The daunting task of translating sacred texts four times Mahabharata's size

Many stories in The Bhagavata Purana uphold the spirit of the Vaishanava tradition of universal love

Bibek Debroy’s English translation of the Bhagavata Purana, from the original Sanskrit text, marks the start of yet another odyssey for the author. Having already translated the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, Harivamsha and Valmiki’s Ramayana — Debroy had already secured for himself the unique position of having rendered all these Sanskrit texts  into English in an easily accessible format — and all by himself. But his next venture — more ambitious and daunting than the previous ones — is to translate all the 18 Puranas, which, as Debroy points out, are four times the size of the Mahabharata. The translation of the Bhagavata Purana is the first one to have been completed in three volumes, which have roughly 14,000 shlokas or couplets, distributed among 335 chapters under 12 sections. Seventeen more Puranas are yet to be translated, but Debroy’s journey has just begun with these volumes that narrate the many stories and fables around Vishnu, the preserver among the Hindu trinity of gods — the other two being Brahma, the creator, and Shiva, the destroyer.

All the Puranas (Debroy defines the Purana as an old account or an ancient text) are believed to have been written by Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa, who also wrote the Mahabharata. Some scholars believe that the Puranas were written before the Mahabharata, contrary to popular opinion. But Debroy’s assessment is that it would be simplistic and even futile to get into an argument over which one was written ahead of the other. Most likely, parts of these texts were composed concurrently and not necessarily in a linear sequence. That also explains why the Bhagavata Purana makes ample references to many characters that feature prominently in the Mahabharata. It is difficult to come to any conclusion from these stories on whether the Puranas came before the Mahabharata or vice versa. A more reasonable explanation would be that the composition of all these Sanskrit texts was part of a rich oral tradition and it is likely that these were recorded in writing much later and at different times. Hence, different versions of the same Purana do exist and the task for Debroy had understandably become more challenging. What helped him, of course, were the Nirnay Sagar texts of a majority of the 18 Puranas, based on which he attempted the translation of the Bhagavata Purana.

Three basic elements of the Puranas must be understood before one can enjoy the many stories of creation, featuring characters with whom readers of the Mahabharata or the Ramayana would not be unfamiliar.

First, as Debroy points out, a Purana must have five clear attributes — Sarga (the original or primary creation), pratisarga (a secondary cycle within the primary creation), vamsha (lineage), vamshanucharita (conduct of kings under the various lineages) and manvantara (a period that is presided over by a Manu who rules over creation). All the Puranas contain each of these five elements in varying degrees. The Bhagavata Purana is no exception.

Second, there is another way of classifying the Puranas. All of them are devoted specifically to one of the Hindu trinity of gods. Thus, there are nine Vaishnava Puranas, including the Bhagavata Purana, four Puranas are devoted to Brahma and five are focused on Shiva. Yet another way of defining the Puranas would be to classify them on the basis of the three basic gunas or primal attributes that drive the universe. Thus, six of them including the Bhagavata Purana are driven by sattva (purity), six are inspired by rajas (passion) and the remaining six have a preponderance of tamas (ignorance).

And third, the similarities with the Mahabharata are too obvious to be ignored. Remember that the composer of the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata is the same. Many of the stories are narrations of events in response to searching questions on values of life and living that are relevant even today. In the second volume, Narada recounts the story of Prahlad, son of Hiranyakashipu, the demon king, whose love for Vishnu knew no bounds. Hiranyakashipu tries every trick in the book to get Prahlad eliminated, but in vain. However, Narada’s recounting of the story of Prahlad is aimed at addressing a critical question posed by none other than Yudhishthira. And the question is: “His (Hiranyakashipu’s) son was pure and virtuous. Why did the father seek to harm him? We wish to know this. Fathers are devoted to their sons. When sons act in a contrary way, they punish them, so as to educate them. However, one does not harm them like an enemy.” Yudhishthira’s question is timeless and also reflects his own experiences of how he saw the Pandavas being hounded by those whom they treated like their fathers.

The third volume has a detailed account of how Krishna tamed Kaliya, the poisonous snake that caused mayhem for local residents and cowherds. The beauty of recounting these stories lies in the manner in which the cosmic significance and the temporal implications are intermingled. Debroy’s easy translation makes that experience even more sublime. Many stories in The Bhagavata Purana uphold the spirit of the Vaishnava tradition of universal love, just as the story of Dhruva is a lesson in austerity and Daksha’s exploits show how blinding conceit can define relationships.

This review, however, will be incomplete without drawing attention to the cover images of all the three volumes. Debroy’s previous translations of Sanskrit texts were almost inconspicuous because of their ordinary and relatively bland covers. The Bhagavad Gita had a miniature of the chariot carrying Arjun and Krishna as the charioteer, Harivamsha had picture of Krishna with the flute and the three volumes of The Valmiki Ramayana had on their covers the enlarged and stylised faces of Rama, Sita and Ravana. The initial publications of The Mahabharata had carried close to 60 symbols denoting the sun, lotus, flag, arrows, elephants and fire, etc. When the 12 volumes of The Mahabharata were published later, the covers were a little more imaginative.

But the covers for The Bhagavata Purana are quite unique in their composition and design. The covers have been conceived in a way that provides thematic integrity to all the three volumes. Independently, the covers of each of the volumes will make only partial sense, but place them side by side, in a sequence starting with the first volume, you will get to see a skilfully illustrated scene of the Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean. As The Bhagavata Purana explains in one of the volumes, Vishnu, in his eleventh creation, assumes the form of a tortoise in the ocean and sustains Mount Mandara on his back, so that the gods and the demons could use the Vasuki, the serpent king, as the churning-string and Mandara as the churning rod. The first volume of The Bhagavata Purana shows the Asuras or the demons holding Vasuki by his head, the second volume shows Mount Mandara with the tortoise supporting it from below and the third volume presents the Devas or the gods holding the tail of the serpent king. Put the three covers side by side and the entire story comes alive. Cover illustrator Shamanthi Rajasingham and cover designer Meena Rajasekaran deserve credit for having conceived the idea and executed it with finesse. The only regret is that there is no annotation in any of the volumes to explain the significance of the cover.

The Bhagavata Purana

Translated by: Bibek Debroy
Publisher: Penguin Books
Three volumes
Price: Rs 599 each