Yet another instance of silent service to the Tamil language comes from Srinivasan, who has bravely undertaken the task of bringing out a standard edition of the Mahabharata (Tamil) written by Nallapillai in the 19th century. This proves once again that Indian culture is one and indivisible and any talk of an Aryan-Dravidian divide is disruptive. The second part of the work — the first appeared three years ago — covers Santhi, Anusasana, Asramavasa, Mausala, Mahaprasthanika and Swargarohana Parvas. Excellently produced, the book is a joy to handle for the lover of Tamil literature.
The detailed introduction gives us an idea of how Srinivasan has mastered the available Mahabharata literature in Tamil and his discovery of a Tamil version of Jaimini Bharatha by Muhammad Annavi, who is also the author of Bharata Ammanai. What is passed off briefly as the guardianship by Krishna, who came in his “subtle form as Dharma” to robe Draupadi, is embellished by Tamil writers like Villipputturar and Nallapillai to project the incarnational aspect of the Prince of Dwaraka. He has also made a reference to the work of Manalur Ramanujachariar, who spent his life and assets for bringing out the Tamil version of the Mahabharata.
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