"
Shatasahasri Samhita" - or "the collection of a hundred thousand verses", thats what some scholars call the Mahabharata...
I remember reading the unabridged Bengali versions at home, post my 10th class exams. The exercise would have taken me a couple of months, considerably expedited by the fact that I just skimmed though all the Parvas (books/episodes) after the Sauptik one ( The Sleeping Warriors Book) , which was where the war had ended, with the banishment of Ashwathhama.
At that age, who would have wanted to hear about rebuilding, political and social science lectures, Vanaprastha ( retirement to forests and penance as a way of life) and the subsequent journey by Yudhisthira to the path of righteousness.. For me, everyone died, the Pandavas got the empire, lived happily ever after and finito.
Even though the story perhaps still ends there for me, I now distinctly see the relevance of each of those books, and the essence of the elders and the pathbreakers come to the fore, just later, from Veda Vyasa (religious, social and geographical ) , Dhritarashtra (Administration and Duties of a king) , Bheeshma (kartavya nishtha - duty boundedness and societal norms) , Dronacharya (Defence), Vidura ( Political Science) and Sri Krishna ( Hinduism - as a way of life) . Just a small look ( with whatever little the power of understanding without the needed guidance I have of the subjects), makes me feel how relevant the learnings are to the current world, just how timeless they can be, and exactly how devoid of race, culture, religion or place they are. Its truly fantastic.
I dont know how many of our generation or the next ones would believe, read or learn from the Mahabharata. Even as I acknowledge the power of its institution, for the fact that it has withstood the test of time, not just during the non documented era, where Gurus have passed wisdom, knowledge or new thoughts over word of mouth, paintings, or hymns and folk songs, to brittle manuscripts or even through the most brutal and systematic attack on books/teachings/learned persons and libraries that our nation has faced with the advent of nomads, barbarians or powerful religio - militaristic regimes since the 11th century to now.
Friends do say that, there are educational institutions and organizations constantly trying to revive what has been lost, and thats maybe a bit relaxing.
We have lost almost all of our scientific documents on medicine, health, irrigation, life sciences, (even aeronautics and astronomy). Just the news that Tibetans have agreed to research on the thousands of books on their ancient script that were copied from Sanskrit manuscripts from our great Universities, is heartening, and we know about how strictly the Chinese guard their copies of the same, given that they had to withstand similar persecution for half a millennium.
Reading the Mahabharata in its current form anyways doesn't compare with the wealth of knowledge lost that I am talking about, but even a casual browse through of what it has to offer, and its references to what could have been, its in itself so invigorating and enlightening.
If you wish to read the Mahabharata in its literal English translation Read up Kisari Mohan Ganguly's
On a lighter note, also try doing this. Imagine the kingdoms during Mahabharata superimposed over the current geographical demarcations, and stretch your indulgence to superimpose these great mythical figures over the common stereotypes associated with the region. The results you get are sometimes pretty funny.
I did a short trial myself on Wiki and here are my findings:
Person - Current Location he would have Hailed From
Veda Vyas - (Island in Yamuna Inside UP, Currently Kalpi)!
Pandu/Dhritarashtra - From Meerut !
Gandhari / Shakuni ( Peshawar , Pakistan to Taxila, East Afghanistan)
Kunti ( Could be anywhere from Java ( Jambudwipa) in South East Asia , to Central Rajasthan to Gujarat.
Madri / Shalya ( Tamilian settled in Sialkot !! Wow what a Combo !! Imagine Karunanidhi speaking Punjabi) !!
Jayadratha - (Sindhi )
Dronacharya/Ashwatthama ( From Dehradoon, Himachal Pradesh)
Krishna / Satyaki / Kritavarma /Subhadra ( UP guys migrated to Gujarat.. See its been going on since ages.. and you blame Raj Thakeray)
Karna (from Jharkhand or a Bong ! Haha ! (if you see where he ruled).. )
Shishupal ( from Bundelkhand , MP)
Jarasandha ( Rajgir, Bihar)
Bhagadatta ( Assamese)
Chitrangada ( Manipur)
Dhrupad / Dhrishtadyumna/Draupadi ( Kanpur/Benaras, UP)
Kichaka / Virat ( Jaipur, Rajasthan)
Ulupi ( Manipur)
Sudakshina ( Iranian(?)s from Hindukush
)Sampsaptakas ( Jalandhar Punjab !)
Ofcourse , you could extrpolate this a bit further by imagining Sita as being north Bihari or Nepali , claim that Sugreeva and Hanuman were the chaps from Hampi, Karnataka, or maybe that Ravana shared his fav. place Kandy with Muralidharan, but I guess, I'll let it rest here..
Currently on the Jukebox - "Dhadhar thekeo Jotil Tumi ( " Youre more complex than a riddle") - Jhora Shomoy, Mohiner Ghoraguli
