Bhagwad Gita Vivechanatmak Shabdakosh

Author(s): Prahlad C Divanji
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd

Page 25

Introduction
vii
Each of these editors has brushed aside as unworthy of the serious attention of a scholar the clumsy attempt of Hamsayojin of Madras to re-construct the Gitä as per its contents described in the Bhişmaparvan. Nevertheless, owing to the alleged existence of three translations in Persian of a text of the Gità purporting to contain 745 stanzas, two of them in verse and one in prose, referred to by Pandit Mahesh Prasad of Benares in his short paper on “Arabi-Fārasimen Gitā" published in the Bhagavad gitarka of the Hindi journal Kalyana of the Gitā Press, Gorakhpur, all of them except VIr. Tadpatrikar think it likely that a further more patient and thorough search may reveal the existence of a MS. of the work containing 745 stanzas and therefore do not confidently assert that the stanza in chapter 43 of the Bhismaparvan above referred to, must be an interpolation and not based on the truth as to the original Gitā having 745 stanzas. Mr. Tadpatrikar has, while differing from this view, cited that of the late Dr. Sukhtankar, till lately the learned General Editor of the Mahabharata,' which is that Schrader's view that the original Gità must have contained the additional stanzas found in the Kāśmir recension and that they must have been cut down to make up the pre-conceived number 700 is not supported by the MSS. from several centres at his command and that of Prof. Barnet that "the tradition" as to the Kāśmir recension
has been a little warped by editorial emendations and possibly also by some interpolations, and that whether inspite of these changes it is nearer to the original Gitā is still not clear". He has also expressed a hope that the question will be dealt with very exhaustively in the critical edition of the Bhismaparvan which is under preparation from MSS. collected at Poona from several provinces, particularly Bengal, where the Royal Asiatic Society has a fairly large collection of rare MSS. in the Saradă script of Kāsmir.
It appeared from an announcement made by the late Dr. Sukhtankar at the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Institute in January 1943 that owing to a shortage of the required quality of paper and of funds it was uncertain when it would be possible to publish the Bhismaparvan, although the press-copy thereof would be ready within a short period.2 We had, however, a sufficient foretaste of the probable result of the
1. Introduction to Pant Pratinidhi Series No. 1, pp. 5-6.
2. It had been announced in a publication of the Institute of 1945 that a special arrangement had been made for printing this Parvan as early as practicable. About 8 days before this was sent to the Press, I learnt that a Fascicule of the Bhişmaparvan was to be published on the Rşipancami day this year along with a separate critical edition of the Bhagavadgită, presumably prepared from the MSS. above noticed. Copies thereof were not however available to the subscribers to the Critical Edition of the Mbh. till this was actually sent to the press, I could not, therefore, take any review thereof herein.