The critical edition of the Mahabharata

The essentials

In 1919 a project was begun under the leadership of the noted Indian Sanskritist V. S. Sukthankar to prepare a critical edition of the Mahabharata. Many scholars worked together for decades. They collected Sanskrit manuscripts of the text written in a variety of scripts from different parts of the country.

The team developed a method of comparing verses from each manuscript. They selected verses that appeared common to most versions and published these in several volumes, running into more than 13,000 pages. The project took 47 years to complete.

Key points

• Two things became clear: there were several common elements in the Sanskrit versions across the subcontinent, from Kashmir and Nepal in the north to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south.
• There were also enormous regional variations in the ways the text was transmitted over the centuries; these were recorded in footnotes and appendices.
• These variations reflect the complex processes that shaped early and later social histories through dialogues between dominant traditions and resilient local ideas.
• The project was based at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.
• Historians realise that Sanskrit texts were mainly written by and for Brahmanas, so they reflect particular perspectives.

Exam tips

• Remember: begun 1919, led by Sukthankar, took 47 years, used manuscripts from across India.

Common mistakes

• Thinking the critical edition is the "original" text written by one author; it is a reconstruction of shared verses.