Meitei translations and literary adaptations of the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the epics of Sanskrit literature that is translated as well as literarily adapted into Meitei language (officially called Manipuri), thereby creating a space for Hindu literature within the granary of Meitei literature (Manipuri literature).

As Meitei language uses both Meitei script as well as Eastern Nagari script (Bengali script), the literary works are written in either of the two scripts.

Parikshit
in 1724, Meitei King Pamheiba, also known as Gharib Nawaz, having converted from Sanamahism to Hinduism by Guru Gopaldas, composed his version of the Parikshit, a Meitei-language version of an episode he found appealing from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The work was actually a translation of a Bengali literary work, the History of Bengali Language and Literature by Gangadas Sen. Later, the Meitei version was retouched by Angom Gopi.

Virat Santhuplon
The Book of Virata (Virat Santhuplon) is a translation of the Bengali Virata Parva, by Ramkrishna Das. The translation work was done by the Meitei prince Nabananda in 1780. The prince was formally made heir apparent when his father Ching-Thang Khomba ascended the throne of Manipur in 1763. Prince Nabananda spent around two months in the woods for carrying out a royal task of cutting down large trees for working on his translation.

Unlike other Meitei literary works on Hinduism, this text is free from the usual mixing of words of Indo Aryan languages.

Kalachand Shastri
Between 1956 and 1989, Kalachand Singh Shastri translated 37 volumes of the Mahabharata into Meitei language, for which he was bestowed the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for translation.