Which of the following statements are correct?
(A) Mahabharata has over 1,00,000 verses.
(B) Mahabharata was written by Valmiki.
(C) V.S. Sukthankar is associated with the critical edition of Mahabharata.
(D) The critical edition of Mahabharata took 47 years to complete.
(E) The critical edition of Mahabharata ran into over 13,000 pages.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A), (C), (D) and (E) only
(A) Mahabharata has over 1,00,000 verses. Correct. The Mahabharata is a colossal epic which runs, in its present form, into over 100,000 verses. A text that perhaps had less than 10,000 verses at first grew to this size over the centuries.
(B) Mahabharata was written by Valmiki. Incorrect. The Mahabharata is traditionally attributed to a sage named Vyasa, who, according to tradition, dictated the text to Ganesha. The original story was probably composed by charioteer-bards called sutas; from the fifth century BCE, Brahmanas began to write it down.
(C) V.S. Sukthankar is associated with the critical edition of Mahabharata. Correct. In 1919 a team of dozens of scholars, led by the Sanskritist V.S. Sukthankar, began preparing a critical edition of the Mahabharata.
(D) The critical edition of Mahabharata took 47 years to complete. Correct. The team compared verses from manuscripts collected from all over the subcontinent, and the project took 47 years to complete.
(E) The critical edition of Mahabharata ran into over 13,000 pages. Correct. The scholars selected the verses common to most versions and published them in several volumes, running into over 13,000 pages.
NCERT (2025-26): “…In focusing on the Mahabharata, a colossal epic running in its present form into over 100,000 verses with depictions of a wide range of social categories and situations, we draw on one of the richest texts of the subcontinent.… 1. The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata … One of the most ambitious projects of scholarship began in 1919, under the leadership of a noted Indian Sanskritist, V.S. Sukthankar. A team comprising dozens of scholars initiated the task of preparing a critical edition of the Mahabharata. What exactly did this involve? Initially, it meant collecting Sanskrit manuscripts of the text, written in a variety of scripts, from different parts of the country. The team worked out a method of comparing verses from each manuscript. Ultimately, they selected the verses that appeared common to most versions and published these in several volumes, running into over 13,000 pages. The project took 47 years to complete.… 6.2 Author(s) and dates … With these additions, a text which initially perhaps had less than 10,000 verses grew to comprise about 100,000 verses. This enormous composition is traditionally attributed to a sage named Vyasa.…” |