The Psychology of Mahabharat


Book Description

The Psychology of Mahabharat is a unique and insightful book that explores the ancient epic, Mahabharat, from a fresh and in-depth perspective. Unlike most other works on the subject, this book is not a retelling of the story but a thorough research-based study that delves into the psychological aspects and deeper wisdom contained within the original text. We all know about the story of Mahabharat, but people have only seen and understood it through television serials. Many incidents shown in these serials are not part of the original scripture, leading widespread misunderstandings. This book not only attempts to dispel these misconceptions but also provides answers to age-old questions related to Mahabharat. The author has dedicated over four years to meticulously researching and studying the original Sanskrit shloks (verses) of Mahabharat, as composed by the sage Ved Vyas. By examining the Original text verse by verse, the book unveils the true essence and depth of the Mahabharat, beyond the superficial narratives often depicted in other mediums. It unravels the psychological complexities and profound wisdom embedded within this ancient masterpiece, challenging conventional understandings and offering readers an unfiltered and real perspective.




Freud's Mahabharata


Book Description

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




Dialogics of Self, the Mahabharata and Culture


Book Description

'Dialogics of Self, the Mahabharata and Culture: The History of Understanding and Understanding of History' explores the interrelationships between individual and cultural historical dynamics in interpreting texts, using key concepts from Bakhtin's theory of dialogics. This ambitious volume discusses the limits of fixed monologic discourses and the benefits of fluid dialogic discourses, and provides a cultural and psychological analysis of the epic Indian text the 'Mahabharata'. The problem addressed by 'Dialogics of Self, the Mahabharata and Culture' is not just how we understand and narrate history, but also how the very mechanism by which we understand and narrate history itself has a history. This volume is about the interplay of several histories - that of the individual, individual's past relationship to the text, which in turn is dependent on the nature of encounters they have had in the past, and the history of the text, and the very history of understanding.




Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita


Book Description

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most influential spiritual texts of ancient India. In Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, Swami Rama makes this classic scripture accessible to all students by vividly drawing out the psychological concepts found within. The teachings in this book are based on the understanding that the outside world can be mastered only when one's inner potentials are systematically explored and realized. With the guidance and commentary of Himalayan Master Swami Rama, you can explore the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, which allows one to be vibrant and creative in the external world while maintaining a state of inner tranquility. This commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is a unique opportunity to see the Gita through the perspective of a master yogi, and is an excellent version for practitioners of yoga meditation. Spiritual seekers, psychotherapists, and students of Eastern studies will all find a storehouse of wisdom in this volume.




Demystifying Leadership


Book Description

Can leadership lessons be learnt from the Mahabharata? Demystifying Leadership positively asserts that we can and probes inquiry in the lives of six characters-Bhishma, Ashvatthama, Karna, Shakuni, Kunti and Krishna. It studies these characters in inescapable situations as they navigate through life by demonstrating values, decision-making ability, integrity and principles. Within the given constraints, some of these characters swim and rise, while others sink in moral turpitude. Extrapolating these successful and not-so-successful character traits to corporate leaders and linking them to scholarship, the authors provide lessons for leaders and managers operating in diverse situations. Borrowing from different disciplines, such as literature, philosophy, politics and psychology, Demystifying Leadership proposes to link essentials of leadership in the form of a Leadership Triangle comprising six levels: positive personality, peace with personal identity, purpose, positive use of power and politics, paradoxical leadership and principled pragmatism. It takes a grounded approach in amalgamating mythology and leadership through scholarship and practice.




Myth and the Mind


Book Description

Indian mythology is a teeming storehouse of heroes and heroines, who are psychological studies in themselves. Did you know, for instance, how Krishna’s son, who was his father’s alter ego, tackled the curse to be the destroyer of his entire clan? Did you know that sage Gargi was the only lady amongst legendary sages who competed for the prize for the greatest sage in the sub-continent? Did you know that Sahadev, the youngest Pandava, had qualities lacking in any of his other, better-known brothers? Did you know that Shakuni is actually a tragic hero? Myth and the Mind is a collection of six short stories about very interesting personalities in Indian mythology. These men and women are all great, and they are all human beings in whom we will all discover a small part of ourselves.




