The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.8

Word count: 4.8M words
Chapters: 477

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, Volume 3 by Kisari Mohan GanguliAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PK: Language and Literatures: Indo-Iranian literatures, Release Date: Mar 26, 2005

Editor's review

This volume is the third of the complete English translation of the Mahabharata by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, released free by Project Gutenberg. One of India's two great epics, the Mahabharata is vast in scale with a multitude of characters and subplots; this third volume continues the main narrative and contains extensive dialogue, instruction, and embedded stories, making it an important text for understanding Indian religious, ethical, and narrative traditions. The translation is in Victorian English, with long sentences and dense terminology, so the barrier to entry is high; its advantage is that it is complete and searchable, suiting researchers and patient readers of the classics. Rather than forcing your way from the start, first familiarize yourself with the framework through a guide or character chart, then proceed section by section through the plot units; the philosophical teachings can be read separately from the narrative portions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students of Indian epic, religion, and comparative literature
Readers with basic knowledge of the Mahabharata who wish to read the complete English translation
Readers who enjoy long classical narratives and can accept old-style English syntax
Researchers who need a free public-domain text for textual searching or citation

Not a good fit for

Beginners new to Indian epic who need modern annotation and guidance
General readers who prefer a Chinese translation or abridged edition
Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and lack patience for lengthy dialogue and embedded stories

Reading tips

First find a character chart and plot summary to understand this volume's place in the whole work before entering the text.
Read in plot units and summarize each in a few sentences to avoid a tangle of accumulating threads.
Handle instructional dialogue separately from narrative passages: the latter can be read through, the former skimmed with notes.
Build your own reference table for recurring titles and terms to reduce look-up costs.

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.

FAQ

Can I read Volume 3 without having read the first two volumes?

Yes, but with difficulty. Volume 3 continues characters and events from earlier, and without the first two volumes' background you can easily lose the threads. At minimum, learn the main storyline and principal family relationships first, or read a reliable plot summary before entering this volume, and consult the character chart as you go.

How difficult is the language of this translation?

This is an earlier complete English translation, with long syntax, archaic wording, and dense proper nouns and titles; it is harder than modern translations. Readers with good English can make progress, but should use a dictionary, character chart, and modern guide, slow down, and read by units rather than chasing speed.

Is this book suitable as an introductory text?

Not really. The complete translation is enormous in length with complex background and lacks modern annotation and guidance, so readers new to Indian epic may be frustrated. Beginners should first read a reliable abridged edition, guide, or Chinese introduction to build a framework and interest before considering the complete English translation.

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.