Mahabharata: Volume 4 Read Online Free PDF

though the task is daunting. With something like two million words and ten volumes expected, the exercise seems open-ended. But why translate the Mahabharata? In 1924, George Mallory, with his fellow climber Andrew Irvine, may or may not have climbed Mount Everest. They were last seen a few hundred metres from the summit, before they died. Mallory was once asked why he wanted to climb Everest and he answered, ‘Because it’s there.’ Taken out of context, there is no better reason for wanting to translate the Mahabharata. There is a steep mountain to climb. And I would not have dared had I not been able to stand on the shoulders of the three intellectual giants who have preceded me—Kisori Mohan Ganguli, Manmatha Nath Dutt and J.A.B. van Buitenen.
    Bibek Debroy

Virata Parva
    The Pandavas have to spend the thirteenth year in disguise and in hiding. They decide to do this in the kingdom of Virata and this parva is named after that. In the 18-parva classification of the Mahabharata, Virata Parva is fourth. This parva has sixty-seven chapters. In the 100-parva classification of the Mahabharata, Sections 45 through 48 constitute Virata Parva. In the numbering of the chapters in this parva, the first number is a consecutive one, starting with the beginning of the Mahabharata. And the second number, within brackets, is the numbering of the chapter within Virata Parva.

Udyoga Parva
    In the 18-parva classification of the Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva is fifth. The word
udyoga
means effort, exertion or perseverance. With the period of exile over, efforts are made to give the Pandavas a share in the kingdom and avoid the imminent war. This explains the naming of the parva. When this does not work, the parva ends with preparations for the inevitable war. Udyoga Parva has 197 chapters. In the 100-parva classification of the Mahabharata, Sections 49 through 60 constitute Udyoga Parva. In the numbering of the chapters in Udyoga Parva, the first number is a consecutive one, starting with the beginning of the Mahabharata. And the second number, within brackets, is the numbering of the chapter within the parva.

The fifth volume will cover Sections 60 to 68 of the 100-parva classification. It will complete Udyoga Parva (the story of Amba), include Bhishma Parva, with the Bhagavad Gita, and have about half of Drona Parva of the 18-parva classification. Volume 5 thus gets into the war proper. After Bhishma’s downfall, Drona is instated as the commander and Abhimanyu is killed.
    The Mahabharata: Volume 5
will be published in April 2012
.

Acknowledgements
    Carving time out from one’s regular schedule and work engagements to embark on such a mammoth work of translation has been difficult. The past tense should not be used, since only 40 per cent of the road has yet been traversed. Sometimes, I wish I had been born in nineteenth-century Bengal, with a benefactor funding me for doing nothing but this. But alas, the days of gentlemen of leisure are long over. The time could not be carved out from professional engagements, barring of course assorted television channels, who must have wondered why I have been so reluctant to head for their studios in the evenings. It was ascribed to health, interpreted as adverse health. It was certainly health, but not in an adverse sense. Reading the Mahabharata is good for one’s mental health and is an activity to be recommended, without any statutory warnings. The time was stolen in the evenings and over weekends. The cost was therefore borne by one’s immediate family, and to a lesser extent by friends. Socializing was reduced, since every dinner meant one less chapter done. The family has first claim on the debt, though I am sure it also has claim on whatever merits are due. At least Suparna does, and these volumes are therefore dedicated to her. I suspect Sirius has no claim on the merits, though he has been remarkably patient at the times when he has been curled up near my feet and I have been