Yuganta


Book Description

Irawati Karve studies the humanity of the Mahabharata`s great figures, with all their virtues and their equally numerous faults. Sought out by an inquirer like her, whose view of life is secular, scientific, anthropological in the widest sense, yet appreciative of literary values, social problems of the past and present alike, and human needs and responses in her own time and in antiquity as she identifies them... Seen through her eyes the Mahabharata is more than a work which Hindus look upon as divinely inspired, and venerate. It becomes a record of complex humanity and a mirror to all the faces which we ourselves wear.




Valmiki's Ramayana


Book Description

One of India’s greatest epics, the Ramayana pervades the country’s moral and cultural consciousness. For generations it has served as a bedtime story for Indian children, while at the same time engaging the interest of philosophers and theologians. Believed to have been composed by Valmiki sometime between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE, the Ramayana tells the tragic and magical story of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, an incarnation of Lord Visnu, born to rid the earth of the terrible demon Ravana. An idealized heroic tale ending with the inevitable triumph of good over evil, the Ramayana is also an intensely personal story of family relationships, love and loss, duty and honor, of harem intrigue, petty jealousies, and destructive ambitions. All this played out in a universe populated by larger-than-life humans, gods and celestial beings, wondrous animals and terrifying demons. With her magnificent translation and superb introduction, Arshia Sattar has successfully bridged both time and space to bring this ancient classic to modern English readers.




The Mahabharata Secret


Book Description

244 BC Asoka the Great discovers an ancient and terrible secret—a secret buried deep in the Mahabharata; a secret that could destroy the world; a secret hidden away for over 2300 years… Present Day A retired nuclear scientist is murdered. He leaves only e-mails with clues for his nephew. He and his friends follow a trail through ciphers and 2000-year-old ruins. Pursued by powerful dark forces, caught between the secrets of the past and the intrigues of the present, can they unravel the mystery before an unspeakable horror is unleashed on the world… CHRISTOPHER C DOYLE graduated from St. Stephens College, Delhi, with a degree in Economics and studied Business Management at IIM Calcutta. Since childhood, his literary mentors have been Jules Verne, HG Wells, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, JRR Tolkein, Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks. Christopher has written articles on management and business for several publications, and is regularly invited to speak at conferences. He worked with leading multinationals before setting up a strategic consultancy in India in partnership with a US-based firm. He is also a certified Executive Coach and works with senior executives to help them achieve better results in the workplace. Work aside, Christopher is a musician and lives his passion for music through his band called Mid Life Crisis which plays classic rock. He lives in Gurgaon with his wife, daughter and two dogs. The Mahabharata Secret is his debut novel. USP An IIM graduate-turned-author, Christopher C Doyle is in the same league as Chetan Bhagat and Amish Tripathi Mahabharata Secret blends mythology and history with modern science and cutting edge technology A page turner with hi-octane suspense and intrigue Readership All fiction lovers, thriller junkies, history buffs, corporate yuppies, educational institutes, libraries and general trade readers.




Jaya


Book Description

High above the sky stands Swarga, paradise, abode of the gods. Still above is Vaikuntha, heaven, abode of God. The doorkeepers of Vaikuntha are the twins, Jaya and Vijaya, both whose names mean ‘victory’. One keeps you in Swarga; the other raises you into Vaikuntha. In Vaikuntha there is bliss forever, in Swarga there is pleasure for only as long as you deserve. What is the difference between Jaya and Vijaya? Solve this puzzle and you will solve the mystery of the Mahabharata. In this enthralling retelling of India’s greatest epic, the Mahabharata, originally known as Jaya, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants, including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and Yakshagana of Karnataka. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the worship of Draupadi as a goddess in Tamil Nadu, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jaimini, Aravan and Barbareek, the Mahabharata version of the Shakuntalam and the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. With clarity and simplicity, the tales in this elegant volume reveal the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years.