Foreword

As we know, Gita Press is committed to publish literature that is helpful in exhilarating morality, building national character and inculcating fervour for developing devotion to the universe. For this purpose, Gita press has in its agenda, the publication of puranic literature, rare books on religious subjects, Upanisads, Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata etc. Under this process Gita Press published the Asvamedhika Parva of Mahabharata composed by Maharsi Jaimini, a great scholar, poet, philosopher and also astrologer. His book on astrology is regarded as a mature composition on the subject.

It is said that Maharsi Jaimini composed also Mahabharata- much bigger in comparison to Mahabharata composed by Krsnadvaipayana vyasa. But the current of time swallowed most of it and now remains only Asvamedhika parva which gives a vivid description of Asvamedha Yajna performed by Yudhisthira. There are three thousand Slokas in the Asvamedha parva of Mahabharata composed by Vyasadeva and four thousand Slokas are there in the Asvamedhika Parva of Jaiminiya Mahabharata. It may give an idea how voluminous the complete Jaiminiya Mahabharata must have been.

A few years before it was a rare book. For the first time Gita Press published it in monthly 'Kalyan' in a serial form and afterwards in a book form with original Sanskrit text and Hindi translation. Now it has been decided to present an English translation with original Sanskrit text for the benefit of non-Hindi readers of the country and also abroad.
From the point of story telling it starts with presenting Yudhisthira quite aggrieved on account of the sin he committed in the form of mass massacre in the war. He seriously thinks to abandon the kingship and go to the forest for practicing penance. Vyasa ap

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Diamond Books
  
• By : Priyadrshi Prakash
  
• Cover : Paperback
  
• Language : Bengali
  
• Edition : 2015
  
• Pages : 160
  
• Weight : 249 gm.
  
• Size : 5.5 x 0.35 x 8.5 inches
  
• ISBN-10 : 9351657043
  
• ISBN-13 : 978-9351657040

DESCRIPTION:

The Mahabharat written by the great Sage Vedvyas is reckoned as one of the topmost epics of the world. This celebrated epic throws much light on the ancient Indian culture and civilization and the various aspects of its moral, social, political and religious life of that era. It is veritably encyclopedic in its form because it gives full details of the developments achieved by the mankind till that time. The epic itself claims to contain "everything which is anywhere and which is not here is not anywhere. "The Mahabharat contains 100,217 Shlokas divided in 18 cantoes. Its original name was 'Jai' which during the passage of time acquired the name of 'Bharat Puran' and now it is famous as Mahabharat, the epic.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Parimal Publication Pvt. Ltd.
• By : Gyan Prakash Shastri
• Cover : Hardcover
• Language : Hindi 
• Edition : 2017
• Pages : 5886
• Weight : 15.6 kg
• Size : 11.0 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 : 8171105807
• ISBN-13 : 978-8171105809

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Advaita Ashrama
• By : Swami Raghaveshananda and Padmavasan
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2004
• Pages : 54
• Weight : 250 gm.
• Size : 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• ISBN-10: 8171207634
• ISBN-13: 978-8171207633

DESCRIPTION:

A continuation of the series on the Mahabharata for Children. These are large colorful books suitable to read to young children, or for slightly older children to read for themselves. Bright colors and drawings.

There are five volumes that make up the set

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Medha Publishing House
• By : Suryakant Tripathi Nirala
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : Hindi
• Edition : 2016
• Pages : 288
• Weight : 450 gm
• Size : 7.9 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• ISBN-10: 8126718773
• ISBN-13: 978-8126718771

DESCRIPTION:

