The Mahabharata
translated and introduced by John D. Smith
'The three worlds are set shaking, great one, to see this wonderful, terrible form of yours'
The Mahabharata is the story of two warring factions of cousins - 100 demons in human form against five sons of gods. Woven into this martial epic tale of great and bloody battles are numerous narrative digressions and much religious instruction - including the wisdom of Bhiṣma, given from a deathbed of arrows, and the legendary 'Bhagavadgita', spoken by Kṛṣṇa at the very verge of war. An enactment of eternal conflicts, it is also a vital Hindu text on the nature of dharma - the right way for each person to live his or her life, and the only way to secure an improved lot in future births.
This selection by John D. Smith includes an introduction on the nature and fundamental themes of the Mahabharata, the events of story and the massive cast of characters appearing in it, and its importance to India and Hinduism. This edition also includes a pronunciation guide, map, glossary and key to names, bibliography and index.
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Table of Contents
Preface
Pronunciation of Sanskrit
Introduction
The Mahābhārata
1 Beginnings
2 The Hall
3 The Forest
4 Virāṭa
5 Perseverance
6 Bhīṣma
7 Droṇa
8 Karṇa
9 Śalya
10 The Night-raid
11 The Women
12 Tranquility
13 Instruction
14 The Horse Sacrifice
15 The Hermitage
16 The Clubs
17 The Great Journey
18 The Ascent to Heaven
Variant Readings Adopted
Key to Names and Glossary
Further Reading
Map: The India of the Mahābhārata
Genealogical Tables
Index
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Paperback Edition
912 pages. Printed card cover.
ISBN: 9780140446814
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About the Translator
John D. Smith was born in Nottingham in 1946. He attended Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read Sanskrit and Hindi. In the early 1970s he held a research fellowship at Christ's College, Cambridge; this was followed by nine years as lecturer in Sanskrit at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London. In 1984 he returned to Cambridge, where he is now emeritus Reader of Sanskrit. He has worked on both Sanskrit and modern Rajasthani, and his publications include The Visa, Adevarasa: a restoration of the text (Cambridge, 1976) and The epic of Pabuji: a study, transcription and translation (Cambridge, 1991).
