The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.5
Word count
443K words
Chapters
45

Tags

English Originals Religion Military StrategyMythic WarClan FeudPower GameHeroic EnsembleHuman NatureMoral TestClassic TranslationIndian EpicAncient Style

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English ProseAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PK: Language and Literatures: Indo-Iranian literatures, Release Date: Apr 1, 2005

Editor's review

This is an English prose translation of the Mahabharata, released free by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Its core value lies in presenting the vast Indian epic in a relatively accessible English prose form, lowering the difficulty of reading it directly in Sanskrit or in verse translation, and making it suitable as an introductory text for understanding the epic's main stories, character relationships, and traditional Indian thought. As an ebook, it is easy to search, excerpt, and read across devices, suiting classroom selections, comparative literature reference, or self-study. Note that this is a translation, not a scholarly critical edition, and lacks detailed notes and introduction; readers should ideally consult a mythological dictionary or introductory materials alongside it. Overall, it suits readers with a clear reading plan who are willing to invest time, rather than those seeking light entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First read the main character relationships and story summary, then proceed volume by volume, avoiding getting bogged down in details from the start
  2. Read a fixed small section each day, keeping notes on characters and event threads
  3. When encountering unfamiliar divine names and place names, use a mythological dictionary or encyclopedia for assistance
  4. You may first read the core war narrative, then go back to the background chapters

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45

FAQ

Is this book the complete Mahabharata? The information indicates this is an English prose translation of the Mahabharata, a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg. It covers the epic's main narrative, but as an electronic text it usually does not include detailed scholarly annotation, and readers should not treat it as a critical edition.
Can I understand it without a background in Indian culture? Yes, but you will need support. It is advisable to first learn the main character relationships and basic mythological system, and while reading use a dictionary or encyclopedia to look up divine names, place names, and allusions; this will noticeably reduce the difficulty of understanding.
Is it suitable as classroom teaching material? It is suitable as selected reading material. Its English prose form is easier to read than verse translations and is convenient for searching and excerpting; but it lacks an introduction and notes, so teachers need to supplement background materials and discussion questions themselves.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.