About the book:This is a summarized version of Mahapurana Srimad Bhagvatam. Though condensed the book carries all the important aspects. The author has done away with the ornamentation and decorations and has kept the hard core of the Mahapurana. She has brought out the essentials of Srimad Bhagavatam in a simple and appealing language. This book is a confluence of Bhakti yoga, karma yoga and Jnana yoga. More details: Bhagavatam is the essence of all Vedic wisdom. This book-Bhagavat Purana is made up of ten sections. Various stories of Purana are told in this book. Krishna s story with the Mahabharat story in it is told in more detail than the others. The story of Pururavas and the celestial maid Urvashi, the story of King Trishanku who wanted to enter heaven with his earthly body, Yayati and Devyani s story, Dushyanta Shakuntala, and many others are told here.

Srimad Bhagavatam

Kamala Subramaniam

History

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

About the book:The author has captured with dramatic intensity the movement of the story of the epic Mahabharata. The narrative is vivid, and is a priceless legacy for the young and the old. The story of the Pandavas and the Kauravas and the Mahabharata war has been retold in a superb manner. Though the book is an abridged version of the great epic, all the important aspects have been covered in it. The style is lucid, the dialogues crisp and the characters come alive in front of the readers because of the descriptions by the author. The story is more than just an epic, it tells the story of heroic men and women, code of life, philosophy of social and ethical relations. More details: This book on the Mahabharata starts with the meeting of Ganga and Santanu, and their subsequent marriage, and the birth of their children. When Santanu asks Ganga the reason for drowning the children born to her, she takes the eighth child and disappears from his life. The story continues with Satyavati, Pandu, Dhritarashtra, Pandavas and Kauravas, and ends with the entry of the Pandavas into heaven. The Mahabharata is not a mere epic:it is a romance,telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who are divine:it is a whole literature in itself,containing a code of life,a philosophy of social and ethical relations,and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival,but above all,it has for it's core with Gita,which it,as the world is beginning to find out,the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas the climax of which is reached in the wondrous Acolypse in the eleventh canto.Through such books alone,the harmonies underlying true culture, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life. The popularity of the book is such that it has run into fourteen editions since it was first published in the year 1965.

Mahabharata

Religion & Spirituality

Hinduism

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan/Mumbai/India

The two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharat are two encyclopaedias of ancient Aryan life and wisdom, portraying an ideal civilization. The Ramayan is a perennial source of spiritual, cultural and artistic inspiration to all readers. Rama is the ideal son, the ideal ruler, the ideal husband and the ideal son. Sita is unique, the embodiment of the ideals of womanhood. More details: Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkinda Kanda, Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda, form the different sections of this great love story. Beginning with Valmiki and Narada, Bala Kanda deals with Dasaratha and the birth of Rama, Vishvamitra taking the lads to the forest and ends with Sita kalyanam. The second part deals with Rama's banishment and Bharata's appeal. The third talks of Panchavati, Dandaka forest, Shurpanakha, Shabari and Sita being taken to Ravana s Lanka. Kishkinda Kanda deals with Rama's search for Sita while Sundara Kanda talks of Hanuman entering Lanka. Yudha Kanda talks of the war between humans, monkeys and the rakshasas, ending with the coronation of Rama.

Ramayana

Long ago the Earth witnessed a catastrophic battle It was a time when the Gods walked the world and mankind knew secrets they have long since forgotten In such a time there were two half-brothers named Pandu and Dhritarashtra They were the heirs of the Kuru dynasty the mighty kingdom fathered by the legendary Bharata son of Shakuntala and Dushyanta However neither were fit to rule Dhritarashtra was born blind and Pandu had an illness which doomed him to die were he to ever engage in sexual intercourse Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari who bears him one hundred sons the hundred Kauravas Pandu marries Kunti the adopted daughter of King Kuntibhoja and Madri Kunti s miraculous ability to summon Gods to grant her children yields Pandu five heirs the Pandavas Although the vast empire of Bharata had to be equally divided between the cousins the Kauravas greed knew no end Soon this very greed engulfs both families in a battle that immortalized their names in legends and songs Attributed to the Sa

Mahabharatha [Hardcover] [Dec 01, 2012] Kamala Subramaniam

The Mahabharata