A novel in the vocative case

[MarkEEaton]

When I was studying Sanskrit in college, I was really taken by the vocative case. I think that the vocative case is partly what gives Sanskrit its unique feel when it is translated to English. This is probably because sentences with vocative elements don’t really have an exact equivalent in English, which makes them stand out as being a bit unusual in a translated text. Anyhow, I think they make for wonderful reading.

After Sanskrit class, in the pub, I would joke with my classmate that I was going to write a novel in the vocative case. Fast forward to Nanogenmo many years later, and now I have my chance! I can download the entire Mahabharata, pull out all the sentences with vocative elements, and mash them together into one text. That’s what I’ve done for this Nanogenmo entry.

You can see the code and the full novel here.

[MarkEEaton]

Here's a preview

      Worshipped by those regenerate ones, Vala, O king, then set out from that
foremost of all tirthas on the Sarasvati (Sapta-Saraswat). Do thou, O beautiful
one, know these sacrificing priests that are seven by their nature. Why dost
thou not behold me, O wretch, standing here for an encounter with the mace? I
have now told thee, O thou of great splendour, everything about the acts, O
Bharata, of both the Kurus and the Pandavas. Hearing these words of his, Amva
then, O king, afflicted with the arrows of the god of love, addressed Salwa,
saying, Say not so, O lord of the earth, for it is not so!
      In that tirtha, the celestials had, in days of yore, O king, installed
Skanda, that slayer of the enemies of the gods, in the supreme command of their
army. That which we could not in imagination even aspire to obtain hath now
become ours, O thou of unfading glory! O Brahmana, the fire spread, and consumed
the lions, elephants and other creatures that were on the mountain. He that
disregarding profit and duty, turneth his thoughts to sin must, O Partha, reap
the fruit of his sinful actions. And surrounded, O king, by a large army
consisting of the four kinds of forces, the hero came back to the excellent city
of Sakraprastha.
      O hero, as thou art leading the life of an anchorite, this slaughter
without cause is unlike thee. Arjuna replied,--Superior persons, O Bharata,
never prate about the harsh words that may or may not be uttered by inferior
men. As thou tellest me, O, Bhishma, I am Kuntis son, and not the son of a Suta!
The son of Drona then, O Bharata, pierced Arjuna with a dozen gold-winged arrows
of great energy and Vasudeva with ten. And, O Bharata, Drona, hearing the twang
of his bowstring in the night, came to him, and clasping him, said, Truly do I
tell thee that I shall do that unto thee by which there shall not be an archer
equal to thee in this world.
      Hearing these words of Duryodhana, Kama said, Let other spies, abler and
more cunning, and capable of accomplishing their object, quickly go hence, O
Bharata. So also, O Yudhishthira, a person skilled at dice approacheth one that
is not so skilled from a desire of vanquishing him. I desire, O lord, to dwell
within the dominions of another king. Addressing one another, O Bharata, they
declared their names and families. Know, O king, that all these ladies of thy
house are staying with their feet raised for the journey, from desire of
beholding Kunti, and Gandhari, and my father-in-law.
      Addressing Bhimas daughter, O Bharata, he distressed king Nala spake
those words unto Damayanti over and over again. O king of the Kurus, as thou art
born in the race of the Pauravas ever noted for white (virtuous) deeds, such an
act hath scarcely been worthy of thee. And, O hero, without doubt, my affection
towards thee is now the same as before. And Dhritarashtra then addressed
Gandhari and said, Behold, O Gandhari, this thy son of wicked soul,
transgressing all my commands, is about to sacrifice both sovereignty and life
in consequence of his lust for sovereignty. At Dhritarashtras departure, O king,
all the citizens of Hastinapore became as distressed as they had been, O
monarch, when they had witnessed the departure of the Pandavas in former days
after their defeat at the match at dice.