mahābhārata. 2 vols. Edited by Swami Paramanand. Calcutta: Granthaprakash, 1975.

16 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Originally composed in old Bangla in the 17th century.

Śaṅkarapanikkar. Bhāratamāla. Edited by Ponnar Sarasvati. Niranam, Thiruvalla, India: Kannash Smarak Trust, 2003.
Originally composed in old Malayalam in the 15th century. This edition includes a commentary in modern Malayalam.

Sāralādāsa. Sāralā Mahābhārata. Edited by Krsnacaran Sāhu. Katak, India: Phrendas, 1978.
Originally composed in old Oriya in the 15th century.

Viṣṇudāsa. Mahābhārata (Pāṇḍava-carita). Edited by Harihar Nīvās Dwivedī. Gwalior, India: Vidya Mandir Prakashan, 1973.
Originally composed in Braj Bhasha in the 15th century.

SCHOLARSHIP ON MEDIEVAL ADAPTATIONS

Shastri 2004 is an interesting anthology of mixed quality, but many readers will find it interesting and useful. Although it covers much
epic ground, only the essays in its third and final section, “Mahābhārata: Versions and Studies,” are relevant here. Regional
Mahabharatas explored include those in Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, and Gujarati, with a focus on the premodern period. The Mahabharata
in the Jaina tradition is also considered.

Shastri, Ajay Mitra, ed. “Mahābhārata”: The End of an Era (Yugānta). Shimla, India: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2004.
This anthology opens with the common Indian preoccupation with dating the war via archaeology and astronomy, most contributors (not
entirely convincingly) arguing for a date around 3000 BCE. Other essays discuss the peoples, locales, religious cults, and political
philosophy in the epic. Finally, five essays in the concluding section helpfully consider the epic in various regional literary traditions,
including Jaina versions.

IN MODERN LANGUAGES

Modern literary adaptations of the Mahabharata take the form of plays, narrative poems, and novels. Representative examples from
various regional languages and English are given in this section. That these works were all written by preeminent writers in the regional
languages illustrates that the Mahabharata is not of interest only to niche writers. All of the works except one play (Khāḍilkar 1950) and
two epic poems (Gupta 1966 and Dinkar 1964) are available in English translation.

Plays

The great many plays based on the Mahabharata in the modern period are a testament to the epic’s adaptability to the stage and its
timeless appeal. Across languages and regions there has in the main arisen a bifurcation of dramatic treatments: those in the folk and
often devotional vein as against those in the Western-influenced, secular vein. Of these only the latter are handled in this section, the
former being reserved for Regional Styles of Theater and Dance. In the colonial period a new style of plays emerged, designed for the
proscenium stage. One popular medium for mythologicals, some based on the Mahabharata, was the so-called Parsi theater originating
in the 19th century. Thanks largely to the playwrights Rādheśyām Kathāvācak and Nārāyaṇprasād Betāb, Mahabharata-based drama
flourished in the Parsi theater of the early 20th century. Other Indian playwrights, including some literary giants such as Rabindranath
Tagore and Girish Karnad, have also adapted episodes from the epic for a more urbane stage. Even now it is not uncommon to find
Mahabharata-inspired plays staged by elite theater groups in metropolitan areas. A sampling of superb plays by some of India’s finest
playwrights from various regions and periods is presented in this section along with one Western play. The earliest play, Khāḍilkar 1950,
concerning Kichak’s affront to Draupadi, is representative of a class of colonial drama implicitly expressing resistance to colonial

17 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

oppression by recourse to recasting Hindu mythology. The author was a friend of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and once gave him advice on his
commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Concerned with the repercussions of the epic battle, Bhāratī 2005 illustrates how the Mahabharata
can capture mid-20th-century feelings about war, suffering, and personal responsibility. While these two plays adhere to the basic plot of
the main story, Bose 1992 is representative of another style of modern plays (and fiction) that imagines alternate scenarios and
lives—often of marginal or invented characters—to ask the question “what if?” with respect to the Mahabharata. Tagore 2002 and
Karnad 2008 both also do this to some extent by taking up small but significant episodes, one about Arjuna’s wife Chitrangada (Tagore
2002) and the other about a Kuru ancestor Yayati (Karnad 2008). Carrière 1987 stands apart from the rest, being a Western adaptation
that ambitiously tries to tackle many aspects of the core narrative. Critics are deeply divided on the merits of this play, even though of the
lot it is the one most familiar to an international audience, having been made into a film. (See also Critical Reception of the Brook
Mahabharata.)

Bhāratī, Dharmavīr. Andhā yug. Translated by Alok Bhalla. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005.
A meditation on the senselessness of war, this play is a fascinating analysis of the dharma and figurative blindness of various characters
after the carnage of the Great War. Gandhari stands out as a powerful feminine figure in the play. Andhā yug was first published shortly
after India’s partition and World War II. Originally published in Hindi in 1955 (Allahabad, India: Kitab Mahal).

Bose, Buddhadev. Three “Mahabharata” Verse Plays. Translated by Kanak Kanti De. Calcutta: Writer’s Workshop, 1992.
In these plays, Saṅkrāntī, Pratham Pārth, and Anāmnī Aṅganā, Bose takes some surprising and interesting liberties with the
Mahabharata. Like many other modern authors, Bose is interested in exploring and granting dignity to marginalized characters like
Karna and the nameless maid who fathers Vidura. Originally published as Anāmnī Aṅganā o Pratham Pārth: Duti Kābyanātya in Bangla
in 1970 (Calcutta: Anand); and as Samkrānti, Prāyaśicatta, Ikkāku Sennin: Tīnati kābyanātya in Bangla in 1973 (Calcutta: Anand).

Carrière, Jean-Claude. The Mahabharata: A Play Based upon the Indian Classic Epic. Translated by Peter Brook. New York:
Harper and Row, 1987.
Although it follows the Sanskrit Mahabharata fairly closely, it downplays devotional and supernatural elements. The play was widely
staged from 1987 to 1988 throughout the world, with an international cast, indicative of Brook’s vision of the Mahabharata as a universal,
philosophical story. The stage play also served as the basis for Brook’s 1989 film, which garnered even more acclaim and controversy.
First staged in French in 1985 and in English in 1987.

