The Critical Edition of the ‘Mahabharata’ is indeed a monumental undertaking in the realm of scholarly work. Under the leadership of V.S. Sukthankar and his team, the project was initiated in 1919, and took 47 years to complete. The process entailed several steps:

1.Collection Of Manuscripts: Initially, a comprehensive collection of Sanskrit manuscripts of the Mahabharata from various regions of the country was undertaken. These manuscripts were written in a variety of scripts and represented different regional variations of the text.

2.Comparison Of Verses: Once the manuscripts were collected, the team devised a method to compare verses across the different manuscripts to ascertain commonalities and differences among them.

3.Selection Of Common Verses: After comparing verses, the scholars selected the verses that were common to most versions, which were then compiled and published in several volumes. This compilation stretched over 13,000 pages, indicating the extensive nature of the Mahabharata.

4.Documentation Of Variations: An important part of this project was the documentation of regional variations. These variations were meticulously documented in footnotes and appendices alongside the main text. Over half of the 13,000 pages are devoted to elucidating these variations, demonstrating the enormous regional variability in the transmission of the text over the centuries.

Insights Into Social Histories

These variations provide a window into the complex socio-cultural processes of the past. They reflect the dialogues, negotiations, and conflicts between dominant traditions and resilient local ideas and practices over time.

Challenge To Traditional Histories