Customer Reviews

The Mahabharata, Volume 2: Book 2: The Book of Assembly; Book 3: The Book of the Forest

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The tragedy of J.A. B. van Buitenen's most excellent translation is his passing in 1979 that prevented the translation from being completed. Therefore, I warn those who read the first 2200 pages (the first three volumes) that they will have to seek out another translation (such as that by P.Lal, which, in my opinion is not of the caliber of van Buitenen's) if they wish to complete the epic tale. The only complete translation in English of The Mahabharata that I know of is that of Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published by the New Delhi publishing house Munshiram Manoharlal.

An interesting note is that James L. Fitzgerald has continued with van Buitenen's translation, although he began with Vol. 7 (van Buitenen completed the first three volumes) rather than the next volume, 4, and anticipates it will be a 10 volume set. My guess is Fitzgerald began with the most interesting volumes so if he died without completing the project someone else would have to pick up the less interesting parts!

This book is the best scholarly, annotated English edition of the Great Indian epic. It is definitely not for beginners though. If you are already familiar with the story, and would like to know more about the historical bakcground, I highly recommend this. Of course, like most heavily annotated books of ancient scripture, this can't be read like a novel.

I have read many many translations of the Mahabharata. This was the first one that I could not make it through. The translation was so dense and wordy. I ended up giving it to my mom who had a much higher understanding of the Mahabharata, and was able to read through it and enjoy it. Let's just say I would not purchase this as an intro book to the Mahabharata.