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(4)WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata?Quora

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OriginallyAnswered:WhatarethebestEnglishbooksabouttheMahabharata?

Jaya

:AnIllustratedRetellingoftheMahabharataisexactlywhatyou'relookingfor.

Thenarratorhereisaserpent(ifI'mnotwrong)whoisexplainingthegood,thebadand
reasonsbehindthevariousincidents,tooneofthedescendantsofPandavas.So,itiskind
ofalittlemorethanamereretellingatthesametimeitisconciseandinteresting.

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Whatisthebestbookorwebsitetoknowabout
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Navdeep
Mahabharata?
WhatisthebestdetailedbookonMahabharatain
English?
CanyousuggestabookofMahabharatainsimple
English?
WhatisthebestMahabharatabookforreading?
Whatarethebestbookstogettoknowabout
Mahabharataforthebeginners?
Mahabharata(Hinduepic):Whatisthebestresource
for'VidurNiti'?
WhichisthebestbooktoreadMahabharata?
WhatisthebestbookwhereIcangetthewhole
Mahabharatastoryinsimplelanguage?
Mahabharata(Hinduepic):Whichisthebest
MahabarathabookavailableinKindle?

WrittenNov12,2012ViewUpvotes
Upvote 28

Downvote Comments 3

WhoisthebestamongAmba,AmbikaandAmbalika
intheMahabharata?
MoreRelatedQuestions

QuestionStats
MakarandSahasrabuddhe,HookedtoIndianMythologysinceIwasachild
25.9kViewsMostViewedWriterinMahabharata(Hinduepic)with30+answers

186Followers

OriginallyAnswered:WhatarethemostauthenticEnglishtranslationsoftheMahabharata?

78,930Views

Anote:TheMahabharata(Hinduepic)waspassedonorallybythesutas.Atsomepointit
alsofellinthehandsofoneBrahminclan(Bhrigu)whichactuallyinterposedtheirown
versionsandverses,aimedatmakingtheirancestorslookbetter.Theseareveryinelegant
additionsanddetractfromthebeautyoftheoriginal.

LastAskedDec19
14MergedQuestions
Edits

WhenoneislookingatreadingtheMahabharat,besttorefertowhatiscalledthe'critical
edition'.ThiswasproducedbytheBhandarkarOrientalInstitute.IhearthatBibekDebroy
istranslatingthistoEnglishrightnow!Lookingforwardtoit.
THEbesttranslationisbyKisariMohanGanguliover120yearsago.Thisversionis
availableinebookforminmanyformatsathttp://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/...
However,itisabigtasktoreadthewholeoftheMahabharata(Hinduepic).Incaseyou
areshortoftimeandwanttogetagoodideaofthesamebesttoreadthe'condensed
version'byCRajgopalchari(Rajaji).Thisisthebestinthelot(Ihaveread23authors)
GirishKarnad'sYayatiisaplayderivedfromtheepic.Worthareadtoo.
IrawatiKarve'sYugantisacollectionofessaysonthevariouscharactersofthestory.
Notthefullthingbutworthreading.InterestinglytheauthorhaswrittentheMarathiand
Englishversionherselfandtheyarebothgood.
Finally
AnalternativeversionoftheMahabharata(Hinduepic)fromPremPanicker.Ittellsthe
storyfromBhima'sperspective.Watchfortheending!
Lateedit(26/09/12):
BibekDebroyhasundertakenthetaskoftranslatingthecriticaledition.Thisisexpectedto

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(4)WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata?Quora

bein10volumes.Fivehavebeenpublished.Ihavereadthefirstoneanditislookinggood.
Evenlateredit(02/01/15):
Ihavenowread5volumesofBibekDebroy'stranslation:lookingmarvelous.
UpdatedJan2,2015ViewUpvotesAnswerrequestedbySamarthMohan
Upvote 104

Downvote Comments 12+

SanjaySabnani,Tiredofreincarnatingoverandoveragain.
9.8kViews
OriginallyAnswered:WhatarethemostauthenticEnglishtranslationsoftheMahabharata?

Ifyouwantaneasytoreadintroductiontothemajornarrativeelementsofthe
MahabaratathenIsuggestyoubeginwithKrishnaDharma'sversion:

