Description
Within its 200,000 verse lines in Sanskrit the Mahabharata takes on many roles: epic poem, foundational text of Hinduism, and, more broadly, the engaging story of a dynastic struggle and the passing of an age when man and gods intermingled. David R. Slavitt's sparkling new edition condenses the epic for the general reader.
At its core, the Mahabharata is the story of the rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two related noble families who are struggling for control of a kingdom in ancient northern India. Slavitt's readable, plot-driven, single-volume account describes an arc from the conception and birth of Bhishma to that hero's death, while also introducing the four goals of life at the center of Hinduism: dharma (righteousness, morality, duty), artha (purpose), kama (pleasure), and moksa (spiritual liberation).
The Mahabharata is engaging, thrilling, funny, charming, and finally awesome, with a range in timbre from the impish naivete of fairy tales to the solemnity of our greatest epics, and this single-volume edition is the best introduction available.
About the Author
David R. Slavitt is a poet, translator, novelist, critic, and journalist. He is the author of more than seventy works of fiction and poetry, as well as poetry and drama in translation. He is the author of The Duke's Man: A Novel (Northwestern University Press, 2011) and translator of The Metamorphoses of Ovid (1994).
Henry L. Carrigan Jr. is the assistant director and a senior editor at Northwestern University Press.
Book Information
ISBN 9780810130593
Author David R. Slavitt
Format Paperback
Page Count 592
Imprint Northwestern University Press
Publisher Northwestern University Press
Weight(grams) 798g
At its core, the Mahabharata is the story of the rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two related noble families who are struggling for control of a kingdom in ancient northern India. Slavitt's readable, plot-driven, single-volume account describes an arc from the conception and birth of Bhishma to that hero's death, while also introducing the four goals of life at the center of Hinduism: dharma (righteousness, morality, duty), artha (purpose), kama (pleasure), and moksa (spiritual liberation).
The Mahabharata is engaging, thrilling, funny, charming, and finally awesome, with a range in timbre from the impish naivete of fairy tales to the solemnity of our greatest epics, and this single-volume edition is the best introduction available.
About the Author
David R. Slavitt is a poet, translator, novelist, critic, and journalist. He is the author of more than seventy works of fiction and poetry, as well as poetry and drama in translation. He is the author of The Duke's Man: A Novel (Northwestern University Press, 2011) and translator of The Metamorphoses of Ovid (1994).
Henry L. Carrigan Jr. is the assistant director and a senior editor at Northwestern University Press.
Book Information
ISBN 9780810130593
Author David R. Slavitt
Format Paperback
Page Count 592
Imprint Northwestern University Press
Publisher Northwestern University Press
Weight(grams) 798g
