The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c22.s3: III. The Epics
The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c22.s3
- Language
- English
III. The Epics
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*The Bṛihaddevatâ*, edited and translated by A. A. Macdonell. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1904.
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The texts of the epics, the Mahâbhârata and the Râmâyaṇa, have come down in various recensions, but no one edition can be said to be wholly accurate.
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The Calcutta edition of the *Mahâbhârata* (1834—9) includes the Harivamśa. The Bombay edition (1888) does not contain it and also differs in some places from the Calcutta edition. The text handed down by South Indian tradition and published at Kombakonam differs substantially from the northern recensions. It has been published in Bombay, 1906—10. The northern texts are in general use. The earliest surviving, though fragmentary, commentary on the Mahâbhârata is that by Sarvajña Nârâyaṇa, going back at least to the 14th century A.D. The best known is that of Nîlakaṇṭha, 16th century A.D.
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*The Rāmāyaṇa* text has a similar history. The Bengal text, without the last book, was published by G. Gorresio in Paris, 1843–50. The Bombay edition, with the complete text, appeared in 1895. The South Indian readings given in another edition (published in Bombay, 1905) do not materially differ from the above edition.
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*Translations.* The Mahābhārata in the northern recension was translated into English by P. C. Ray in Calcutta, 1883–96; also by M. N. Dutta (Calcutta, 1896). R. C. Dutta published an abridged translation (London, 1899). P. C. Ray’s translation has been generally followed in the text.
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G. Gorresio edited the epic with an Italian translation in 1843–67.
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A beautiful commentary was published by Jacobi (Bonn, 1893).
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R. T. H. Griffith published an abridged translation (Benares, 1895).
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J. Muir’s Original Sanskrit Texts (London, 1868–84) gives copious extracts from the religious chapters of the epics.
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Hopkins, E. W. The Great Epic of India, and India Old and New (New York, 1901).
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—— J.A.O.S., Vol. XIII, 1888, for the social and military position of the ruling caste.