[INDOLOGY] Purūravas’s buddhi in MBh II 69.15

[Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA]

Dear colleagues,

I have a brief question regarding the interpretation of a passage in the 
Mahabhārata. In II 69.15, as the Pāṇḍavas are about to go into exile, 
Vidura says to Yudhiṣṭhira:

/purūravasam ailaṃ tvaṃ buddhyā jayasi pāṇḍava/ /
“With (your) resolve/intellect, you surpass Purūravas Aila, O Pāṇḍava!”

As I understand it, this means that Yudhiṣṭhira’s /buddhi /is greater 
than Purūravas’s. Purūravas is of course well known for his affair with 
the /apsaras /Urvaśī; I wonder, however, what /buddhi /refers to here. 
How would you interpret this passage?

Below I attach MBh II 69.11–16 and Van Buitenen’s translation.

Thank you for your time and best regards

D. Haas


02,069.011a eṣa vai sarvakalyāṇaḥ samādhis tava bhārata
02,069.011c nainaṃ śatrur viṣahate śakreṇāpi samo 'cyuta
02,069.012a himavaty anuśiṣṭo 'si merusāvarṇinā purā
02,069.012c dvaipāyanena kṛṣṇena nagare vāraṇāvate
02,069.013a bhṛgutuṅge ca rāmeṇa dṛṣadvatyāṃ ca śaṃbhunā
02,069.013c aśrauṣīr asitasyāpi maharṣer añjanaṃ prati
02,069.013d*0596_01 kalmāṣītīrasaṃsthasya gatas tvaṃ śiṣyatāṃ bhṛgoḥ
02,069.014a draṣṭā sadā nāradasya dhaumyas te 'yaṃ purohitaḥ
02,069.014c mā hārṣīḥ sāṃparāye tvaṃ buddhiṃ tām ṛṣipūjitām
02,069.015a purūravasam ailaṃ tvaṃ buddhyā jayasi pāṇḍava
02,069.015c śaktyā jayasi rājño 'nyān ṛṣīn dharmopasevayā
02,069.016a aindre jaye dhṛtamanā yāmye kopavidhāraṇe
02,069.016c visarge caiva kaubere vāruṇe caiva saṃyame



__________________
*Dr. Dominik A. Haas, BA MA*
dominik at haas.asia | ORCID 0000-0002-8505-6112 
<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8505-6112> | academia.edu DominikAHaas 
<https://univie.academia.edu/DominikAHaas> | twitter DominikAHaas 
<https://twitter.com/DominikAHaas> | hcommons DominikAHaas 
<https://hcommons.org/members/DominikAHaas/>
ÖGRW <https://www.univie.ac.at/oegrw/> | DMG 
<https://dmg-web.de/page/home_en> | SDN 
<https://stb.univie.ac.at/publikationsreihen/sammlung-de-nobili-sdn/> | 
WPU <https://philology.org/>
Lecturer, University of Vienna (2023–)
DOC Fellow, Austrian Academy of Sciences (2020–2022)

Recent publications:
– Translating the Gāyatrī-Mantra 
https://alt.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/10.18573/alt.57
– Puṣpikā 6. Proceedings of the 12th International Indology Graduate 
Research Symposium (Vienna, 2021). https://doi.org/10.11588/hasp.1133
– Gāyatrī: Mantra and Mother of the Vedas. A Philological-Historical 
Study. Dissertation. https://doi.org/10.25365/thesis.72156

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