The Bhagavadgîtâ, with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ — SBE Vol. 8 (trans. K. T. Telang, 1882)
The translator’s English as printed (K. T. Telang). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Gita being substituted for Brahma Gita. At the close of the thirty-fifth chapter, there is another alteration caused by the substitution of Gurusishyasamvada for Brâhmaṇa Gita ; and this continues down to the fifty-first chapter, where the thread of the narrative is again taken up—the philosophical parenthesis, if I may so say, having come to an end. With the fifty-first chapter our present translation also ends. Now it appears from the above comparison, that the list of contents set out above is accurate, save in so far as it mentions Vâsudevâgamana as a distinct section of the Âśvamedha Parvan. No such section seems to be in existence. And there appears to be nothing in the Âśvamedha Parvan to which that title could be appropriately allotted. The edition printed at Madras agrees in all essential particulars with the Bombay edition ; with this difference, that even at the close of the twentieth chapter, the name is Brâhmaṇa Gita, and not Brahma Gita as it is in the Bombay edition. The Calcutta edition also agrees in these readings. Turning now to a MS. procured for me by my excellent friend Professor Abagi Vishṇu Kâthavaṭe at Ahmedabad, and bearing date the 15th of Phâlguna Vadya 1823, Sunday, we find there at the end of the Âśvamedha Parvan a list of contents like that which we have seen in the printed edition. The relevant portion of that list is as follows: ‘Samvartamaruttiya, Anugîtâ, Gurusishyasamvada, and Uttankopakhyana.’ Here we find neither the erroneous entry of Vâsudevâga- - mana, nor the correct entry of Brahma Gita, which are both contained in the other list. In another MS. which I have now before me, and which has been lent me by Professor Bhandarkar, who purchased it in Puṇa for the Government of Bombay—in this MS., which contains the commentary of Arguna Misra, the earlier chapters are described not as chapters of the Anugîtâ Parvan, but of the Anugita contained in the Âśvamedha Parvan, and they are numbered there as they are numbered in our translation, not continuously with the numbering of the previous chapters of the Âśvamedha Parvan. At the close of chapter IV, we have an explicit statement that the Anugita ends there. Then the Brahma Gita begins. And the first chapter is described as a chapter of the Brahma Gita in the Âśvamedha Parvan. The numbering of each of these chapters of the Brahma Gita is not given in the copy before us—the titles and descriptions of the various chapters being throughout incomplete. Some of the later chapters are described as chapters of the Brahma Gita, and some as chapters of the Brâhmaṇa Gita; but this discrepancy is probably to be put to the account of the particular copyist who wrote out the copy used by us. With what is chapter XX in our numbering the Gurusishyasamvada begins. This MS. omits all reference to any Anugita Parvan, and fails to number the various chapters. Its list of sections agrees with that in the Bombay edition. It bears no date.
Gita being substituted for Brahma Gita. At the close of the thirty-fifth chapter, there is another alteration caused by the substitution of Gurusishyasamvada for Brâhmaṇa Gita; and this continues down to the fifty-first chapter, where the thread of the narrative is again taken up—the philosophical parenthesis, if I may call it that, having come to an end. With the fifty-first chapter our present translation also ends. From the comparison above, it appears that the list of contents set out earlier is accurate, except in so far as it mentions Vâsudevâgamana as a distinct section of the Âśvamedha Parvan. No such section appears to exist, and there is nothing in the Âśvamedha Parvan to which that title could appropriately be given. The edition printed at Madras agrees in all essential particulars with the Bombay edition, with this difference: that even at the close of the twentieth chapter the name given is Brâhmaṇa Gita, not Brahma Gita as in the Bombay edition. The Calcutta edition agrees with these readings as well. Turning now to a MS. procured for me by my excellent friend Professor Abagi Vishṇu Kâthavaṭe at Ahmedabad, and bearing the date 15 of Phâlguna Vadya 1823, Sunday, we find at the end of the Âśvamedha Parvan a list of contents similar to the one we have seen in the printed edition. The relevant portion of that list reads as follows: 'Samvartamaruttiya, Anugîtâ, Gurusishyasamvada, and Uttankopakhyana.' Here we find neither the erroneous entry of Vâsudevâgamana nor the correct entry of Brahma Gita, both of which appear in the other list. In another MS. now before me, lent by Professor Bhandarkar, who purchased it in Puṇa for the Government of Bombay—a MS. that contains the commentary of Arjuna Misra—the earlier chapters are described not as chapters of the Anugîtâ Parvan, but of the Anugita contained in the Âśvamedha Parvan, and they are numbered as they are in our translation, not continuously with the numbering of the preceding chapters of the Âśvamedha Parvan. At the close of chapter IV there is an explicit statement that the Anugita ends there. The Brahma Gita then begins, and its first chapter is described as a chapter of the Brahma Gita in the Âśvamedha Parvan. The numbering of each of these chapters of the Brahma Gita is not given in the copy before us, the titles and descriptions of the various chapters being throughout incomplete. Some of the later chapters are described as chapters of the Brahma Gita and some as chapters of the Brâhmaṇa Gita; but this discrepancy is probably to be attributed to the particular copyist who wrote out the copy used by us. With what is chapter XX in our numbering, the Gurusishyasamvada begins. This MS. omits all reference to any Anugita Parvan and does not number the various chapters. Its list of sections agrees with that in the Bombay edition. It bears no date.