The Mahabharata (Paperback)

by Professor Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan (Translator) "At one time there lived a king,named Pariksit, born in the race of the kauravas..." (more)
Key Phrases: great bowman, celestial weapons, snake sacrifice, King Yudhisthira, Udyoga Parva, Bhisma Parva (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This current translation of the epic poem (no one's exactly sure who wrote it or when it first appeared) includes two new verses as well as a new preface and a glossary, genealogical tables, and an index correlating the verses with the original Sanskrit text. A lot of bang for the buck, though more for scholarly collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
is the longest and, in some ways, the greatest epic poem in any language. Intended to be a treatise on life itself, it embraces religion and ethics, polity and government, philosophy and the pursuit of salvation. The shortest recension of the Sanskrit version consists of some 88,000 verses. The main narrative, however, is the story of the rivalry between the cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, which culminates in the great battle of Kuruksetra. Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan here introduces and presents the portions dealing with this story and its central theme of the universal destruction and evil of war. His prose translation of approximately 4000 verses is supplemented by a glossary, genealogical tables, and an index correlating the verses with the original Sanskrit text.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Rev Sub edition (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231110553
• ISBN-13: 978-0231110556
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #183,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #3 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Eastern
  #31 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Sanskrit
  #69 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Asian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best abridgment of the Mahabharata available, April 15, 1998

By A Customer

This is the best abridgment of the Mahabharata currently available. Unlike other abridgments it is based on an actual translation of Sanskrit verses Chakravarti Narasimhan has selected. He includes an index of the verses and a glossary of names at the end of the book, as well as several simplified genealogical tables. The introduction could be more inofrmative, but at least it is accurate in its refrences to previous translations. In my opinion more verses should have been inlcluded from the Philosophical portions of the Mahabharata, especially from the Santi- and Anusasanaparva. Still, the translation is accurate and it a much better introduction than some of the other abridgnents. For the beginning student, wanting to get a glimpse of the Epic, I highly recommend this book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mahabharata I was looking for, April 10, 2002

By	Ljubomir Prskalovic (Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Reading any abridgement gives me a bad feeling of missing something important, but this book deserves five stars:

- It is written in simple English, without archaic words, so I was able to read it without using my dictionary too much. It means much to me, English not being either my mother or second, but learned language.

- Every Sanskrit word is written using diacritics, so that you know how to pronounce names and places. I like to know that Pandu's brother is DhritaraSHtra and not DhritaraStra.

- All the ninety-nine chapters are self-contained, each forming a logical unit, so you can read one chapter at a time.

- It has very useful genealogical tables, glossary and list of alternative names.

Like the Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari this is a very good book for introduction to this great epic.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flat and characterless narration, October 28, 2005

By	Bruce Lee - See all my reviews

Although Narasimhan has done a proficient enough job in this translation - his English is certainly much better than most full length translations currently available -- it is nevertheless a rather dry version of the great epic. If you are new to the text this will be heavy going, IMO, and you will probably soon find yourself lost in the morass of characters and their complicated relationships. He has not done much to help the reader make sense of the whole thing, unlike some other introductory versions, such as that by Krishna Dharma. It is a page turner only in the sense that you will be constantly turning backwards to remind yourself what is going on. But three stars anyway, as it is after all a faithful version of this wonderful work.