Originally posted by: amritat
Thanks for the insightful debate, Brahmaputra, and thanks for your wishes. I am glad you spoke up about learning Sanskrit. I see a lot of wazzocks lurking in fb fanpages proclaiming to have read entire CE and every version of Mahabharata, when all they do is refer to spokensanskrit.org. 😆 In order to read a text in Sanskrit, be it in Classical Sanskrit or Vedic Sanskrit, one needs to learn the language with its grammar to understand the nuances. And learning Vedic Sanskrit is a loonnggg process, for which I might have to stall reading Vedas in Sanskrit. So, it is gonna be English translation for now. And Manuscriptology is a vast topic that one cannot master by reading a book or two. People actually pursue it as a full fledged honors/masters course, and I am already too busy. 😭 But if you are pursuing such a course, then book suggestions from you are most welcome.
Now, coming to Kunti's convo, earlier I was looking at Debroy's translation alone in English which is why I brought up the transitive/intransitive verb reference, assuming that Debroy's English would be at least grammatically correct. But I am thoroughly disappointed with him (and this is not the first time), bcoz turns out that he did translate it wrongly. It should have been "looked at" bcoz "looked on Panchali" means something else, if we go strictly by English grammar.
Now, coming to the Sanskrit word, you are right. The Sanskrit word used in this case is "Prekshamana" which has many meanings, but in this case, it means to watch/spectate. But here's the thing. I believe in any language, not just in Sanskrit, context matters a lot. The confusion arises bcoz Debroy closes the quotation marks before O Puroshottam, thus giving one the impression that the part Kunti says after is being addressed to Krishna. To clarify my doubts, I went back to KMG to compare. I do that sometimes, PROVIDED the Sanskrit shlokas are similar, but only translation varies. And this is how KMG translates the same thing:
Kunti said, 'Say unto Arjuna, these words, when thou wert brought forth in the lying-in room and when I was sitting in the hermitage surrounded by ladies, a celestial and delightful voice was heard in the sky, saying, 'O Kunti, this thy son will rival the deity of a thousand eyes. This one will vanquish in battle all the assembled Kurus. Aided by Bhima, he will conquer the whole Earth and his fame will touch the very heavens. With Vasudeva as his ally, he will slay the Kurus in battle and recover his lost paternal share in the kingdom. Endued with great prosperity, he will, with his brothers, perform three great sacrifices.' O thou of unfading glory, thou knowest how steady, in truth, is Vibhatsu, otherwise called Savyasachin, how irresistible he is. O thou of Dasarha's race, let it be as that (celestial) voice said. If, O thou of Vrishni's race, there is anything like righteousness, those words will be true, for then, Krishna, thou wilt thyself accomplish it all. I do not doubt what that voice said. I bow to righteousness which is superior to all. It is righteousness that supports all creatures. Thou shalt say these words unto Dhananjaya. Unto Vrikodara again, who is always ready for exertion, thou shalt say these words, 'The time hath come for that in view of which Kshatriya lady bringeth forth a son! They that are foremost among men never become cheerless when they have hostilities to wage--Thou knowest what the state of Bhima's mind is. That grinder of foes is never pacified until he exterminates his foes. Thou shalt, O Madhava, next say unto the auspicious Krishna of great fame, that daughter-in-law of the high-souled Pandu, who is conversant with the details of every virtue, these words, 'O thou that art highly blessed, O thou of noble parentage, O thou that art endued with great fame, that becoming behaviour which thou always showest towards my sons is, indeed, worthy of thee.' Thou must also say unto the sons of Madri who are always devoted to Kshatriya virtues, these words, 'Covet ye more than life itself, those enjoyments that are acquired by prowess. Objects won by prowess always please the heart of a person that liveth according to Kshatriya practices. Engaged as ye are in acquiring every kind of virtue, before your eyes the princess of Panchala was addressed in cruel and abusive epithets. Who is there that can forgive that insult?
If Kunti had been addressing Krishna here, that translation should have read "Engaged as THOU are...". But here, she says, "Engaged as YE are", implying plural "you". So, in the above context, she is asking Krishna to give her message to the Pandavas, and the statement here is about Madri twins/Pandavas watching Draupadi, and not Krishna. In other words, Draupadi was insulted as the Ps looked on/in the front of Ps' eyes. This interpretation as well as KMG's translation here makes more sense to me.
I will not disagree with you that stray shlokas are also important. And I completely concur when you say that we need to be aware of opposition's arguments. But I also believe that if I am searching for stray shlokas only to make a point, then I will not only find it, but can also interpret the meaning of that shloka in a hundred different ways.
About the part in bold - This is noted. I am going to safely lock these words in my memory for now, to bring it up later, if certain debates arise. 😆
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