Evolution of the Mahabharata and other writings on the epics

Perhaps the grandest epic in the world, the Mahabharata bas captured the imagination of generations. It is a lotry saga of conflict, changing morals, clash of eras, and exploring human values ” Evolution of the Mahabharata and Other Writings on the epic by S R Ramaswamy-the renowned scholar journalist, environmentalist from Karnataka-includes a translation of his 1972 classic Mahabharatada Bėļavanige and seven of his essays on various topics related to the Mahabharata and the Gita.

Evolution of the Mahabharata tells the story of the preparation of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata by VS Sukthankar and his team at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. It succinctly discusses the nature of the Mahabharata text, the problem of myriad manuscripts, the views of the Western scholars on the Epic, the method of preparing the Critical Edition, and the remarkable contribution of VS Sukthankar, among other things. This is one of the early books in an Indian language meant for the common reader to understand and appreciate the greatest scholarly undertaking of the twentieth century

The present volume also includes insightful essays on Vyasa, the author of the Epic, the famous Bharata-Savitri episode; the character of Bhisma, the Jnanesvari of Sant Jnanesvari, the unique position of the Gita and the reverence accorded to it.

These translations from the original Kannada contain many additional notes for the English reader, a detailed appendix with short biographical sketches of Indian and Western scholars associated with the Epic, and an index of all verses quoted in the book