The Mahabharata is the more recent of India's two great epics, and by far the longer. First composed by the Maharishi Vyasa in verse, it has come down the centuries in the timeless oral tradition of guru and sishya, profoundly influencing the history, culture, and art of not only the Indian subcontinent but most of south-east Asia. At 100,000 couplets, it is seven times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined: far and away the greatest recorded epic known to man.The Mahabharata is the very Book of Life: in its variety, majesty and, also, in its violence and tragedy. It has been said that nothing exists that cannot be found within the pages of this awesome legend. The epic describes a great war of some 5000 years ago, and the events that led to it. The war on Kurukshetra sees ten million warriors slain, brings the dwapara yuga to an end, and ushers in a new and sinister age: this present kali yuga, modern times.At the heart of the Mahabharata nestles the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God. Senayor ubhayor madhye, between two teeming armies, Krishna expounds the eternal dharma to his warrior of light, Arjuna. At one level, all the restless action of the Mahabharata is a quest for the Gita and its sacred stillness. After the carnage, it is the Gita that survives, immortal lotus floating upon the dark waters of desolation: the final secret!With its magnificent cast of characters, human, demonic, and divine, and its riveting narrative, the Mahabharata continues to enchant readers and scholars the world over. This new rendering brings the epic to the contemporary reader in sparkling modern prose. It brings alive all the excitement, magic, and grandeur of the original-for our times.
Chapter 1. On the banks of the Ganga
Chapter 2. A tale of two curses
Chapter 7. Three princesses of Kasi
Chapter 11. Satyavati's other son
Chapter 12. The blind night and the pale one
Chapter 14. The three princes of Hastinapura
Chapter 15. Kuntibhoja's daughter
Chapter 17. A curse in the forest
Chapter 19. Kunti's unworldly lovers
Chapter 21. The sinister night
Chapter 22. Sweet, deadly spring
Chapter 23. The Pandavas come home
Chapter 27. A master for the Kuru princes
Chapter 29. The brilliant pupil
Chapter 32. A young man's dreams
Chapter 33. Karna finds a master
Chapter 35. The golden warrior
Chapter 37. A father and his son
Chapter 42. Flight through the jungle
Chapter 47. Encounter in the night
Chapter 49. 'Share the alms you've brought'
Chapter 50. The unusual wedding
Chapter 51. Anxiety in Hastinapura
Chapter 52. The council at Hastinapura
Chapter 53. Vidura in Kampilya
Chapter 55. Miracle in the wilderness
Chapter 56. Narada visits Indraprastha
Chapter 57. Ulupi and Chitrangadaa
Chapter 59. The Raivataka hill
Chapter 61. The yati and the princess
Chapter 62. Cure for an illness
Chapter 65. The Yadavas come to Indraprastha
Chapter 66. The hungry brahmana
Chapter 67. The burning of the Khandava vana
Chapter 3. Narada, the messenger
Chapter 4. Yudhishtira's quandary
Chapter 5. Krishna arrives in Indraprastha
Chapter 10. The Rajasuya yagna
Chapter 15. An anxious messenger
Chapter 18. 'Am I a free woman?'
Chapter 19. The miracle and the oaths
Chapter 20. Dhritarashtra's fickleness
Chapter 21. The second game of dice
Chapter 3. The rishis' warning
Chapter 4. Krishna swears an oath
Chapter 6. The trials of Yudhishtira
Chapter 10. The Lords of light
Chapter 12. The weapons of Indra
Chapter 13. The apsara Urvashi
Chapter 15. The muni Brihadaswa
Chapter 19. Where the saugandhika grows
Chapter 24. Bheema's adventure
Chapter 25. The riddles of Nahusha
Chapter 28. The foolish brahmana
Chapter 29. Duryodhana's ghosha-yatra
Chapter 30. The shaming of Duryodhana
Chapter 32. The powers of darkness
Chapter 36. Yaksha prasna: the yaksha's riddles
Chapter 1. The thirteenth year
Chapter 4. The cook and the wrestler
Chapter 6. The brahmana at noon
Chapter 7. The queen's sairandhri
Chapter 8. The besotted Keechaka
Chapter 9. Ballava's night visitor
Chapter 11. The angry gandharvas
Chapter 12. Duryodhana's spies
Chapter 14. The prince and the eunuch
Chapter 22. A wedding in Upaplavya