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Mahabharata in Translation

English

1) Complete translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published by Pratap Chandra Roy, eleven volumes (1883 - 1896), latest reprint 1990, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Post Box 5715, 54 Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi 110055, INDIA.
e-mail:mrml@mantraonline.com

2) Complete translation by Manmatha Nath Dutt (1895 - 1905). Eight volumes, reprinted 1960.
[reprinted - O.N. Bimali and Ishvar Chandra, eds. Delhi: Parimal Publications, 2001.]

3) Transcreation by P. Lal. First volume appeared in December 1968. Volume 317 appeared in 2005 which has reached the Santhi Parva. Published by P. Lal, Writers Workshop, C-532 Lake Gardens, Calcutta 700045, India. e-mail:profsky@cal.vsnl.net.in
Web Site of Writers Workshp

4) Translated and edited by J.A.B. van Buitenen. Disrupted at the sixth book by translator's death.
Published by University of Chicago Press.
Vol. I. The Book of the Beginning (1973)
Vol. II. The Book of the Assembly Hall, The book of the Forest (1975)
Vol. III. The Book of Virata, The Book of the Effort (1978)
Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata (1981) (From The Book of Bhisma)
5) The Mahabharata: Book 11: The Book of the Women Book 12: The Book of Peace, Part 1.
Translated and edited by James L. Fitzgerald (2004).
More about this book.

6) The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata : The Massacre at Night (Oxford World's Classics), Translated with an introduction and notes by W. J. Johnson (1998).
Web Site

7)The Clay Sanskrit Library Project
a) Mahabharata Book Three: The Forest (volume four)
Translated by William J. Johnson
Co-published by New York University Press and JJC Foundation.
b) Mahabharata Book 9: Shalya (volume one), Translated by Justin Meiland
Published August 2005
Co-published by New York University Press and JJC Foundation.
Web site of The Clay Sanskrit Library

8) Translation on-line by Sarasvati Mohan, Vikram Santurkar
Udyogaparvam
The translation is organized as follows :
Sloka - Sloka in original form.
Padavibhaaga - Identification and separation of words from Sandhi.
Anvaya - Sloka in prose order.
Pratipadaartha - Meanings of each word in prose order
Anuvaada - Transalation

9) Translation on-line by H.J.Resnick. Only Adi Parva is currently available. However retellings (with commentaries) of the whole eighteen parvas is available under the title Narration.

Harivamsa :
Dutt, M. N., trans. A Prose English Translation of Harivamsa. Calcutta: Elysium Press, 1897.


French

Translated by Hippolyte Fauche. 10 volumes (1863-1870). Upto Karna Parva. Disrupted at the Eighth book by translator's death.

Books X, XI and XII translated by Ballin, L. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1899. A continuation of Fauche translation.

New translation:
Le Mahabharata
Textes traduits du sanskrit et annotes par Gilles Schaufelberger et Guy Vincent
Tome I
La Genese du Monde
Presses de l'Universite Laval, 2004
This volume contains, on top of a general introduction:
- The snakes' sacrifice (I, 5-53), i.e. the stories of Puloma, Sukanya, Pramadvara and Astika.
- The Pligrim's guide (I, 205-210; III, 80-153; IX, 34-53), i.e. the pilgrimages of Arjuna, the Pandavas and Balarama.
- Skanda (III, 213-221; IX, 43-45; XIII, 83-86)
The references are those of the Poona's critical edition, which have been used.
Tome II
Rois et Guerriers
Presses de l'Universite Laval, 2005
This volume contains:
- The death of Jayadratha (VII, 61-121)
- The Book of the Night Attack (X, in extenso)
- The Book of the Women (XI, in extenso)
- Savitri and other tales (Savitri, III, 277-282 - Sakuntala, I, 62-69 - Sunda and Upasunda, I, 201-204 - Amba, V, 170-193)
- Nala and Damayanti (III, 50-78)
Tome III
LE MAHÂBHÂRATA Textes traduits du sanskrit et annotés par G. Schaufelberger et G. Vincent
TOME III: LES RÉVÉLATIONS Presses de l'Université Laval Octobre 2005 ISBN 2-7637-8296-5
This volume, REVELATIONS, contains: - The Fall of Yayâti (I, 77-88; V, 104-121; III, 130-131, App. 52; I, 32; XIII, 32) - Some Indian Tales (II, 38; 41; V, 62; VIII, 28; XII, 30; 112; 113; 117-119; 135; 136; 141-145; 149; 150-152; 253-256; XIII, 5; 9) - Ends and beginnings (III, 185, 186-189: XII, 175-186; 298-300; 326; 335-337; XIII, 70) - The second Bhagavan¹s Canto: Anugîtâ (XIV, 16-50) - The Cantos of the Twilight (Books XV, XVI, XVII, and XVIII in extenso) - A general bibliography
To know more about this work visit the site:
http://www.neurom.ch/mbh/home.htm

Harivamsa:
Langlois, S. A.
Harivansa, ou Histoire de la Famille de Hari,
Ouvrage formant un Appendice du Mahabharata.
The Oriental Translation Fund (cloth). 4to, vol. I, xvi + 536 pp.(pub. 1834); vol. II, 591 pp. (pub. 1835).
Printed by L'Imprimerie Royale de France.