Karnad, Girish. Yayati. Translated by Girish Karnad. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2008.
This play, based on an ancillary story about a Pandava ancestor, tells a timeless tale about the desire for the fountain of youth while
extolling filial piety. The role of Puru’s youthful wife is treated with great sensitivity. Originally published as Yayāti: Ondu Hos Drstiya
Nātak in Kannada in 1961 (Dharvad, India: Manohar Granthmala).

Khāḍilkar, Kṛṣṇājī Prabhākar. Kīcaka-vadha. Microfilm. Bombay: Śridattātraya, 1950.

Banned by the British for its subversive undertones, this symbolic play concerns an episode popular with modern writers, the slaying of
Draupadi’s harasser, Kichak. It is representative of a class of colonial drama implicitly expressing resistance to colonial oppression by
recourse to recasting Hindu mythology. The violation of Draupadi (Mother India) was among the most popular subjects of such recasting.
Originally published in Marathi in 1907.

Tagore, Rabindranath. Chitra. Translated by Birendranath Roy. New Delhi: Rupa, 2002.
Tagore adapted several episodes from the Mahabharata into poems or plays. This is one of his finest, a one-act dance drama that
sensitively portrays Arjuna’s relationship with Chitrangada, a princess from the eastern hill country, taking some liberties with the plot as

18 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

found in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Originally published in Bangla as Citrāṅgadā in 1892.

Epic Poetry

In the climate of classical revival of the late colonial period, regional writers were drawn not only to classical stories like the Mahabharata
but also to classical forms like prabandh kāvya (narrative poetry). Thus this genre enjoyed a brief vogue and was an important
cornerstone of many modern regional literatures India. As with plays of the same period, they were often only superficially connected
with Sanskrit precedents (in tone and style), but even so they created an important link to the past at a critical moment in Indian history.
Alas, we will have to await English translations of the best of these historically important works. Two excellent, representative, but
regrettably untranslated examples, Gupta 1966 and Dinkar 1964, have been included for the benefit of readers of Hindi. They
appropriately concern material from the great battle, namely, the deaths of Abhimanyu and Jayadrath and the discourse of Bhishma,
respectively.

Dinkar, Ramdhari Sinha. Kurukṣetra. Patna, India: Udayachal Prakashan, 1964.

In Hindi. This is among the last great epic poems in Hindi based on the Mahabharata. Dinkar presents a powerful philosophical
exchange between Yudhishthira and Bhishma lying on his bed of arrows. Originally published in Hindi in 1943.

Gupta, Maithilīśaraṇa. Jayadratha-vadha. Chirgaom, India: Sahitya-Sadan, 1966.

A watershed in epic poetry in modern standard Hindi, this work recounts the Kauravas’ unjust slaying of Abhimanyu and Arjun’s
subsequent retaliatory slaying of Jayadrath. This poem has the spirit of classical prabandh kāvya (narrative poetry) and yet a modern,
nationalistic sensibility. Originally published in Hindi in 1910 (Chirgaom, India: Sahitya-Sadan).

Novels

The genre of epic fiction has only gained popularity since India’s independence. Samplings of two varieties of Mahabharata-inspired
novels are included in this section: direct retelling of narratives and original (typically contemporary) stories with mere allusions to the
epic. While the former have enjoyed great popularity in India, the latter have generally been more warmly received by literary critics.
Vasudevan Nair 1997, Roy 1995, and Bhairappa 1994 represent the former variety and Devi 1995, Gangopadhyay 1987, and Tharoor
1989 the latter; all are first-rate novels with a readership beyond India. Vasudevan Nair 1997 and Roy 1995 illustrate a common feature
of fiction based on the Mahabharata: presentation of the story from the point of view of a particular character who serves as the
protagonist, here Bhima and Draupadi, respectively. (Draupadi especially has been elevated to the role of protagonist if not heroine in
late-20th- and early-21st-century novels.) Bhairappa 1994 sheds light on the inner lives of multiple characters as the first-person
narration rotates through various characters. The remaining novels, characteristic of their style, all obliquely reference characters,
episodes, and themes from the Mahabharata in order to comment upon analogous situations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Oftentimes they insinuate a critique of social or political realities, which in the case of Devi 1995, Gangopadhyay 1987, and Tharoor
1989 are primarily the devastating consequences of India’s partition. Devi 1995 has a feminist orientation in which the horror of the
Mahabharata war is ironically likened to that of partition, with rapists and abductors taking the place of noble warriors. Gangopadhyay
1987, which has more numerous and obvious allusions, relates the Pandavas’ battle over their kingdom to the struggle of East Bengali
refugees for land rights and dignity in West Bengal. Finally, Tharoor 1989, with wordplay on the great (Maha-) Bharata, brilliantly depicts,
in a magical-realist mode, post-partition India, with late-20th- and early-21st-century political figures reminiscent of beloved, albeit
imperfect, characters from the epic.

Bhairappa, S. L. Parva: A Tale of War, Peace, Love, Death, God, and Man. Translated by K. Raghavendra Rao. New Delhi:
Sahitya Akademi, 1994.
Over eight hundred pages, this is a massive fictional reworking. The realistic narrative suggests something of the author’s ethnographic
inquiry at sites mentioned in the epic. Interestingly the first-person narration shifts through various characters. Originally published as

19 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Parva in Kannada in 1979 (Bengalaru, India: Sahitya Bhandar).

Devi, Jyotirmoyee. The River Churning: A Partition Novel. Translated by Enakshi Chatterjee. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1995.
This powerful novel, divided into three sections named after books from the Mahabharata (“Adi Parvan,” “Anusasan Parvan,” and “Stree
Parvan”), relates a young Hindu woman’s harrowing ordeal (abduction and subsequent rejection by her family) during the Noakhali riots
of 1946. Originally published as Epar Gangā Opar Gaṅgā in Bangla in 1967.

Gangopadhyay, Sunil. Arjun. Translated by Chitrita Banerji-Abdullah. New Delhi: Penguin, 1987.
From exile, rape, and arson to an arrow shot through the eye of a bird, this novel is filled with allusions to scenes, large and small, from
the Mahabharata. While showing sympathy for the plight of Hindu refugees from East Bengal, the novel is too sophisticated to equate
any one community with the Kauravas. Originally published in Bangla in 1971 (Calcutta: Anand).

