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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
 
ix
 
several persons, but the condensed text here
has given the discourse as Bhishma himself
gave it to Yudhisthira.
 
The Sanskrit text consequently contains
frequent addresses to king Janamejaya,
either by mention of his name or by such
descriptive attributes as king, hero, scion
of the Kurus. All these vocatives are
enclosed in brackets in the Sanskrit text
and, for obvious reasons, not translated.
Similarly the text relating to the Great
War contains addresses to Phritarashtra,
by name or by attribute, and also references
to him in the second person. The former,
the vocatives, are bracketed and left out in
the translation and the latter are rendered
in the third person and this is indicated
in a
foot-note. Besides, occasionally the
second and further vocatives in the same
address occurring in the course of the
events of the story (e.g., Udyoga, the
Lord's Embassy), an additional synonym,
where it is not much significant, such
*frequents' as Tada (Then), Tatah (after-
wards) and Tatra (there), except where
they definitely contribute to the sense-these
are left untranslated.
 
An index to the proper names has
been added and will, it is hoped, facilitate
the understanding of the text.
 
Every effort has been made to render the
English translation both faithful and