PRZEMYSŁAW SZCZUREK
Wrocław University szczurek@uni.wroc.pl
THE PROMISE AND CONDITION OF ŚALYA
Śalya’s promise (to serve as Karṇa’s charioteer) made to Duryodhana and Karṇa on the penultimate day of the great battle on the Kurukṣetra (Mahābhātata, 8,22–31), together with the condition attached to it by the king of the Madras (that, as charioteer, he would be free to admonish Karṇa with harsh words), constitutes an intriguing motif that diversifies an otherwise rather monotonous battle narrative. In the present version of the epic, this episode is further differentiated and enriched by mythological tales, fable-like narratives, and passages of an anthropological character. It appears that, within the principal narrative thread of this entire episode, one may discern some inconsistencies and even contradictions. Śalya, craftily won over by Duryodhana as an ally of the Kauravas, promises Yudhiṣṭhira—foreseeing, even before the battle, his future conduct—that during the fighting he will endeavour, in his capacity as Karṇa’s charioteer, to undermine his martial spirit (MBh 5,8; 5,18). This promise, however, pertains exclusively to Karṇa (not to any other warrior) and is only realised on the seventeenth day of the battle, without any prior mention of it during the battle itself. When asked to assume the role of charioteer to the ‘Son of Charioteer’, Śalya initially refuses in agitation, expressing his sense of superiority (8,23)—in contradiction to his assurances prior to the battle. Only subsequently does Duryodhana persuade him, and Śalya’s consent is accompanied by his preliminary condition (8,23.51-54; 8,25.3-6), which becomes the basis of the quarrel between Karṇa and Śalya. During the duel itself between Karṇa and Arjuna, Śalya’s role is minimal; his earlier harsh words bear no significance for the combat or for the treacherous killing of Karṇa by Arjuna. After Karṇa’s death, there is no reflection on Śalya’s negative role as charioteer. Śalya himself, until the end of his life, fights bravely and fiercely against the Pāṇḍavas as commander of the Kauravas, and Yudhiṣṭhira slays him, unreflectively, in single combat as an enemy (9,16)—his earlier secret ally. The present paper constitutes an attempt to examine the composition of this section of the Mahābhārata with regard both to its narrative coherence and to the possibility of analysing it as a multilayered composition. The author considers whether the text of the epic permits the identification of a hypothtically earlier and a later (i.e. expanded) version of the motif of Śalya’s promise and condition. Particularly helpful in this respect appears to be the reference to a certain passage preserved in numerous manuscripts constituting the Northern Recension of the epic (and the Bombay Edition), and subsequently transferred in the Critical Edition of MBh 9 to the Appendices as redundant (CE, App. I, No. 5).