Prayojana and Phala: Reception of the Mahābhārata Through Its Commentaries

Abstract This paper aims to explicate the hermeneutic engagement of the commentators with the epic. The engagement is better revealed in the opening of the commentaries, particularly while commenting upon the maṅgala of the epic. This paper offers a comparison of insights on maṅgala and anubandhacatuṣṭaya in the three commentaries: Devabodha (11 ce ), Vādirāja (16 ce ) and Nīlakaṇṭha (17 ce ). The singularity of this engagement is that it deals with the text as one meaningful whole. While doing so they not only analyse the text, but also renew the text by offering it its own due textuality. The due textuality is understood in contrast to the view of modern scholars who have dealt with the epic text as a conglomerate of several parts. The contexts and departures that commentators have with the text of the epic are obviously different from ours and are therefore of significance to us. The antiquity, grandeur and complexity of the epic are the obvious challenges before us as we attempt to comprehend the text. The commentaries come through as a resource as they offer their reading and comprehension of the epic. The very names of the commentaries illuminate the specific hermeneutic engagement of the commentators with the epic. Thus, Devabodha’s commentary is called Jñānadīpikā or the Lamp of Knowledge, whereas Nīlakaṇṭha’s commentary has been named as Bhāratabhāvadīpa , or the Lamp Illuminating Inner Meaning (of the Mahābhārata).