GUWAHATI, Nov 30 - Former Asam Sahitya Sabha president and eminent folklorist Dr Birendranath Datta yesterday apprised a mixed gathering of scholars, writers, book lovers and students in the Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture auditorium here that an effort to bring out an Assamese version of the Mahabharata was made in the early 1960s by the Gauhati University. But it did not succeed.
Dr Datta was releasing the Assamese prose version of the Mahabharata, titled Sampoorna Asamiya Gadya Mahabharat, rendered into Assamese from the Sanskrit original by Col (Dr) DM Bujarbarua,
However, the scholar said as a positive development, one person came out with the zeal to accomplish this Herculean task single-handedly. And, after about ten years of dedicated and arduous efforts, this man could attain success, bringing hopes to the people.
Significantly, the person who accomplished this success, is a physician by profession, which has the potential to become an example for the budding writers, said the former president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha.
The epic translated and published by Col Bujarbarua, has ten volumes and altogether it has about 5,300 pages. It is priced at Rs 5,550 and will shortly be available in the market.
