Stories from the Mahabharatha - A Retelling The Mahabharatha is the biggest epic in the world and tells the story of the five Pandavas fighting against their hundred Kaurava cousins in a huge war. The war nearly wiped out the entire warrior class in existence in those times. Arjuna, the third Pandava was one of the most vital Pandava warriors. Krishna was Arjuna's cousin and he also fought for the Pandavas. Arjuna and Krishna, were the two most important reasons that the Pandavas could win the war. Arjuna obtained many celestial weapons for this war. This is a retelling about how Arjuna obtained the powerful weapons.

The Mahabharata is the more recent of India's two great epics, and by far the longer. First composed by the Maharishi Vyasa in verse, it has come down the centuries in the timeless oral tradition of guru and sishya, profoundly influencing the history, culture, and art of not only the Indian subcontinent but most of south-east Asia. At 100,000 couplets, it is seven times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined: far and away the greatest recorded epic known to man. The Mahabharata is the very Book of Life: in its variety, majesty and, also, in its violence and tragedy. It has been said that nothing exists that cannot be found within the pages of this awesome legend. The epic describes a great war of some 5000 years ago, and the events that led to it. The war on Kurukshetra sees ten million warriors slain, brings the dwapara yuga to an end, and ushers in a new and sinister age: this present kali yuga, modern times. At the heart of the Mahabharata nestles the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God. Senayor ubhayor madhye, between two teeming armies, Krishna expounds the eternal dharma to his warrior of light, Arjuna. At one level, all the restless action of the Mahabharata is a quest for the Gita and its sacred stillness. After the carnage, it is the Gita that survives, immortal lotus floating upon the dark waters of desolation: the final secret! With its magnificent cast of characters, human, demonic, and divine, and its riveting narrative, the Mahabharata continues to enchant readers and scholars the world over. This new rendering brings the epic to the contemporary reader in sparkling modern prose. It brings alive all the excitement, magic, and grandeur of the original-for our times.

In this extraordinary debut, Ashok Ferry chronicles, in a gently probing voice, the journeys of characters seeking something beyond the barriers of nations and generations. His tales of social-climbing Sri Lankans, of the pathos of immigration, of rich people with poor taste, of ice-cream karma, of innocent love, eternity, and more take us to Colombo’s nouveau riche, hoity-toity returnees, ladies with buttery skin and square fingernails, old-fashioned aristocrats, and the poor mortals trapped between them. Ferry’s stories comprise characters that are ‘serious and fine and upstanding, and infinitely dull’, but also others like young John-John, who loses his childhood somewhere ‘high up in the air between Asmara and Rome’; the maid, Agnes of God, whose mango-sucking teeth ‘fly out at you like bats out of the mouth of a cave’; Ashoka, the immigrant who embodies his Sri Lankan identity only on the bus ride between home and work; and Professor Jayaweera who finds sterile freedoms caged in the ‘unbending, straight lines of Western Justice’. Absurd, sad, scathing and generous, but mostly wickedly funny, Colpetty People presents modern Sri Lankans as they navigate worlds between Ceylon and the West.

The Mahabharata of Veda Vyasa is the longest recorded epic in the world. With almost 100,000 verses, it is many times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combines and has deeply influenced every aspect of the Indian ethos for some 4,000 years. The main theme of the epic is the Great War in Kurukshetra, but it seems with smaller stories, and other stories within these, all woven together with a genius that defies comparison. As its heart, it contains Krishna's immortal Bhagvat Gita, The Song of God. The Mahabharata embodies the ancient and sacred Indian tradition in all its earthy and spiritual immensity. Famously, 'What is found here may be found elsewhere. What is not found here will not be found elsewhere.' Many believe this most magnificient epic to be the greatest story ever told. Yet, the only full Indian translation of the Mahabharata into English is the one penned in the 19th century by Kisari Mohan Ganguli. More than a hundred years have passed since Ganguli accomplished his task, and the laguage he used is now, sadly archaic

Available in English translation, this book is one of a collection of leading Indian post-independence novels. Each text is supported with an introduction and either detailed footnotes or a glossary as appropriate. Publication coincides with the 50th anniversary of Indian independence.

The Mahabharata is one of the greatest stories ever told. Though the basic plot is widely known, there is much more to the epic than the dispute between Kouravas and Pandavas 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. This magnificent 10-volume unabridged translation of the epic is based on the Critical Edition compiled at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. * The final volume ends the instructions of the Anushasana Parva. The horse sacrifice is held, and Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, Vidura and Sanjaya leave for the forest. Krishna and Balarama die as the Yadavas fight among themselves. The Pandavas leave on the great journey with the famous companion—Dharma disguised as a dog. Refusing to abandon the dog, Yudhishthira goes to heaven in his physical body and sees all the Kurus and the Pandavas are already there. * 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.

Akhil Arora, a young, dorky engineer in Delhi, can’t wait to get away from home and prove to his folks that he can be on his own. Meanwhile in a small town in Punjab, Jaspreet Singh, aka Jassi, is busy dreaming of a life straight out of American Pie. As fate would have it, they end up as roommates in Florida. But the two boys are poles apart in their perspectives and expectations of America. While Akhil is fiercely patriotic and hopes to come back to India in a few years, Jassi finds his Indian identity an uncomfortable burden and looks forward to finding an American girl with whom he can live happily ever after. Laced with funny anecdotes and witty insights, Amreekandesi chronicles the quintessential immigrant experience, highlighting the clash of cultures, the search for identity, and the quest for survival in a foreign land.

Vana Parva, also known as the “Book of the Forest”, is the third of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. Vana Parva has 21 sub-books and 324 chapters. It is one of the longest books in the Epic. It discusses the twelve-year sojourn of the Pandavas in the forest, the lessons they learn there and how it builds their character. It is one of the longest of the 18 books in the Mahabharata, and contains numerous discussions on virtues and ethics, along with myths of Arjuna, Yudhishthara, Bhima tales of “Nahusha the snake and Yudhisthira” as well as “Ushinara and the hawk”, love stories of “Nala and Damayanti”, as well as “Savitri and Satyavan”.The Vana Parva is a phase of learning and self-reflection for the Pandavas. They go into the Vana Parva quite dejected, but comes out at the end of it with renewed vigor and strength.