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Indian Linguistics 74 (1-2) 2013:139-139 ISSN: 0378-0759
BIBUDHENDRA NARAYAN PATNAIK (2012) Introducing Saaralaa
Mahaabhaarata. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages; pp. xi + 227.
Reviewed by TARIQ KHAN, CALTS, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
safertariq@gmail.com
This book offers a first-hand introduction to the world of Saaralaa Mahaabhaarata to non-Odia
readers from India and abroad. It discusses some episodes of Mahaabhaarata that Saaralaa, an
Odia poet of the medieval times, had invented and that did not feature in Vyasa’s Mahabharata.
With that, it also offers alternative interpretations to those episodes which have evoked fiery
debates over the characters involved and their conduct. The narrative technique adopted in this
book, including the language use, is appreciably lucid. By way of five essays the author highlights
how Saaralaa localized (Odianized) the characters and thereby presents Saaralaa as a story teller
par excellence. The use of Sanskrit(ized) words has been kept to a minimum so that the readers
can follow the events without oscillating between the text and the footnotes.
The questions that might arise with this book are the following: Is it an attempt to refine the
portrayal of the individual, minor characters which would otherwise draw flak for their actions and
alignments with the wrong? Or, is it an attempt to provide them immunity against the perpetual
criticism they have faced? When there is an attempt to show highly criticized characters in a
positive light it is feared that the stature of the heroes would get reduced. The success of this book
lies in the fact that it has portrayed such characters in a positive light without compromising on the
stated credentials of the heroes. This perspective on an epic, which is not only monumental but
also considerably spread out like Mahaabhaarata, will expectedly vary. Hence, at this juncture, the
author's advice that “this work should be read in the spirit and the flavour of the text” is indeed
worth mentioning.