Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Cryptography in Mahabharata


I doubt if books like "Code Book" or any book on history of crptography ever mentions this one

Also, note that the language of the Mlechas mentioned there in, seems to hold a key for Indus script decipherment


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Mahabharata > Adi Parva > Jatugriha Parva CXLVII

The ITRANS of the Devanagiri from http://sanskrit.gde.to/mirrors/mahabharata/txt/01.txt

vidurasya suhR^itkashchitkhanakaH kushalaH kva chit .
vivikte pANDavAnrAjannida.n vachanamabravIt .. 1..\prahito vidureNAsmi khanakaH kushalo bhR^isham .
pANDavAnAM priya.n kAryamiti kiM karavANi vaH .. 2..\prachchhanna.n vidureNoktaH shreyastvamiha pANDavAn .
pratipAdaya vishvAsAditi ki.n karavANi vaH .. 3..\kR^iShNapakShe chaturdashyA.n rAtrAvasya purochanaH .
bhavanasya tava dvAri pradAsyati hutAshanam .. 4..\mAtrA saha pradagdhavyAH pANDavAH puruSharShabhAH .
iti vyavasitaM pArtha dhArtarAShTrasya me shrutam .. 5..\ki.n chichcha vidureNokto mlechchha vAchAsi pANDava .
tvayA cha tattathetyuktametadvishvAsakAraNam .. 6..\uvAcha ta.n satyadhR^itiH kuntIputro yudhiShThiraH .
abhijAnAmi saumya tvA.n suhR^idaM vidurasya vai .. 7..\shuchimAptaM priya.n chaiva sadA cha dR^iDhabhaktikam .
na vidyate kaveH ki.n chidabhiGYAnaprayojanam .. 8..\yathA naH sa tathA nastvaM nirvisheShA vaya.n tvayi .
bhavataH sma yathA tasya pAlayAsmAnyathA kaviH .. 9..\ida.n sharaNamAgneyaM madarthamiti me matiH .
purochanena vihita.n dhArtarAShTrasya shAsanAt .. 10..\sa pApaH koshavAMshchaiva sasahAyashcha durmatiH .
asmAnapi cha duShTAtmA nityakAlaM prabAdhate .. 11..\sa bhavAnmokShayatvasmAnyatnenAsmAddhutAshanAt .
asmAsviha hi dagdheShu sakAmaH syAtsuyodhanaH .. 12..\samR^iddhamAyudhAgAramida.n tasya durAtmanaH .
vaprAnte niShpratIkAramAshliShyeda.n kR^itaM mahat .. 13..\ida.n tadashubhaM nUnaM tasya karma chikIrShitam .
prAgeva viduro veda tenAsmAnanvabodhayat .. 14..\seyamApadanuprAptA kShattA yA.n dR^iShTavAnpurA .
purochanasyAviditAnasmA.nstva.n vipramochaya .. 15..\sa tatheti pratishrutya khanako yatnamAsthitaH .
parikhAmutkirannAma chakAra sumahadbilam .. 16..\chakre cha veshmanastasya madhye nAtimahanmukham .
kapATayuktamaGYAta.n samaM bhUmyA cha bhArata .. 17..\purochana bhayAchchaiva vyadadhAtsa.nvR^itaM mukham .
sa tatra cha gR^ihadvAri vasatyashubha dhIH sadA .. 18..\tatra te sAyudhAH sarve vasanti sma kShapAM nR^ipa .
divA charanti mR^igayAM pANDaveyA vanAdvanam .. 19..\vishvastavadavishvastA va~nchayantaH purochanam .
atuShTAstuShTavadrAjannUShuH paramaduHkhitAH .. 20..\na chainAnanvabudhyanta narA nagaravAsinaH .
anyatra vidurAmAtyAttasmAtkhanaka sattamAt .. 21..\
For the entire translation, see http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01148.htm

Here's the relevant portion

"He that knoweth the schemes his foes contrive in accordance with the dictates of political science, should, knowing them, act in such a way as to avoid all danger. He that knoweth that there are sharp weapons capable of cutting the body though not made of steel, and understandeth also the means of warding them off, can never be injured by foes. He liveth who protecteth himself by the knowledge that neither the consumer of straw and wood nor the drier of the dew burneth the inmates of a hole in the deep woods. The blind man seeth not his way: the blind man hath no knowledge of direction. He that hath no firmness never acquireth prosperity. Remembering this, be upon your guard. The man who taketh a weapon not made of steel ( i.e., an inflammable abode) given him by his foes, can escape from fire by making his abode like unto that of a jackal (having many outlets). By wandering a man may acquire the knowledge of ways, and by the stars he can ascertain the direction, and he that keepeth his five (senses) under control can never be oppressed y his enemies."

6 comments:

S.K said...

Ok did not understand a word!!

drisyadrisya said...

The angry student politician threatened the Principal of the college "If u don't pass me for the exam, u will know the consequences"

The Princi said, "Okay, lets strike a deal, I will give u a word, if you can spell that right, I will pass you"

Done deal, said the stu-poli

"Spell, Coffee" said the Princi

The fellow, without a doubt spelt "K-A-U-P-H-Y"

Before fainting, the Princi said "Had u spelt one letter correct, I wud have passed u"

S.K said...

SO?????

drisyadrisya said...

Alrite, is it that I am not the best of the communicators or that you have had a sleepless nite banging ur head against some research paper ?

I was hoping that somebody can translate the whole thing... and then I get ur highly encouraging comment that "not even a word" !!

Anonymous said...

Soothsayer wrote:

about the indus script, are there any peer reviewed articles about it.until then it is difficult to authoritatively say anything. i thought mlechhas meant foreginers? this is getting confusing...
an authority who is perceived to be impartial is sorely needed to correct the damage done by the marxists

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About mlechcha, yeah, I guess it has been used to denote any "foreigner", including these days muslims

But I think Kalyanaramaji's usage is much more in the lingusitic sense

and this is what he says

http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/vikalpa1.htm

"Mleccha is a dialect spoken in conversation between Vidura and Yudhisthira as reported in the Great Epic, Mahabharata. Mleccha are vra_tya; they live in dvi_pa (islands). Mleccha are not ‘foreigners’, but those who do not fully adhere to the practices of yajn~a. Vra_tya are referred to in over 240 r.ca-s in the R.gveda. Atharva Veda notes that both vra_tya and yajnika are children of Prajapati. Vra_tya are ra_janya. They are ascetics and also given to organizing themselves with arms to defend themselves. Thus, the picture that emerges from R.gveda is that of people practicing both vrata and yajna. In fact, the yajna itself begins with a Mahavrata as described in the Aitareya Aranyaka.
Mlecchita vikalpa is referred to by Vatsyayana as one of the 64 arts. It is interpreted as cipher writing or writing in pictures."

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About reviews, I guess its not yet time.... but again, the problem is, most of the reviewers will be the lefty kind... is there really something called an "impartial" review ?

You may be interested in reading

http://www.indiastar.com/wallia27.htm

and

http://micheldanino.voiceofdharma.com/jha_rajaram.html

-arun

Unknown said...

@sarayu: In Adiparva, Duryodhana plotted to assassinate Pandavas and Kunti. So, he ordered construction of a house which was made up of Highly Inflammable materials. He then made his father to drive Pandavas to that house. Vidura knew about this plot.

When Pandavas were about to leave to that house, Vidra, right in front of Kauravas and Pandavas communicated the above words to Dharmaraya. These words had hidden message, warning Dharmaraya of the plot against them. Nobody except the Dharmaraya could decipher this message.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshagraha