01.00 - Preface
Victorious is Vyāsa, son of Parāśara and delight of Satyavatī’s heart, from the lotus-cup of whose mouth the world drinks the nectar of literature. (bori 1.1.1*)
Ugraśravas, son of Lomaharṣaṇa, the Sūta and Purāṇa-reciter, at the twelve-year sacrificial session of Śaunaka, the Kulapati, in Naimiṣa Forest… (1-001-1)
Once, the Sūta's son respectfully bowed and approached the seated Brahmarshis, who were strict in their vows. (1-001-2)
The ascetics dwelling in the Naimiṣa Forest gathered around him when he reached the hermitage, eager to hear marvelous tales there. (1-001-3)
Then, with joined palms, he greeted every one of those sages and asked about the progress of their austerities, while he too was welcomed by the holy men. (1-001-4)
Then, when all those ascetics had sat down, Lomaharṣaṇi respectfully took the seat assigned to him. (1-001-5)
Thereupon, however, seeing that he was comfortably seated and rested, a certain sage there opened a conversation and asked him: (1-001-6)
Where have you come from, O Sauti, and where have you spent this time? O lotus-petal-eyed one, tell me this, for I ask you. (1-001-7)
The Sūta said:
At the snake sacrifice of the great-souled royal sage Janamejaya and in the presence of that lord of kings, the son of Parikṣit, duly… (1-001-8)
Those various, highly sacred tales spoken by Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, which were indeed also duly related by Vaiśampāyana… (1-001-9)
After hearing those stories, varied in content and relating to the Mahābhārata, and traveling around many sacred fords and shrines, I… (1-001-10)
I went to that sacred land called Samantapañcaka, frequented by the twice-born, where long ago the battle took place… (1-001-11)
of the Pāṇḍavas and the Kurus, and of all the kings… (1-001-11)
Wishing to see you, I have come from there into your presence here. Indeed, O long-lived ones, I regard every one of you as having become Brahman. (1-001-12)
At this sacrifice, O greatly fortunate ones, radiant as the sun and fire, ritually bathed and pure, having completed your recitations and made your fire offerings… (1-001-13)
You sit here at ease. What shall I tell you, brahmins? (1-001-13)
Sacred tales drawn from the Purāṇas or grounded in dharma; the history of kings and great-souled sages… (1-001-14)
The seers said:
the Purāṇa that was proclaimed by Dvaipāyana, the great sage, and that the gods and Brahmarṣis, having heard it, duly honored… (1-001-15)
Of that foremost of narratives, varied in its words and sections, endowed with subtle meaning and reasoning, and adorned with the meanings of the Vedas... (1-001-16)
the sacred account of the history of the Bhāratas, containing the meaning of the work, having undergone refinement, pertaining to Brahman, and enriched by many branches of learning… (1-001-17)
which the sage Vaiśampāyana, at Dvaipāyana’s command, accurately and gladly recited to King Janamejaya at the sacrificial session… (1-001-18)
We wish to hear the righteous compilation of Vyāsa, whose deeds are wondrous, equal to the four Vedas and dispelling the fear of sin. (1-001-19)
The Sūta said:
the primordial Person, the Lord, much-invoked and much-praised; truth, the eternal, one-syllabled Brahman, manifest and unmanifest… (1-001-20)
who is both non-being and being, who is the universe beyond being and non-being; the creator of higher and lower beings, ancient, supreme, and imperishable… (1-001-21)
Having bowed to Viṣṇu, who is auspiciousness and blessing, the most excellent, sinless, and pure Hṛṣīkeśa—Hari, teacher of all that moves and does not move… (1-001-22)
I shall declare in full the thought of the great sage, the great-souled Vyāsa of immeasurable splendor, who is honored here throughout the whole world. (1-001-23)
Some poets have related it; others are relating it now; and still others will likewise relate this history on earth. (1-001-24)
This great knowledge, however, is established in the three worlds and is preserved by the twice-born in both expanded and condensed forms. (1-001-25)
Adorned with auspicious words and conventions both divine and human, furnished with various metrical forms, and dear to the learned… (1-001-26)
