Customer Reviews

Mahabharata

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a concise and nice translation. No doubt about it, however if you are a looking for a comprehensive & more faithful translation, following book is recommended:

~ Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time - Krishna Dharma

I've owned Rajagopalachari's version of the Mahabharata now for more than 10 years. Whenever I am compelled to absorb the teachings in Hinduism or revisit the story, this book comes to mind. It's easy to understand and straightforward. It lacks the recycled feel that often comes across by other authors, and instead brings its own style in telling the story while staying true to the events. Not too lengthy but at the same time, not overly simple. I would, however, recommend purchasing the hardcover version which may be more rare and can't be obtained from Amazon. I have seen the version Amazon sells and it is fairly poor quality. Amazon's version is also more expensive than it really should be.

The actual story itself is gripping and interesting. It flows well, has lots of interesting side stories, and produces great insights on traditional Indian culture and religion. The Mahabharata is, of course, one of the great classics, so reviewing the story itself is a bit silly, but I'm saying this to make clear that the low rating is because of the translation, not the story itself.

I don't know Sanskrit, so can't attest to the accuracy of the translation, but the prose in this translation is often weak and almost childish. I'm baffled as to how this can be the 53rd edition, as every couple of pages I ran into misspelled words and misformatted paragraphs with extra blank spaces. Words are often alphabetized incorrectly in the glossary. These are hardly the most horrible things one could imagine in a book, but they did detract from my overall experience, and certainly made me question the professionalism and accuracy of the translation, when they couldn't even bother to proofread for spelling.

However, by far my biggest complaint is that the author has decided to intersperse his own commentary throughout this classic story. He hasn't bothered to make clear which comments are his own, and which are in the original, so that I'm often left guessing whether some bit of moralizing about the actions of a character are giving me a view into the minds of ancient Indian culture, or that of the modern author. Not what I want when I read a classic!

There's no doubt that the Mahabharata is a great tale, however I would not suggest this particular version to anyone. For a 52nd edition, one would think there would be a lot less spelling and grammar mistakes! Has anyone edited this thing, ever?!? The author also likes to try and relate the story to modern times in random paragraphs that read more like a bad middle school book report.
One other thing I didn't like was the way he treated each chapter as its own little story. For example; there would be a chapter that introduces the reader to Bhishma by telling the story of his origins. Then the chapter would finish by telling of his downfall later in the battle at Kurukshetra. There is little-to-no suspense in the storytelling.
Overall it was a decent read with little annoyances, and I enjoyed reading about this epic tale. I would just suggest finding a better telling of the Mahabharata.

C. Rajagopalachari's version of Mahabharata is the earliest that we in South India embraced fully. This was the first English version of the mighty epic that we could read while fulfilling all our regular school obligations. The good news is also the bad news. The book has not evolved from when it was first published and the binding, publishing and quality issues that existed with early versions persist.

However, from a purely story telling stand-point Rajagopalachari keeps the story straight and deals with the morality and ethical issues extremely well. Rajagopalachari provides some commentary occasionally to clarify the inherent message. In his day, Rajagopalachari was a very respected scholar and the book reflects this personality. Modern day readers who do not relate to Rajaji's stature from his times may find his commentary invasive.

For an Indian parent looking to get their teenagers to learn about Mahabharata, there is no better book to start with. In short, this book is a must own. Especially, for those with south indian sensibilities and heritage.

Pros
-short
-captures main elements
-well-written

Cons
-significant personal bias
-poorly put together book, mechanically speaking
-overpriced

I would say this is a good book for those who would like to know the story of the Mahabharata without reading an extensive translation. While all of us having read an abridged version one way or another, this version is the shortest I've found that is at an adult reading level. Despite grammar/spelling errors, the author's method of story telling is good enough for anyone interested in the story.

The main downside to this translation is that the author includes his own opinion repeatedly on the lessons and philosophy that are inherent in the story.

Two minor irritations with this particular translation were
-the publisher did a very poor job of organizing the pages- I found a 40-pg section of literature trans-located a 1/4 of the way further into the book.
-this translation retails in India for only 1USD or perhaps as low as several cents. While the cost of freight from that location may be taken into account with the pricetag on amazon and other retailers, my purchasing experience in India leads me to believe this is a significantly overpriced product.

This is a truely amazing work, however - I would not recommend it to any westerner who does not have at least some backgound in sanskrit and/or the deeper study of yoga (in other words - more than the poses). There are numerous pseudo-names for many of the main characters - and there are no shortage of characters. Many of these have names that are many letters long, and a number of them are very similar in spelling to other characters - for instance Krishna alone is referred to by at least ten different names, only some of which are footnoted. Thus even with a background in yoga & Sanskrit - for me - all of this was extremely difficult to get my arms around at first, but by the time I got about 50 or so pages into it the names became more familiar - and from then on - it became one of those books that was difficult to put down. For anyone wanting to take on the deeper lessons of this masterpiece - I would suggest obtaining a copy of Paramhansa Yogananda's translations of the Bhagavad Gita. He has published two versions a short and sweet paperback of 123 pages and a 1000+ page, two volume much more profound version. The short version leads one through the cast of characters and gives the underling meaning of each entity - for instance the blind King Dhritarashtra - actually represents the blind, or undiscerning mind. When one takes the time to view and understand the characters - as Yogananda does so well - the understanding of the deeper meaning of this great work begins to unfold - and the book takes on a life of its own. Yogananda's larger two volume translation of the Gita is a bit long, but if one only reads the introduction, the Mahabharata and its deeper messages become much easier to follow. The Gita intro also has a family tree showing most of the main characters - as well as what they represent in the story - this was a huge help for me - and I found myself constantly referring back to this reference during the reading. What many people do not know, is that this book was the underlying theme of the book "Bagger Vance", which was popular about 10 years ago (the book more so than the movie), in addition some of its themes can also be found in popular present days books such as Harry Potter, although some of those similarities may be coincidental.

To any person aspiring to understand the deeper levels of yoga, and the Vedas, this book is a must, it's more of a study than a read - but well worth the effort. I looked at several of the available translations - they range from 150 pages to over 1000, I found this one to be the nice compromise as far as level of detail - yet not so long as to be burdensome.

If all you want is a brief summery of the great epic, then this one will make do. But you will not have any idea of the depth, sweep, and glory of this awesome epic. Nor will you ever really get to know the amazing characters, since their thinking processes are hardly ever revealed--we just watch them act. And the action, especially the war, is quite synoptic, greatly omitting important reasons and details.

But worst of all is the author's repeated interruptions of the story with his pontificating and sermonizing, trying show that he really understands the story. I have read other Mahabharata accounts (with commentaries) which lead me to the conclusion that this author had little, and often an incorrect, understanding of Krishna (The Supreme Lord playing the role of a warrior), and his great devotees (demigods playing the roles of warriors).

In some places, the author had the audacity to sit in judgement on the Lord's (Krishna's) instructions, often implying, by his false mundane standard, that they are immoral or unethical. If you read Krishna Dharma's Mahabharata (over 900 pages, not much higher in price, and a million times better), you will come to realize how shallow and irreverent Rajagopalacari's froth-filled commentaries actually are.

Mr. Rajagopalachari was a politician by profession, not a holy man, so it is not surprising that he tried very hard to appear like the sage that he wasn't. His book appears very much like a body without blood--lifeless! You never really get to bond with the characters in them, for they remain distant and elusive.