Roy, Pratibha. Yajnaseni: The Story of Draupadi. Translated by Pradip Bhattacharya. New Delhi: Rupa, 1995.
This novel reveals the inner thoughts and feelings of Draupadi through first-person narration. Retelling the epic from Draupadi’s
perspective, the novel explores Draupadi’s relationships with her husbands, Kunti, Karna, and Krishna. Originally published in Oriya in
1984 (Katak: Nalanda).

Tharoor, Shashi. The Great Indian Novel. New York: Arcade, 1989.
This superb, satirical novel tells two stories simultaneously, the Mahabharata and the tragic and comic tale of India in the time of
Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, in eighteen chapters narrated by Ved Vyas. Major characters include Bhishma (Ganga Datta) as
Gandhi, Dhritarashtra as Nehru, Pandu as Subhash Chandra Bose, and Karna (Mohammad Ali Karna) as Jinnah.

Vasudevan Nair, M. T. Second Turn. Translated by P. K. Ravindranath. Chennai: Macmillan India, 1997.
Characteristic of many fictional adaptations of the epic, this one tells the story of the Mahabharata from the vantage point of a particular
character, here Bhima. Vasudevan Nair grants a certain humanity and sensitivity to Bhima, eliciting sympathy for the Pandava of
legendary temper. Includes a glossary and synopsis of the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Originally published as Randāmūlam in Malayalam in
1984 (Kottayam, India: Sahitya Pravarthak Sahakaran Senejham).

Children’s Literature

In the 20th century retelling the Mahabharata in a fashion suitable for a younger audience—from children to young adults—became
popular. In the late colonial period literature abounded to edify India’s youth (especially males) by reference to the values and heroic
fervor of epic heroes from the Mahabharata. This tradition continued in the postcolonial period and perhaps intensified, with a growing
(and affluent) diaspora community driving much of the market. There has been a proliferation of animated features and all manner of
children’s books and comic books, often with moralistic and patriotic overtones. These typically take the form of simplified, romanticized
retellings of the Mahabharata meant for a juvenile readership. None of the inexpensive, mass-market paperbacks are included in this
section, for in general they are not of high literary quality and are not collected by research libraries. However, one high-quality
abridgment meant for a juvenile audience (Navala 1983) from the colonial period has been included, for although untranslated, it is by
one of India’s greatest modern poets. Also included is the Mahabharata as presented in the much beloved comic book series Amar
Chitra Katha (The timeless story animated; Pai 1988–1989), where many Indian children get their first taste of the epic.

Nirala [Srῡyakānt Tripathī]. Mahābhārat. In Nirālā racanāvalī. Vol. 8. Edited by Nirala [Srῡyakānt Tripathī], 58–204. New Delhi:

20 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Rajkamal, 1983.
Nirala presents here a readable, abridged Mahabharata in straightforward Hindi prose only slightly elevated from colloquial discourse.
Originally published in Hindi in 1939.

Pai, Anant, ed. Mahābhārata. Amar Chitra Katha. Bombay: India Book House, 1988–1989.
Like the many animated features, this comic book simplifies the epic into a didactic tale and expurgates morally troubling and sexually
explicit material. This work (reformatted) and over two dozen other English comic books based on the epic are available on the India
Book House website. Some are also available in various regional languages and as e-books.

SCHOLARSHIP ON MODERN ADAPTATIONS

Perhaps because of Western scholars’ preoccupation with the classical Mahabharata, there has been relatively little scholarship in this
area in the United States and Europe. Then too existing studies in the modern period tend to focus on popular and folk culture rather
than published literature. (See Oral Folk Traditions, Cinematic Adaptations, and Visual Arts.) The situation is not so much the case in
Indian scholarship in regional languages, but priority is given here to English sources. To get an overview of the variety of modern literary
retellings, readers might begin with Das 1995, a readable essay that considers the Mahabharata and the mythic impulse generally in
various regional literatures. Readers might then move on to Lothspeich 2009, basically a monograph-length treatment of the same but
mostly limited to Hindi retellings. However, it does attempt to provide a rationale for the strength of the mythological genre and in
particular Mahabharata retellings in the modern period—a rationale that foregrounds the role of British colonialization. Thapar 1999, by a
preeminent scholar of Indian history, is a fascinating study of one subordinate narrative in the Mahabharata, that of Shakuntala. Lal
1992–1995 is a large, somewhat cumbersome, two-volume work that mixes primary (modern reworkings) and secondary sources
(essays and reviews). While its component parts are of varying quality and it has a bias toward Bengali authors and critics, Lal
1992–1995 will be useful to serious students of modern literary adaptations. Hansen 2006 (on Betab’s Mahābhārat in Hindi) and
Solomon 1994 (primarily on Khadilkar’s Kīcaka-vadha in Marathi) are both excellent, accessible essays on particular Mahabharata-
themed plays in the colonial period. Both foreground performance and demonstrate the radical potential of modern adaptations.

Das, Sisir Kumar. “Myths and Modern Indian Literature.” In A History of Indian Literature. Vol. 9, Struggle for Freedom: Triumph
and Tragedy, 1911–1956. Edited by Sisir Kumar Das, 123–149. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1995.
This essay gives a concise overview of trends in the use of the Mahabharata in 20th-century literature. It does have a few minor errors
but overall gives a nice general introduction to the subject.

Hansen, Kathryn. “Ritual Enactments in a Hindi ‘Mythological’: Betab’s Mahabharat in Parsi Theatre.” Economic and Political
Weekly, 2 December 2006, 4985–4991.
Here Hansen effectively shows how the staging of Betab’s play was both deeply devotional in style and content and also deeply political
in its indictment of the caste system and endorsement of nirguṇ bhakti (devotion to a formless God, “without qualities”) for all. Discussion
of original material relating to several untouchable characters is interesting reading that will appeal to both theater and religion scholars.

Lal, P., ed. Vyasa’s “Mahabharata”: Creative Insights. 2 vols. Calcutta: Writer’s Workshop, 1992–1995.
This is a massive collection of both creative works based on the Mahabharata (many originally in English or in Bangla) and scholarly
essays and reviews of varying quality.

