Epic India Or India As Described In The Mahabharata And The Ramayana

India As Described In The Mahabharat And The Ramayana.

These are wonderful examples of early Hindu writing, with tales showing people how to live ideal lives as husbands, wives kings and servants. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Excerpt from The Great Indian Epics: The Stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata The Indian Epics are precious relics of the springtime of Eastern thought, revealing a new and singularly fascinating world, which differs very remarkably from that depicted in the epic poetry of Western lands. But although these epics are extremely interesting, and although they are accessible in English translations, more or less complete, they are such voluminous works that their mere bulk is enough to repel the ordinary English reader, and even the student, in these days of feverish occupation. I may, no doubt, be justly reminded that every Indian History, written within recent years, contains abstracts of the two epics; but these abstracts, I would observe, are skeletons rather than miniatures of the poems; they are the dry bones, on which the historians try to support a fabric of historical inferences or conjectures, and they are necessarily deficient in the mythological, romantic and social elements so important to a proper comprehension of the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Great Indian Epics: The Stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata Where, for any reason, I have especially desired that an event recorded, or an Opinion expressed, in the epics should be reproduced without the possibility of misrepresentation on my part, I have thought it best to quote verbatim the translations of them made by Hindu scholars; although, unfortunately, their versions are by no means elegant, and, indeed, often quite the reverse. But as they, no doubt, reflect the structure and texture of the poems in a way that no more free or polished English rendering could possibly do, I fancy the citations I have made will not be un welcome to most readers. My book is divided into two distinct parts dealing separately with the Ramayana and the Maha bharata, and at the end of each part I have given, in the form of an Appendix, one or two of the more striking legendary episodes lavishly scattered through these famous epics, and which, though not essential for the comprehension of the main story, are too beautiful or important to be omitted. Of these episodes I should say that they are the best-known portions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, having been told and retold in all the leading Indian vernaculars, and having, most of them, been brought before the European world in both prose and verse. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

One Of India s Finest Novelists Retells The Two Great Indian Epics As Well As Some Well-Known Tales From Hindu Mythology And Folklore. While The Eleventh Century Tamil Poet Kamban s Version Inspires His Ramayana, Narayan S Mahabharata Is Based On Vyasa S Monumental Work. In Gods, Demons And Others, He Includes Stories From Kalidasa S Sanskrit Classic Abhijnana Shakuntalam, The Tamil Epic Silappadikaram, The Shiv Purana And The Devi Bhagwatam.