RW – 2 : Presentations
The Mahābhārata (MB) has been presented to the general reader in a hundred different curtailed versions. They tell the grand story, paint interesting episodes, and take the reader gradually to the climactic battle between the cousin brothers Pa*n*d*avas and Kauravas who symbolize good and evil. Most of the abridgments leave out a great many side stories and reflections, not only for the sake of brevity but also because they have little to do with the story line. In this series, keeping the original Sanskrit at hand, I plan to present some of those seldom mentioned couplets that adorn and enrich the work.
The epic begins with the invocatory couplet offering salutations to Nārāyaṇa, Nara, and Sarasvati. This is a recognition that above and beyond what we experience, there is a supreme principle to which one pays homage at the beginning of any auspicious undertaking. This is an integral part of Hindu cultural life. When Hindus celebrate even a secular event, they generally begin with an invocation to the Divine.
Narayana is a name for the creative principle Vishṇu in the resting state between two consecutive cosmic emergences. In Hindu mythopoesis, Vishṇu rests in this phase on the coiled serpent Shesha which represents cyclic time, drifting on the cosmic sea. Since Nara means Man, we might say that perhaps this invocation includes homage to humanity. But in Puranic lore, Nara and Narayana are two saintly beings who brought esoteric wisdom to earth. The homage to Sarasvati, the symbol of knowledge, learning, and music, reflects the respect for these that has always been a feature of Indic culture.
Spurts of Thought 