Mahabharata translation

[James L. Fitzgerald]

Dear Dr. Fosse and Indology colleagues,



The imminent appearance of my "Volume 7" (the first half of the Santiparvan,
preceded by the Striparvan) of the now projected 10 volume MBh translation
series has generated new interest and energy toward finishing the remaining
volumes. I will myself begin revising my completed translation of the
Moksadharma parvan (which will be Volume 8; a preview is available in the
piece "Nun Befuddles King, Shows karmayoga Does Not Work: Sulabha's
Refutation of King Janaka at MBh 12.308," Journal of Indian Philosophy 30.6
[December, 2002] :641-77) as soon as a few remaining editorial obligations
are completed, and different Sanskritists are now committed to all remaining
parts of the series. As all of the formalities have not yet been finalized
with the University of Chicago Press in connection with those who have
recently joined the project, I am at liberty to mention only the two
scholars who have been working on other parts of the MBh for some time now,
namely David Gitomer and Wendy Doniger. David has a draft translation of the
Bhismaparvan (which will form Volume 4) and Wendy has a draft of much of
books 15-18 (which will form the end of Volume 10, preceded by another's
translation of the Asvamedhikaparvan). Volumes 4, 8, and 10 should all have
appeared within the next five years, and the remaining three volumes (5
[Drona], 6 [Karna, Salya, and Sauptika], and 9 [Anusasana]) will, I hope,
not be too far behind those.



In closing let me add that I was well aware that readers of the Stri and
Santiparvans would be at a disadvantage until the account of the war had
also been translated. So I have included a few aids in Volume 7 aiming to
help readers bridge the gap. Mainly these consist of 1] a brief synopsis of
the action and events of Books 6-10; 2] a fairly detailed "List of
Characters and Places" referred to in Volume 7 (as Gandhari, in the
Striparvan, essentially calls an 'honor-roll' of the war dead, it was
important to compile this list and include the major points of note [with
full references to the earlier parts of the MBh--CE & the Roy transl.] for
each figure for the sake of intelligibility and internal referencing); and
3] a somewhat fuller use of the "glossing-footnotes" than Hans van Buitenen
made.



With best wishes to all for 2004,

Jim Fitzgerald, General Editor of the Chicago Mahabharata Translation

[I shall be away from my email from Monday January 5, 2004, to Monday,
January 12, 2004]





----- Original Message -----
From: "Lars Martin Fosse" <lmfosse at ONLINE.NO>
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 10:45 AM
Subject: Mahabharata translation


> Dear members of the list,
>
> I have seen an announcement of the publication of volume 7 of the great
> Mahabharata translation (the continuation of van Buitenen's work).
> However, I have not been able to find any reference to volume 6. Has
> volume 6 appeared, or will it appear some time in the future?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lars Martin Fosse
>
> From:
> Dr.art. Lars Martin Fosse
> Haugerudvn. 76, Leil. 114,
> 0674 Oslo - Norway
> Phone: +47 22 32 12 19 Fax:  +47 850 21 250
> Mobile phone: +47 90 91 91 45
> E-mail: lmfosse at online.no
> DO NOT OPEN UNEXPECTED ATTACHMENTS.
> MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS BEING ABUSED BY
> MALICIOUS OPERATORS.