Stories from the Mahabharata

by Swami Sivananda

This epic is held in great reverence and esteem by the millions of Hindus and is generally known as the fifth Veda, for it contains the Gita, acknowledgment of a belief in which as the Scripture is the hallmark of every true Hindu. For thousands of years and even today, the Hindu prefaces his worship, his ceremonies and his celebrations with the announcement that he is a dweller in the land of Bharatavarsha and Bharatakhanda.

The epic contains the life history of the Bharatas, for more than four generations beginning with Santanu onwards to Parikshit and Janamejaya and commonly known as Pandavas and Kauravas. It includes the biographies and episodes of various other important people connected with the Bharatas besides folk-tales, legends and moral stories innumerable.

Table of Contents:

• King Sibi and the Pigeon
• Jajali and Tuladhara
• Sage Durvasa and the Pandavas
• Yudhishthira and the Serpent
• Proud Dambhodbhava
• King Ambarisha and Cupidity
• Gautami and the snake
• Ungrateful Gautama and The Crane
• Prarabdha and Purushartha
• Saga Alarka and the Senses
• A Brahmin and His Wise Son
• The Power of Austerities
• Niceties of Dharma
• Guru Bhakti
• Ashtavakra and Vandi
• King Janaka and Ownership
• Sage Janaka and Renunciation
• Savitri and Satyavan
• Nala and Damayanti
• The Supreme Virtue or Women
• Teachings of Bhishma
• Yudhishthira the Righteous
• Yudhishthira and Yaksha
• Arjuna the Mighty Bow-man
• Karna the Munificent
• Draupadi-The Symbol of Virtues
• Appendices
• Morals
• Who Is Who is Mahabharata.

About the Author:

Sri Swami Sivananda , born on the 8th September, 1887, in the illustrious family of Sage Appayya Dikshita and several other renowned saints and savants, Sri swami Sivananda had a natural flair for a life devoted to the study and practice of Vedanta.

He was an inborn eagerness to serve all and an innate feeling of unity with all mankind. He is the author of over 300 volumes and has disciples all over the world, belonging to all nationalities, religions and creeds. To read his works is to drink at the Fountain of Wisdom Supreme. On 14th July, 163 he entered Mahasamadhi.