Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling (97 page)

Shantanu
[Shan·ta·nu,
SUU; HLL
]: Bharata king; father of Bhishma; husband of Ganga and Satyavati

Sharadvat
[Sha·rad·vat,
USU; LHL
]: father of Kripa and Kripi

Shatayupa
[Sha·taa·yu·pa,
USUU; LHLL
]: a sage

Shaunaka
[Shau·na·ka,
SUU; HLL
]: brahmin who accompanies the Pandavas into exile

Shibi
[Shi·bi,
SU; LL
]: devout king tested by the gods

Shikhandin
[Shi·khan·din,
USU
;
shi
·
kha
n
·
d
in
,
LHL
]: son of Drupada; reincarnation of Amba

Shishupala
[Shi·shu·paa·la,
UUSU; LLHL
]: king of Chedi, killed by Krishna

Shiva
[Shi·va,
SU; LL
]: powerful god

shraddha
[shraad·dha,
SU; HL
]: ritual offering to nourish the ancestors

Shri
[Shree,
S; H
]: goddess of royal fortune

shudras
[English plural; singular: shoo·dra,
SU; HL
]: servants, peasants, etc, lowest of the four main classes in the social hierarchy

Shuka
[Shu·ka,
SU; LL
]: Vyasa’s son

Shveta
[Shve·ta,
SU; HL
]: Virata’s son

Takshaka
[Ta·ksha·ka,
SUU; HLL
]: king of snakes

Tantipala
[Tan·ti·paa·la,
SUSU; HLHL
]: Sahadeva’s alias at Virata’s court

Terrifier: name for Arjuna

Tilottama
[Ti·lot·ta·maa,
USUU; LHLH
]: woman created by Vishvakarman to test Sunda and Upasunda

Treta age
[Tre·taa,
SU; HH
]: second-best of the ages of the world; second-best throw at dice

Trigartas
[English plural; singular: Tri·gar·ta,
SSU; HHL
]: a people sworn to kill Arjuna

Ugrashravas
[Sanskrit singular; Ug·ra·shra·vas,
SSUU; HHLL
]: a bard; narrator of the
Mahabharata
to seers in the Naimisha Forest

Uluka
[U·loo·ka,
USU; LHL
]: Shakuni’s son

Ulupi
[U·loo·pee,
USU; LHH
]: snake princess; wife of Arjuna

Upasunda
[U·pa·sun·da,
UUSU; LLHL
]: demon; brother of Sunda

Urvashi
[Ur·va·shee,
SUU; HLH
]: an apsaras

Uttanka
[U·tan·ka,
USU; LHL
]: an ascetic tested by Krishna

Uttara
[masculine; Ut·ta·ra,
SUU; HLL
]: son of Virata

Uttaraa
[feminine; Ut·ta·raa,
SUU; HLH
]: Virata’s daughter; wife of Abhimanyu

Vaishampayana
[Vai·sham·paa·ya·na,
SUSUU; HLHLL
]: Vyasa’s disciple; reciter of the
Mahabharata
to King Janamejaya

Vajra
[Vaj·ra,
SU; HL
]: Krishna’s descendant; designated ruler of Indraprastha

Varaha
[Va·raa·ha,
USU; LHL
]: boar incarnation of Vishnu

varnas
[English plural; singular: var·na,
SU
;
var
·
n
a
,
HL
]: social categories; precursors of caste divisions

Varuna
[Va·ru·na,
SUU
;
va
·
ru
·
n
a
,
LLL
]: god of the waters; one of the world guardians

Vasus
[English plural; singular: Va·su,
SU; LL
]: eight celestial beings born as mortals; Bhishma is an incarnation of the eighth

Vasudeva
[Va·su·de·va,
UUSU; LLHL
]: Krishna’s father

Vasudeva
[Vaa·su·de·va,
SUSU; HLHL
]: “son of Vasudeva,” one of Krishna’s names

Vasuki
[Vaa·su·ki,
SUU; HLL
]: Naga king

Vayu
[Vaa·yu,
SU; HL
]: god of the wind; Bhima’s father

Vedas
[English plural; singular: Ve·da,
SU; HL
]: the most holy scriptures, orally transmitted by brahmins

