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62 Translating Medieval Orissacategory. In Jagannath Dasanka Rachanabali (36) they opinethat this Mahabharata belongs to one Jagannatha Das of Jaipurwho is a 19 th century poet. Moreover, as per a footnote in thetext, information offered is contradictory and the source text thathas been indicated does not yield any conclusive informationwhatsoever.The language of Bhagabata and the mode of Bhanita (selfidentificationof the poet) there, are exactly replicated in thistext. One of the early commentators of Jagannath’s writings,Chintamani Acharya has accepted this text as Jagannath’swithout, however, offering any critical justification for the same.We do not find any reason either to support or contradictAchrya’s claim. The claim of Sarangi and Mohanty is thereforerejected summarily as it is unreliable.This Mahabharata is not a verbal translation of Vyasa’s text.Though Das has divided Mahabharata into eighteen books on thelines of Vyasa, he has abridged the narrative part. He calls it a‘Sutropakhyana’- a brief story. In chapterisation and description,Das has taken much liberty. For example Vyasa’s “Bana Parva”,renamed as “Aranya Parva” by Jagannath, starts with the chapterrelating to the exile of Pandavas into the forest and the treatiseon “Golaka” or the abode of Vishnu, whereas in Vyasa’s epic along introduction has been given before the narration of the storyof the exile.5. Panchasakhas are five saint-poets of Orissa namelyAchyutananda, Balaram, Jagannath, Jasobanta and Ananta. Theylived between the late fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenthcentury. Balaram was the eldest of the group and Ananta was theyoungest. This history is based upon Achyuta’s Sunya Samhita,Dibakara Das’s Jagannath Charitaamruta and Ram Das’sDardhyata Bhakti. With the advent of modern historiographyhistorians like Shyamsundar Rajguru, Mrutunjaya Ratha,Nilakantha Das and Artaballav Mohanty went along with this