महाभारत महाभारत विश्व-इतिहास का प्राचीनतम महाकाव्य है। होमर की इलियड और ओडिसी से कहीं ज्यादा प्रवीणता के साथ परिकल्पित और शिल्पित यह रचनात्मक कल्पना की अद्भुत कृति है। ऋषि वेदव्यास द्वारा ईसा के प्रायः 2000 वर्ष पूर्व रचित इस महाकाव्य में लगभग समस्त मानवीय मनोभावों - प्रेम और घृणा, क्षमा और प्रतिशोध, सत्य और असत्य, ब्रह्मचर्य और सम्भोग, निष्ठा और विश्वासघात, उदारता और लिप्सा - की सूक्ष्म प्रस्तुति मिलती है। यों तो महाभारत भारतीय मानस में रचा-बसा ग्रन्थ है पर इसने सम्पूर्ण विश्व के पाठकों को आकर्षित किया है। शायद इसीलिए इस महाकाव्य का रूपान्तर विश्व की सभी प्रमुख भाषाओं में हुआ है। परन्तु विस्मय होता है यह देखकर कि ज्यादातर रूपान्तरों में इसकी क्षमता का प्रतिपादन एक काव्यात्मक सौन्दर्य और सुगन्ध से समृद्ध कथा के रूप में नहीं हो पाया है। सम्भवतः इसलिए कि लेखकों ने मूलतः इसके कहानी पक्ष को ही प्रधानता दी।..किन्तु इस पुस्तक के लेखक शिव के. कुमार ने इसी कारण इस महाकाव्य में कुछ रंग और सुगन्ध भरने का प्रयास किया है। यह वस्तुतः महाभारत का एक नवीन रूपान्तर है। महाभारत एक अद्वितीय रचना है। यह काल और स्थान की सीमाओं से परे है। इसीलिए हर युग में इसके साथ संवाद सम्भव है। वर्तमान युग में भी सामाजिक न्याय, राजनीतिक स्वार्थजनित राष्ट्र विभाजन, नारी सशक्तीकरण और राजनेताओं के आचरण के सन्दर्भों में इसका सार्थक औचित्य है। अंग्रेजी से हिन्दी में इस कृति का अनुवाद करते हुए प्रभात के. सिंह ने हिन्दी भाषा की प्रकृति का विशेष ध्यान रखा है। समग्रतः एक अनूठी रचना।

सूर्यकान्त त्रिपाठी 'निराला'

नराला का जन्म वसन्त पंचमी, 1896 को बंगाल के मेदिनीपुर जिले के महिषादल नामक देशी राज्य में हुआ। निवास उत्तर प्रदेश के उन्नाव जिले के गढ़ा कोला गाँव में। शिक्षा हाईस्कूल तक ही हो पाई। हिन्दी, बांग्ला, अंग्रेजी और संस्कृत का ज्ञान आपने अपने अध्यवसाय से स्वतन्त्र रूप में अर्जित किया।
प्राय: 1918 से 1922 ई. तक निराला महिषादल राज्य की सेवा में रहे, उसके बाद से सम्पादन, स्वतन्त्र लेखन और अनुवाद-कार्य। 1922-23 ई. में 'समन्वयÓ (कलकत्ता) का सम्पादन। 1923 ई. के अगस्त से 'मतवाला'—मंडल में। कलकत्ता छोड़ा तो लखनऊ आए, जहाँ गंगा पुस्तकमाला कार्यालय और वहाँ से निकलनेवाली मासिक पत्रिका 'सुधा' से 1935 ई. के मध्य तक सम्बद्ध रहे। प्राय: 1940 ई. तक लखनऊ में। 1942-43 ई. से स्थायी रूप से इलाहाबाद में रहकर मृत्यु-पर्यन्त स्वतन्त्र लेखन और अनुवाद कार्य। पहली प्रकाशित कविता : 'जन्मभूमि' ('प्रभा', मासिक, कानपुर, जून, 1920)। पहली प्रकाशित पुस्तक : 'अनामिका' (1923 ई.)।

प्रमुख कृतियाँ : कविता-संग्रह : अनामिका, आराधना, गीतिका, अपरा, परिमल, गीतगुंज, तुलसीदास, कुकुरमुत्ता, बेला, अर्चना, नए पत्ते, अणिमा, रागविराग, सांध्य काकली, असंकलित रचनाएँ। उपन्यास : बिल्लेसुर बकरिहा, अप्सरा, अलका, कुल्लीभाट, प्रभावती, निरुपमा, चोटी की पकड़, भक्त ध्रुव, भक्त प्रहलाद, महाराणा प्रताप, भीष्म पितामह, चमेली, काले कारनामे, इन्दुलेखा (अपूर्ण)। कहानी-संग्रह : सुकुल की बीवी, लिली, चतुरी चमार, महाभारत, सम्पूर्ण कहानियाँ। निबन्ध-संग्रह : प्रबन्ध प्रतिमा, प्रबन्ध पद्म, चयन, चाबुक, संग्रह। संचयन : दो शरण, निराला संचयन (सं. दूधनाथ सिंह), निराला रचनावली।
निधन : 15 अक्टूबर, 1961.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : R. R. Sheth & Co. Pvt. Ltd
• By : Gunvant Shah
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2015
• Pages : 664
• Weight : 900 g.
• Size : 7.9 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• ISBN-10: 9351223787
• ISBN-13: 978-9351223788

DESCRIPTION:

આ પુસ્તકમાં લેખક ગુણવંત શાહ મહાભારતમાં દર્શાવેલા વિવિધ પ્રસંગો ના માધ્યમથી માનવસ્વભાવનું અધ્યયન કરાવે છે અને મહાભારતને માનવસ્વભાવના મહાકાવ્યનું બિરુદ આપે છે.

