Indian Antiquary Vol 52

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 408

378
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
( DECEMBER, 1923
recension. 222 are from the northern recension, is well on the way to the revovary of the text of and this is just about the number of additional an early redaction. slokas found in the northern recension over and In regard to the illustrations there are three above the parvasangraha enumeration. Sub. l' in the
in the
Virdtat
Virdfaparvan, These follow in the plan tracting these additional flokas he arrived at 3,272
adopted by the illustrious Pant Prathinidhi of as the actual number of the southern recension,
Aundh, in regard to dress, ornaments, animals, while the Tanjore Grantha edition which in the
etc., the illustrations in the sculptures at Bharhut Tamil country enjoys the reputation of being
and Sanchi. He has adopted for good reasons based on the best available manuscripts is 3,281
the mode of painting found in the Ajanta caves. slokas. This gives the Virdtaparvan in the southern
The accomplished Pant, on an elaborate examinarecension a little over 1,230 additional blokas.
tion, finds that the Ajanta colouring is the parent Of these, as many as 321 blokas are found in the
of all the old schools of the painting art in India. critical edition for which there is no corresponding
While adopting therefore the, Ajanta style he text in the southern recension, working up to a
follows the best schools of Mogul, Jaipur, and percentage of 15 of the text of the critical edition
Maharashtra art for light and shade. In doing not being found in the southern recension. These
so he is not oblivious of the spirit of the poem include three full chapters for which no textual equivalent could be found in the northern recen.
differing in its descriptions of various scenes ; sion, accounting for 57 slokas of the critical text.
nor would he neglect anatomy and perspective
As some of the modern schools of painting do. This difference may be due to the different method
"The Heroes in the Mahabharata," according to of exposition adopted before the recensione got fixed by being committed to writing. The go.
the Pant, "were all men and they acted like men. called expurgated passages would find an explana.
They had good qualities as well as many faults ; tion in this fact that in the course of the exposi.
and therefore, we must paint them as men, and tion what seemed objectionable to good taste had
He described in the Mahabharata, like figures that been worked over, the expurgation thus taking
We see sculptured in Sanchi and other places, and on the form not of a recision but of a modified
as painted in Ajanta, or in other Indian schools, paraphrase. This would reduce considerably the
which, as I have shown above, have been faithfully Slokas wanting authority in the southern recon.
following Ajanta." The question would arise sion, and thus diminish the consequence on the
how far the soulptural representations of Bharhut actual text owing to the want of support in all
and Sanchi are true to the men and women of the recensions. The editor therefore seems justi.
their surroundings of the days of the Mahabharata. fied in his assumption that "this divergence may
The answer to this question would naturally
depend upon how far these details of the life of possibly be connected with the Mahabharata text as such being fixed in the two recensione separate.
the ancients among the Hindus. changed from the ly after the Mahabharata had extended to the
days of the Mahabharata to the second century south, and had been current both in the north
B.C. or thereabouts. It is just possible that there
have been great changes. It is perhape more and south, and was receiving incidents and descriptions in both places or in each recension,
probable that the change was not so great in real
life. Whether it be the one or the other, so long according to its peculiar development and style,
as the painter primes himself by careful study with the result that these new incidents came to
and successful grasp of the theme he is going to be worded differently in the two recensions."
paint, we carry ourselves to the spirit of the Thore are 11 lines that the editor has included
Mahabharata ay near as it is possible to do with in the critical edition on the authority of some the means at our disposal. To adopt what others of the manuscripts, most of which are perhaps perhaps. with far greater facility follow, the not found in the southern recension. He would scene of a modern bazaar for the court of Dhuryo. justify their inclusion on the ground that it is dhana, or otherwise adopt the method of painting possible they were excluded from the southern
from medieval art in India would vive altogether recension because of their violont character, and
a false notion. The accomplished Pant has adopt.
ed just these as the criteria for his illustrations, because no motive could be established for their
and a comparison of Arjuna's chariot in the war inclusion in some of the manuscripts. We con.
in the Vindtaparvan with the description of Krish. gratulate the editor on the success that he has so
na's chariot quoted in the preface at page 36 would far obtained in the reclamation of a text which
give us some idea of the actual production. We comes so close to the early redaction when the
are decidedly of opinion this makes & closer ap second parvasangraha chapter was added to the proach to the idea of the text than any other text. It is just possible that there will be differen. proposed scheme will. Wo commend the work ces of opinion in respect of details here and there, as a whole without going into the actual minuti but on the whole the work shows that the editor
S. K. AIYANGAR.