Why are there two versions of Chapter 1 - Verse 8 of Bhagavad Geetha?

Question

As I read Bhagavad Gita As It Is 1^st chapter from here (http://asitis.com/) I stopped at the 8^th verse and switched to this site (www.bhagavad-gita.org) and noticed that 8^th verse is different in both the sites so I posted this question immediately.

Srila Prabhupada's BG As It Is says:

"bhavan bhismas ca karnas ca krpas ca samitim-jayah asvatthama vikarnas ca saumadattis tathaiva ca". (BG 1.8)

and bhagavad-gita.org says:

bhavan bhishmas ca karnas ca krpas ca samittinjaya ashvatthama vikarnas ca saumadattir jayadratah (BG 1.8).

Notice that the 1^st verse contains "tathaiva ca" at end, and the 2^nd verse says "jayadratah" at the end. I checked other sites as well (you can find them online easily) and BG from different authors also use either of the words. So it seems like there are different versions of the Gita.

Are there really different versions/recension of the Gita? If not, then is it "tathaiva ca" at the end or "jayadratah"? Or, are both of them acceptable and authentic? If not, then which one is correct and how can we know it is authentic?

Answer 1

In his footnote to this verse, Swami Gambhirananda writes in his translation of the Bhagavad Gita (p 14):

Asvatthama, son of Drona: Mention of Asvatthama before Karna's son Vikarna, and others, as also the mention of Drona before Bhisma and others, was for pleasing Drona.

Saumadatti: King of Balhika (of Punjab), son of Somadatta; known also as Bhurisrava because of his preeminence. Jayadratha: (some editions read tathaivaca in place of jayadrathah) King of Sindu (modern Sindh). The first line of the verse ennumerates the four principal leaders; the second verse names those next in status.

The recension of the Gita that uses Jayadratha is the same recension that was commented on by Sankara, but there are recensions with the alternative wording. In his introduction to his translation, Swami Gambhirananda writes (pp xvii-xviii):

According to the recension of the Gita commented on by Sankaracarya, the number of verses is 700. But there is evidence to show that some old manuscripts had 745 verses. The Gita published in Srinagar, Kashmir, with the annotation of Abhinavaguptacarya, contains the same number of verses. Other manuscripts have been discovered with variations both in the number of verses and the readings. Pusalkar is of the opinion that 'the additional stanzas effect no material addition; nor do they create any differences in the teaching or argument.' (Studies in Epics and Puranas, p. 144.) He further remarks that "Sankaracarya's testimony for the text of the Bhagavadgita is earlier than that of any other MS or commentator.' (ibid. p 147.) However that may be, after Sankaracarya wrote his Commentary, the Gita has taken a definite form with 700 verses, so far at least as the general public is concerned.

Answer 2

1. Even in the site you linked, if you can read the Hindi/Sanskrit text above the transliteration, or just listen to the audio, there is no Jayadratha, it only says 'tathaiva cha'.
There are other, sites too, which only say 'tathaiva cha', not Jayadratha.

2. The son of Somadutta (Soumadatta) is Bhurishravas. Jaydratha's father is a sage Vridhakshtra, who was far away from battlefield.

3. Even if that was not the case, mentioning the same person twice (The son of Somadatta - jayadratha) would be redundant. He can either say Soumadatta, or Jayadratha. If you notice the previous shlokas where Duryodhana is mentioning other warriors, he only allocates one word to each. Jaydartha is not that great a fighter to deserve 2 words.

4. Following is my guess since I'm not Sanskrit Grammar proficient.
For the combining letter च (cha/and), there should normally be N-1 च if N people listed e.g. Ram and Lakshman and Bharath. or in some cases, N च for N people e.g. in Tamil we say 'Rama-num, Bharatha-num, Shatrughna-num', where னும் (num) is the combining letter.
But if you look at supposed version:

bhavān bhīṣmaś ca karṇaś ca kṛpaś ca samitiṃjayaḥ
aśvatthāmā vikarṇaś ca saumadattir jayadrathaḥ

The 1st sentence has 3 च for 4 people, while the 2nd sentence has only 1 च(ca) between 4 people (since soumadatta and jayadratha denote different persons)

5. 'Tathaiva' means - similarly / likewise. 8 is the last shloka where Duryodhana lists warriors. Normally we end a big list with 'etc.' if there are items remaining in the list. Ending a big list with a person's name, when there are many others left, would not be complete. So he is saying 'and others'.

6. Finally, I wouldn't consider http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs06023.htm to be super authentic because the sanskrit words are missing 'halank' marks :

भवान भीष्मश च

should actually be :

भवान् भीष्मश् च

Answer 3

To check the originality of verse we can use chhanda rule. That verse of 1.8 is in Anushtup chhanda hence must be true when checked by rules of Anushtup chhanda.

I have mentioned about rules of Anushtup chhanda here[Are the words inside Bhagvad Gita exactly the same words used in actual conversation (ie, used By Lord Krishna and Arjuna)?.

The rule is seperate the quarters from verse and 5th letter of each quarter must be laghu (hraso) and 6th letter of each quarter must be guru (deergha). 7th letter of 4 quarters alternate as Guru Laghu Guru Laghu respectively.

Short sounding letters are counted as Laghu. Laghu letters are: क, कि, कु, क्र, अ, इ, उ, ऋ

Long sounding letters are counted as Guru. Guru letters are: का, की, कू, के, कै, को, कौ, कं, आ, ई, ऊ, ऐ, ओ, औ, अं

Letters before half letters are counted as Guru. For eg in 'अश्वत्थामा'। अ and व are counted as Guru as अ is before half letter श् and व is before half letter त्

Lets apply this in this case..

भवान् भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृपश्च समितिञ्जय: । अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च ।। bhavān bhīṣmaś ca karṇaś ca kṛpaś ca samitiṃjayaḥ aśvatthāmā vikarṇaś ca saumadattistathaiva cha

Lets split verses in 4 quarters. Full letters are only counted as chhanda rule.

1st quarter: भवान् भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च [8 letters] 2nd quarter: कृपश्च समितिञ्जय: [8 letters ] 3rd quarter: अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च [8 letters] 4th quarter: सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च [8 letters]

The disputed quarter is 4th quarter:

        4th quarter: सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च [8 letters] 

Here, 5th letter is त which is laghu(hraswo)
6th letter is थै which is guru (deergha)
7th letter is व which is laghu (hraswo)
Hence this verse satisfies all rules of Anushtup chhanda.

       If  4th quarter: सौमदत्तिर् जयद्रथ [8 letters]

5th letter is ज which is Laghu. It satisfies the rule.

6th letter is य but it is also laghu. It had to be Guru to satisfy it. Hence it fails.

7th letter is द्र which seems like Guru but it is Laghu in Chhanda rule. It satisfies.

Hence the verse containing सौमदत्तिर् जयद्रथ is not correct.

Hence the correct verse is

भवान् भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृपश्च समितिञ्जय: । अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च ।।