________________
190
M. A. MEHENDALE
the stanza put in Arjuna's mouth has been overlooked' and the stanza has been incorrectly interpreted. The latter half of Arjuna's stanza runs as: iśas tvayaṁ kasya parăjitātmā taj jānidhvaṁ Kuravaḥ sarva eva (2.63.21 ) This was translated long ago by P. C. Roy as follows: “But having lost himself, let all the Kauravas judge whose master he could be after that ". And more recently (1975) Prof. van Buitenen translates it as: “But whose master is he who has lost himself ? That you should decide, ye Kurus assembled ". (italics mine in both translations ).
Both the translators have rendered janidh vam with judge' or decide' which is not correct. It would mean that Arjuna once again passed on the responsibility of answering Draupadi's question to the Kauravas. But Arjuna, a slave, has no right to do that. Duryodhana alone, as the victor in the game of dice, has the right to decide who should answer Draupadi's question.
The linguistic usage in the Mahabharata will show that it is wrong to translate jānidhvam with judge' or 'decide'. After Draupadi raised the question about her social status, whenever there is an occasion in the Mahabharata asking someone to decide her question, we find the use of the expression praśnaṁ brū, the verb brū being used with or without a prefix. When Bhīşma, for instance, says that he is unable to answer the question decisively one way or the other, he says : "tasman na te praśnam imam bravimi (2.60.42). Draupadi requests the members of the Assembly : vibrāta me praśnam imaṁ jathavat (2.60.45). While reminding the Assembly-members that it was their responsibility to decide the question Vidura says : na ca vibrūta ( ? tha) tam praśnam sabh ya dharmotra pidyate (261.52)? When Duryodhana wants Yudhisthira to decide the issue, he says: praśnam prabrühi kşsnām tvam ajitāṁ yadi manyase (2.63.9 )3. Sometimes we find the expression vāk yaṁ vi-brū in place of praśnam vi-brū. Vikarna, for instance, says : yājñasenya yad uktam tad vākyaṁ vibruta pārthivah (2.61.12); or, occasionally, we find praśnam vi vac" in place of praśnaṁ vi-brū. Bhişma tells Draupadi : na dharmasauksmyat subhage vivaktu šaknomi te prašnom imaṁ yathāvat ( 2.60.40 ; 2.€1.55 ).
From the above passages it becomes clear that the epic usage for conveying the meaning to decide the issue, to reply to a question' was praśnam vi )brū..
1 F. Edgerton (op. cit.) even goes to the extent of saying that none of the Pandavas ventured an opinion when Duryodhana asked them to decide the issue !
2 Similarly 2.60.42 ; 2.61.50, 54, 55, 56, 66, 67 ; 2.61.14 ; 2.62.27. 3 Also 2.61.19.
4 The root vic-, in place of vac-, or noun derived from it is found in 2.61.12 ; 2.62.16.
Madhu Vidya/432
Jain Education International
www.jainelibrary.org
For Private & Personal Use Only
