Author : Krishna Dharma
Publisher : Torchlight Pub
Page : 941 pages
File Size : 46,1 MB
Release : 2006-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781887089135
Cheated of their kingdom and sent into exile by their envious cousins, the Pandavas set off on a fascinating journey. This work recounts the history of the five heroic Pandava brothers. Its includes spiritual themes, and is filled with suspense, intrigue, and wisdom.
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 465 pages
File Size : 28,61 MB
Release : 2019-07-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0190279206
Forming the final part of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, the Harivamsha's main business is to supply narrative details about the great god Vishnu's avatar Krishna Vasudeva, who has been a comparatively minor character in the previous parts of the Mahabharata, despite having taken centre stage in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is born in Mathura (some 85 miles south of present-day Delhi). As an infant he is smuggled out of Mathura for his own safety. He and his brother Baladeva grow up among cowherds in the forest, where between them they perform many miraculous deeds and kill many dangerous demons, before returning to Mathura where they kill the evil King Kamsa and his cronies. Thereafter, Krishna is the hero and unofficial leader of his people the Yadava-Vrishnis. When Mathura is besieged by enemies, Krishna leads his people to abandon the town and migrate west, founding the dazzling new city of Dvaraka by the sea. Krishna then repeatedly travels away from that base repeatedly to perform heroic deeds benefitting those in need - including his own people, his more immediate family, and the gods. After narrating the stories of Krishna, the Harivamsha ends by finishing the story of Janamejaya with which the Mahabharata began. The Harivamsha is a powerhouse of Hindu mythology and a classic of world literature. It begins by contextualising Vishnu's appearance as Krishna in several ways, in the process presenting a variety of cosmogonical, cosmological, genealogical, mythological, theological, and karmalogical materials. It then narrates Krishna's birth and adventures in detail. Presenting a wide variety of exciting stories in a poetic register that makes extensive use of natural imagery, the Harivamsha is a neglected literary gem and an ideal starting-point for readers new to Indian literature.
Author : Guy L. Beck
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 227 pages
File Size : 15,16 MB
Release : 2012-02-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 079148341X
Krishna—widely venerated and adored in the Hindu tradition—is a deity of many aspects. An ancient manifestation of the Supreme God Vishnu, or the Godhead itself, Krishna is the bringer of Yoga philosophy and the creator of the universe, the destroyer of evil tyrants, and the hero of the epic Mahabharata. He is also described in classical Sanskrit texts as having human characteristics and enjoying very human pursuits: Krishna is the butter thief, cowherd, philanderer, and flute player. Yet even these playful depictions are based upon descriptions found in the Sanskrit canon, and mostly reflect familiar, classical Pan-Indian images. In this book, contributors examine the alternative, or unconventional, Krishnas, offering examples from more localized Krishna traditions found in different regions among various ethnic groups, vernacular language traditions, and remote branches of Indian religions. These wide-ranging, alternative visions of Krishna include the Tantric Krishna of Bengal, Krishna in urban women's rituals, Krishna as monogamous husband and younger brother in Braj, Krishna in Jainism, Krishna in Marathi tradition, Krishna in South India, and the Krishna of nineteenth-century reformed Hinduism.
Author : Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Publisher : Prabhat Prakashan
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 33,26 MB
Release : 2021-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN :
The present book is a translation of original Mahabharata written by Vyasa in sanskrit prose. This translation has been carried out in the form of prose in the English language.
