Coimbatore: The Vishnupuram Literary Circle, Coimbatore, had organized an event to commend Arutselva Perarasan who translated Kisari Mohan Ganguli's entire Mahabharata and looks forward to uploading it on website. The event was held on Saturday, February 1 at the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hall.
Coimbatore: The Vishnupuram Literary Circle, Coimbatore, had organized an event to commend Arutselva Perarasan who translated Kisari Mohan Ganguli's entire Mahabharata and looks forward to uploading it on website. The event was held on Saturday, February 1 at the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hall.
The event was chaired by Iakoka Subramanian, President of the Kovai Nanneri Kazhagam. Businessman T. Balasundaram, Writers Jeyamohan, P.A. Krishnan, J RajaGopalan and Arutselva Perarasan were among those present at the event.
T. Balasundaram spoke about the Mahabharata being considered as the fifth Veda and the Vedic scriptures in the temples of Andhra Pradesh. "Though many versions of Mahabharata exist, the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguli is the complete Mahabharata. Ganguli took 13 years to translate it from Bengali to English. It took 27 years for the Mahabharata to be translated by Manalur Ramanuja Acharyar in Tamil", he said.
He added that Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Ramanuja Acharya received notable help from the donors. But Arutselva Perarasan single-handedly completed this work in seven years. "A small gift from a man named Jeyavelu had helped him. He translated a total of 18 Chapters, 100 subchapters and 2 lakh slogans all adding upto a total of 15,000 pages. Even though, there are many versions of Mahabharata, the Arasan Bharatam is a must-read. We know when we read the original Mahabharata, the envy of Kunti, Duryodhana's heroic words at the time of death", he remarked.
Addressing the gathering, Writer P.A. Krishnan told, "Mahabharata was first written by Vyasar. The complete Mahabharata was written by the people of India after him. The Mahabharata has several incidents that can be connected to lives of our Indian people. The term Sangam literature was introduced to us through Chinnamanoor scriptures. In the same scriptures, there is a reference to translate the Mahabharata in Tamil. Mahabharata teaches us to assess human beings. The laws which were present during that time, the various customs of the clan, and the cultural system can be known through this epic."
He noted that worship of Draupatiamman originated from the Mahabharata. "The translation has been done with the utmost care by Arutselva Perarasan. There is a language for epics. He has translated beautifully in that language", he lauded.
Speaking on the occasion, Jeyamohan said “European scholars have been working for the past sixty years to recover the Sumerian story and create an epic like Mahabharata. But do we respect the Mahabharata that exists among us? The Mahabharata is the cultural wealth that belongs to humanity. This is not a book created for any religion. It is a collection of ancient stories that belong to all of us, a living literature. The Mahabharata belongs to all Indians. Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains all have the Mahabharata. It is a repository of knowledge of the king, the sages, the monster."
"People from different eras have added their stories to the Mahabharata. In addition to that, many stories and anecdotes have been included in the Mahabharata through street plays and dramas. For example, the story of the Uthrai is included in the Virada chapter. Comparisons and assessments are being made, saying that the Mahabharata is too old, not for modern society", he said.
He added that today we tend to celebrate the traditions of the West, no matter how old they are. But we need to celebrate and create literature based on our culture.
While giving his acceptance speech Arutselva Perarasan said “The complete Mahabharata is yet to reach the masses hence I have translated the complete Mahabharata”.
He thanked Writer Jeyamohan who has been very supportive and encouraging him, since the work began.
Sri Krishna Sweets Managing Director M Krishnan presented a souvenir to Arutselva Perarasan. Writer Nanjil Nadan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, President Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, CODISSIA`s Coimbatore book Fair Organisers and literary readers participated in the event.