Mahabharata - Kaliprasanna Singha

Well, since I came over to Bangalore, my passion for reading books has been revived. I am back to my happy self, sitting in a nook with an author's masterpiece in my hand. And they have started regaining their lost position as my best friends! 

And here I am, back to my mad passion of buying every book ever printed. Well, that's a slight exaggeration, I guess! But yes, whenever I get bored, and have nothing to do, I surf the Internet to find if there is just another book lying around the corner, waiting for me to get my hands on them. I can't resist this extreme urge of buying a book most of the time. If given a chance, I will just go and browse through a bookstore any day. I've found a new avenue to acquire books these days - the awesome sites on the Net. It started with e-bay, and has expanded to flipkart (they've got a nice collection), boimela.in (a good one for Bengali books, though they charge for shipping) and infibeam.

It was while surfing through flipkart that I first discovered that Bengali books are also available there. I was just browsing through the Bengali selections, when I discovered they're selling Mahabharata authored by Kaliprasanna Singha. Well, most might not have heard about it (though those who have studied from West Bengal board with Bengali as first language should  have). It is a translation of the original Sanskrit Mahabharata by Vedavyas into Bengali by Kaliprasanna Singha. It is still considered as one of the most authentic translations of the great epic. I was undoubtedly very excited to see this book available. It is available in two volumes, the first costing Rs. 350 and the second costing Rs. 400. Well, it is really a nominal cost seeing the size of the book (about 1100 pages for the first volume). I happily ordered the first volume, and somehow restrained myself from ordering the second volume too. I made a mental note that I will buy the second volume once I have finished the first. There is after all no point buying a book if I am not reading it, especially since there is not much space left to keep books in my PG.

I didn't go to office today on the context of fever. And what should happen, but I received the book delivered to my doorstep the very same morning I bunked office! Now that is called luck! I forgot all about sickness, and started exploring the book. It is really huge, and even before I started reading it, I had this awesome idea of writing whatever I read on this blog, so that those who don't know Bengali or Sanskrit, might still be able to know the entire epic. I don't know how far I will be successful in this scheme, or whether it'll fail like all my similar schemes. But still, it's sure worth a try!

Till now, I have read only through the introduction and the foreword (that contained some Sanskrit verses that I had no idea meant what!). I have just started with the first part - Adiparba (Adiparv). It seems to have even a paragraph on how the world was formed, something similar to Genesis in the Bible, I guess. It is sometimes wonderful to realize how all the religious texts are so similar, in fact same actually in their meanings and messages!

I will start with the actual retelling of the Mahabharata sometime later. I will create a separate blog for that. The entire project will be posted at www.mahabharata-kaushanim.blogspot.com .

But right now, let me get back to my addiction towards books, and what I realized only recently. When I was buying all these books, it was then that I realized that books actually cost so less! Imagine a dress, even a normal T-shirt costs about Rs. 200, even in Big Bazar. One can get most of the books below that range. This 1100-page book cost me Rs. 350 only. It's really very affordable. And look at the amount of information and knowledge they contain. Even story books give us so much pleasure! Like my Dad was saying today, a book gives us company whenever we need it. A few years after you have read a book, you can take it up again and just turn the pages, and experience the amount of joy it gives you. The smell of old books, as well as new ones is just beyond my capability of explaining! I love these books and can curl up with them anytime! 

Really, books are one of the greatest sources of pleasure for me. And since I have recently been hooked up with ancient myths, Mahabharata seems a perfect place to start! After all, I've always wanted to know the true story, with all its anecdotes and interludes! I want to know it all!! And I am a very very happy person today! :-)