My thoughts on Śrī Jayasaṃhita

My thoughts on Jayasaṃhita

Vaisampayana states in the 62^nd Chapter of Adi Parva that his Guru Krishna-Dwaipayana (Sage Vyasa) composed Bharata in 1,00,000 Shlokas.

इदं शतसहस्रं हि श्लोकानां पुण्यकर्मणाम्।

सत्यवत्यात्मजेनेह व्याख्यातममितौजसा॥ 1-62-14

This Bharata consists of a hundred thousand sacred slokas composed by the son of Satyavati, of immeasurable mental power.

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Mahabharata epic in the present form, consisting of 18 Parvas and if Harivamsha and Bhavishya Purana are added, contains around 96,539 shlokas.

Sl.No.	Parva Name	No. of Shlokas
1	आदिपर्व - Ādiparva	8884
2	सभापर्व – Sabhāparva	2511
3	अरण्यपर्व/वनपर्व - Araṇyaparva/Vanaparva	11664
4	विराटपर्व - Virāṭaparva	2050
5	उद्योगपर्व – Udyōgaparva	6698
6	भीष्मपर्व - Bhīṣmaparva	5884
7	द्रोणपर्व - Drōṇaparva	8909
8	कर्णपर्व - Karṇaparva	4964
9	शल्यपर्व – Śalyaparva	3220
10	सौप्तिकपर्व – Sauptikaparva	870
11	स्त्रीपर्व - Strīparva	775
12	शान्तिपर्व – Śāntiparva	14732
13	अनुशासनपर्व – Anuśāsanaparva	8000
14	आश्वमेधिकपर्व – Āśvamēdhikaparva	3220
15	आश्रमवासिकपर्व - Āśramavāsikaparva	1506
16	मौसलपर्व - Mausalaparva	320
17	महाप्रस्थानिकपर्व – Mahāprasthānikaparva	123
18	स्वर्गारोहणपर्व - Svargārōhaṇaparva	209
	Total	84539
	Harivamsha and Bhavishya Purana	12000
	Grand Total	96539

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a) While searching for the various versions of the Mahabharata, I found a shloka in the 1^st Chapter of Adi Parva of Southern recension/Chitrasala edition, which mentions that there existed an earlier version to the present form of Mahabharata epic, consisting of 8,800 shlokas.

अष्टौ श्लोकसहस्राणि अष्टौ श्लोकशतानि च।

अहं वेद्मि शुको वेत्ति संजयो वेत्ति वा न वा॥

I am acquainted with eight thousand and eight hundred verses, and so is Shuka, and perhaps Sanjaya.

b) Please note that someone, who expanded the original version - Jayasaṃhita, might have stated I am - अहं in the shloka. As this shloka is appearing amidst the speech of Ugrasrava Sauti (in the 1st Chapter of Adi Parva of presently available Mahabharata), everyone interpreted it as stated by Sauti only.

C) Please also note that this shloka mentions Sanjaya also, who was a close associate of King Dhritarashtra. Thus, we can infer that the first expansion of Jayasaṃhita might have taken place when Sanjaya was very much alive.

d) According to my understanding, the above shloka might have been included in the first expanded version of Jayasaṃhita, ie., the original version of Mahabharata, most probably by Vaisampayana, the disciple of Ṛṣi Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana, but definitely not by be Ugrasrava Sauti.

e) It is for sure that Jayasaṃhita did exist, due to appearance of Jaya text name, here and there in the present form of Mahabharata.

For example: In the concluding chapter of the currently available Mahabharata, ie., Svargarohanika Parva, the following shlokas can be found.

अनागतश्च मोक्षश्च कृष्णद्वैपायनः प्रभुः।

संदर्भं भारतस्यास्य कृतवान्धर्मकाम्यया॥

धर्मे चार्थे च कामे च मोक्षे च भरतर्षभ।

यदिहास्ति तदन्यत्र यन्नेहास्ति न कुत्रिचित्॥

जयो नामेतिहासोऽयं श्रोतव्यो जयमिच्छता।

राज्ञा राजसुतैश्चैव गर्भिण्या चैव योषिता॥

Ṛṣi Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana, a wise and self-realised one, composed Bharata (Jayasaṃhita), moved by the desire of aiding future generations,in the cause of righteousness. That which appears here (in Bharata) appears elsewhere. That which does not appear here appears nowhere else.

