Historian Chitra Madhavan and Indic Scholar - Author Bibek Debroy riveted the audience with an enthralling session on Bharat’s Itihasa: Wisdom Beyond Time. From breaking down the concept of Itihasa and Puranas to illustrating the scientific wisdom in India’s epics, the two speakers highlighted the significance and relevance of the sutras during their conversation.
With Itihasas recounting a happening as is and Puranas constituting history, Bibek Debroy lamented that these terms have been incorrectly used to mean stories. “The Puranas have been reduced to a mere recounting of incidents. However, we do not realise that nearly a third of the Mahabharata is about Bhishma laying on a bed of arrows and imparting lessons on Dharma to Yudhishthira and his brothers.”
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Talking about scientific data in the Puranas, he laid before the audience a few examples from sections of texts called Shulba Sutras that contain a lot of scientific and mathematical information. The solar sutras, for instance, illustrate the statement of a specific Pythagoras theorem while deducing the value of pi in relation to the dimensions of the earth. Significant information on other subjects such as geography, geology, grammar, the evolution of language, and governance can be found in the text named Pacham Veda, he said.
Bibek Debroy’s books are translated works for readers who are keen to understand and explore Indian texts in depth. Debroy has translated the unabridged version of the Mahabharata into English, in a series of 10 volumes. He has also translated the Bhagavad Gita, the Harivamsa, the Vedas and Valmiki's Ramayana. He has translated the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Brahma Purana, and the Vishnu Purana. Along with Manmatha Nath Dutt, he is only the second person to have translated both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, in unabridged form, into English.
When asked a question about the difficulties of translating from Sanskrit to English, he said that the two languages are structurally different hence, it is very challenging. He said, “In English, nouns, and pronouns are not important, only the verb is important. Similarly, in English, the curve of the alphabet goes counterclockwise, while in Indian languages it is written in a clockwise direction.” Together with Chitra Madhavan, he urged the audience to cultivate patience and respect for the texts that have been the source of knowledge and wisdom since ancient times and encouraged readers to raise their awareness of India’s history and culture.