At the sacred foot of Himavat, in a pure mountain-cave dwelling, the righteous one, having purified his body and settled upon a bed of darbha grass… (kumba 1.1.39)
Pure and disciplined, tranquil in mind and established in austerity, Vyāsa, having contemplated in accordance with dharma that course of the history of Bharata… (kumba 1.1.40)
Entering yogic concentration through knowledge, he saw everything in its entirety. (kumba 1.1.41)
all the abodes of beings, whatever threefold secret there is, the discipline of the Veda together with knowledge, and indeed dharma, wealth, and pleasure… (1-001-46)
The sage saw the treatises on dharma, desire, and wealth, various treatises, and the regulation of worldly life that had arisen. (1-001-47)
Various traditional histories with explanations, as well as revealed texts, are all covered here; the defining character of the work has been stated. (1-001-48)
Having expounded this great knowledge at length, the sage recited it in summary; for learned people in the world wish to retain both summary and detail. (1-001-49)
Some Brahmins properly study the Bhārata beginning with Manu, others beginning with Āstīka, and still others beginning with Uparicara. (1-001-50)
The learned elucidate the diverse knowledge of the compendium. Some are skilled at explaining it, while others are skilled at retaining the text in memory. (1-001-51)
Through austerity and celibacy, Satyavatī’s son, having divided the eternal Veda, composed this sacred history. (1-001-52)
Having composed that finest of narratives, he, the lord Dvaipāyana… (nila 1.1.55)
“How shall I teach pupils here?” he pondered. And knowing that thought of the sage Dvaipāyana… (nila 1.1.56)
The blessed Lord Brahmā himself, teacher of the worlds, came there to please that very sage and out of a desire for the welfare of the worlds. (nila 1.1.57)
Seeing him, he stood astonished, bowed, with palms joined. Surrounded by all the hosts of sages, he prepared a seat. (nila 1.1.58)
After circumambulating Hiraṇyagarbha, who was seated on that supreme seat, Vāsaveya took his stand near the seat. (nila 1.1.59)
Then Kṛṣṇa, in turn, having received permission from Brahmā Parameṣṭhin, sat down near the seat, delighted and smiling brightly. (nila 1.1.60)
The Blessed Lord of great splendor said to Brahmā Parameṣṭhin, “I have composed this most highly revered poem.” (nila 1.1.61)
O Brahman, the secret of the Veda and whatever else I have set forth, and the detailed exposition of the Vedas together with their ancillary texts and Upaniṣads… (nila 1.1.62)
the unfolding of the histories and Purāṇas and whatever was composed, as well as time in its three forms, past, present, and future… (nila 1.1.63)
the ascertainment of old age, death, fear, disease, existence, and nonexistence; and indeed the defining characteristics both of the various forms of dharma and of the stages of life… (nila 1.1.64)
the regulation of the fourfold class system, and the Purāṇas in their entirety; of austerity, celibate discipline, the earth, the moon, and the sun… (nila 1.1.65)
the measurement of the planets, lunar mansions, and stars, together with the ages; the Ṛgvedic verses, Yajus formulas, Sāman chants, and likewise the Veda’s teaching concerning the self… (nila 1.1.66)
Instruction in logic and medicine, likewise the bestowal of the Pāśupata, and birth—designated divine and human—together with its cause... (nila 1.1.67)
and also the recounting of holy pilgrimage sites and lands, of rivers and mountains, of forests and the ocean… (nila 1.1.68)
Of divine cities and cosmic ages; skill in warfare; distinctions among types of expression; and whatever the course of worldly life may be… (nila 1.1.69)
Whatever all-pervading reality there is has also been set forth. However, no writer of this exists on earth. (nila 1.1.70)
Brahmā said: “Indeed, because of your comprehension of secret knowledge, I consider you superior even to the eminent assembly of sages distinguished by austerity.” (nila 1.1.71)
From your very birth, I have known your speech to be truthful and to speak of Brahman. And since you have called it a poem, it will therefore be a poem. (nila 1.1.72)