This history is known by the name of Jaya (victory). It should be heard by everyone desirous of Victory (in all aspects). It should be read by Brahmanas, by kings, and by pregnant women.

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Jaya (जय) in Sanskrit indicates victory.

According to my understanding, ṛṣi (sage) Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana or popularly known Vyasa composed originally the Jayasaṃhita, the story of Kauravas and Pandavas and closing with the victory of Pandavas over Kauravas and the coronation of Yudhisthira as the emperor.

In view of subsequent expansions made to the original story of Jayasaṃhita of Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana by his disciples and additional stories added by authors that came in subsequent generations, this original victory concept of Jayasaṃhita was lost sight of.

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Since then, I have been searching any article/book, which can throw light on this issue. The following are my findings.

1) Some authors presented their views on Jayasaṃhita in prose form composed in English, but not backed with original shlokas from Mahabharata.

2) Interestingly, I have found that Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri made an attempt to extract a nucleus of about 8,800 two-line verse in Sanskrit with title The Jaya-Samhita,ie., The Ur-Mahabharata (1977).

“According to late Dr. V.S. Sukthankar, a Scandinavian Orientalist, Soren Sorenson, was the first one who found out a nucleus and extracted about 27,000 slokas in the first instance, Soren Sorenson went further into depth and reduced that number to about 7,000 to 8,000 slokas, as early as between 1883 and 1894 A.D. Sorenson died very young and, according to Dr. Sukthankar, no one knows what became of his work.

Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri, Honorary Director of the Ahmedabad branch of the Gujarat Research Society, who is an experienced and reputed Sanskritist, undertook afresh the work of finding out the nucleus. Prof. Shastree spent years in independent study and succeeded in extracting a nucleus of about 8,800 two-line verse which are presented here in their original form.

As a result of devotion, deep scholarship and intense effort, Prof. Shastree has succeeded in extracting this text which is a contribution of immense value. “

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Though I could get the introductory part of Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri’s work, available in the internet, I was not able to study his entire book The Jaya-Samhita,ie., The Ur-Mahabharata, so far. Hence, I studied the introductory part of his work.

I have observed that Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri started with the 3^rd chapter of Adi Parva and ended with the performance of Ashwamedha Yagna, as it indicates, according to him, the complete victory of the Pandavas.

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I am not a scholar in Sanskrit. Still, driven by an enthusiasm to extract the shlokas and compile Jayasaṃhita, from the presently available version of Mahabharata, I started to study the Mahabharata once again.

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This study gave me a clarity on the subject and decided to draft Jayasaṃhita, on my own.

I have started with the 3^rd Chapter of Adi Parva, as the earlier chapters appeared to me as unwarranted. I have found that Vaiśaṃpāyana first narrates the story of Pandavas and Kauravas in brief – Chapter 61 of Adi Parva. This brief story ends with the victory of Pandavas over Kauravas, as mentioned below.

nālabhanta mahārāja tato yuddham avartata

tatas te sarvam utsādya hatvā duryodhanaṃ

nṛpamrājyaṃ vidruta bhūyiṣṭhaṃ pratyapadyanta pāṇḍavāḥ

evam etat purāvṛttaṃ teṣām akliṣṭakarmaṇām

bhedo rājyavināśaś ca jayaś ca jayatāṃ vara

And thereupon war was declared, and the Pandavas, after exterminating the whole race of Kshatriyas and slaying king Duryodhana, obtained back their devastated kingdom.

"This is the history of the Pandavas who never acted under the influence of evil passions; and this the account, O first of victorious monarchs of the disunion that ended in the loss of their kingdom by the Kurus and the victory of the Pandavas.'"

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It is to be noted that the following subsequent events elaborated in the Shanti Parva to Svargarohanika Parva, were not mentioned in the brief story narrated by Vaiśaṃpāyana.

· Shanti Parva covers the philosophical discourses and ethical guidance given by the dying Bhishma to the grief-stricken Yudhishthira after the Kurukshetra War, detailing the duties of a king (Rajadharma), crisis ethics (Apaddharma), and spiritual liberation (Mokshadharma).

