PASSAGES FROM INDIA
One of the longest books in the world, the Mahabharata tells the story of a country, a culture and a family tearing itself apart.
In ancient India, it was said that nothing exists which is not within its pages. This hubristic claim hints at the fatigue which sets in if you try to absorb it in one go. The epic is best read piecemeal, over several years, even a lifetime. The Kolkata publisher, P Lal, spent his entire career “transcreating” the epic. The University of Chicago translator, JAB van Buitenen, died on the job. RK Narayan took a more relaxed approach, abridging it into one volume, as did the Cambridge Sanskritist, John D Smith.
This story is from the August 12, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the August 12, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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