Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari Book Review

Name :Mahabharata

Author: Charkravarti Rajagopalachari

Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

First Published: 1950

Pages : 483

Genre : Religious, Mythology, Indian, Hinduism, Translation, Historical Fiction

Language: English

Book Blurb

Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: “What is not in it, is nowhere.” But even now, we can use the same words about it. He who knows it not, knows not the heights and depths of the soul; he misses the trials and tragedy and the beauty and grandeur of life. The Mahabharata is not a mere epic; it is a romance telling the tale of heroic men and women, and of some who were divine. It is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival.

Review

Everyone in the Indian Subcontinent have listened to stories of Mahabharata in bits and pieces. But very few read the full story of it. That is ,in itself, describable for the epic consists of over a hundred thousand verses and very few understand the language in which it is written in ,viz. Sanskrit. Mahabharata has become the synonym for ‘Herculean task’. Therefore,you have to rely on translation and retelling of Mahabharata in your language.

So if you interested in reading the complete tale of Mahabharata, this book is the first book you should start with. C. Rajagopalachari has retold the age old tale of Pandavas and Kauravas , of dharma and adharma in the most simple way possible. Along with his fantastic style of storytelling, With a total of 107 chapters, side stories that are not generally told are in the book as well.

The chapters are short and crisp and the author occasionally has inserted his insights about ‘Dharma’ and other matters which makes us easier to understand certain events which we can make wrong impression on us if misguided.

The writing is simple such that a child reading it would understand, because Rajaji had written it initially so that the newer generation would understand the greatness of the epic. While the critical editions of Mahabharata can be haunting task, this one gives you a clear overview in the simplest way possible.

Having said so , the book is not perfect. The author Rajaji was a very religious and philosophical man, so he presents his view of the story. Here Yudhishthira is the epitome of Dharma and Duryodhana of adharma , which is quite true to the original epic. But nowadays, there are tons of books from the defeated perspective, that of Karna, that of Duryodhana and so on. In those works,the Pandavas’ misdeeds are exaggerated. In this one, the author has potrays the Pandavas as good as possible. Some people who are adept on reading works of high literary value may find it poor as this is written in simple language.

My Ratings

It is beyond me or any one’s calibre to review Mahabharata but I make you clear that I’m not judging the epic but this written retelling of it.

Cover : 3

Theme : 4.5

Writing : 4

Overall : 4/5

Recommendations

All in all ,this is a very good introduction to the Mahabharata and covers almost all the basics. As I’ve said earlier, this book I recommend to all those who are interested in reading the basics of the epic in a brief manner.