SPECIFICATION:

• Publisher : Gurjar Granth Prakashan
• By : C. Rajgopalachari
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : Gujarati
• Edition : 2014
• Pages : 356
• Weight : 450 g.
• Size : 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• ISBN-10: 818461943X
• ISBN-13: 978-8184619430

Specification:

• Publisher : Sri Ramakrishna Math
• Edition : August 6, 2012
• Pages : 272
• Weight : 900g.
• Size : 11 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Cover : Hardcover
• Auther : Swami Raghaveshananda and Padmavasan
• Language : English
• ISBN-10: 8178236699
  ISBN-13: 978-8178236698
• SKU: BK11519

Description:

The Mahabharata is one of the cherished heritages of the whole Hindu world and forms the basis of a Hindu's thoughts and his moral and ethical ideas. It is a wonderful story that shows the triumph of virtue and defeat of vice. This book presents this great epic in simple language for children.

Specification

• Product Code :BK8775
• Size :6" x 9"
• Weight :1.780 kg.
• Author :Ramesh Menon
• ISBN :8129114925, 978-8129114921
• Publisher :Rupa Publications India
• Edition :January 1, 2009
• Cover :Paperback
• Language :English
• Pages :1564

Description

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two great epics of India, the Mahabharata being by far the longer. Both were first composed in verse and, coming down the centuries in the ancient oral tradition, have deeply influenced the history, culture and arts of not only the Indian subcontinent but of most of South-East Asia. The Mahabharata tells of a Great War, and the events that lead upto it.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Ramesh Menon was born 1951 in New Delhi. Studied in St Xavier’s High School and St. Stephen’s College. Lived and worked in Delhi, HongKong, Bangalore, Jakarta and now lives in Kodaikanal. He is the author of The Hunt for K, Blue God: A Life of Krishna and Ramayana (being published by FSG, US)

This book presents the social message of the Mahabharata in the form of a ten-point call for the good of all. Since this message is primarily given, in ther termminology of loksamgraha, in Bhagavad-Gita (Which is the centre-piece of the Mahabharata)the technique of presentation adoped here is Gita supportive, i.e. indirect as well as selective. This book is accompained with simple meaning in English, take the form of eighteen chapters.

"This book questions the conventional wisdom that a fully matured theory of the yugas-Hinduism's ages of the world-is integral to the Mahabharata, and it illustrates how traditional commentators and modern scholars have read the later Puranic yuga theory into the Mahabharata, in particular when it comes to placing the action at the beginning of the current terrible Kali Yuga. Luis Gonzalez-Reimann discusses the meaning of key terms in the epic by examining the text and early Buddhist sources. This book also traces the sectarian appropriation of the yuga system in later literature and documents how modern religious movements have used the system to proclaim the arrival of a new, prosperous Krta Yuga, a phenomenon that coincides with New Age expectations.

Review:
""This original and well-researched study sheds considerable new light on the history and development of the theory of cyclical time, one of the most critical concepts in our understanding of the religious and cosmological thought of Hindu India. Luis Gon"

Those Who Don't Have The Time Or The Patience To Go Through Huge Literal Translations,Will Be Immensely Helped By This Book. Once This Spell Of William Buck`s Retelling Of The Mahabharata Is Cast On Readers,They Will Surely Get Encouraged To Go Through Other Less Abridged Version.................. A Delightful Book Indeed.

From the Jacket

The Mahabharata in its present form is equal to about eight times as much as the Illiad and Odyssey put together. The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the great war of eighteen days fought between the, Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. In this great Kurukshetra battle were involved almost all the kings of India joining either of the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and their party, and Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign monarch of Hastinapura, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. But the progress of the years new matters and episodes relating to the various aspects of hanuman life, social, economic, political, moral and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired the present shape.

This very fact that the Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than one single and unified work, and contains so many and so multifarious things, makes it more suited than any other book of afford us an insight into the deepest depths of the soul of Indian people.

