The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)

The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)
by Anonymous

The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Anonymous
Editor: John D. Smith
Translator: John D. Smith
Introduction: John D. Smith
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Abridged
Published: 2009-07-28
ISBN: 0140446818
Number of pages: 912
Publisher: Penguin Classics

Book Reviews of The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)

Book Review: The better anthology with summary
Summary: 5 Stars

Some reviews are a bit misleading: this book is half translation half summary (as the author sais, translation occupies more pages than summary.) I prefer to call this book an anthology of translated highpoints with summary intercalated, more than a summary with a few original passages. But in fact, Mahabharata is a very huge and variated book (thousands of printed pages), so the author traslated about a 11 pro cent of the actual text. It is an about 400 page anthology of translation plus an about 400 page of good and complete summary, by far the best readable adbridged edition in the market and far better than retelling or novelized versions. For the translated part, based on the critical Pune edition, is accurate to the sanskrit text and readable, beautiful english. With intermediate knowledge of the Sanskrit language, one can compare the original with the translation and learn a lot. Besides, chapters and paragraphs from the critical edition (available on the web) are provided, so one can search any exact shloka in the original and check the translation. A good tool for Sanskrit students.
Unfortunatly, the Buitenen-Fitzgerald complete and highly accurate translation is far from finished (4 volumes, 7 Mahabharata books)and the old Ganguli is hard to read as a pleasure (the original is beautiful verse)

This anthology/summary fills a gap, and achieves it in the better manner. Is enjoying and accurate, and most time one can read actual translation from the Mahabharata text.

Summary of The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics)

A new selection from the national epic of India

Originally composed in Sanskrit sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD, The Mahabharata-with one hundred thousand stanzas of verse-is one of the longest poems in existence. At the heart of the saga is a conflict between two branches of a royal family whose feud culminates in a titanic eighteen-day battle. Exploring such timeless subjects as dharma (duty), artha (purpose), and kama (pleasure) in a mythic world of warfare, magic, and beauty, this is a magnificent and legendary Hindu text of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent.

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