INTRODUCTORY NOTE

I

It was in 1942 that the late Dr. V. S. Sukthankar delivered four lectures on the ' Meaning of the Mahābhārata ' under the auspices of the University of Bombay. As a matter of fact, the fourth and last lecture was not delivered on account of his sad and sudden demise on the morning of the day fixed for it. The large number of people who went to the lecture-hall of the University that evening were shocked at the news; they converted themselves into a condolence meeting and paid their respects to the memory of this distinguished devotee of the Great Epic.

The Manuscript of these lectures — a veritable treasure to cherish — had remained lost to the world of scholars for the long period of fifteen years. It was in 1953 that I first requested my friend, Dr. B. G. Gokhale, formerly a colleague of mine at the St. Xavier's College, Bombay, and now Head of the Department of History in the Siddharth College, Bombay, to try to secure the Ms. for publication by the Society. Dr. Gokhale exercised his good offices as a result of which Shri L. V. Sukthankar, son of the late Dr. Sukthankar, offered the Ms. for publication as a monograph by the Society. The Society accepted the offer with sincere thanks to Shri L. V. Sukthankar as well as Dr. B. G. Gokhale and was happy to feel that the publication of the Ms. would remain a visible symbol of the long and intimate association of Dr. Sukthankar with it.

It was, however, not easy for the Society to spare enough funds for the publication of this work. Fortunately, through the keen interest which my pupil‑friend Miss Vasumati C. Parekh, M.A., a member of the Society, took in this matter, Shri N. C. Parekh, her brother, offered a donation sufficient to cover the expenses of the publication of this work. The Society accepted with sincere gratitude the offer of Shri N. C. Parekh, which in course of time will enable us to undertake the publication of other similar works.

II

Now, a few words about the Ms. The Ms. is in type‑script and bears the title "Four Lectures on the Meaning of the Mahābhārata." This rather heavy‑looking title has been abridged into the substantial title "On the Meaning of the Mahābhārata." The Ms. bears all the signs of having been prepared with an eye to its eventual publication. In a great many places, sentences or paragraphs have been placed in rectangular brackets in pencil. It appears that this was done by the author for the purpose of the actual delivery of the lectures wherein the element of time is a vital factor. This bracketed material has been retained in the body of this book. Secondly, an alternative word or phrase is occasionally found written with a pencil in the margin along with an underscoring of the relevant word or words in the text. It is not possible—nor is it necessary—for us to speculate which word or phrase the author would have finally chosen. It is thought advisable to retain the text of the script as it stands, leaving such marginal alternatives alone. However, there is one exception: Dr. Sukthankar has re‑written in pencil almost a whole para at the end of the third lecture. This pencil‑script is incorporated in the body of the book. A facsimile of this page is re‑produced as the frontispiece. An English rendering of the German quotation from OLDENBERG is given in an Appendix for the convenience of the general reader. In Index I Sanskrit quotations are printed in Devanāgarī for the benefit of those not quite conversant with the transliteration.

It is apparent from p. 34 that Dr. Sukthankar intended later on to add a summary of the story of the Mahābhārata in his own words. This, unfortunately, he could not do. This gap is marked by three asterisks in the text. However, a more valuable piece of information has been lost to us for good. As page 43 would show, Dr. Sukthankar left a blank space to be filled in afterwards, regarding the exact number of permutations of the sequence of short and long syllables which are possible in the śloka metre. How we wish he had been able to fill in this blank space!

There are naturally many quotations from the text of the Mahābhārata. Most of them are fully identified by Dr. Sukthankar himself. In a few cases, however, there is a bare mention of the Parvan in which the verses are to be found. All such references have been traced in the Critical Edition and full identification is given. This has led to some interesting revelations. Dr. Sukthankar apparently did not confine himself to the text of the Critical Edition even where it was available. For instance, the hemistich Svadharmanam pratipadyasya jahi satrūn samāgatān on p. 69 is not accepted in the constituted text of the Critical Edition; the foot-notes indicate that this line is found in passage 111 in the Āraṇyaka Parvan. The reference to 'Dharmavānijyaka' on p. 73 is also not traceable to the text of the Critical Edition. Sometimes Dr. Sukthankar has given readings which are not incorporated in the text of the Critical Edition, e.g. the reading Evam uktvā Yaduśreṣṭhaś Cedirājasya tathkṣaṇāt on p. 37 is recorded in the foot-notes in passage 401 line 8 in the Critical Edition. Similarly, Sahāyārtham ca te vīrāḥ on page 65 is recorded as a variant in the foot-notes. Strange, however, is the case of Katham samabhavad bhedas teṣām akliṣṭakariṇām on p. 33. The Critical Edition reads akliṣṭakarmaṇām with a wavy line below. Akliṣṭakariṇām is not reported at all in the Critical Edition! It is safe to surmise that Dr. Sukthankar used and relied upon the Vulgate for the purposes of these lectures. In fact, in a few places he identifies the quotation by prefixing the letter B (i.e. Bombay) before mentioning the Parvan. A scholar of Dr. Sukthankar's eminence who spent a life-time in practising the Analytical approach to the study of the Mahābhārata appears to end up with what is tantamount to its negation! However, the first lecture in the book will help us understand his attitude better.

It was only to be expected that with his characteristic love of precision and gracefulness of expression, Dr. Sukthankar would have scrutinized the script of his lectures thoroughly before it was sent to the press. However, that was not to be. Under the circumstances,we have only thankfully to accept the script as he has left it and make the best possible use of it.

The importance of these lectures can hardly be over-rated. They represent the final and mature views of a Mahābhārata scholar whose claims to speak on the problems of the Great Epic were, perhaps, better than those of any of his contemporaries.

I should like to thank Shri N. A. Gore, M.A., Dip. Lib., Librarian of the Society, for compiling the two Indexes.

G. C. JHALA
Hon. Secretary.

Town Hall, Bombay 1.
6th August 1957.