Thus Verily It Was

by Geetha Varadan and Sasikala Devi

This book, Thus Verily It Was: Tales From The Mahabharata, evolved out of an interaction with children at the Rishi Valley School, in a class-room situation where the questions posed were: 'What values does the great Indian epic teach us, and how relevant are those values for us today in a world that is torn apart with greed, hatred, vendettas, strife, and cruelty towards and exploitation of all life forms?' In this book the main events of the Mahabharata are condensed a great deal, for the purpose is to dwell on the tales of instruction, many of which seem to rival traditional teachings of Love and Compassion. Wherever a similar idea/ tale known -- both in the Literature of India and of other lands -- it is brought to the attention of the reader. Some information not only regarding the main participants in the saga, but also regarding some terms which occur frequently in the epic, but whose meanings generally seem to be taken for granted, is given in the chapter entitled 'Notes' -- those names/ terms for which additional information is given are indicated by an asterisk (*). The information given in the section 'Notes' does not make any claim of being encyclopedic. Often the original term is used in the text with its translation given, when it first appears, in brackets. While admitting that it might hinder a smooth reading of the text, this style was retained because it was felt that the original word best suited the situation, and could easily be understood and remembered whenever it occurred again. When this material was used with the children of Rishi Valley School, diacritical marks were used in the text in order to facilitate reading. In this version, however, diacritical marks have not been used. Instead, when absolutely necessary, a double 'a' 9aa0 has been employed, as, for instance, when differentiating between the feminine Krishnaa (the name given to Draupadi at her birth) and the masculine Krishna (one of the incarnations of Vishnu).