The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
1883
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
1883
Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
The Sabha Parva opens one of humanity's grandest narratives: the story of a kingdom torn apart by cousins fighting over land, power, and honor. But reduce it to that and you've missed everything. This is really a book about the impossibility of clean choices, where duty and desire collide and no moral compass points due north. The Pandavas, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and their brothers, have won their kingdom back through dice and cunning, and now they sit in a palace built by a grateful artist named Maya, a structure so breathtaking it seems to hold the heavens themselves. But beauty and power don't bring peace. Krishna moves through these pages as diplomat and provocateur, forcing characters to confront what they owe to family, to truth, to themselves. The dice game that defines this book isn't about gambling. It's about honor stripped bare, about what happens when a king must wager away his kingdom and his brothers must watch. Every victory here carries the seeds of future catastrophe. The great war everyone senses approaching is as inevitable as tide.
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“Without beginning and without end, the wheel of existence rolls on eternally in this world, causing creation and destruction, without beginning and without end.””
— Unknown
“There are many different versions or recensions of the Mahabharata. However, between 1919 and 1966, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune produced what has come to be known as the critical edition.””
— Unknown
“You should not sorrow for that which was bound to happen. Those who are wise do not feel sorry over fate. Even with the greatest wisdom, that which is ordained will happen. No one can transgress the path that has been laid down. Time brings existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain. Time creates all elements and time destroys all beings. Time burns all subjects and it is time that extinguishes the fire. Time alone is awake when everything is asleep. Time cannot be conquered. Time walks in all elements, pervasive and impartial. Knowing that everything, past, present and future, is created by time, it is not appropriate that you should be consumed by grief.””
— Unknown
“Vaishampayana said, “I shall recount the entire history, that which was composed by the great-souled maharshi Vyasa, whose powers are infinite and who is worshipped in all the worlds. This contains 100,000 sacred shlokas, composed by Satyavati’s son, Vyasa, of infinite powers. The learned man who recites it to others and also those who hear its recital attain the world of Brahma and become the equals of the gods. This is equal to the Vedas. It is sacred and supreme. It is the best of all that can be heard. It is a purana worshipped by the rishis. It contains all the useful instructions on artha and kama. This immensely sacred history makes the mind desire to attain salvation. The learned man who recites Krishna’s33 Veda to those who are noble, generous, truthful and faithful, will attain great fortune. Even sins like the killing of embryos in wombs are destroyed. On hearing it, the most evil is freed from the most evil of sins. This history, called jaya, should be heard by those who wish to attain victory. On hearing it, a king can bring the entire world under his subjugation and defeat all his enemies. This is the best way to obtain a son and the great path to ensure welfare. It should be heard several times by heirs apparent and their wives.””
— Unknown
“And also those who are free, through the powers of meditation and yoga, percieve established in themselves like reflections in a mirror.””
— Unknown
“Pity is a poison.-Kunti””
— Unknown