Lothspeich, Pamela. Epic Nation: Reimagining the “Mahabharata” in the Age of the Empire. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2009.
This work explores how retellings of the Mahabharata in Hindi literature and theater worked to articulate anticolonial nationalism and

21 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Hindu national identity in the nationalist period as well as to position the text as both national literature and national history.

Solomon, Rakesh H. “Culture, Imperialism, and Nationalist Resistance: Performance in Colonial India.” Theatre Journal 46.3
(1994): 323–347.
Solomon discusses how mythological and specifically Mahabharata-based drama could be radically anticolonial. Several Marathi plays
are discussed, highlighting performance but especially the allegorically subversive play Kīcaka-vadha by Kṛṣṇajī Prabhākar Khāḍilkar.
Interestingly Solomon relates how characters in this play were meant to correspond with late-20th-century political figures. This essay
will be of great interest to students of Indian theater and colonial history.

Thapar, Romila. Śakuntalā: Texts, Readings, Histories. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999.
Thapar surveys the many iterations of the Shakuntala narrative, one of the chief upākhyānas (little stories) in the epic, but it should be
noted that Thapar’s focus is on premodern reworkings.

Cinematic Adaptations

As with novels, there have been two trends in films and television series based on the Mahabharata: literal retellings and modern stories
with various degrees of epic resonances. The former, much beloved in India, are often moralistic and religious (with a Vaishnava
orientation). Then too they typically present a romanticized version of the epic in a mythical world without moral ambiguity. Most address
the core story (wholly or partially), although some pick up the smaller stories within, such as Shakuntala. One charming aspect of many
films is that they incorporate folk elements well known in India but not found in the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971). The
most famous cinematic adaptation is of course the Mahabharat series (Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990) made for Doordarshan, India’s
public television station. Even though it runs ninety-four episodes of about forty-five minutes each, it has been broadcast repeatedly in
India since its creation. Contemporaneous with Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990 is Brook 1990, the only film by a non-Indian filmmaker
included in this section. It is also the most controversial, garnering its share of both fame and infamy. (See also Critical Reception of the
Brook Mahabharata.) Due to Peter Brook’s creative choices, the film has been much more successful in Europe and the United States
than in India. In the United States it was first broadcast on the Public Broadcasting Service as a six-hour series. Later it was made into a
three-hour condensed film. Two other literal film adaptations are Mistry 1965 and Rao 1963, in Hindi and Telulgu, respectively. The
former is a typical Bollywood production with all the melodrama and music, which crams almost miraculously much of the main story into
about three hours. The latter, in contrast, is a sensitive and beautifully crafted film about the Pandavas’ stay in the court of Virat. The
acting and dancing are exquisite. Films that only allude to the Mahabharata have been very mixed in terms of their critical reception, but
they are frequently enjoyed by Indian audiences, who savor every epic allusion. One of the best of its kind is Kālyug (Benegal 1981) by
one of the leading filmmakers in India’s Parallel Cinema. Benegal 1981 brings the epic battle to boardrooms and living rooms in an
updated reworking with an all-star cast.

Benegal, Shyam, dir. Kālyug. Southall, UK: Apollo Video, 1981.

This is a Mahabharata-inspired film, not a literal retelling of the epic, that pits two sets of cousins (business tycoons in Bombay) against
each other with disastrous results. A more sultry, tortured Karna, played masterfully by Shashi Kapoor, cannot be imagined. Many
Bollywood films make epic allusions, but this one does it in a big way with great éclat. In Hindi.

Brook, Peter, dir. Mahabharata. London: Connoisseur, 1990.

Written by Brook and Jean Claude Carrière. This is the six-hour film based on the stage play by Carrière. There is also a three-hour
condensed version. While this Western adaptation has been controversial for its handling of Indian mythical material, particularly that of
a religious nature, it mostly adheres to the critical edition (Sukthankar, et al. 1933–1971) and is artistically executed.

22 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Chopra, B. R., prod., and Ravi Chopra, dir. Mahabharat. Bombay: B. R. TV, 1988–1990.
Rahi Masoom Reza, scriptwriter. Of all the cinematic adaptations of the epic, this is by far the most popular and massive produced by
the early 21st century. Its special effects are low-tech, but audiences appreciate its dialogue, flashy sets and costumes, and attention to
detail. The Hindu ideology exuded in the series will strike some viewers as nationalistic, though this is a matter of debate. In Hindi.

Mistry, Balubhai, dir. Mahabharat. A. G. Films, 1965.

Covering all of the main events from the display of arms to the conclusion of the war, this is one of Bollywood’s classic adaptations of the
epic. The plot is swift moving for the uninitiated. This film lacks the moral ambiguity of the Sanskrit Mahabharata but rewards with folk
flourishes and song and dance numbers. In Hindi.

Rao, Kamalakara Kameshwara, dir. Narthanasala. Rajyam Pictures, 1963.

(The dance hall.) This black-and-white classic depicts events in the Virāṭ Parvaṇ while the Pandavas are incognito but embellishes the
love story between Abhimanyu and Uttara. Excellent performances in the dance hall are seamlessly incorporated, enhancing the film’s
charm. N. T. Rama Rao, a legendary veteran of mythological roles, is sublime as a subdued and mysterious Arjuna. In Telugu.

SCHOLARSHIP ON CINEMATIC ADAPTATIONS

In spite of its antiquity, the story in the Mahabharata appears to be eminently suited to cinematic adaptations. Indeed there seems to be
a love affair between Indian filmmakers and the Mahabharata. To gain an appreciation for this situation, readers are advised to consult
Dwyer 2006, a monograph suitable for novice and advanced students that explains the popularity of devotional and mythological films
among Hindus in India and in the South Asian diaspora. Adaptations of the Mahabharata are discussed and are helpfully couched within
larger religious and cultural contexts. Mitra 1993 and Mankekar 1999 both deal with the television series (Chopra and Chopra
1988–1990), situating their arguments in a larger discussion of Indian cinema and television. Mitra 1993 is much more in-depth and
accessible, which makes it suitable for many readers. While it may initially strike some as deceptively simple—there are a lot of details
about Doordarshan (India’s public television station) programming and the process of making serials in India; for example, Mitra 1993
ultimately makes a sophisticated argument about the ideological undertones of the Mahabharata series. Mankekar 1999, feminist in
outlook, is more specific, discussing the impact of the disrobing scene on various Indian women, based primarily on ethnographic
research. This chapter is part of a monograph on women and television in India.