Vibhishana
[Vi·bhee·sha·na,
USUU
;
vi
·
bh
ī
·
sha
·
n
a
,
LHLL
]: king of Lanka

Vichitravirya
[Vi·chi·tra·veer·ya,
USUSU; LHLHL
]: son of Shantanu and Satyavati

Vidura
[Vi·du·ra,
SUU; LLL
]: son of Vyasa by a maidservant; brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu

Vikarna
[Vi·kar·na,
USU
;
vi
·
kar
·
n
a
,
LHL
]: son of Dhritarashtra

Virata
[Vi·raa·ta,
USU
;
vi
·
r
ā
·
t
a
,
LHL
]: king of Matsya; host to the Pandavas in exile

Vishnu
[Vish·nu,
SU
;
vish
·
n
u
,
HL
]: supreme deity

Vishvakarman
[Vish·va·kar·man,
SUSU; HLHL
]: divine craftsman

Vishvamitra
[Vish·vaa·mit·ra,
SUSU; HHHL
]: a seer

Vivimshati
[Vi·vim·sha·ti,
USUU; LHLL
]: son of Dhritarashtra

Vrishasena
[Vri·sha·se·na,
SUSU; HLHL
]: Karna’s son

Vrishni
[Vrish·ni,
SU
;
vrish
·
n
i
,
HL
]: Krishna’s clan, a subdivision of the Yadava people

Vyasa
[Vyaa·sa,
SU; HL
]: seer; author of the
Mahabharata
and major participant in the events; a.k.a. Krishna Dvaipayana

Wealth-winner
: a name for Arjuna

Wearer of the diadem
: a name for Arjuna

Wolf-belly
: a name for Bhima

Yadavas
[English plural; singular: Yaa·da·va,
SUU; HLL
]: “descendants of Yadu,” a people to whom Krishna belongs

Yaja
[Yaa·ja,
SU; HL
]: priest who brings Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadi into being

Yakshas
[English plural; singular: Yak·sha,
SU; HL
]: earth spirits serving Kubera

Yama
[Ya·ma,
SU; LL
]: god of death

Yamuna
[Ya·mu·naa,
SUU; LLH
]: major river of northern India

yoga
[as in English]: spiritual discipline

Yudhishthira
[Yu·dhish·thi·ra,
USUU
;
yu
·
dhish
·
t
hi
·
ra
,
LHLL
]: eldest of the Pandava brothers; the Dharma King

Yuvanashva
[Yu·va·naash·va,
UUSU; LLHL
]: king, father of Mandhatri

Yuyutsu
[Yu·yut·su,
USU; LHL
]: son of Dhritarashtra by a vaishya woman; ally of the Pandavas in the war

About the Authors

Vinay Dharwadker
is Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and Folklore Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He translates from Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Sanskrit, and his
Kabir: The Weaver’s Songs
won India’s national translation prize in 2008. He is the South Asia editor of the
Norton Anthology of World Literature
, third edition (2012).

Wendy Doniger (O’Flaherty)
received her PhD from Harvard University and her DPhil from Oxford University. She teaches at the University of Chicago and is the author of over thirty books, from
Siva: The Erotic Ascetic
(1973) to
The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade
(2000),
The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was
(2005),
The Hindus: An Alternative History
(2009), and
On Hinduism
(2013).

Carole Satyamurti
is a poet and sociologist. She has published several books of poetry with Oxford University Press and Bloodaxe, of which the most recent are
Stitching the Dark: New and Selected Poems
(2005) and
Countdown
(2011). Her poetry has received many awards and has been widely anthologized.

Copyright © 2015 by Carole Satyamurti
Foreword copyright © 2015 by Wendy Doniger
Afterword copyright © 2015 by Vinay Dharwadker

All rights reserved
First Edition

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Book design by Brooke Koven
Production manager: Louise Parasmo

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Satyamurti, Carole.
Mahabharata : a modern retelling / by Carole Satyamurti. —First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-393-08175-6 (hardcover)
1. India—History—To 324 B.C.—Poetry. I. Mahabharata.
English II. Title.
PR6069.A776M34 2015
821’.914—dc23

2014033595

ISBN 978-0-393-24645-2 (e-book)

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