Maha·bhárata X-XI: Dead of Night & The Women

Translated by Kate Crosby
Cantos 30-65

Maha·bhárata X-XI: Dead of Night & The Women

Three exhausted warriors return to their camp, stunned to find it overrun by their enemies. Their fellow soldiers all lie dead. The sound of their enemies, the five sons of Pandu and their allies the Panchálas, crowing mercilessly in jubilation, assaults their ears. The great war of the “Maha·bhárata” is over. Or is it?

This is a single extended family wracked in conflict. Both sides succumbed to treachery. The stain of patricide, the murder of teachers, pursue the victors into peace. The great god of destruction, Shiva, takes hold of Ashva·tthaman, the young leader of the three survivors on the losing side. Incensed at his father’s murder, Ashva·tthaman breaks the code of war to return at night to the now sleeping encampment. A gruesome blood-letting, the sacrifice of the unsuspecting champions, the ‘Dead of Night,’ ensues.

But the five sons of Pándu have escaped. In a final confrontation, a missile crisis threatens the entire world with obliteration. Ashva·tthaman concedes defeat but, unwilling to restrain his wrath, redirects his missile into the wombs of the victors’ women. They miscarry. They have lost their children and cannot hope for more.

Now the survivors, victors and vanquished, must struggle to comprehend their loss. ‘The Women’ of both sides are confronted by the mangled corpses of their men in a masterpiece of horror and pathos. They reminisce; but the battle ground must be cleared, the corpses cremated and the women’s potent curses curbed to usher in a new era.

“Maha·bhárata” Books X and XI give voice to the vanquished, to the psychology of loss and the conflicting desires for understanding and revenge.

A sight in the dark forest, where the survivors of the defeated side are hiding, inspires the son of the murdered teacher Drona:

He saw all of a sudden an owl swoop, a ghostly sight, with its loud screech, vast body, yellow eyes, and tawny hew, its long hooked beak and talons, deft in flight… Now making a soft sound … that rider of the sky killed many a crow in slumber… He ripped the wings off some, the heads off others. Of some he broke the feet, whose own feet were his weapon. … Their dismembered limbs and corpses… carpeted the entire circle of the banyan bole in every direction, while the taloned murderer of those black crows exulted in his work. Drona’s lone son realised: “This winged bird has given me a lesson in the art of war, tailored to the obliteration of my enemies.”

One of the widows speaks to her husband’s lifeless hand which she has placed in her lap:

“This is the hand that killed adversaries while ensuring the safety of friends… This is the hand that lifted up my bodice and fondled my full breasts, that stroked my navel, my thighs, my bottom, and loosened the fastening of my skirt.

c. 416 pp.  |  ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-1727-1  |  ISBN-10: 0-8147-1727-6  |  Co-published by New York University Press and JJC Foundation

Excerpts

Download the title page and table of contents and one chapter of the book (in English and Sanskrit on facing pages), bundled together as a .pdf file. You can also download the CSL Front Matter (6pp, 1.3mb). It describes how we transliterate the Sanskrit text in the Roman alphabet and includes a guide to pronunciation. It also explains our system of representing phonetic fusion (sandhi).

You can set Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the Sanskrit text and translation in facing page view. Simply go to “View” in the toolbar, select “Page Layout” and click on “Facing.”

About the Translator

Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies, Department of Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

eCSL Word Frequency Counts

Top 50 Verbs

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Like142
2Grief97
3Said60
4Killed55
5Set53
6See49
7Made43
8Spoke39
9Lies39
10Look36
 
11Come33
12Saw32
13Replied32
14Brought31
15Seeing30
16Fell26
17Kill25
18Heard24
19Stood23
20Turn23
 
21Suffering23
22Take20
23Performed19
24Go19
25Saying19
26Caught18
27Hearing18
28Slaughter18
29Killing18
30Came18
 
31Lying18
32Make17
33Lie17
34Took17
35Fallen17
36Met17
37Close17
38Hold16
39Turned16
40Please15
 
41Know15
42Grieve15
43Struck14
44Tell14
45Say14
46Seen14
47Give14
48Put14
49Hear14
50Went14

Top 50 Nouns

RankUnique WordsNumber of Occurrences
1Son(s)441
2King(s)167
3Lord153
4Men137
5Man118
6Slain108
7Battle99
8Grief97
9Line77
10Drona’s74
 
11Time71
12Majesty70
13Krishna70
14Earth67
15World65
16People62
17Words60
18Ground58
19Women57
20Bharata’s56
 
21Drona54
22Death52
23Way49
24Pandavas48
25Two48
26Night46
27Chariot46
28Hero(es)46
29Bull44
30Fire43
 
31Champion(s)43
32Arrows42
33Gods42
34Gandhari42
35Body(ies)42
36Blood41
37Warrior40
38Missile40
39Enemies39
40Bow38
 
41Yudhishthira38
42Arms37
43Vaishampayana36
44Duryodhana35
45Eyes35
46Life35
47Dhritarashtra35
48Sanjaya35
49Sword35
50Brothers35