John Brockington and the Sanskrit Epics: Limits of Statistical Approaches 1 John Brockington and the Sanskrit Epics: Limits of Statistical Approaches Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee Thus, the unfacts, did we possess them, are too imprecisely few to warrant our certitude, the evidencegivers by legpoll too untrustworthily irreperible where his adjugers are semmingly freak threes but his judicandees plainly minus twos. —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake Introduction This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper presented at the Eighth Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas (DICSEP 8) in September, 2017. 1 It incorporates several suggestions and criticisms the participants made. 2 We were fortunate John Brockington could participate, as he provided valuable clarification of his notion of “Venn diagrams” as an alternative to the stemma codicum. At the outset we thank him for offering to share a draft version of the conference paper he is currently working on. The occasion for this paper was the discrepant reception of the Mahābhārata critical edition, ranging from complete rejection to the suggestion that, despite “the impossibility of constructing a stemma codicum on the classical model” for the Mahābhārata, the critical edition is “not only on the whole the best we have […] but also permit[s] further advances in our understanding of [the Mahābhārata].” 3 These different views necessitate a reassessment of the edition, especially in light of recent calls for a “revised” critical edition. 4 As one of the most prolific writers on the critical editions of the 1 Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee, “Contra Lachmann: Criticisms (Brockington, et al.) of the Mahābhārata Critical Edition,” paper presented at the Eighth Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas (DICSEP 8), September 15, 2017, IUC, Dubrovnik, Croatia. 2 All quotations from the session are from Joydeep Bagchee’s electronic recording. A compete transcript is currently under preparation. Besides John and Mary Brockington, Mislav Ježić, Przemyslaw Szczurek, Sven Sellmer, Vidyut and Ashok Aklujkar, and Simon Brodbeck also attended. We thank Ashok Aklujkar and Simon Brodbeck for detailed comments and suggestions for revision. 3 All references are to V. S. Sukthankar, et al., eds., The Mahābhārata for the First Time Critically Edited, 19 vols. (Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–66). 4 See “International Conference on Mahabharata Manthan: A Critical Revisit to Tangible and Intangible Heritage, 19th–21st July 2017, Resolution [sic] & Recommendations,” computer printout, 2017. The resolution notes that “the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata published by BORI Pune