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University of California Press

Mahabharata

by William Buck (Author), B.A. van Nooten (Introduction by)
Paperback
Price: $19.95 / £16.99
Publication Date: May 2019
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: Selected Countries
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780520305588
Trim Size: 5 x 7.75
Series:
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About the Book

Few works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience in nations with radically different languages and cultures as the Mahabharata. Written some 2,000 years ago and probably the longest Indian epic ever composed, it is a story of dynastic struggle that culminates in a fatal clash between two branches of a single ruling family. It is a moral and philosophical tale as well as a historical one. In his introduction, Sanskritist B. A. van Nooten notes that apart from William Buck’s rendition no other English version has been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic.

About the Author

William Buck (1933-1970) was a Sanskritist, devoting his life's work to modern retellings of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the unfinished Harivamsa.

Table of Contents

Publisher’s Preface
Introduction

PART I. IN THE BEGINNING
1. A Mine of Jewels and Gems
2. The Ring and the Well
3. Fire and Flame
4. Indraprastha
5. The Falling Sand

PART II. IN THE MIDDLE
6. Nala and Damayanti
7. The Th ousand-Petaled Lotus
8. An Iron Net
9. Virata
10. The Invasion
11. Do Not Tell
12. Sanjaya Returns
13. Trees of Gold
14. The Enchanted Lake
15. The Night

PART III. IN THE END
16. The Blade of Grass
17. The Lonely Encounter
18. Parikshita
19. The Timeless Path
20. The City of Gates

Notes
Reference List of Characters

Reviews

“William Buck recaptures a spirit, a poetry of expression, an atmosphere of awe, a liveliness of appreciation. The book is a pleasure to read.”—Times Literary Supplement
 
"The volume is modern in feeling and masterly in its classical finish of form and expression. It is not only a translation but has been reworked and rewritten with such close similarity with the original that the task deserves to be applauded. The mellifluous muse of the original epic can be heard in this version throughout."—The Journal of Religious Studies

"An absorbing tale. Buck has retold the story so that the modern reader will not be discouraged from knowing and loving the stories as he did himself."—Focus on Asian Studies Newsletter