India partners Nepal to spread Krishna’s voice

KATHMANDU - The Bhagvad Gita - containing Lord Krishna’s teachings and regarded as the essence of the Hindu religion and philosophy - is one of the most influential books in the world, but not much is known about its sequel, the Anugita.

Janmashtami, Lord Krishna’s birthday, is perhaps the perfect occasion to remember this less known sequel that will be available to a wider readership, thanks to a partnership between Nepal and India.

Comminc, a Kathmandu-based publisher, says work is in progress on a simplified Hindi as well as German version of the Anugita.

The text, now available in both Nepali prose as well as a metrical version, was formally launched here in May by President Ram Baran Yadav. The venture was funded by the Indian government under the aegis of the B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation.

Unlike the Gita, which was propounded by Krishna on the eve of violence and bloodshed, the Anugita, containing teachings about how to attain a higher life, was delivered in a time of peace and triumph.

The wronged Pandava brothers had emerged victorious from a devastating 18-day battle, their malevolent cousins, the Kauravas, had been annihilated and Krishna, ready to return to his own land after the battle for right was over, was bidding adieu to his warrior friend and disciple Arjun.

The Anugita is found in the Ashwamedh Parva or 14th book of the Mahabharat when the victorious warrior Arjun has forgotten the teachings of the Gita and requests Krishna for an encore.

The text was first translated into English in the 19th century by Indian judge and Indologist Kashinath Trimbak Telang. More than a century later, a second English translation came in 2006 from Nepali scholar and former bureaucrat Jagadish Sharma.

Sharma, who had undertaken the massive task at the request of the Nepal Sanskrit University, felt the philosophy would reach a wider readership if it was published from India, especially after he saw a report in a leading Indian daily recommending that the Anugita be included as a textbook in premier Indian academic organisations. Consequently, New Delhi’s Parimal Publication brought out Sharma’s translation in August 2006.

Now a new Nepali version is available, thanks to Nepali scholar Shrihari Rupekheti.

The rediscovery of Krishna’s teachings comes at a time when they are especially relevant in Nepal, which, after having undergone a 10-year civil war, now seeks peace and reconciliation.

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)