About the Book

In the world of classical literature the Mahabharata is unique in many respects. As an epic, it is the greatest-seven times as great as the Illiad and the Odyssey combined, and the grandest-animating the heart of India over two thousand years past and destined to lead humanity for thousands of years in future. It is the mightiest single endeavour of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the mind that conceived it is itself a liberal education and a walk through its table of contents is more than a Sabbath day's Journey.

The translation was completed and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi. The original edition was out of print within the lifetime of Mr. Ganguli, and is made available once again.

About the Author

Kisari Mohan Ganguli completed the translation of Mahabharata and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi.

Ganguli preferred public anonymity till compilation. But from the very beginning though anonymous to the general readers, the authorship of Ganguli was not secret to the numerous oriental scholars and patrons of the enterprise, Indian and foreign with whom he was constantly linked through direct contact or correspondence. The then Central Government also recognised the services of Ganguli as the translator of this great work by conferring the C.I.E. titles and awarding the first Honorary Literary Person for life to him.

From the Jacket:

The Mahabharata in its present form is equal to about eight times as much as the Illiad and Odyssey put together. The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the great war of eighteen days fought between the, Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. In this great Kurukshetra battle were involved almost all the kings of India joining either of the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and their party, and Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign monarch of Hastinapura, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. But the progress of the years new matters and episodes relating to the various aspects of hanuman life, social, economic, political, moral and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired the present shape.

This very fact that the Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than one single and unified work, and contains so many and so multifarious things, makes it more suited than any other book of afford us an insight into the deepest depths of the soul of Indian people.

About the Book

In the world of classical literature, the Mahabharata is unique in many respects. As an epic, it is the greatest-seven times as great as the Illiad and the Odyssey combined, and the grandest-animating the heart of India over two thousand years past and destined to lead humanity for thousands of years in future. It is the mightiest single endeavour of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the mind that conceived it is itself a liberal education, and a walk through its table-of-contents is more than a Sabbath day's journey.

The translation was completed and serially published in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi. The original edition was out-of-print within the lifetime of Mr Ganguli, and is made available once again.

About the Author

Kisari Mohan Ganguli completed the translation of the Mahabharata and serially pub- lished it in thirteen years from AD 1883 to 1896 in one hundred fasciculi.

Ganguli preferred public anonymity till compilation. But from the very beginning. though anonymous to the general readers. the authorship of Ganguli was not secret to the numerous oriental scholars and patrons of the enterprise. Indian and foreign with whom he was con- stantly linked through direct contact or correspondence. The then Central Government also recognised the services of Ganguli as translator of this great work by conferring the C.I.E. title and awarding the first Honorary Literary Person for life to him.

The Mahabharata is an Itihasa which holds fascination for scholars of different disciplines. There is material here in this vast text for anthroploogists, sociologists, philosophers, scholars of religious studies, astrophysicists ans many more. While earlier scholarship has mainly been in the fields of religion and philosophy and in the dating of the Itihasa since the publication of the critical edition scholars have been engaged in researching its contents both critically and comparatively in very many areas and in novel ways.

Most people (even in India) have not heard the name of Anu-Gita. This is so because, although Anu-Gita is an important part of the Mahabharata, no scholarly study of it, in a simple language, has so far been published. This gap will be filled by this pioneering book, which explains under what circumstances was the Gita taught by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, for the second time. This book is divided into two parts. Part I presents the Sanskrit-shlokas of Anu-Gita, along with their translation in simple English. Part II explains the main points of similarity, as well as dissimilarity, between Gita and Anu-Gita.

" It was in 1942 that the late Dr. V.S. Sukthankar was engaged to deliver four lectures on the 'Meaning of the Mahabharata' under the auspices of the University of Bombay. However, the fourth and last lecture was not delivered on account of his sad sudden demise on the morning of the day fixed for it.

The Manuscript (Ms.) of these lectures-a veritable treasure to cherish had remained lost to the world of scholars for the long period of fifteen years. It beard the title ""Four Lectures on the Meaning of the Mahabharata."" This rather heavy-looking title has been abridged here in publication into the substantial title ""On the Meaning of the Mahabharata."" In a great many places, sentences or paragraphs have been placed in rectangular brackets in pencil. This bracketed material has been retained in the body of this book. Secondly, an alternative word or phrase is occasionally found written with a pencil in the margin along with an underscoring of the relevant word or words in the text. It is thought advisable to retain the text of the script as it stands, leaving such marginal alternatives alone. However, there is one exception: Dr. Sukthankar had rewritten in pencil almost a whole para at the end of the third lecture. This pencil-script is incorporated in the body of the book. A facsimile of this page is reproduced as the frontispiece. An English rendering of the German quotation from OLDENBERG is given in an Appendix for the convenience of the general reader. In Index I Sanskrit quotations are printed in Devanagari for the benefit of those not quite conversant with the transiliteration."

