Discrepancy in Valmiki Ramayana

Question

I was browsing two sites of translation of Valmiki Ramayana, while engaging in a debate with a western-colonized feminist on Ahalya. Nevertheless, she was defeated because she didn't even have the least knowledge of Sanskrit (neither do I, but she was worse) as well as the original Ramayana. But I found a discrepancy between 2 sites which led me to think what other discrepancies might be present.

This is from www.valmiki.iitk.ac.in:

अथाब्रवीत् नरश्रेष्ठ कृतार्थेनान्तरात्मना। 1.48.20।।

कृतार्थाऽस्मि सुरश्रेष्ठ गच्छ शीघ्रमित: प्रभो।

आत्मानं मां च देवेश सर्वदा रक्ष गौतमात्। 1.48.21।।

O Foremost of men with her heart's desire fulfilled, Ahalya said: "O Chief of the celestials I'm satisfied. O Lord, quit this place: O Lord of the gods, protect yourself and also me from Gautama in all respects."

And this one is from www.valmikiramayan.net:

अथ अब्रवीत् सुरश्रेष्ठम् कृतार्थेन अंतरात्मना |

कृतार्था अस्मि सुरश्रेष्ठ गच्छ शीघ्रम् इतः प्रभो || १-४८-२०

आत्मानम् माम् च देवेश सर्वदा रक्ष गौतमात् |

She felt fulfilled in her heart of hearts and then she said this to that best god Indra, 'I am gratified in complying with your wish, oh, best of gods, get going oh, lord, from here quickly, oh, ruler of gods, always safeguard yourself and me from Sage Gautama.' Thus, Ahalya said to Indra.

Is it "Nara-Sreshtha" or "Sura-Sreshtha"? Because by meaning, you can see that the whole meaning changes.

I checked in in Gita Press Gorakhpur edition (Sanskrit-Hindi)..It seems that सुरश्रेष्ठ is right word but second source added few words in the translation from previous shloka's meaning, these words are not in it's word-to-word translation...in first source Vishvamitra addressed Rama with नरश्रेष्ठ which is not needed as रघुनन्दन is already used in previous shloka... — YDS, Dec 22 '17 at 04:15
@KeshavSrinivasan if there are multiple manuscripts, would it sort of imply that these are indeed interpolated or "tweaked" from the original word which Valmiki had used? — , Dec 22 '17 at 05:21
@ArkaprabhaMajumdar Yeah, it could be as simple an issue as a scribe making an error in the manuscript, changing a "na" to a "su" or vice versa. — Keshav Srinivasan, Dec 22 '17 at 05:57
It does not make any difference be it "NaraSreshtha" or "SuraSreshtha". Because the meaning of the context is not being changed in either case. In first case "NaraSreshtha" is a vocative word which is being addressed to Raama. In "SuraSreshtha'm' " , it is accusative word pointing to Indra. So either case does not make difference on whole. — , Dec 22 '17 at 06:39
Yes on the whole it doesn't. But personally I would like to know who he was referring to, Indra or Rama. I know this doesn't make any drastic difference in the totality. — , Dec 22 '17 at 13:33
See, he was referring to Raama only. Let me make it clear- 1. अथाब्रवीत् नरश्रेष्ठ कृतार्थेनान्तरात्मना। means- O Rama who is foremost of men! thus (she) said (to Indra) from her fulfilled heart (.....what all she said in next lines). 2. And this line अथ अब्रवीत् सुरश्रेष्ठम् कृतार्थेनांतरात्मना। means - Thus (she) said to Indra from her fulfilled heart. So in both 1 and 2 story is being told to Raama only. — , Dec 22 '17 at 15:18
Now, you read both 1 and two without reading the ( ) words. See, in 1, while telling the story, Vishwaamitra added an addressing word to Raama saying that O Raama who is foremost of men, thus she said from her heart.... And in 2, it is just that she said to Indra from her heart. Of course in either case Ahalya was speaking to Indra only. It is just that in 1, Vishwaamitra told 1.1"O Rama! then Ahalya said...." And in 2, Vishwakarma told 2.1"Then Ahalya said to Indra...". Of course in both 1.1 and 2.1 we know that what all Ahalya is going to say is for Indra. — , Dec 22 '17 at 15:26
But in 1, instead of saying "then Ahalya said to Indra...", Vishwaamitra said "O Rama, then Ahalya said.....". And in 2, instead of saying "O Rama, then Ahalya said......" he said, "Then Ahalya said to Indra". So, there is no change in meaning by this. — , Dec 22 '17 at 15:33
"while engaging in a debate with a western-colonized feminist on Ahalya. Nevertheless, she was defeated" - I'm curious what was the debate about and how was she defeated? — Say No To Censorship, Dec 23 '17 at 18:05
Basically she was abusing Gautama Maharshi on how such a wise Rishi would "act below standard and not befitting his level". So I decided to pounce on with the original Valmiki's Ramayana. She fell flat, and after giving a line from the above quoted text, she started abusing me saying I am an anti-feminist to which I told her that if a woman is wrong, yet you abuse men, that is hypocrisy. — , Dec 26 '17 at 10:26
Basically in Bengal there is a bad translation of the text which says that Ahalya didn't know that it was Indra. So pseudo-feminists defend Ahalya on that basis trying to demean men and the apparent "superiority" of men in the Scriptures, as they say it. — , Dec 26 '17 at 10:28
@ArkaprabhaMajumdar You might want to check this post which says Indra is not to be blamed for this act. He's meant to do such things! But you're right, the original Valmiki Ramayana says both Indra & Ahalya knew what they were doing. — Say No To Censorship, Jan 02 '18 at 19:21
Yes Indra is meant to do things, but people don't bring in Indra. They curse Gautama Maharshi, and say that Ahalya was not aware. That's what makes them mad. — , Jan 04 '18 at 06:45

