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81 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good summary, January 15, 2001
This is pretty much the best English version of the epic. The sole reason for this is that it's pretty much the most complete version that's readily available. It's definitely enjoyable to read... The battles are described in a manner that will keep your attention. There are lots of moral dilemmas that keep you thinking. This is great especially if you're unfamiliar with the Mahabharata.However, Dharma himself admits that this is no scholarly translation. I recommend that you also read other abridgements as well to get a full scope of the story. While the action in this version is well articulated, some of the inbetween discussions and descriptions seem to be a bit drawn-out. I say this in comparison with other versions. For instance, absolutely way too much forshadowing is given. The entire plot of the story is blatantly given away repeatedly. "This will happen." And it does. In actuality other versions also have this, as I'm sure it's part of the story. However, it seems as though it wasn't repeated as much in the other versions. For instance, reading another version you might hear Bhima make his threat that he will "drink Dushashana's blood." This might be repeated once or twice throughout the remainder of the story. But in this version, it seems like every page says something like "Arjuna will surely slay Karna, Bhima will surely kill Dhritarashtra's sons, Krishna ordains it, it will happen, yes it will happen." There's absolutely no surprise when it happens at all. In fact it makes reading the otherwise thrilling action sequences annoying because you know the inevitable outcome. Yes, Bhima will strike Duryodhana's thigh. Yes, where Krishna is there is victory...And so on. This is a lot of what makes it drawn-out. Lines like that are constantly inserted into every page. This alone isn't that bad though. A major problem that I personally found was the extreme bias toward the Pandavas. In every version I have read, the Pandavas are generally accepted as the virtuous side. There's no problem with this. However, in the other versions it makes it sound as if neither side deserves to be slaughtered. Other versions also create an ambiguity about who is truly the side of virtue which creates a moral dilemma. This moral dilemma adds to the overall drama and enjoyability of the epic, and exercises one's own moral consciousness in learning from the actions portrayed in the story. However, Dharma is relentless in deifying the Pandavas and inexorable in blindly cursing and condemning the Kauravas. True, the Pandavas are virtuous, true, the Kauravas did some bad things. However, this could have been skillfully articulated rather than constantly hammered at the reader in might I say...an offensive manner? The prolofic use of adjectives which do not appear anywhere else that I have seen is annoying. For instance, it's always "noble, mighty, virtuous, great, chaste, sinless, (other superlatives) Pandavas." At a certain time, you get the point. However, we listen to long descriptions that seem like personal commentaries regarding the greatness of the Pandavas. The eventual outcome is that one tires of hearing "chaste Draupadi was violated" every 3 lines along with "noble Yudhisthira" allll the time. I mean, I'm not saying the Pandavas weren't great, but come on! The Kauravas are villified to a point where it's annoying to read the tirades against them. For instance, we always hear "That sinful blind king and his foolish brain-dead evil horrible unintelligent demonic son Duryodhana will surely reap the consequences of their actions, surely destiny is all-powerful, it must all be arranged by providence." Something very, very similar to that is said approximately every 10-20 sentences. This truly ruins the surprise and grandeur of it all. We know from about the first chapter of the book that the Kauravas are evil and that they are going to lose, we know exactly who will kill whom, we know Krishna's real identity from the start. So we must painfully sit through the -same things said over, and over, and over!!- I was particularly upset of Dharma's version of the Bhagavad-Gita. I have read several completely unabridged versions and though his rendition wasn't bad, it wasn't completely accurate. While reading the Gita is usually awe-inspiring it seemed overdone here. Namely because in all other versions of the Mahabharata, not as much is revealed ahead of time as in this one. In fact, it seems as though the entirety of the Gita and its message is revealed long before you get a chance to read the Gita. In spite of the extreme forshadowing and bias, these were only my nitpickings. It is a very good version and it's worth a read. The price is the only thing that should hold you back. For all the editorializing and personal commentary disguised as verses from the actual epic, it's too expensive. All in all, I would read it if you could borrow it from someone else who has it, but it's not worth buying. 4 stars simply because the Mahabharata is the Mahabharata, and as long as the story is there, no tautology can ruin it. And tautology is a fitting word; the commentary expressed isn't necessarily bad, but it's repeated over and over and over... Please, don't ruin the story for those that want to be surprised at what events unfold!
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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that everybody should read!, July 26, 2000
By A Customer
The Mahabharata is one of the biggest mysteries of humankind. A book written in a time where science had not established the limits of what is possible or not. A time where visitors from other planets came down from the sky in vessels and interact with humankind. A time where yogis had powers beyond our understanding and wars where fought with arrows empowered by mantras. A time where meditation was a common practice and science was not about matter but about soul and spirituality.This is a war story. A war fought against warriors, which as samurais knew about honor, word, and values. A war in which as in any war, human values are put into consideration and the meaning of life and dead is uncovered and exposed to the reader. The Mahabharata is also one of the oldest, largest, and deepest books ever written by mankind. As the pyramids, or Stonehenge, it is a monument of the human intellect, and a legacy for future generations. However, an attempt for reading it is often overcome by its extension and complexity. Krishna Dharma offers in this resumed version a perfect book to know what The Mahabharata is about. His book its very easy to read, goes right to the point, and presents all the important facts and things that are important to know to understand the main story, without sacrificing the spirit of the book. As a result, this is one of the best available resumed versions in existence. This book is not a replacement for the original version, but it is such a good introduction that after reading it, I am sure most of the readers would like to read the complete version. In addition, it is important to let to know to the readers that the story of The Mahabharata does not finish with this book. At the end of The Mahabharata, king Yudhisthira gives his kingdom to his son Pariksit. The story of king Pariksit is narrated in The Srimad Bhagavatam. In this book king Pariksit is cursed by a sage to die in 7 days, as a result; Pariksit decides to leave his kingdom and spend the last 7 days of his life with sages in order to learn what every man has to know before dying. In this context, The Srimad Bhagavatam explains the spiritual meaning of The Mahabharata, and uncovers the mysteries of this book.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A unique achievement, March 11, 2002
By A Customer
It was very refreshing to find such a readable and exciting rendition of this classic. For the most part, translations of India's spiritual writings are quite heavy going, usually stilted and hard to follow. Not so this one. Written in highly accessible modern prose, it is a fluid narrative that grips the reader like a modern day bestselling novel. This is no mean feat. Having read the original text I know it is a complex tale with many interwoven strands that span vast periods of time. Every character has his or her own fascinating story that ties in with overall theme of the epic, and Dharma has managed to incorporate them all into a tight narrative that never loses the reader. He plainly knows the story inside out, and has cleverly structured his book so that it all fits together into a coherent whole. When I read the original I found myself constantly turning backwards and forwards in order to follow the story, and I was grateful to have it clearly spelled out by Dharma in his book.This treatment of the epic is perhaps unique. Other writers have tried something similar, I know, but in my view none have been quite as successful. And from what I have seen, none of them have shown so lucidly the spiritual import of the Mahabharata. I would say that this is Dharma's greatest contribution to the epic. He brings out the spiritual meaning intended by the original author Vyasa. Being himself a spiritual disciple in the line that comes from Vyasa, he is well positioned to understand its sublime and uplifting message. I found the passages of spiritual instruction, such as the text of the Bhagavad Gita (which forms one chapter of the Mahabharata) particularly enjoyable and very moving. It is a big book, but I read it in a few days, taking every opportunity to immerse myself in the ancient world it so nicely depicts. As a stirring tale of heroes, warriors, gods, saints, mystics and beautiful damsels, it is without rival, in my view. And as a guide to universal spiritual practises it is a book to be treasured and studied again and again. Highly recommended.
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