"Here the collected papers explore the whole question of the relation between the mythopoetic and the moral in the context of the Mahabharata. Here we have a story of extreme complexity, characters that are unforgettable, and a cosmic context in which gods and men alike grapple with destiny. The obligations of kinship and friendship jostle with each other. The women characters, as in everyday life, seem to bear a very heavy load of the burden of life and to stand in a key position in almost every conflict. We are presented with predicaments at every turn. At times these predicaments seem to be aggravated by social structure. At other times they are cushioned by it. Philosophical tangles tied up with karma and dharma are interwoven with the mythopoetic material. Perhaps philosophical issues are pinpointed rather more than they are in Greek epic literature.

The essays in this book treat the Mahabharata from an unusual angle, fastening on the moral dilemmas it presents. How universal are the dilemmas faced by the characters in the story, and are the dilemmas in fact resolved? In dealing with these questions, the discussions range over the meaning of the purusarthas, the institutions of marriage and the family, the concept of action in the Gita and the special predicaments faced by Draupadi, Arjuna and others. These studies invite the scholar to reflect afresh on the text and encourage the general reader to find in epic literature much that is relevant to life today."

"The Mahabharata is an Indian epic, in its original Sanskrit probably the largest ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle that provides a social, moral, and cosmological background to the climatic battle. The present English rendition is a retelling based on a translation of the Sanskrit original published by Pratap Chandra Roy, Published in the beginning of this century. William buck has condensed the story. The old translation from which he worked covers 5800 pages of print, while his own book is less than a tenth of that length. But by and large, Buck`s rendition reflects the sequence of events in the Sanskrit epic, and he uses the traditional techniques for instance, of stories within stories, flashbacks, moral lessons laid in the mouths of principal characters. There are other English versions of the Mahabharata, some shorter, some longer. But apart from William Buck`s rendition, none have been able to capture the blend of religion andmartial spirit that pervades the original epic. It succeeds eminently in illustrating how seemingly grand and magnificent human endeavors turn out to be astoundingly insignificant in the perspective of eternity.

Publisher's Preface, Introduction, Part I: In the Beginning, A Mine of Jewels and Gems, The Ring and the Well, Fire and Flame, Indraprastha, The Falling Sand, Part II: In the Middle, 6:00 Nala and Damayanti, 7:00 The Thousand-Petaled Lotus, An Iron Net, Virata, The Invasion, Do Not Tell, Sanjaya Returns, Trees of Gold, The Enchanted Lake, The Night, Part III: In the End, The Blade of Grass, The Lonely Encounter, Parikshita, The Timeless Path, The City of Gates, Notes, Reference List of Characters

Review:

Review:

""An absorbing tale of a feud between two branches of a single Indian ruling family that culminates in a vast, cataclysmic battle... [Buck] has retold the story so that the modern reader will not be discouraged from knowing and loving the stories as he did himself.""-Focus on Asian Studies Newsletter

""There is a poetry of expression, an atmosphere of awe, a liveliness of appreciation... Buck captures much of the beauty of the Sanskrit thought... a pleasure to read and to look at; the many illustrations by Shirley Triest have a magical quality in total harmony with the magic of the text."" - Times Literary Supplement

""Buck wins a distinguished place among translators from Sanskrit verse. No other recent translator in America has clambered so high on this epic mountainside.""-Asian Student

""The volume is modern in feeling and masterly in its classical finish of form and expression. it is not only a translation but has been re-worked and re-written in such a close similarity with the original that deserves to be applauded. The mellifluous muse of the original epic can be heard in the version throughout."" -The Journal of Religious Studies

""This is divine storytelling at its finest. When he finished his manuscripts, William Buck wrote, 'Based on the words of ancient songs, I have written books. I tried to make them interesting to read. I don't think you will find many other books like them. 'He was absolutely correct.""-The Mountain Path, Aradhana, 2002

""This book is not a technically or a fully translated book, what the author has done is, keeping the original story in view, retell it in a popular, modern idiom for contemporary readers. One can very easily see how deeply William Buck was committed to the Mahabharata, which in turn has made his book a very interesting read. A delightful book indeed."" - Swami Satyamayananda, Prabuddha Bharata, Vol.108, May 2003.