Say No To Censorship · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-27T21:54:34.213

It's सुरश्रेष्ठ (suraśreṣṭha) – best of the gods (Indra) – as that's what the critical edition (CE) of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa uses:

1047020a    अथाब्रवीत्सुरश्रेष्ठं कृतार्थेनान्तरात्मना
1047020c    कृतार्थोऽसि सुरश्रेष्ठ गच्छ शीघ्रमितः प्रभो
1047020e    आत्मानं मां च देवेश सर्वदा रक्ष मानदः

1047020a    athābravīt suraśreṣṭhaṁ kr̥tārthenāntarātmanā
1047020c    kr̥tārtho ’si suraśreṣṭha gaccha śīghram itaḥ prabho
1047020e    ātmānaṁ māṁ ca deveśa sarvadā rakṣa mānadaḥ

1047021a    इन्द्रस्तु प्रहसन्वाक्यमहल्यामिदमब्रवीत्
1047021c    सुश्रोणि परितुष्टोऽस्मि गमिष्यामि यथागतम्

1047021a    indras tu prahasan vākyam ahalyām idam abravīt
1047021c    suśroṇi parituṣṭo ’smi gamiṣyāmi yathāgatam

Robert P. Goldman – who had translated the Bālakāṇḍa of the CE of Rāmāyaṇa to English – translates verse 20 thus:

20. When she had accomplished her heart's desire, she said to the best of gods, 'You have accomplished your desire, best of gods. Now you must go quickly. You must always protect yourself and me, lord of the gods, my lover.'

Bibek Debroy translates as:

Satisfied in her heart of hearts, she told the best of the gods, "O best among the gods! I have been satiated. O lord! However, leave this spot quickly. O lord of the gods! O one who shows honours! Always protect me and your own self."

Indra laughed at these words and told Ahalya, "O one with the excellent hips! I am also satiated. I will go back to where I have come from."

BTW, in the CE this verse belongs to Sarga 47 and not 48.

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '17 at 20:13

It seems that सुरश्रेष्ठ is right word but second source added few words in the translation from previous shloka's meaning, these words are not in it's word-to-word translation. In first source Vishvamitra addressed Rama with नरश्रेष्ठ which is not needed as रघुनन्दन is already used in previous shloka. Here is the shloka from Gita Press Gorakhpur edition (Sanskrit-Hindi):

What Indra told is not in the scope of this question. :)

These English translation websites have many errors. Few I noticed today are:

The first source seems still under construction. It shows message

Data Entry In Progress. Sorry for the Inconvenience.

for Yudha Kanda and Uttara Kanda.

I found below errors in second source:

Instead of "Nala the son of Visvakarma", it says "Nila the son of Visvakarma" where shloka and it's word to word translation clearly mention Nala. (check here)

Instead of "Nala", it says "Anala" where shloka clearly mention Nala. (check here)

Shloka numbering is wrong here, all shloka are numbered 2.22.x instead of 6.22.x

It's always better to check the shloka and it's translation in another source (preferably printed versions as proof reading happens for them) as websites are highly prone to typing errors.

Discrepancy in Valmiki Ramayana

2 Answers2