Russian

Supervised by V.I. Kalyanov. Started in 1950.

The following information taken from Mahabharata, translated and edited by J.A.B. van Buitenen, The University of Chicago Press (1973).
Translation done or supervised by V.I. Kalyanov.
  1. Mahabharata. Book I. The Book of the Beginning. Nauka, 1950.

  2. Mahabharata. Book II. The Book of the Assembly Hall. Nauka, 1962.

  3. Mahabharata. Book III. The Book of the Forest.

  4. Mahabharata. Book IV. The Book of Virata. 1967.

  5. Mahabharata. Book V. The Book of Effort. ?

According to information from Yaroslav Vassilkov (e-mail: yavass@YV1041.spb.edu, vassilkov@hotmail.com) (Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg), participant in the project of the complete translation of the Mahabharata into Russian, now only books XII, XIII, XV-XVIII remain untranslated). The Following information is from Dr. Ya. V. Vassilkov.

  1. Mahabharata. Book VI. Book of Bhisma. Translated from Sanskrit by V.G. Ehrman. (Work completed, not yet published).

  2. Mahabharata. Book VII. Book of Drona. Translated from Sanskrit by V.I. Kalyanov, Nauka, 1992.

  3. Mahabharata. Book VIII. Book of Karna. Translated from Sanskrit by Ya. V. Vassilkov and S.L. Neveleva, Nauka, 1990.

  4. Mahabharata. Book IX. Book of Salya. Translated from Sanskrit by V.I. Kalyanov, Ladomir, 1996.

  5. Mahabharata. Book X. Book of Sleeping Warriors. Translated from Sanskrit by S.L. Neveleva, Janus-K, 1998.

  6. Mahabharata. Book XI. Book of Women. Translated from Sanskrit by Ya. V. Vassilkov, Janus-K, 1998.

  7. Mahabharata. Book XIV. Book of Horse Sacrifice. Translated from Sanskrit by Ya. V. Vassilkov and S.L. Neveleva, Work completed, not yet published).

Ya. V. Vassilkov and S.L. Neveleva are currently working on the translation of Books XV-XVIII. After that what remains are Books XII and XIII.

Indian Languages

Bengali
Complete translation by Kali Prasanna Singha. Read an article by Shri Pradip Bhattacharya on this translator and the work.

Hindi

Translation by Pt. Ramnarayandutt Shastri Pandey Ram, published by Gita Press, Gorakhpur.

Malayalam

1) Complete Translation in verse, by Kodungallur Kunhikkuttan Tampuran (1865-1913)
Work started in 1894 - finished in 1897 (took 874 days).

2) Complete translation in prose by Vidwan K. Prakasam First published September 1968. Reprinted August 1971 and January 1986. Vidyarthimitram Edition November 2002.

3) Prose version of the complete translation (in verse) by Kunhikkuttan Tampuran by A. Balakrishna Varier etc, published by Samrat Publishers, Trichur, Kerala, India.

Tamil

Complete translation by Manalur Rangachariar in the early 20th century. Read an article Translating Literature: A sacred Task by Dr. Prema Nandakumar on this work.

Telugu

Translation by Nannayya, Tikkana and Errapragda (11th, 13th and 14th century).

A second translation by Pattepati Thimmayya, Bala Saraswati and Atamakuri Somana (1600 AD).

A third translation by Sripada Krishnamurthy Sastry (1866-1960).

This information taken from Mahabharata in Telugu Literature by Dr. Sonti Venkata Suryanarayana Rao

The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), administering the famed Venkateswara Temple, has decided to bring out a comprehensive stanza-wise commentary of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The TTD editorial board meeting held, had proposed to engage the services of 30 renowned scholars for this purpose, TTD Dharma Prachara Parishad secretary told newsmen.

News & Notes
Andhra Mahabharatam Project Nearing Completion
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will soon be bringing out "Kavitraya Mahabharatham", a 14-volume set of the Andhra Mahabharatham, originally penned by the poet-trio Nannaya, Tikkana and Errana. This set will include all the works brought out by various authors and litterateurs on Andhra Mahabharatam, making it a repository of information on the first epic.

Update: Srimadaandhra mahaa bhaaratam of TTD project is released. For a glimpse of the books: http://www.avkf.org/BookLink/view_subjects.php?current_number=26&PHPSESSID=45c023cfdc72ac303e376db58ef7049a Full set costs Rs 1300/- This has pratipada artha, taatparyas, vivaraNa etc to each verse. Gen editor is GV Subrahmanyam. Size is A4 [1/4 demmy] page is two columned. (Update provided by Desiraju Hanumanta Rao).

For any queries please contact,
The Executive Officer,
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams,
Tirupati - 517501.
Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.
Last updated March 25, 2006