Author : Swami Achuthananda
Publisher : Relianz Communications Pty Ltd
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 13,44 MB
Release : 2022-02-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0975788353
Krishna is the single most beloved figure in Hinduism. Such is his popularity that he is considered a supreme god in his own right even though he is only an avatar. In this book, we journey through Krishna's life--spanning his birth, childhood, youth, and adulthood--and describe many of the delightful stories associated with him. We also examine the Mahabharata War in which he plays a major non-combat role. Krishna is the eight incarnation of Vishnu. Although the purpose of his incarnation was to end the life of the demon king Kamsa, he turned into a larger-than-life figure with his childhood pranks and adolescent romances. Starting with a miraculous birth—that has parallels to the birth of Jesus—Krishna grew up as an ordinary, but adorable child. In his youth, Krishna became the heartthrob of milkmaids and popularized the passionate romantic dance Rasa Lila, together with his childhood sweetheart Radha. The annihilation of Kamsa followed thereafter. By this time the purpose of his incarnation was accomplished, but he stayed back on Earth to play a major part in the Mahabharata War. His greatest gift to humanity—the Bhagavad Gita—was delivered at this time. Maybe he overextended his stay, because his extraordinary life came to an end in less than perfect circumstances. The Mahabharata occupies a significant portion of this book. With a complex plot and a myriad of characters, the epic has surprisingly no role models, only many heroes. Yet, the Mahabharata has been the inspiration for countless books, songs, and Bollywood movies. Although this book is centered on Krishna, the remaining avatars of Vishnu—particularly Buddha—are also explored at length.
Author : Alf Hiltebeitel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 42,41 MB
Release : 2018-08-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0190878347
Though Freud never overtly refers to the Mahthe companion volume to Freud's India, Alf Hiltebeitel offers what he calls a "pointillist introduction" to a new theory about the Mah
Author : R. K. Narayan
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 46,19 MB
Release : 2016-02-12
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 022605747X
“Narayan makes this treasury of Indian folklore and mythology readily accessible to the general reader . . . he captures the spirit of the narrative.”—Library Journal The Mahabharata tells a story of such violence and tragedy that many people in India refuse to keep the full text in their homes, fearing that doing so would invite a disastrous fate upon their house. Covering everything from creation to destruction, this ancient poem remains an indelible part of Hindu culture and a landmark in ancient literature. Centuries of listeners and readers have been drawn to The Mahabharata, which began as disparate oral ballads and grew into a sprawling epic. The modern version is famously long, and at more than 1.8 million words—seven times the combined lengths of the Iliad and Odyssey—it can be incredibly daunting. But contemporary readers have a much more accessible entry point to this important work, thanks to R. K. Narayan’s masterful, elegant translation and abridgement of the poem. Now with a new foreword by Wendy Doniger, as well as a concise character and place guide and a family tree, The Mahabharata is ready for a new generation of readers. Narayan ably distills a tale that is both traditional and constantly changing. He draws from both scholarly analysis and creative interpretation and vividly fuses the spiritual with the secular. Through this balance he has produced a translation that is not only clear, but graceful, one that stands as its own story as much as an adaptation of a larger work.
Author : Swami Mukundananda
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 33,97 MB
Release : 2013-04-05
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780983396727
Commentary on 'The Bhagavad Geeta' by Swami Mukundananda
Author : Sohini Sarah Pillai
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 297 pages
File Size : 28,22 MB
Release : 2024
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 0197753558
Krishna's Mahabharatas: Devotional Retellings of an Epic Narrative is a comprehensive study of premodern regional Mahabharata retellings. This book argues that Vaishnavas (devotees of the Hindu god Vishnu and his various forms) throughout South Asia turned this epic about an apocalyptic, bloody war into works of ardent bhakti or "devotion" focused on the beloved Hindu deity Krishna. Examining over forty retellings in eleven different regional South Asian languages composed over a period of nine hundred years, it focuses on two particular Mahabharatas: Villiputturar's fifteenth-century Tamil Paratam and Sabalsingh Chauhan's seventeenth-century Bhasha (Old Hindi) Mahahbharat.
Author : Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 540 pages
File Size : 27,71 MB
Release : 2018-07-10
Category :
ISBN : 9781722737412
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose Adi Parva by Kisari Mohan Ganguli SECTION I Om! Having bowed down to Narayana and Nara, the most exalted male being, and also to the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered. Ugrasrava, the son of Lomaharshana, surnamed Sauti, well-versed in the Puranas, bending with humility, one day approached the great sages of rigid vows, sitting at their ease, who had attended the twelve years' sacrifice of Saunaka, surnamed Kulapati, in the forest of Naimisha. Those ascetics, wishing to hear his wonderful narrations, presently began to address him who had thus arrived at that recluse abode of the inhabitants of the forest of Naimisha. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.
