->GrahamHardy: about

2021-06-19T15:31:57Z

about

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:01, 19 June 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2019}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2019}}
			{{about\|\|other books\|Mahabharata (disambiguation)#Literature}}
	{{Infobox book		{{Infobox book
	\| name = The Mahābhārata		\| name = The Mahābhārata

>Rich Farmbrough: /* top */Date formats

2019-08-03T23:28:49Z

top: Date formats

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Mahābhārata
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Mahabharata John D Smith Cover.png
| caption =
| author = [[John D. Smith]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language = English
| series =
| genre = [[Mythology]]
| publisher = [[Penguin Classics]]
| release_date = 2009
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print
| pages =
| isbn = 978-0-670-08415-9
| oclc = 615860861
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''''The Mahābhārata''''' is a noted [[abridged]] translation of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' by [[John D. Smith]], first published in 2009 by [[Penguin Classics]].

== Quotations ==
{{quote|Viewed through human eyes, the [[Kurukshetra War|war at Kurukṣetra]] is fought to settle the dispute between two sets of royal cousins; from the point of view of [[Krishna|Kṛṣṇa]] and the other [[Deva (Hinduism)|gods]], the entire world of men is merely the theatre in which their latest battle with their old rivals has to be played out. The gods are not engaging in that battle for our benefit, but for their own, and the niceties of particular human ''[[dharma]]s'' are not high among their priorities.|John D. Smith, ''The Mahābhārata'': Introduction<ref>[[John D. Smith|Smith, John D.]] (2009). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0YULAQAAMAAJ The Mahābhārata: an abridged translation]''. [[Penguin Classics]]. ({{ISBN|978-0-670-08415-9}}). Introduction, p. xli</ref>}}

{{quote|A portion of [[Lakshmi|Śrī]] was born on earth for men to love: she was the blameless girl [[Draupadi|Draupadī]]|John D. Smith, tr., ''The Mahābhārata''}}

{{quote|And a portion of Sri herself became incarnate on earth, for the gratification of [[Narayana]], in the line of [[Bhishmaka]]. And she was by name the chaste [[Rukmini]]. And the faultless Draupadi, slender-waisted like [[Wasp waist|the wasp]], was born of a portion of [[Sachi]] (the queen of the celestials)|[[Kisari Mohan Ganguli|K. M. Ganguli]], tr., ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01068.htm The Mahabharata]: [[Adi Parva|Book 1:Adi Parva]]''}}

== Reviews ==
{{quote|The last English translation of the Mahabharata, John D Smith’s 2009 Penguin Classics edition, was a happy midway mark between a proper scholarly or academic translated edition and a text for the general reader.|[[Neel Mukherjee (writer)|Neel Mukherjee]], ''[[New Statesman]]''<ref>[[Neel Mukherjee (writer)|Mukherjee, Neel]] (15 May 2015). ''[https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/05/mahabharata-unbound-rewriting-worlds-longest-poem Mahabharata unbound: rewriting the world's longest poem]''. ''[[New Statesman]]''. Retrieved 4 October 2017.</ref>}}

{{quote|I approached Dr. Smith’s book with some doubts—how could the world’s longest poem be squeezed into less than 800 pages? The attempts by Narsimhan, [[R.K. Narayan]] and others deprive the reader of the thematic richness and the brilliance of [[Vyasa]]’s narrative art. But the felicity with which Smith negotiates Vyasa’s labyrinthine forest is astonishing: pruning outgrowths, mowing down undergrowths, skirting deceptive byways! His strategy is to abridge without leaving out anything by providing précis of less important sections and translating fully the parts most significant in terms of narrative and style (about 11% of the original).|Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, ''[[New Statesman|The Sunday Statesman]]''<ref>Bhattacharya, Dr. Pradip (31 October 2010). ''Mahabharata by Smith, DebRoy''. ''[[New Statesman|The Sunday Statesman]]''. Available at: [http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=9794 Boloji.com]. Retrieved 4 October 2017.</ref>}}

{{quote|In almost 800 pages this rendition of the critical text of Pune consists of direct and complete translation of about 11% of the [[Sanskrit]] text (p. lxviii) and straightforward summation of the text between the translated passages.|''Sanskrit in Classics at [[Brown University|Brown]]''<ref>''[http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Sanskrit_in_Classics_at_Brown/Mahabharata/MBh2Biblio.html#SmithPenguin A New One-Volume Retelling of the Epic:]'' Retrieved 4 October 2017.</ref>}}

{{quote|The Kolkata publisher, [[Purushottama Lal|P Lal]], spent his entire career "transcreating" the epic. The [[University of Chicago]] translator, JAB van Buitenen, died on the job. RK Narayan took a more relaxed approach, abridging it into one volume, as did the [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] Sanskritist, John D Smith. These short English versions are recommended for anyone who wishes to read the 'Mahabharata' without succumbing to exhaustion.|Alice Albinia, ''[[The Independent]]''<ref>Albinia, Alice (9 June 2011). ''[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-of-a-lifetime-the-mahabharata-2295259.html Book Of A Lifetime: The Mahabharata]''. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved 4 October 2017.</ref>}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*[[Wendy Doniger|Doniger, Wendy]] (8 October 2009). ''[https://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n19/wendy-doniger/how-to-escape-the-curse How to Escape the Curse]''. ''[[London Review of Books]]''. Vol. 31. No. 19. pages 17–18. <small>Retrieved 4 October 2017.</small>
*Parihar, Parth (29 March 2016). ''[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parth-parihar/no-hinduism-is-not-behind-indias-rape-crisis_b_9554926.html No, Hinduism Is Not Behind India’s ‘Rape Crisis’]''. ''[[HuffPost]]''. <small>Retrieved 4 October 2017.</small>

== External links ==
*[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/178842/the-mahabharata/ Book info] at [[Penguin Group]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahabharata}}
[[Category:2009 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Penguin Books books]]
[[Category:Works based on the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Books about Kali (demon)]]

{{Hindu-book-stub}}

The Mahābhārata (Smith book) - Revision history

->GrahamHardy: about

>Rich Farmbrough: /* top */Date formats