Ifyouareseekingamorescholarlytomethatisatruetranslationofthisextremelylong
epicthenJ.A.B.vanBuitenen'sthreevolumesarethedefinitiveworkstoreview.
Unfortunatelyhepassedawaybeforecompletingthisopusandtherearealwaysonagain,
offagainrumorsthattheworkisbeingcompleted.
VeryfewpeopleinIndiaactuallyreadtheMahabaratabecauseofhowlongitis.Mostof
usknowkeystoriesandcharacters.AlmosteveryIndianisfamiliarwiththeepicpoem,
TheBhagavadGitawhichisanepicpoemthattakesplaceprimarilyduringbattle.The
GitaisadialogbetweenKrishnaandArjunaandservesasthecornerstoneofmodernday
HinduismandguidingculturalprinciplesinIndia.Again,J.A.B.vanBuitenen's
translationistheacademicstandard,buttherearemany,manymoretranslationstochose
from.
Asawildcard,IsuggeststartingoutwiththecomicbookversionbyfamousIndiangraphic
novelpublisher,AmarChirtaKatha:
http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/m...
EverythingIknowaboutIndiaandHInduismstartedwiththesefantasticcomicbooks.
WhenIgrewolder,readingthebookversionswereeasybecausenames,characters,and
conceptshadallbeentoucheduponbythecomicbooks,thusallowingmemucheasier
accesstodensertranslations.
WrittenMar29,2012ViewUpvotesAnswerrequestedbySamarthMohan
Upvote 13

Downvote Comments 2+

SarathTejaSomina,Lovesliteratureandliteraryaspectsofmythology
6.7kViews

A2A
Firstofall,Mahabharataisahumongousepicanditwilltakemonthsofdailyroutineof
readingtofinishit,unlessyoudon'thaveadayjob.
Iwouldsuggestyoutostartwith
MahabharatabyC.Rajagopalachari(1958)

https://www.quora.com/WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata1

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6/5/2016

(4)WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata?Quora

Witha500pageconcisenarration(Yes,500pagesareprettyconciseforMahabharata)of
theepic,itamazinglystrikesabalancebetweenfantasticalandrealisticelementsinthe
epic.Apartfromnarratingthestory,italsothrowslightonhowtoactually
readamythology.
IwouldsaythismakesthebestfirstresourcetoreadMahabharata.Afterreadingthis,if
yougototheoriginaltranslation,youcaneasilyunderstandwhichpartsofthestoryare
exaggerations,whichareallegories,whichareplotdevicesandwhicharerealistic
portrayals.

Afterthis,ifyouarestillinterestedtoreadmore,bettergoto:
TheMahabharataofKrishnaDwaipayanaVyasa,translatedbyKisariMohan
Ganguli(1896)

AsfarasIknow,thisistheonlycompleteEnglishtranslationoftheepictill
date.Needlesstosay,itisanauthoritativetranslation.
Mindyou,thiswilltakemonthstoread.IfyoucanreaditfromRajaji'slens,youcanwrite
somegoodcommentariesontheepic.
And,thistranslationisavailableinpublicdomainat:
http://www.sacredtexts.com/hin/...

Also,unlessyouwanttojoinanyofthehindubhakticultsaround,Isuggest
younottoreadtheircommentariesontheepic.Itwillspoilthebeautyoflooking

https://www.quora.com/WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata1

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(4)WhichisthebestbookonMahabharata?Quora

atMahabharatafromaliteraryperspective.Ifyoulookatthecharacterssimplyas
characters,andwithoutthesubtextofcirculardharmicexplanations,youwillseegreat
dramaandrealisticportrayalofpoliticsintheepic.
Happyreading!!
WrittenMay18,2014ViewUpvotes
Upvote 15

Downvote Comment

VedangManerikar,Mahabharatsupernerd
10.2kViews
OriginallyAnswered:WhatarethebestEnglishbooksabouttheMahabharata?

ImadeanoteaboutreadingmaterialconcerningtheMahabharata:
NotesandReadingmaterialontheMahabharatabyVedangManerikaronThe
Mahabharata(andrelatedtalesfromMythology)
Youmightfindithelpful.Iwouldsuggestthatyoureadallthebooksfrompoint3
onwards.Thesearenotbooksthatentirelyabandonthe'holierthanthou'approach,but
theyprovideexcellentinsightintothefinedetailsoftheMahabharata.
Trytoignorethedivinestuff,andgointoreadingthebookswithoutthinkingofthe
Pandavasasthe"winners/goodguys/righteousones"ortheKauravasasthe"losers/bad
guys/allroundevilpeople".Inshort,approachitasifyouknownothingaboutthestory,
andyouarebeingtoldthestorybysomepersonwhois_extremely_opinionated,not
someonewhoisimpartial.
UpdatedAug10,2015ViewUpvotesAnswerrequestedbySumanRao
Upvote 34

Downvote Comments 3+

SmritiIyer,NonFictionBooksandFictionmoviesaremything!
5.2kViews
OriginallyAnswered:WhichisthebestbooktoreadMahabharatainEnglish?

IkidyounotwhenItellyoutogoforthis
AmarChitraKathaMahabharata

Ifoundtheartworkquiteamazingandengagingatthesametime.Forfirsttimereaders,
TheMahabharataisalongandintensewithagazillioncharactersandacomplicated
story.Thegraphicnovelwillhelprememberalot.
Afteryoureadthis,youcanconsidergoingforamorecomplicatedadultversionofthe
story.Butthiswillprettymuchgiveyouadetailedideaaboutthestory.
UpdatedApr14,2015ViewUpvotes
Upvote 14

Downvote Comment 1

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