Dwyer, Rachel. Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2006.
This is a good introductory survey of the devotional and mythological genres of Indian cinema. See especially chapter 1 for a discussion
of the Mahabharata in film.

Mankekar, Purnima. “Television Tales, National Narratives, and a Woman’s Rage: Multiple Interpretations of Draupadi’s
‘Disrobing.’” In Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: An Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in Postcolonial
India. By Purnima Mankekar, 224–256. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999.
For this chapter, Mankekar interviewed numerous Indian women, including non-Hindus, about their reactions to the disrobing scene in
the television series (Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990). She also interviewed the filmmaker B. R. Chopra. Mankekar reads Rāhī Māsῡm
Razā’s (the Muslim author of the television script) Draupadi as a symbol and index of ideal Indian womanhood.

Mitra, Ananda. Television and Popular Culture in India: A Study of the “Mahabharat.” New Delhi: SAGE, 1993.
In this insightful study Mitra describes how the Chopras’ television series (Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990), is both social and religious

23 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

and how it relies on repetition (actors, sets, costumes, props, etc.) for its great effect on audiences. But Mitra’s most original and
persuasive contribution is in making the case that the series promotes a North Indian brand of (Hindu) nationalist ideology and of Hindi.

Critical Reception of the Brook Mahabharata

This section is meant to illuminate the array of responses, Indian and Western, to Peter Brook’s ambitious project of bringing the
Mahabharata to an international audience. It will be noticed that some critics concentrate on the stage play and others the film, but all
assert value judgments to some extent on the “worthiness” of the productions, mostly on aesthetic but sometimes also on ideological
grounds. Overall Indian critics are much less impressed than Western critics and are more inclined to object on ideological grounds, the
latter sometimes leading to emotional charges of cultural imperialism. Among the most damning in their assessments of Brook’s
Mahabharata are the director Rustom Bharuchi in Williams 1991, who chiefly discusses the film, and Bhattacharya 2004, which chiefly
discusses the play. Many find their reviews polemical, but each offers useful insights into the productions. Bharuchi’s review, which
originally appeared in Economic and Political Weekly 23.32 (1988): 1642–1647, invokes postcolonial theory to skewer Brook, citing his
unsavory and misguided Orientalist “appropriation” of Indian culture as a sign of neocolonialism. Readers may also look to Williams 1991
for many more critical responses (and much more), most qualified in their praise. Among the most enlightening are the mixed reviews of
Vijay Mishra and Gautam Dasgupta. David Williams himself is mostly supportive of the endeavor, a fact that colors the whole volume.
Beyond the reviews in Williams 1991, one of the best discussions is Hiltebeitel 1992, which admits to certain weaknesses in the project
but still finds something redeeming, especially in the play. Not heavy scholarly reading, the piece is part film review and part first-person
essay—all of it fascinating reading—informed by firsthand interaction with Brook and a career of researching Mahabharata performance
traditions. Much briefer is the essay by the Sanskritist Robert P. Goldman, which quickly gives readers a taste of how the Mahabharata
has been recast in both Brook’s film and a contemporaneous novel by Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel (Tharoor 1989, cited
under Novels). Goldman pronounces that Brook was unsuccessful in capturing the epic’s ethos in a film suitable for Western audiences
but admits to the daunting challenge Brook faced. Rich 1987 and Brustein 1987 are reviews of the play by nonspecialist American
theater critics. Rich 1987 is included to illustrate the response of many non-Indian critics and theatergoers bewildered by the plot and
enigmatic references to Hindu philosophy and Vaishnava devotionalism, not to mention annoyed by uncomfortable seating, the diction of
the international cast, contrived sets, and the epic length of the production (nine hours). Even so, many, like Rich, could not help but be
enthralled by Brook’s “ritualistic visual poetry.” Brustein 1987 is one of the more perceptive reviews by a nonspecialist who surmises that
Brook failed in his endeavor to stage a Mahabharata both dramatically engaging and meaningful to Western audiences—he calls the
evening he viewed it “a bit of a yawn” but also notes that Brook mistakenly tries to pass off a Hindu story as the “story of man,” along the
way mangling Hindu philosophy.

Bhattacharya, Pradip. 2004. Peter Brook’s Mahabharata: The Film.

In a scathing review, Bhattacharya deplores that Brook rendered the “greatest of all epics” into “the story of the warring progeny of some
rustic landlord.” Brook, he says, totally misconstrues the psychology of many of the key characters, especially that of Krishna, and Hindu
concepts, chief among them dharma. He also takes Brook to task for taking liberties with the plot and stripping the epic world of it
grandeur.

Brustein, Robert. “The Longest Journey.” New Republic, 30 November 1987, 26–28.
In his unflattering review, Brustein objects to Brook’s theatrical production on philosophical and more so aesthetic and political grounds.
Although he finds the play visually appealing, he faults its lack of drama, its cryptic quality, and the stilted English of the international
cast. Brustein also points out that Brook, perhaps arrogantly, conflates “human’ and “Hindu” and that his work “demonstrates not so
much international harmony and interethnic bonding as the seductions of cultural imperialism” (p. 26).

24 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Goldman, Robert P. The Great Bharata War in Recent Film and Fiction.
This is a concise review of Shashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel (Tharoor 1989, cited under Novels), and the Chopras’ Mahabharat
(Chopra and Chopra 1988–1990, cited under Cinematic Adaptations) meant for a general readership.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. “Transmitting Mahabharatas: Another Look at Peter Brook.” Drama Review 36.3 (1992): 131–159.
This is a discussion of the Brook Mahabharata and also a compelling account of Brook’s process of discovery about the Mahabharata,
including his fateful research trip to India.

Rich, Frank. “Stage: From Brook, The Mahabharata.” New York Times, 19 October 1987.
This rather neutral review of Brook’s nine-hour Mahabharata, upon its US debut at the Majestic Theater (now BAM) in Brooklyn, is
typical of the responses of many American critics and theatergoers who were bewildered by the plot and enigmatic references to Hindu
philosophy and Vaishnava devotionalism, not to mention being annoyed by uncomfortable seating, the diction of the international cast,
contrived sets, and the epic length of the production. Even so, many, including Rich, could not help but be enthralled by Brook’s
“ritualistic visual poetry.”

