Mahabharata (book)
The Mahābhārata (Sanskrit: महाभारतम्) is one of two major Sanskrit epics and foundation texts of ancient India. Modern scholars agree that it was composed in the fifth or fourth century BCE. It was originally rather short but over time grew through oral tradition to the modern version, now 1.8 million words, in length nearly seven times longer than Homer’s combined epics, the Iliad and Odyssey.
It is an epic depicting the battle between one’s mixed higher spirituality against one’s baser inclinations.
The epic tells of two branches of one family, cousins who vied against each other for power, the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas, sons of two brothers, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. War for control of the kingdom eventually became unavoidable. Sri Krishna, by that time the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, one of the Hindu Trinity, became the war charioteer of the Pandava brother Arjuna.
It was Arjuna’s reluctance to engage in bloody battle against the other branch of his own family that gave rise to the dialog between himself and his divine charioteer Sri Krishna, the book known as the Bhagavadgita, concerning human nature, ignorance of body and soul, worldly illusion, noble duty, karma, and spiritual growth towards moksha - ultimate release from Samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.
Digital Versions
Numerous translations and editions are available on the Internet, including:
- Chakravarti Rajagopalachari’s retelling of the story (http://www.gita-society.com/pdf2011/mahabharata.pdf), a single on-line pdf file
- Mahabharata by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (http://www.indiadivine.org/content/files/file/470-mahabharata-by-c-rajagopalachari-pdf/) in English in pdf format
- Mahabharat Story Summary and Complete Book (http://www.allaboutbharat.org/post/Mahabharat-Story-Summary) in English and Hindi, pdf
- Mahabharata Resources (http://www.mahabharata-resources.org) the study of Mahabharata in all its avataras
Translations by theosophists
- Mahabharata: The Epic Story of the Great War (https://archive.org/details/storygreatwarso00besagoog) by Annie Besant
Additional resources
Articles and pamphlets
- “Category: Characters in Mahabharata” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Characters_in_Mahabharata
- “Biography of Characters from Mahabharata” (http://www.angindia.com/angika_biography_mahabharata.html)
- “Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought, Vision & Practice” (http://ww.geocities.com/profvk/VK2/Sanatsujatiyam.html?200721)
- “Mahabharata: Hindu literature” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/MahabharataBooks)
- “The Mahabharata” (https://www.theosophyforward.com/articles/theosophical-encyclopedia/532-mahabharata-the)
Books
- The Bhagavad Gita: translated from the Sanskrit by Swami Nikhilananda, New York. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center. 1944 copyright. Fifth printing 1987.
- The Theosophist, vol. 22, page 473 https://books.google.com/books?id=8jUNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA473&lpg=PA473&dq=theosophy+books+about+mahabharat&source=bl&ots=_w2gpCOtL6&sig=t0-VPMDakli-z-YG3GGpPW8HzYE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidioy-u4bTAhUj5IMKHS93CJAQ6AEIKDAD#v=onepage&q=theosophy%20books%20about%20mahabharat&f=false)