Millennia have passed since the dharma yudhha of the cousins shook the land of Bharata. But this history of our ancestors continues to fascinate us. Even today, we have passionate discussions about the people and their actions in the epic, fervidly defending our favourites and denouncing others. The number of works on the Mahabharata-adaptations, retellings and fiction-that still get written is a testimony to its enduring relevance. While the general storyline is largely known, a lot of questions and myths prevail, such as-What was the geographical extent of the war? Did Drona actually refuse to take on Karna as his disciple? What were Draupadi's responsibilities as the queen of Indraprastha? Did she ever mock Duryodhana? Were the women in the time of the Mahabharata meek and submissive? What were the names of the war formations during the time? What role did the sons of the Pandavas play? Does the south of India feature at all in the Mahabharata? What happened after the war? These and many other intriguing questions continue to mystify the contemporary reader. Author Ami Ganatra debunks myths, quashes popular notions and offers insights into such aspects not commonly known or erroneously known, based solely on facts as narrated in Vyasa's Mahabharata from generally accepted authentic sources. For a history of such prominence and influence as the Mahabharata, it is important to get the story right. So pick this book up, sit back and unveil the lesser-known facts and truths about the great epic.

The first volume of Mahabharata Unravelled covered the itihasa of our ancestors true to the narration of Rishi Veda Vyasa. But the Mahabharata is more than a story of the past. It has extensive discourses on ethics, personal and social interaction, administration, jurisprudence and related topics, in the form of conversations. For instance, the Shanti Parva, the largest of the 18 parvas, is a treatise on Raja Dharma. Advice on the responsibilities and duties of leaders and administrators is imparted to Yudhishthira by Bhishma from his bed of arrows on the field of war. Then there is a profound dialogue between Dhritarashtra and the erudite Vidura that appears in Udyoga Parva, popularly known as Vidura Neeti. Likewise, there is a thought-provoking story narrated by Rishi Markandeya to the Pandavas of a meat-seller who teaches dharma to a Brahmin named Kaushika. In this book, Ami Ganatra highlights the most important lessons from the Dharma discourses found in the Mahabharata. Their teachings hold true even in current times, perhaps more so than ever.

Though the story of Rama is much loved and well known, questions remain: Why did Rama agree to go to vanvas-was it only to obey his father or was there more to it? What was the relationship between Rama and Seeta? Was Seeta a pitiable, oppressed woman or an assertive woman with her own mind? Is the Ramayana inherently misogynist? What led to the downfall of Ravan? Ramayana Unravelled attempts to draw out insights from the epic as narrated to Rishi Valmiki to answer these and other such questions. It also explores other aspects of the Ramayana such as the events of Rama's youth that shaped his values as a king, Lakshmana's character, Hanumana's wit and the making of the nala-setu.

The main purpose of writing this book was to expose the myths and legends prevalent in the society related to Mahabharata. Secondly, it also became necessary to write this book so that the society gets to know the true facts about the history of the lunar dynasty. There are many questions mark on Mahabharata due to misconceptions and legends prevalent in the society. For example, (1) Was Asvatthama mortal or immortal? (2) Was Krishna god or super human being? (3) Was there a caste system or varna system in the society of that time? (4) Did Karna belong to a lower caste? (5) Did Krishna show his powers in lengthening Droupadi's saree during the dyuta-sabha? (6) Did Droupadi really say that the son of a blind man is blind? Was Droupadi the reason for the war? (7) Did Droupadi refuse to marry Karna in the Swayamvar, calling him a suta-putra? (8) Was Hanuman really sit on Arjun's chariot during the war? (9) Did Krishna really cover the sun during the war? (10) How will Kalyuga end? (11) How was Yudhishthira punished for his half lie? (12) Was the war of Mahabharata a battle for power or really a dharam-yudha? (13) Did guru Drona ask for Eklavya's thumb? If yes, was it because of Arjuna or anything else? (14) Who was superior, Arjuna or Karna? There are many more such questions of which answers are given incident-wise in this book that is written in a very simple English to make it easily read and understood by everyone.

We have all read Aesop's fables, Jataka tales, and the Panchatantra or Hitopadesha stories. But what about the fables from the Mahabharata? We know about the human characters, but do we know about the clever jackal, the hypocrite swan, the smart mouse, the evil cat, the lazy camel, the arrogant tree, the faithful parrot or the astonishing mongoose in Vyasa's great epic? Vyasa-Katha presents fifty-one fables from the Mahabharata. These fascinating and instructive fables are a treasure-trove of practical and political wisdom, moral values, universal truths and philosophy. Animals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, trees, rivers, directions, life forces, death and time intriguingly teach ancient Indian wisdom. With vivid descriptions and colourful expressions, the fables exemplify the advanced art of storytelling in ancient India. Author Nityananda Misra contextualises the fables and presents a faithful and unabridged translation. Carrying insights from Nilakantha's commentary and numerous Indian texts, with a beautiful collection of twenty-four illustrations, this is a must-read for children and adults alike.

Mahābhārata, retold.

Sanskrit classical epic; text with English translation.