Author: Arvind Sharma
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 489
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8120827384
Description
This book is a classic study of a monumental work, the Mahabharata, perhaps the largest epic in world literature. It is an epic study of the epic on account of the voluminous size it has itself attained, the kaleidoscopic variety of the themes it covers, the canvases, the wide array of contributions it includes and the high standard of scholarship it achieves. Readership: Students and specialists of Hinduism, comparative religion, comparative literature, comparative mythology and classics.
The essays of this book are on survey and discussion of manuscripts used in the critical edition of the Mahabharata (Mhb); the stylistic study, computer analysis and concordance of Mhb; study of Karnabhara and Urubhanga; plays attributed to Bhasa; the tales of epic partheno-genesis; dark interactions in the Mhb; the story of Daksa's confrontation with Siva; the Sauptika episode which encapsulates the central meaning and message of the epic; Mahabharata's presentation of itself; santarasa in the Mhb; analysis of the characters of Bhisma and Vyasa; Arjuna's combat with Kirata; a study of the Jaina Mhb; ritual and performance in the Pandavalila of Garhwal; a study of Bhima's character; a study on the myth Savitri; the epic context of the Bhagavadgita; the battle of Kuruksetra in topological transposition; categories of Arthasastra in the Mhb; Janamejaya's snake sacrifice; Krisna as enigma; repetition in the Mahabharata; and the Himalayan variations on epic theme.
Contents
. Manuscripts used in the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata: A Survey and Discussion
2. The Mahabharata: Stylistic Study, Computer Analysis and Concordance
3. Karnabhara: The Trial of Karna
4. Urubhanga: The Breaking of the Thighs
5. Epic Parthenogenesis
6. Two Krsnas, Three Krsnas, Four Krsnas, More Krsnas: Dark Interactions in the Mahabharata
7. The Original Daksa Saga
8. The Sauptika Episode in the Structure of the Mahabharata
9 .India’s Fifth Veda: The Mahabharata’s Presentation of Itself
10. Santarasa in the Mahabharata
11. The Epic’s Two Grandfathers, Bhisma and Vyasa
12. Arjuna’s Combat with the Kirata: Rasa and Bhakti in Bharavi’s Kiratarjuniya
13. The Jaina Mahabharata
14. Ritual and Performance in the Pandavalila of Garhwal
15. Raksasa Bhima: Wolfbelly among Ogres and Brahmans in the Sanskrit Mahabharata and the Venisamhara
16. Savitri: Old and New
17. The Epic Context of the Bhagavadgita
18. The Battle of Kuruksetra in Topological Transposition
19. Arthasastra categories in the Mahabharata: from Dandaniti to Rajadharma
20. Snakes, Sattras and the Mahabharata
21. Krsna: In Defence of a Devious Divinity
22. Repetition in the Mahabharata
23. Himalaya Variations on an Epic Theme
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX