The 'other' Gitas

The Bhagavad Gita is not the only Gita in the Mahabharata. Bibek Debroy's Sacred Songs delves into the rich tapestry of 25 of them, offering translations, insights and profound philosophical themes

Sacred Songs - The Mahabharata’s Many Gitas

Author: Bibek Debroy

Publisher: Rupa

Pages: 684+XX

Price: Rs 1,295

Bibek Debroy, an economist equally well-known for his masterly translation of many Sanskrit epics into English, has brought to light a little-known fact about the Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is a relatively short section of the Mahabharata — accounting for just about 700 shlokas in Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa’s longest epic of over 100,000 shlokas (the most widely used verse form of two lines each used in Sanskrit literature). But the Bhagavad Gita is not the only Gita in the Mahabharata!

As Mr Debroy explains in Sacred Songs, there are at least 60 Gitas in Vedavyasa’s epic. A Gita is a rendering of a song but is often a recounting of a conversation between two characters in the epic. It is not just the Mahabharata that has many Gitas; other epics have them in plenty. By

Mr Debroy’s rough calculation, there could well be over 200 Gitas in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas.

In Sacred Songs, Mr Debroy translates about a third of the 60 Gitas of the Mahabharata, the choice leavened by his erudite understanding of the primary spirit of the epic. The Gitas cannot and should not be read as stand-alone texts. The themes and sub-themes explored by the epic have often been expanded and enriched by these Gitas. It is perhaps this idea of bringing out a connection between the themes of the main epic and those of the Gitas that influenced Mr Debroy’s decision to focus on 25 Gitas.

The longest Gita in this volume is the Anu Gita — 996 shlokas, longer than the Bhagavad Gita. It is part of the Ashvamedhika Parva, where after the battle of Kurukshetra, King Yudhishthira decides to undertake a horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha Yagna. Different conversations take place here to reiterate the lessons that Krishna had imparted through the Bhagavad Gita. In that sense, many ideas like those of desire or attachment, pride, moksha (the liberation from the world of karma and the release from the bondage of finite existence), the Brahman (the supreme cosmic spirit embodying the ultimate reality) and the forces behind karma or action have been explored in the Anu Gita again. The conversations on many such ideas in this Gita add a fresh dimension to them.

As many as 18 of the Gitas in Sacred Songs have less than 100 shlokas each, just five of them have between 100 and 300 shlokas and one of the Gitas (Dharma Vyadha Gita from the Aranyaka Parva) has a little over 400 shlokas.

Even though shorter than the Anu Gita, the Dharma Vyadha Gita is no less rich in content. There is a fascinating conversation between Markandeya, a sage, and a hunter (the Vyadha), who defines the idea of a householder. The dharma or the way of life, which the householder should follow, is explained in detail by the hunter. The concept of the hunter expounding on the householder’s rights and duties would reappear in different forms and fables including the Bodhisattva or Jataka tales and even in the famous episode of Valmiki being moved by the sight of a hunter killing a crane —  an episode that resulted in the birth of poetry.

The shorter Gitas are also packed with deep understanding of the world of action and the cosmos of spirituality. The Shounaka Gita is about a conversation between the eponymous Brahmin who offers his wise counsel on the woes of attachment to Yudhishthira, who could not come to terms with the loss of his kingdom after losing a game of dice. Shounaka’s advice, that attachment is the source of all miseries is an idea that would be explored in many other sections of the Mahabharata and in the Bhagavad Gita in particular.

The Kashyapa Gita is one of the shortest with 50 shlokas, but the conversation here is mainly by Yudhishthira, who explains why and how the evil of anger could be conquered. Kashyapa’s role is largely limited to being a passive interlocutor. The Yaksha Prashna Gita is about a much celebrated episode in the Mahabharata, where four of the Pandavas get killed by Yaksha on failing to answer his questions on life, work, and spirituality. Yudhishthira comes to their rescue, reviving each of them by answering all Yaksha’s questions. But this Gita is not just about the questions but about Yudhishthira’s erudite interaction with Yaksha. Two of his comments are worth recounting here. In one he acknowledges the wife to be a man’s friend at home; in another he justifies his decision to revive Nakula and Sahadeva, the sons of Madri, his stepmother.

The 25th Gita in this volume —Pandava Gita — is not from the Mahabharata, but has been included because it is about the different characters of the epic presenting their obeisance to god. Two of those respectful greetings need to be mentioned here. Gandhari, mother of Duryodhana, salutes god as one who is her mother, father, friend, partner, knowledge, wealth and everything else. In a different vein, Duryodhana says: “I know dharma but do not practise it. I know sin but do not refrain from it. There is a divinity who is established in my heart. I do whatever he engages me in. O Madhusudana! I am only a machine. Please pacify my sins. I am the machine, you are one who controls the machine. Please do not blame me for my sins”.

This defence from Duryodhana for his many controversial misdeeds highlights the classical conflict between human action and destiny — expounded in detail by Sophocles in his Greek play Oedipus Rex. This shloka in Pandava Gita succinctly depicts how destiny and action coincide to bring about the tragic downfall of Duryodhana just as it did for Oedipus, the king.

In Sacred Songs, Mr Debroy has introduced the original shlokas in Sanskrit before the English translation, enhancing the understanding for those with some knowledge of Sanskrit.

And for those who may be wondering why the Gitas from the Puranas were ignored, Mr Debroy promises a sequel. Hopefully, the Gitas from the Ramayana would also find a place in a subsequent volume with both the original Sanskrit text and their English translation.