· Anushasana Parva focuses on the duties of individuals in various stages of life, including specialized sections on men and women, various types of marriages, and concluding with the final rites and passing of the Bhishma

· Ashwamedika Parva includes Yudhisthira taking over the reigns of the Kuru Kingdom, birth of Parikshit, performance of Ashwamedha Parva by Yudhisthira

· Ashramavasa Parva covers Dhritarashtra, Gandhari , Kunti, Vidura departing on a Vanaprastha course and their death

· Mausala Parva includes complete annihilation of Vrishni and Yadava clans due to inner fight and end of Balarama and Krishna

· Mahaprastanika Parva covers coronation of young Parikshit as the king and Pandavas moving towards Himalayas in their last journey, as a part of Vanaprastha

· Swargarohana Parva – concluding parva which includes death of Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and Draupadi, while ascending Himalayas and Yudhisthira alone reaching the pinnacle when Indra arrives inviting him to Heaven

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As far as I understood, performance of Ashwamedha Yagna may not indicate a complete victory, as averred by (Late) Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri.

Hence, I decided to stick to the pattern mentioned by Vaiśaṃpāyana in the Chapter 61 of Adi Parva and to compile Jayasaṃhita upto the coronation of Yudhisthira, birth of dead Parikshit and his revival by Krishna. Relevant shlokas from Ashwamedha Parva were taken as concluding shlokas.

Phalashruti was added in the concluding part.

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English translation of the shlokas compiled in my work, has been provided at appropriate places.

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In this process, I have eliminated episodes, which appeared to be supernatural or out of the context. Thus, the following major episodes were eliminated.

· Shakuntala episode

· Devayani and Yayati episode

· The linage of Kurus, prior to Shantanu

· The episodes of Uluchi, Chitrangada

· Unwarranted episodes in Khandava dahana

· The episode of attempt to dis-robe Draupadi

· Pandavas tirthayatra episodes

· Arjuna’s fighting with Shiva

· Bhima meeting Shri Hanuman

· Stories of Nala and Damayanti and Ramayana

· Uttaragograhana war in Virata Parva

· Shri Krishna’s Vishvarupa Darshana in Udyoga Parva

· Bhagavadgita in and repeated war scenes Bhishma Parva

· Ashwatthama’s encounter with Shiva in Drona Parva

· Shri Krishna’s curse to Ashwatthama

· Shanti Parva to Svargarohanika Parvas

and, so on.

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As Prof. Keshavram Kashiram Shastri had already compiled his work on Jayasaṃhita, with the title “The Jaya-Samhita,ie., The Ur-Mahabharata”, I have decided to keep the title to my work as “Śrī Jayasamhita (श्री जयसंहित).

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After extracting relevant shlokas that were found to be in tune to rishi Vyasa’s way of approach to the epic, the Parva-wise shlokas in my work, are as follows:

Sl.No.	Parva Name	No. of Shlokas as per Mahabharata	No. of Shlokas as per my work
1	आदिपर्व - Ādiparva	8884	2229
2	सभापर्व – Sabhāparva	2511	921
3	अरण्यपर्व/वनपर्व - Araṇyaparva/ Vanaparva	11664	1145
4	विराटपर्व - Virāṭaparva	2050	684
5	उद्योगपर्व – Udyōgaparva	6698	1232
6	भीष्मपर्व - Bhīṣmaparva	5884	965
7	द्रोणपर्व - Drōṇaparva	8909	1061
8	कर्णपर्व - Karṇaparva	4964	258
9	शल्यपर्व – Śalyaparva	3220	271 (in the newly created Jaya Parva)
10	सौप्तिकपर्व – Sauptikaparva	870
11	स्त्रीपर्व - Strīparva	775
12	शान्तिपर्व – Śāntiparva	14732	0
13	अनुशासनपर्व – Anuśāsanaparva	8000	0
14	आश्वमेधिकपर्व – Āśvamēdhikaparva	3220	34
15	आश्रमवासिकपर्व - Āśramavāsikaparva	1506	0
16	मौसलपर्व - Mausalaparva	320	0
17	महाप्रस्थानिकपर्व – Mahāprasthānikaparva	123	0
18	स्वर्गारोहणपर्व - Svargārōhaṇaparva	209	0
	Total	84539	8800