RETHINKING THE "MAHABHARATA" by Alf Hiltebeitel ( 9780226340548 )

Item Details

Title:

RETHINKING THE "MAHABHARATA"
A READER'S GUIDE TO THE EDUCATION OF THE DHARMA KING

By:

Alf Hiltebeitel

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£32.00

Our price:

£28.80

Discount:

10% off

You save:

£3.20

ISBN 10:

0226340546

ISBN 13:

9780226340548

Availability:

Usually dispatched within 1-3 weeks.

Delivery rates

Stock:

Currently 0 available

Publisher:

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Pub. date:

30 October, 2001

Pages:

368

Description:

Employing a range of theories, the author draws on historical and comparative research in an attempt to discern the spirit and techniques behind the Mahabharata epic. He focuses on Yudhisthira's education, and shows how this figures relationships with others provides a thread through the stories.

Synopsis:

The ancient Indian Sanskrit tradition produced no text more intriguing, or more persistently misunderstood or underappreciated, than the Mahabharata. Its intricacies have waylaid generations of scholars and ignited dozens of unresolved debates. In this text, Alf Hiltebeitel offers a unique model for understanding the great epic. Employing a range of literary and narrative theories, he draws on historical and comparative research in an attempt to discern the spirit and techniques behind the epic's composition. The author focuses on the education of Yudhisthira, also known as the Dharma King, and shows how the relationship of this figure to others - especially his author-grandfather Vyasa and his wife Draupadi - provides a thread through the bewildering array of frames and stories embedded within stories. Hiltebeital also offers a revisionist theory regarding the dating and production of the original text and its relation to the Veda.

Illustrations:

Ill.

Publication:

Imprint:

University of Chicago Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

A HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS IDEAS (PB)

CRIMINAL GODS AND DEMON DEVOTEES (PB)

DHARMA (HB)

DHARMA (PB)