The Mahabharata
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4.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
The complete epic of The Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari, presented in a single edition.
A long time ago, two families were to inherit a vast kingdom known as the Kuru Empire. The five sons of Pandu, called the Pandavas, were brave warriors, each of them born with divine blood running through their veins. They were virtuous, examples of humanity at its peak. They were endowed with wisdom, patience, strength, knowledge and compassion. Their cousins, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, were called the Kauravas. The Kauravas were greedy, always hankering after more wealth. Since neither Pandu nor Dhritarashtra were suited to reign over the kingdom, the throne had to be equally divided between these two families. However, the Kauravas cheated the Pandavas out of their share and drove them into a long exile. They constantly try to kill them throughout their exile, but the Pandavas persist. At long last, they return to claim their rightful inheritance, but the Kauravas are not ready to part with even a portion of the kingdom. With the stage set, the Pandavas and the Kauravas meet in an epic battle on a field which had already been washed several times over with the blood of warriors. On Kurukshetra, they would fight a mighty war which would leave both sides crippled. And on this battlefield, the Blue God, Krishna, explains the righteous duty the Pandavas have to fulfill by exterminating their vile cousins. This is a story of love, avarice, wisdom, patience and respect for one’s fellow man. Every known moral lies hidden in the Mahabharata, and it is for this reason that it is considered one of the greatest stories ever composed.
C. Rajagopalachari was an Indian lawyer, independence activists, politician, writer and statesman. He was the last Governor General of India and has served as leader of the Indian National Congress, Premier of the Madras Presidency and Governor of West Bengal.
Customer Reviews
Condensed single-volume version of the greatest epic in history!
The Mahabharata has hundreds of stories contained in its pages, that add depth and breadth to the main narrative. I feel that this book had a done a fair job of condensing them into a single volume, but that necessarily drops the majority of the outlying stories, which are highly interesting and interesting , such as that of Nala, the king of Nishada, and his queen, Damayanthi.
The Kurukshetra war has also been cruelly cut, and reads almost like a laundry list of this person fought with / killed that person, and the grandeur and the pathos that I had felt when reading the original was absent. All that said, it is still a great way to be introduced to this masterpiece!
There are typos throughout, several places where Karna is called Kama… guess the r-n looked very similar to an m when scanning the text, would love to have those typos fixed.
Thank you for reading my review!