Williams, David, ed. Peter Brook and the “Mahabharata”: Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 1991.
This work contains an introduction and four sections: “Practitioners’ Accounts” (includes interviews with actors and designers),
“Production: Scenography” (includes a seventy-eight-page detailed synopsis), “Production: Critical Perspectives,” and “Staging an Epic:
The Mahabharata in Production.” Besides Rustom Bharuchi’s sarcastic, scathing critique, Vijay Mishra’s mostly sympathetic critique also
stands out. The latter interprets the production in a postmodern vein.

Oral Folk Traditions

Given the many references to bards; use of epithets; repetition of story elements; meandering, nonlinear style of narration; embedded
stories; and use of meter in the Sanskrit Mahabharata, it is tempting to speculate that the epic began as oral literature. In any case, it is
clear that oral forms of the Mahabharata have been around for some time and are still thriving in early-21st-century India, the myriad
iterations belying the fallacy of a single Mahabharata. These lesser-known Mahabharatas also often depart from Vyasa’s canonical
version in interesting ways, sometimes contesting existing power structures or turning epic morality on its head. The entries included in
this section engage with late-20th- and early-21st-century Mahabharatas disseminated by word of mouth or performed publicly in various
regional traditions. Blackburn 1989 is a classic anthology of essays on vernacular folk or “little” oral epic traditions in India, in which the
Mahabharata figures prominently. Hiltebeitel 1999 is also required (but challenging) reading for students of the oral Mahabharata. This
work examines how the epic is conveyed orally in five regions of South Asia. Also of great relevance are the two volumes in The Cult of
Draupadi (Hiltebeitel 1988–1991), one on the oral Mahabharata in Tamil and the other on a sect devoted to Draupadi in Tamil Nadu. It
was largely these studies that established Alf Hiltebeitel as one of the few authorities on both the classical Mahabharata and the living
(performed) Mahabharata. Readers who appreciate Hiltebeitel 1988–1991 will also benefit from Sax 2002 on the Pāṇḍav līlā (Ritual
enactment and dance drama of the Mahabharata) in Uttarakhand, a foundational study in an ethnographic vein. Singh 1993,
Chakravarty 2009, and Sharma 2009 are all edited volumes, or conference proceedings in essence. All are uneven in quality across
essays but share a strength in their handling of oral folk literature in its regional specificity. They also give good coverage of tribal
Mahabharatas, especially the Bhāl Bhārata of central India. (See also Regional Styles of Theater and Dance.)

Blackburn, Stuart H., et al., eds. Oral Epics in India. Papers presented at a conference held in 1982 at the University of
Wisconsin–Madison. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
While the Mahabharata is not the primary focus of this edited volume, some of the contributors discuss specific examples with reference

25 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

to the Mahabharata (and the Ramayana), showing structural and narrative continuities. See especially essays by Karine Schomer,
Brenda E. F. Beck, and John D. Smith.

Chakravarty, Kalyan Kumar, ed. Text and Variations of the “Mahābhārata”: Contextual, Regional, and Performative Traditions.
Papers presented at a seminar organized by National Mission for Manuscripts in February 2007. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 2009.
The mixed essays in this anthology are divided into four sections: “Textual Complex” (eight essays), “Regional Traditions” (four essays),
“Performance” (four essays), and “Puruṣārtha” (four essays). Two essays touch on the Mahabharata in Indonesia and Japan, but most
relevant here is section 2, which interestingly ranges across folk traditions in Tamil, Malayalam, Mewati, and Bhil.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Cult of Draupadī. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988–1991.
Volume 1, Mythologies: From Gingee to Kurukṣetra; Volume 2, On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. In the first volume Hiltebeitel
discusses a South Indian sect of Hinduism that worships Draupadi as the supreme goddess, contrasting Tamil folk retellings with the
Sanskrit Mahabharata. The second volume concentrates on the various folk festivals, rituals, and dramas associated with the Draupadi
cult centered in Gingee, Tamil Nadu. Local traditions are understood within larger movements and forces in Hinduism.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. Rethinking India’s Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadī among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1999.
Originally conceived as a third volume of Hiltebeitel 1988–1991, this work goes in a direction unexpected by the author. That is,
Hiltebeitel shows how five “folk Mahabharatas” contrast with each other as well as the Sanskrit Mahabharata to show both their regional
specificity and most interestingly their engagement with medieval Rajputs, Dalits, and Muslims—groups not typically associated with the
Mahabharata.

Sax, William S. Dancing the Self: Personhood and Performance in the Pāṇḍav Līlā of Garhwal. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2002.
This is an indispensable study of the Pāṇḍav līlā or ritual enactment and dance drama of the Mahabharata in a number of villages across
Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal). Sax’s anthropological approach blends fieldwork with theorizing on the self, performance, power,
and Orientalism.

Sharma, T. R. S., ed. Reflections and Variations on the “Mahabharata.” Papers presented at the International Seminar on the
“Mahabharata: Texts, Contexts, Readings” at Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 27–29 March 2004 Celebrations. New Delhi: Sahitya
Akademi, 2009.
This anthology helpfully focuses on regional folk traditions and is especially strong in its treatment of regional iterations and tribal
recastings of the Mahabharata. Readers should note that the first six articles are reprints from Dandekar 1990 (cited under General
Overviews).

Singh, K. S., ed. The “Mahābhārata” in the Tribal and Folk Traditions of India. Papers presented at a seminar organized by the
Anthropological Survey of India in collaboration of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Shimla, India: Indian
Institute of Advanced Study and Anthropological Survey of India, 1993.
As with its companion volume on Rām-kathā, this work is the outcome of a seminar. The volume consists of twenty-five papers, some
quite slim, generally with a focus on the Mahabharata in a specific region or language. The strength of the volume is its broad treatment
of many often neglected literary traditions, but overall the volume could have benefited from outside peer review.

