Mahabharata

by Ajay Mitra Shastri

The Mahabharata War was, or thought to be, such a momentous event as to leave an indelible impact on the life and culture of not only the Indian subcontinent but on all the other countries where Indians migrated in strength and lived for some time. There were several important personages in India and abroad named after the Mahabharata characters and places in far-flung areas are found christened after them. The Mahabharata is still being lived by Indians and by those imbibing Indian culture elsewhere. One cannot think of Indian religion, philosophy, thought-pattern and literary genres without the Mahabharata.

The present anthology of twenty-six well-researched papers representing the outcome of a national seminar hosted by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, sheds welcome light and presents fresh perspective on absorbing questions relating to the Great Epic like the date of the war, peoples, ethnography, culture, polity, communication, epigraphic allusions, etc. It also studies numerous versions prepared by the votaries of different sects to suit their own needs and in different sects to suit their own needs and in different Indian languages. They either contain fresh information or stress the need to have a second look at the known data. By their very nature, these contributions are bound to stir the imagination of ane excite one and all interested in epic studies and early Indian history and culture.

The present anthology of twenty-six well-researched papers representing the outcome of a national seminar hosted by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, sheds welcome light and presents fresh perspective on absorbing questions relating to the great epic like the date of the war, peoples, ethnography, culture, polity, communication, epigraphic allusions, etc. It also studies numerous versions prepared by the votaries of different sects to suit their own needs and in different Indian languages. They either contain fresh information or stress the need to have a second look at the known data. By their very nature, these contributions are bound to stir the imagination of and excite one and all interested in epic studies and early Indian history and culture.