The Mahabharata: Volume 2 - Softcover

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9780143100140: The Mahabharata: Volume 2

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143100149 ISBN 13: 9780143100140

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2012

Though the basic plot is widely known, there is much more to the epic than the dispute between Kouravas and Pandava that led to the battle in Kurukshetra. It has innumerable sub-plots that accommodate fascinating meanderings and digressions, and it has rarely been translated in full, given its formidable length of 80,000 shlokas or couplets.

The magnificent 10-volume unabridged translation of the epic is based on the Critical Edition compiled at the Bhandakar Research Institue. Volume 2 consists of the last part of the Adi Parva, the complete Sabha Parva and the early part of the Vana Parva. The story covers Arjuna's stay in the forest; his marriage to Subhadra; the burning of the Khandava forest; the Pandavas building the assembly hall and conquering the world; Yudhishthira s crowning as emperor; Duryodhana's envy at the Pandavas prosperity; the two games with the dice; Droupadi's disrobing; Arjuna's encounter with Shiva; and ends with the Nala and Damayanti story.

Every conceivable human emotion figures in the Mahabharata, the reason why the epic continues to hold sway over our imagination. In this lucid, nuanced and confident translation, Bibek Debroy makes the Mahabharata marvellously accessible to contemporary readers.

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About the Author:

Bibek Debroy is an economist and is Research Professor (Centre of Policy Research) and Contributing Editor (Indian Express group). He has worked in universities, research institutes, industry and for the government. He has published books, papers and popular articles in economics. He has also published in Indology and translated (into English) the Vedas, the Puranas, the Upanishads and the Gita. His book Sarama and her Children: The Dog in Indian Myth splices his interest in Hinduism with his love for dogs. He is currently translating the remaining volumes of the unabridged Mahabharata.

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