Eight times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined, the Mahabharata is ancinet India's greatest spiritual epic. This selection of twenty mystical stories contains adventure, romance and intrigue, along with timeless lessons of wisdom and virtue. These extraordinary tales inspire challenge and motivate us to live up to the highest ideals and values. They also provide insights into transcendental knowledge that leads to eternal blissful happiness.

Here the collected papers explore the whole question of the relation between the mythopoetic and the moral in the context of the Mahabharata. Here we have a story of extreme complexity, characters that are unforgettable, and a cosmic context in which gods and men alike grapple with destiny. The obligations of kinship and friendship jostle with each other. The women characters, as in everyday life, seem to bear a very heavy load of the burden of life and to stand in a key position in almost every conflict. We are presented with predicaments at every turn. At times these predicaments seem to be aggravated by social structure. At other times they are cushioned by it. Philosophical tangles tied up with karma and dharma are interwoven with the mythopoetic material. Perhaps philosophical issues are pinpointed rather more than they are in Greek epic literature. The essays in this book treat the Mahabharata from an unusual angle, fastening on the moral dilemmas it presents. How universal are the dilemmas faced by the characters in the story, and are the dilemmas in fact resolved? In dealing with these questions, the discussions range over the meaning of the purusarthas, the institutions of marriage and the family, the concept of action in the Gita and the special predicaments faced by Draupadi, Arjuna and others. These studies invite the scholar to reflect afresh on the text and encourage the general reader to find in epic literature much that is relevant to life today.

Ancient India, like ancient Greece boasts of two great Epics. One of them, the Maha-bharata, relates to a great war in which all the warlike races of Northern India took a share, and may therefore be compared to the Iliad. The great war which is the subject of this Epic is believed to have been fought in the thirteenth or fourteenth century before Christ. The war thus became the centre of a cycle of legends, songs, and poems in ancient India, the vast mass of legends and poetry, accumulated during centuries, was cast in a narrative form and formed the Epic of the Great Bharata nation, and therefore called the Maha-bharata. The real facts of the war had been obliterated by age, legendary heroes had become the principal actors, and, as is invariably the case in India, the thread of a high moral purpose, of the triumph of virtue and the subjugation of vice, was woven into the fabric of the great Epic.

A vivid journey back to the time of Krishna, his holy city, and the Mahabharata War • Recounts ecstatic celebrations, Krishna’s love for his wives and sons, and events surrounding the Mahabharata War • Offers potent spiritual lessons from Krishna’s teachings and stresses Krishna’s ability to contain all opposites and stand above duality • Provides a historical timeline and real dates for the Mahabharata War and the sinking of Krishna’s city beneath the sea Located on the west coast of India in the state of Gujarat, the city of Dwaraka is considered one of the seven holy cities of India. Archaeological discoveries of ruins and artifacts off the city’s coast have now conclusively proven what many have long believed: Modern Dwaraka is built on the same site as the famed city of the same name from the Puranas and the Mahabharata, the “Golden City” of Lord Krishna. Transporting us back five thousand years to the time of Krishnavatara, the age in which Krishna lived, Vanamali leads us on a journey alongside Lord Krishna as he reigns over the ancient port city of Dwaraka and helps the Pandavas through the Mahabharata War. Recounting ecstatic celebrations, Krishna’s love for his wives and sons, and events surrounding the epic war, the author stresses Krishna’s ability to contain all opposites and stand above duality like a lotus leaf floating on a running stream. Offering potent spiritual lessons throughout her story, she shows how the truly spiritual individual is able to unreservedly accept all dimensions of life and rise above all dualities of existence, war and peace, love and hate, sex and abstinence, action and meditation. She also provides a historical timeline for the Mahabharata War and the sinking of Krishna’s city beneath the sea--3126 BCE and 3090 BCE, respectively--and shows how the Mahabharata War occurred under circumstances quite similar to those of the present day, both politically and astrologically. Through her vivid tale and her personal connection with Krishna across many lifetimes, Vanamali shows how the magic and mystery of Krishna’s ancient holy city live on through his spiritual teachings.

"THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. While Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra, Ajaya is the tale of the Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man. From the pen of the author who gave voice to Ravana in the national bestseller, ASURA, comes the riveting narrative which compels us to question the truth behind the Mahabharata. THE DARK AGE OF KALI IS RISING and every man and woman must choose between duty and conscience, honour and shame, life and death… o The Pandavas, banished to the forest following the disastrous games of dice, return to Hastinapura. o Draupadi has vowed not to bind her hair till she washes it in the blood of the Kauravas. o Karna must choose between loyalty and gratitude, friend and Guru. o Aswathama undertakes a perilous mission to the mountains of Gandhara, in search of the Evil One. o Kunti must decide between her firstborn and her other sons. o Guru Drona has to stand with either his favourite disciple or his beloved son. o Balarama, having failed to convince his brother about the adharma of violence, walks the streets of Bharatavarsha, spreading the message of peace. o Ekalavya is called to make the ultimate sacrifice to uphold a woman’s honour. o Jara, the beggar, sings of Krishna’s love while his blind dog, Dharma, follows. o Shakuni can almost see the realization of his dream to destroy India. As the Pandavas stake their claim to the Hastinapura throne, the Kaurava Crown Prince, Suyodhana, rises to challenge Krishna. As great minds debate dharma and adharma, power hungry men prepare for an apocalyptic war. The women, highborn and humble, helplessly watch the unfolding disaster with deep foreboding. And greedy merchants and unscrupulous priests lie in wait like vultures. Both sides know that beyond the agony and carnage the winner will take all. But even as gods conspire and men’s destinies unfold, a far greater truth awaits. ***** One of the six most remarkable writers of India. DNA An Amazing read. The WEEK Unique voice of a rebellious author telling the story from the other side, a feat a few have dared or managed so well. Bihar Times"