Resources for a critical reading of Mahabharata

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

     देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरये
 nārāyaṇaṃ namaskṛtya naraṃ caiva narottamam

      devīṃ sarasvatīṃ caiva tato jayam udīrayet

Resources  for a critical reading of Mahabharata:

For those readers interested in a deeper understanding of the story I'm retelling, you can take a look at some of the resources I've been through. Here's a brief bibliography, I'll post more as time permits.

Mahabharata Translations:

The K.M. Ganguli version is an exhaustive translation of the entire work, the only complete translation available in English in the public domain:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/
https://archive.org/details/TheMahabharataOfKrishna-dwaipayanaVyasa
You can find it here at Gutenberg.org
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12058

 The 12 volume set complete edition is available online at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Mahabharata-Krishna-Dwaipayana-Vyasa-12-volumes/dp/812150094X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432911757&sr=1-2&keywords=ganguli+mahabharata



Another verse for verse translation was done by Manmathanath Dutta, 1895. Printed by H.C. Dass, This translation is also in the public domain and is indexed by verse, making it possible to cross-reference with a Sanskrit edition and check how each verse has been translated.  It's available from the digital archives at archive.org  https://archive.org/details/aproseenglishtr00duttgoog It reads almost exactly like the Ganguli translation done between 1883 and 1886. I'm of the opinion that Mr. Dutta probably used the authoritative Ganguli translation as his reference point, differing only slightly in his language. Dutta's work is a bit too literal for my taste, almost an exact word-for-word translation that tends to an awkward turn of phrase. But a comparison of the two makes a fascinating study for those interested in the whole problem of translation. It's also available, on Amazon.com, for a price.


I've been through the Bibek Debroy translation. His prose is a bit more terse; not sure if it's an overall improvement on Ganguli whose Victorian style is more sensitive to the spiritual aspects of the epic and whose turn of phrase is remarkably closer to that of A.C. Bhaktivedanta in his Bhagavad-gita As It Is. But here's the link on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Mahabharata-Vol-Penguin-Translated-Texts/dp/0143100130

Popular Versions and Retellings

Kamala Subramaniam

A more novelistic attempt at retelling the Mahabharata was done by Kamala Subramaniam: this version was the  popular favorite with Iskcon devotees back in the 70s. I've read this a few times. Tells the basic story of the Pandavas and their rivalry with the Kurus.

Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam http://www.amazon.com/Mahabharata-Kamala-Subramaniam/dp/8172764057

William Buck

The mysterious William Buck wrote a popular version of Mahabharata. According to legend he learned Sanskrit just to translate the work, but it seems clear to me he was using the Ganguli edition just as many other so-called "translators." Any good translator always looks for another version of the work just to have a reference point, I'm sure Mr. Buck was no exception. Mr. Buck's translation reads a bit like a "Beat" version, as if Jack Kerouac translated the Mahabharata. William Buck began with a promising career as a poet, but passed away untimely at the age of only 37.

Check out the article here. http://www.litkicks.com/WilliamBuck You can buy the William Buck version at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Mahabharata-William-Buck/dp/8120817192

Films and TV Series

The Mahabharata has generated a number of film projects. Here are a few links, I'll add more as time permits.:

Films:

Various attempts have been made at filming the story, each with varying degrees of success.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharat_(1965_film)

Western audiences will perhaps be familiar with the version of Peter Brook, which took years to mount and began as a 9 hour stage-play. The film runs a little over 5 hours. Brook was attempting a "universal" approach, but in many ways fails to grasp the inner meaning of the story. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097810/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mahabharata_(1989_film)

Here is a review of the stage play from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/25/arts/peter-brook-transforms-an-indian-epic-for-the-stage.html

Imagine staging a nine-hour production based on an ancient Hindu poem combining strains of the War of the Roses and Gotterdammerung into the cosmic grandeur of an Indian epic. Stir in a clash of two great dynasties in the hands of the gods, opposing armies locked in battle and the moral struggle of ideal heroes representing divine forces arrayed against demonic ones. All this, set against a background of primordial forests and sumptuous palaces, is encompassed in the monumental saga, ''The Mahabharata'' - a theatrical challenge that would intimidate most directors.

An animated drama from India 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharat_(2013_film)

TV:
Different TV mini-series in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharat_(2013_TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharat_(1988_TV_series)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fxwSd0AhEk

Critical Edition in Sanskrit

For Sanskrit scholars here's a critical sanskrit version: https://archive.org/details/Mahabharata_201303

General Information:

Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata

Date of Mahabharata War:

"The Gregorian calendar date for this event is February 18, 3102 BCE at 2:27:30 AM. Anybody with a good astronomy software can verify that this event if did indeed occur. Now, the eastern as well as the western astronomers have all accepted this date for the start of the Kaliyuga. A map on the last page will verify this. It does not show the North Node (Rahu), but both Rahu and Ketu (the south node) were in the same line 180 degrees apart."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2010/09/astronomical-proof-mahabharata-war-shri-krishna/

Diverse theories regarding the actual date of Mahabharata War, Dr. Vartak:

http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/mahabharat/mahab_vartak.html

Scholarly, linguistic, and genealogical analysis of date for Mahabharata War (This puts the date somewhere between 3100 B.C. and 192 B.C.) http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/MahabharataII.pdf

Mahabharata Literary Criticism

Critical Understanding of Mahabharata by C.A. Vaidya 1905,
available as pdf or epub @ archive.org



Discusses relationship between differrent narrators, Vyasa, Jaimini, Vaishampayana, Sauti, different iterations of the work, how it was expanded from 8,000 to 24,000, to 100,000 shlokas in sanskrit, possible interpolations by Vaishampayana and Sauti after the core work of Vyasa, early presence of Vaishnava and later Shivaite material, possible interpolations by smarta brahmanas, the literary value of the work, Mahabharata as epic poem vs. heroic poem, chronology of the work, spiritual aspects of the  poem, the nature of Mahabharata as scripture. Serious readers only; not for the faint-hearted.

https://archive.org/details/mahabharatacriti025113mbp

Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Analysis

For an excellent analysis of the chronology of Mahabharata and the Puranas, as well as a deep understanding of their eternal meaning, read Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Krishna Samhita. This was highly recommended to me by Bhakti Rakshaka Shridhar Maharaja my mentor, guru, and spiritual father. I never fail to learn something new from Krishna Samhita: it includes not only philosophy and precept, but deep insight from an enlightened being.

You can find the PDF here:

http://www.krishnapath.org/Library/Goswami-books/Bhaktivinoda-Thakura/Bhaktivinoda_Thakura_Krsna_Samhita.pdf

Supplemental Materials, Vedic technology, civilization, weapons

Vedic technology: http://mexpostfact.blogspot.com/2015/05/amazing-vedic-aeronautics.html

Vedic weapons: http://mexpostfact.blogspot.com/2015/05/vedic-weapons.html

"Aryan" Civilization: http://www.vicharvimarsh.com/2015/03/20/aryan-invasion-of-india-the-biggest-lie-propagated-by-leftist-historians/