26 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Regional Styles of Theater and Dance

From its inception the Mahabharata has likely been fodder for the Indian stage, and not only the elite stage formerly patronized by kings
and nobles, now sustained by middle-class consumers. That is, the Mahabharata has also found a home on the people’s stage, a
medium that often features music and dance if not drama along with storytelling. The sources in this section cover a range of important
regional dramatic styles in which the Mahabharata figures prominently if not exclusively—as in Sax 2002 and Hiltebeitel 1991. Some
traditions have ancient roots, and some of have undergone much transformation, or to some minds adulteration, in the late 20th and
early 21st centuries thanks to the twin processes of commercialization and globalization. Sax 2002, Hiltebeitel 1991, Frasca 1990, and
Zarrilli 2000 are classic—essential reading for those interested in this subject. Beginning in the North, Sax 2002 is about a humble style
of dance drama (Pāṇḍav līlā) in Uttarakhand involving possession. Hiltebeitel 1991 is on a folk enactment (again with possession),
though in Tamil Nadu. Frasca 1990 is about a style of street theater (terukkūttu) also from Tamil Nadu. Zarrilli 2000 is on another (more
stylized, colorful, and commercialized) style of dance drama (kathākali) from Kerala. Sullivan 2010 is a good introductory article on
kūṭiyāṭṭam, a style of dance drama from Kerala traditionally performed in temples, considered much older than kathākali. Synopses of
source stories (originally in Sanskrit) may appeal to those whose interests range beyond kūṭiyāṭṭam. Unni and Sullivan 1995 combines a
short anthology (five scholarly essays) with an abridgment and a translation of two plays used in kūṭiyāṭṭam. The translation of another
kūṭiyāṭṭam play (with a forty-page introduction and two essays) is in Unni and Sullivan 2001. Both Unni and Sullivan 1995 and Unni and
Sullivan 2001 include Sanskrit commentaries by Śivarāma.

Frasca, Richard Armando. The Theater of the “Mahābhārata”: Terukkūttu Performances in South India. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1990.
This study takes up the subject of a street theater in northern Tamil Nadu, in which the Mahabharata figures prominently and where
Draupadi, as heroine and goddess, is central. While it is often compared to other older regional theaters, terukkūttu is a folk form only
two hundred to three hundred years old.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Cult of Draupadī. Vol. 2, On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
This is a foundational study of a style of Mahabharata-themed folk theater specific to Tamil Nadu. In it, Draupadi is considered the
supreme goddess and there are some interesting departures from northern iterations of the epic.

Sax, William S. Dancing the Self: Personhood and Performance in the Pāṇḍav Līlā of Garhwal. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2002.
This is a foundational study of a style of Mahabharata-themed folk theater specific to Uttarakhand. The villagers who sponsor the
performance consider themselves descendents of the epic characters. The performance itself features some lesser known episodes and
playful scenes.

Sullivan, Bruce M. “Kerala’s Mahābhārata on Stage: Texts and Performative Practices in Kūṭiyāṭṭam Drama.” Journal of Hindu
Studies 3 (March 2010): 124–142.
This helpful study discusses many of the sources used in the repertoire of a style of dance drama distinctive of Kerala and dating from
the classical period. It also describes how these various sources are enacted in a traditional devotional setting and more frequently a
modified secular setting.

Unni, N. P., and Bruce M. Sullivan, eds. and trans. The Sun God’s Daughter and King Saṃvaraṇa: “Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇam” and
the Kūṭiyāṭṭam Drama Tradition. Delhi: Nag, 1995.
This work includes five essays, “Kulaśekhara Varman and Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇam,” “Introduction to the Kūṭiyāṭṭam Tradition,” “The
Religious Significance of Kūṭiyāṭṭam Drama,” “Religious Themes of Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇam and Its Epic Source,” and “Summary of the

27 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Drama Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇam,” in addition to Kulaśekharavarma’s Sanskrit play with English translation, Śivarāma’s (untranslated)
commentary, and notes.

Unni, N. P., and Bruce M. Sullivan, eds. and trans. The Wedding of Arjuna and Subhadrā: The Kūṭiyāṭṭam Drama Subhadrā-
Dhanañjaya. Delhi: Nag, 2001.
A charming episode from the Mahabharata has been adapted for use on the kūṭiyāṭṭam stage. Included are Kulaśekharavarma’s
Sanskrit play with translation, Śivarāma’s (untranslated) commentary, and notes.

Zarrilli, Phillip B. Kathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play. London: Routledge, 2000.
This is an excellent monograph that brings together a career of research on perhaps the most spectacular style of Indian dance drama
and moreover includes translations of four kathākali plays, all based on the Mahabharata, though one is ancillary to the main story. One
of its strengths is that it discusses how the tradition has been impacted by modernity.

Visual Arts

Material from the Mahabharata shows up in all manner of visual art—chiefly paintings, illustrations, sculptures, carved reliefs, and temple
architecture. The significance of these media is enormous, for as John Brockington aptly points out in Brockington 2002, visual evidence
is the oldest we possess for the epics, since sculptures are much older than any surviving manuscripts. Brockington 2002 is a good
place for students interested in this subject to start. It discusses painting and sculpture relating not only to the Mahabharata but also to
the Ramayana, making some interesting connections. Krishna 1990 is a useful essay focused only on the Mahabharata that summarizes
more kinds of media. Although difficult to acquire, Lal 2001 is a nice seventy-five-page volume of modern paintings featuring scenes
from the Mahabharata. The excellent monograph Evan 1977 is very specific. It concerns a particular style of temple architecture in
Karnataka featuring relief carvings from both epics. Neumayer and Schelberger 2003, Pinney 2004, and Jain 2007 are important
monographs, but it should be noted that they are not exclusively concerned with artwork from the Mahabharata. Neumayer and
Schelberger 2003 is about the artwork of Raja Ravi Varma (b. 1848–d. 1906), one of India’s greatest painters, whose subjects ranged
from mythological characters to ordinary Indians. His renderings of epic material are still much beloved and indeed iconic in early-
21st-century India and have infiltrated bazaar art, as both Pinney 2004 and Jain 2007 note. Neumayer and Schelberger 2003 will also be
of interest to students of the Parsi theater, as there is much aesthetic overlap between Varma’s realist style and that of the Parsi theater.
Part of a new wave of scholarly interest in popular culture, Pinney 2004 and Jain 2007 are excellent studies appropriate for graduate
students and other serious readers. Both concern the genre of inexpensive printed artwork in India sometimes called bazaar art and
often found in ephemeral media such as calendars and advertisements. More often than not it seems they feature devotional or
mythological subject matter, as the titles of these monographs suggest. Interested readers will have to wade through dense texts to find
direct references to epic material, but they will be amply rewarded by the sheer depth and breadth of coverage in these works. Pinney
2004 focuses on the formative stage during the colonial period and perhaps most significantly relates the production of bazaar art to the
anticolonial struggle. Jain 2007 approaches the genre as a living tradition, primarily utilizing ethnographic methods. Pinney 2004 has
more theorizing about the genre in question, while Jain 2007 has more color plates (and many more pages overall).

