Essays on the Mahabharata

This book is a classic study of a monumental work, the Mahabharata, perhaps the largest
epic in world literature. It is an epic study of the epic on account of the voluminous size it has itself attained, the kaleidoscopic variety of the themes it covers, the great diversity of approaches it canvasses, and the wide array of contributions it includes, and the high standard of scholarship it achieves.

This volume, like the epic it deals with, passed through several stages before assuming its present form. Originally some of these essays appeared in the Journal of South Asian Literature (XX: 1:1-168). I would like the take this opportunity to thank Professor Carlo Coppola for inviting me to edit the section of that issue devoted to the Mahabharata and for permitting me to incorporate it into this volume.

Not everyone who wanted to write could do so in time for the issue, and so the idea of a book emerged. In due course, the alchemy of patience (and repeated requests) gradually transformed promises into finished products. Thus, after several years of a merely notional existence, the book is now in your hands. But then some things are worth waiting for -a sentiment I hope the appearance of this volume will confirm.

Readership: Students and specialists of Hinduism, comparative religion, comparative literature, comparative mythology, and classics.

Arvind Sharma is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada. He is the author of numerous books including The Philosophy of Religion: A Buddhist Perspective 1995 and Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction (2000).