Whether the Jaya Samhita - original version of Mahabharata – available now?

 

The original version of Mahabharata, ie., Jaya Samhita of Sage Krishna Dwaipayana or Vyasa had been lost due to expansion of the same by either the disciples of Sage Krishna Dwaipayana such as Vaisampayana or subsequent scholars, who composed the expanded form Bharata/Mahabharata.

However, they left a hint in the 1st chapter of the expanded form in the following shloka. This shloka is present in the Southern recension of presently available Mahabharata.

अष्टौ श्लोकसहस्राणि अष्टौ श्लोकशतानि च।

अहं वेद्मि शुको वेत्ति संजयो वेत्ति वा न वा॥

I am acquainted with eight thousand and eight hundred verses, and so is Suka, and perhaps Sanjaya.

Please note that someone, who expanded the original version, might have stated I am - अहं in the shloka. As this shloka is appearing amidst the speech of Sauti,(in the present day Mahabharata) everyone interpreted it as stated by Sauti only.

According to my understanding, it might have been added by the first person, who expanded Jaya Samhita, ie., the original version of Mahabharata., but definitely not be Ugrasrava Sauti.

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Whether we can get the original form of Jaya Samhita now?

Yes, it can be available, provided some dedicated scholars should work on it, based on the hints available here and there in the present day Mahabharata.

An attempt was made by (Late) Keshavram Kashiram Shastri, who extracted Jaya Samhita , from out of 75,000+ shlokas in the present day Mahabharata, with the title Jaya Samhita The Ur Mahabharata INTRODUCTION (1977).

However, it is very difficult to say whether the version of (Late) Keshavram Kashiram Shastri was the original version of sage Krishna Dwaipayana, as how gifted a scholar might be, it cannot be the same as that of sage Krishna Dwaipayana.

Another question might arise as to the shloka, referring to the corpus of 8,800 shlokas as Kuta (mysterious) shlokas. Some refer to this shloka and state that Sage Vyasa composed these 8,800 shlokas to engage Ganapati.

तच्छ्लोककूटमद्यापि ग्रथितं सुदृढं मुने।

भेत्तुं न शक्यतेऽर्थस्यं गूढत्वात्प्रश्रितस्य च॥

From the mysteriousness of their meaning, O Muni, no one is able, to this day, to penetrate those closely knit difficult slokas.

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According to my understanding, Ganapati did not assist Sage Vyasa as Ganapati as a God came into existence at much a later stage, but definitely not in the period of Sage Krishna Dwaipayana.

 

As appearance of Ganapati in Mahabharata itself is not possible, as it is a Puranic character, the above shloka, containing reference to Kuta (mysterious) meaning, might be an interpolation.

Please read the following post of mine.