""Buck captures much of the beauty of the Sanskrit thought...a pleasure to read and to look at; the many illustrations by shirley Triest have a magical quality in total harmony with the magic of the text."" TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT ""Buck wins a distinguish"

"The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word ""Apaddharma"" is ""dharma appropriate at the time of calamity"". The Mahabharata's use of this expression implies that, in the opinion of the author of this epic, the traditional varnashramadharma would not prove to be strong enough to protect the society, if and when there is a calamity. Therefore, Vedic scholars ought to have welcomed the messages of Apad-dharma when the society was actually attacked by external forces during the premodern period.

The historical background of the present study poses an important, academic question: ""How could the Indian society have protected itself against external attacks during the pre-modern period?"" Research-based answers to such Indiarelated questions occupy the initial part of this book to which a global dimension has been added by digging deep into Mahabharata's innumerable stories. Results of innovative investiga-tions into the general question ""How to face calamities at personal, state and global levels"", are presented here in terms of a modern, scientific framework, and expressed in a non-denominational
terminology, relevant to the problems of the 21st century. Readers from all parts of the world can get a strong message of social responsibility from this book, and accordingly make their contribution to the cause of world peace."

High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God. The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean ‘victory’. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha. In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata. In this enthralling retelling of India’s greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and Yakshagana of Karnataka. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Tamil Nadu, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jaimini, Aravan and Barbareek, the Mahabharata version of the Shakuntalam and the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. With clarity and simplicity, the tales in this elegant volume reveal the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years.

Author : Jain, Ramachandra
Edition : 1979
Language : English
Size & Pages : Size 23 cm, pp, viii, 400, 1979
Publisher : Agam Kala Prakashan
Format : Hardbound

Smt. Kamala Subramaniam was born on October4, 1916 in Banglore. Her father was the eminent Kannada poet and dramatist, Shri T. P. Kailasam. She Studies under the distinguished scholar Prof. B. M. Srikantiah. She read avidly both classics and modern thrillers and her knowledge of English literature, especially of Shakespeare, was profound. She also loved philosophy and knew her Bible as well as she knew the Gita.

In 1937, Smt. Kamala married Dr. V. S. Subramaniam, a renowned E.N.T. Surgeon of Madras. In spite of her family concerns, she pursued her literary interests and wrote a series of imaginary conversations on the model of Landor’s for Triveni under the pen-name “Ketaki”.

Herlove of literature, nursed over the years, expressed itself in her developing a fascination for the Epics and Puranas of India.

In the late 60s Smt. Kamala underwent and operation for cancer, which gave her a ten-year lease of life. Lesser mortals would have been un-nerved by this but for Smt. Kamala it came as a challenge and this period turned out to be the most productive literary period of her life.

Her first labour of love was the retelling of the Mahabharata. In this masterly condensation, of India’s great epic, Smt. Kamala captures with dramatic intensity the movement of the story. As the episodes unfold in Smt. Kamala’s vivid narrative, one seems to hear Draupadi’s wail of distress, Duryodhan’s arrogant laughter, and even the twang of Arjuna’s bow, the Gandiva.

The epics and puranas epitomise our culture. The heroes and heroines set high standars of nobility, heroism, and chivalry. They have moulded the life and outlook of generations of Indians.

Smt. Kamala Subramaniam has left a priceless legacy for the young and the old.

The gifted author passed away on February 21, 1938.

Smt. Kamala was so self-effacing that she would not even permit her photograph to be printed on the jackets of her books. As a friend of hers wrote: as she wrote, she felt, as she felt, she lived in her invisible world and as she real for her and so it will grow for us when we read books.

OVER 1.3 MILLION COPIES SOLD Originally published in the year 1951,the huge popularity of the book ,has resulted in the book being re-printed several times.Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: "What is not in it, is nowhere." But even now, we can use the same words about it. He who knows it not, knows not the heights and depths of the soul; he misses the trials and tragedy and the beauty and grandeur of life. More details: The Mahabharata is not a mere epic; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women, and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival; but, above all, it has for its core the Gita,which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas in which the climax is reached in the wondrous apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto. The book's popularity is such taht it has run into Fifty Seven Reprints!!!.