Brockington, John. “Visual Epics.” In Special Issue: Indian Epic Traditions; Past and Present. Edited by Danuta Stasik and
John Brockington. Rocznik Orientalistyczny 54.1 (2002): 111–131.
This article is part of a special issue that resulted from a conference in 2000. It includes a helpful catalogue and discussion of
Mahabharata and Ramayana sculptures and paintings, chronologically arranged.

Evan, Kirsti. Epic Narratives in the Hoysala Temples: The “Rāmāyaṇa”, “Mahābhārata”, and “Bhāgavata Purāṇa” in Haḷebīd,
Belūr, and Amṛtapura. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1997.

28 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

This illustrated volume considers the Mahabharata and Ramayana relief sculptures in the Hoysala temples in present-day Karnataka.

Jain, Kajri. Gods in the Bazaar: The Economies of Indian Calendar Art. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007.
Kajri takes up the fascinating subject of bazaar art, or calendar art as it is commonly known. The Mahabharata comes up occasionally
within a larger discussion of devotional images. The volume includes many color plates.

Krishna, Rai Anand. “Depiction of Mahābhārata Scenes in Indian Art.” In The “Mahābhārata” Revisited: Papers Presented at
the International Seminar on the Mahabharata Organised by the Sahitya Akademi at New Delhi on Feb. 17–20, 1987. Edited by
R. N. Dandekar. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1990.
This essay summarizes the use of the epic in Indian paintings, manuscript illustrations, reliefs, and temple architecture, some of which
date to the 2nd century BCE.

Lal, P. A Portfolio of “Mahābhārata” Paintings. Kolkata: Writers Workshop, 2001.

This work contains paintings from the Bengal renaissance and thereafter.

Neumayer, Erwin, and Christine Schelberger. Popular Indian Art: Raja Ravi Varma and the Printed Gods of India. New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 2003.
This work gives an excellent overview of Varma’s contributions to Indian art, showing how he almost single-handedly established
authoritative visions of Hindu mythic material in images that have widely circulated throughout Hindu society. This work is aesthetically
pleasing with many color plates, including some of his classic Mahabharata-inspired paintings.

Pinney, Christopher. “Photos of the Gods”: The Printed Image and Political Struggle in India. London: Reaktion, 2004.
Pinney presents a detailed study of chromolithographs (bazaar art), with an emphasis on the colonial period. Mahabharata-themed
popular art is not the main focus but is touched upon. Interestingly Pinney draws connections between nationalist chromolithographs and
nationalist painting and drama.

Southeast Asia

The Mahabharata is present to various degrees in all of the countries of Southeast Asia, having followed Hindus wherever they have
migrated. However, the epic has historically been most important in Indonesia, particularly the island of Java, a region that has seen
Hindu migration since as at least the beginning of the common era. As is apparent in the case of Indonesia, when the Mahabharata
travels, it often undergoes revision to suit local conditions, the Indian narrative mingling freely with local narratives and epic characters
coming to be associated with those from local mythologies. The most well-known form of epic performance in Indonesia is surely
shadow puppet theater (wayang kulit) and a related but later style utilizing wooden rod puppets (wayang golak). To understand the link
between Indian Mahabharatas and those of Southeast Asia, readers might want to start with Flueckiger and Sears 1991. Students of
Javanese puppet theater will also benefit from the excellent monographs Keeler 1987 and Sears 1996. The former is a classic study of
the history and style of the performance as well as its source narratives. The latter covers some of the same ground but emphasizes the
modern period, including the effects of colonization and popular Indonesian adaptations beyond theater. Sĕdah 1993 is a translation of a
12th-century Javanese Mahabharata. This work may have been the inspiration for a 15th-century Malay Mahabharata discussed in
Singaravelu 1990.

29 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM
Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition - Hinduism - Oxford Bibli... http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-...

Flueckiger, Joyce Burkhalter, and Laurie J. Sears, eds. Boundaries of the Text: Epic Performances in South and Southeast
Asia. Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1991.
A worthy anthology of essays that bridges performance traditions in India and other host countries of the Mahabharata. Essays by Sears
and Mary Zurbuchen on Java and Bali, respectively, are the most salient here.

Keeler, Ward. Javanese Shadow Plays, Javanese Selves. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
This is a seminal study of Javanese puppet theater, a medium in which the Mahabharata figures prominently.

Sears, Laurie J. Shadows of Empire: Colonial Discourse and Javanese Tales. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1996.
This is an important study of Javanese puppet theater focusing on the late-20th-century developments in the tradition thanks in part to
engagement with and as a response to Dutch colonization. The work also looks at its commodification. The final chapter considers
adaptations in Indonesian literature and comic books.

Sĕdah, Mpu. “Bhāratayuddha”: An Old Javanese Poem and Its Indian Sources. Edited by S. Supomo. New Delhi: International
Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1993.
This is the oldest surviving Mahabharata, dating from the 12th century, in Kawi, a language derived from Old Javanese with many
Sanskrit loanwords. An annotated English translation is included.

Singaravelu, S. “The Impact of the Mahabharata Tradition on the Malay Literary Tradition.” In The “Mahābhārata” Revisited:
Papers Presented at the International Seminar on the Mahabharata Organised by the Sahitya Akademi at New Delhi on Feb.
17–20, 1987. Edited by R. N. Dandekar. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1990.
This essay discusses a 15th-century reworking of the epic, “The Chronicle of the Victorious Pandavas,” in classical Malay in Persio-
Arabic script. The author speculates that it was probably derived from an 11th- or 12th-century Javanese version.

LAST MODIFIED: 01/27/2011

DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0076

BACK TO TOP

30 of 30 10/5/13 11:47 AM