Poets are incapable of surpassing this poem, just as the remaining three āśramas are incapable of surpassing the householder’s. (nila 1.1.73)
“Let Gaṇeśa be remembered for the writing of the poem, O sage.” Sauti said: Having thus addressed him, Brahmā went to his own dwelling. (nila 1.1.74)
Then Vyāsa, Satyavatī’s son, remembered Heramba—Gaṇeśāna, the fulfiller of his devotees’ wishes, who, the moment he was remembered... (nila 1.1.75)
Vighneśa came to the place where Vedavyāsa was staying. After being honored and taking a seat, he was then addressed by Vyāsa, O blameless one:
Be the scribe of this Bhārata, O Lord of the Gaṇas, as I myself recite what I have conceived in my mind. (nila 1.1.77)
On hearing this, Vighneśa said, “If my pen does not stop even for a moment while I am writing, then I shall indeed be the scribe.” (nila 1.1.78)
Vyāsa in turn said to that god, “Do not write anything without understanding it.” Having said “Om,” Gaṇeśa too is said to have become the scribe. (nila 1.1.79)
Then, out of curiosity, the sage fashioned an obscure knot in the text; and concerning it, the sage Dvaipāyana made this declaration: (nila 1.1.80)
I know eight thousand eight hundred verses; Śuka knows them, and Sañjaya may or may not know them. (nila 1.1.81)
That knot of verses remains tightly tied even today, sage; it cannot be unraveled because its meaning is obscure and profound. (nila 1.1.82)
While even the omniscient Gaṇeśa remained pondering, Vyāsa, for his part, composed many other verses during that time. (nila 1.1.83)
causing the eyes of the world, blinded by the darkness of ignorance yet struggling about, to open with applicators of the collyrium of knowledge… (nila 1.1.84)
Thus, through concise and detailed accounts of righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation, the darkness of men was dispelled by the sun that is the Bhārata. (nila 1.1.85)
By the full moon of the Purāṇa, the moonbeams of revelation were illuminated, and this illumination of the Kauravas of human intellect was effected. (nila 1.1.86)
By the lamp of history, which destroys the veil of delusion, the entire inner chamber of the world was fully illuminated as it truly is. (nila 1.1.87)
When asked by Janamejaya and by Brahmins in their thousands, he instructed the disciple Vaiśampāyana, who was seated nearby. (1-001-57)
Seated together with the officiants, he recited the Bhārata, repeatedly urged to do so during intervals in the rites of the sacrifice. (1-001-58)
He composed the Bharata compilation in twenty-four thousand verses; without the subsidiary tales, the learned say that the Bharata is of that extent. (1-001-61)
But this excellent Bhārata, consisting of one hundred thousand merit-conferring verses together with the subsidiary tales, should be known and recited. (kumba 1.1.77)
He composed another collection of six million verses. (nila 1.1.105)
Thirty hundred-thousands were established in the world of the gods; fifteen were declared in the ancestral realm, and fourteen among the Gandharvas. (nila 1.1.106)
But one hundred thousand is established among humans. (nila 1.1.107)
In this human world, Vaiśampāyana, Vyāsa’s righteous disciple and the foremost among those who know all the Vedas, related it. (kumba 1.1.126)
Know, then, that I have indeed recited one hundred thousand. (kumba 1.1.127)
The Sūta said:
For the welfare of the worlds and out of compassion, the foremost of sages… (kumba 1.1.279)
Here Kr̥ṣṇadvaipāyana declared a sacred secret teaching; of one who studies even a quarter from the sacred study of the Bhārata… (1-001-191)
The man who, endowed with faith, listens daily to this work of the seers would attain long life, fame, and passage to heaven. (1-001-207)
Long ago, with the four Vedas on one side, the assembled divine seers placed the single Bhārata on the other side of a balance. (1-001-208)
When weighed, greater than that in both magnitude and weight. (1-001-208)
Because of its greatness and weightiness, it is called the Mahābhārata. Whoever knows this derivation of its name is freed from all sins. (1-001-209)
Austerity is not sin; study is not sin. The natural Vedic ordinance is not sin. Forcibly taking wealth is not sin; those very things, when tainted by motive, are sin. (1-001-210)
