Author: Devdutt Pattanaik Publisher: Penguin UK ISBN: 9351187373 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 288
Book Description
Patriarchy asserts men are superior to women Feminism clarifies women and men are equal Queerness questions what constitutes male and female Queerness isn’t only modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. Take a close look at the vast written and oral traditions in Hinduism, some over two thousand years old, and you will find tales of: Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife Mahadeva, who became a woman to deliver a devotee’s child Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend and many more . . . Playful and touching—and sometimes disturbing—these stories when compared with tales of the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh, the Greek Ganymede, the biblical Sodom or the Chinese ‘cut sleeve’ Emperor reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness. Devdutt Pattanaik’s new book builds on profound ideas that our ancestors shared but which we have rarely inherited. This book has content for mature audiences. Discretion advised.
Author: Ramesh Menon Publisher: iUniverse ISBN: 9780595845651 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 598
Book Description
The Mahabharata is the more recent of India's two great epics, and by far the longer. First composed by the Maharishi Vyasa in verse, it has come down the centuries in the timeless oral tradition of guru and sishya, profoundly influencing the history, culture, and art of not only the Indian subcontinent but most of south-east Asia. At 100,000 couplets, it is seven times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined: far and away the greatest recorded epic known to man. The Mahabharata is the very Book of Life: in its variety, majesty and, also, in its violence and tragedy. It has been said that nothing exists that cannot be found within the pages of this awesome legend. The epic describes a great war of some 5000 years ago, and the events that led to it. The war on Kurukshetra sees ten million warriors slain, brings the dwapara yuga to an end, and ushers in a new and sinister age: this present kali yuga, modern times. At the heart of the Mahabharata nestles the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God. Senayor ubhayor madhye, between two teeming armies, Krishna expounds the eternal dharma to his warrior of light, Arjuna. At one level, all the restless action of the Mahabharata is a quest for the Gita and its sacred stillness. After the carnage, it is the Gita that survives, immortal lotus floating upon the dark waters of desolation: the final secret! With its magnificent cast of characters, human, demonic, and divine, and its riveting narrative, the Mahabharata continues to enchant readers and scholars the world over. This new rendering brings the epic to the contemporary reader in sparkling modern prose. It brings alive all the excitement, magic, and grandeur of the original-for our times.
Author: Ashwini Shenoy Publisher: One Point Six Technology Pvt Ltd ISBN: 9388942558 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 349
Book Description
Centuries have passed since the Great War of Kurukshetra, but her name is still uttered in hushed whispers – eunuch, hijra, neither man nor woman... But was this all there was to Shikhandini, Princess of Panchala? Was this her only identity? The firstborn of King Drupada, Shikhandini was trained to be a warrior from early childhood. She became a Rathi, and then an Athirathi, a warrior of unmatched valour and skill, who singlehandedly defeated the hundred Kaurava brothers in battle. All her life she strove to fulfil one goal – to slay the Maharathi of Hasthinapur, in a trans-generational act of vengeance. But was this her final destiny? At the Battle of Kurukshetra, when the Pandava brothers seem to have lost all hope and are facing defeat, it is Shikhandini who joins them and turns the battle in their favour. If not for her, history would have been written differently. But what was the price she paid? How far did she go in order to prove herself and accomplish her goal? What did she sacrifice along the way? Was she just a pawn in the game between the Kurus? Or was she a true hero, conveniently forgotten because she was not born a man? In this retelling of epochal events, Shikhandini’s transformation from woman to man, based on ancient medical science, is what makes this story both riveting and real in its validity, human intensity, driven purpose and ultimate sacrifice. In this new dawn, when the third gender is finally gaining acceptance and identity, it is perhaps time Shikhandini’s story was retold in all its tragic glory.
Author: Karthika Nair Publisher: Archipelago ISBN: 193981037X Category : Poetry Languages : en Pages : 298
Book Description
A dazzling and eloquent reworking of the Mahabharata, one of South Asia's best-loved epics, through nineteen peripheral voices. With daring poetic forms, Karthika Naïr breathes new life into this ancient epic. Karthika Naïr refracts the epic Mahabharata through the voices of nameless soldiers, outcast warriors and handmaidens as well as abducted princesses, tribal queens, and a gender-shifting god. As peripheral figures and silent catalysts take center stage, we get a glimpse of lives and stories buried beneath the dramas of god and nation, heroics and victory - of the lives obscured by myth and history, all too often interchangeable. Until the Lions is a kaleidoscopic, poetic tour de force. It reveals the most intimate threads of desire, greed, and sacrifice in this foundational epic.
Author: Ami Ganatra Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 9354351336 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
Millennia have passed since the dharma yudhha of the cousins shook the land of Bharata. But this history of our ancestors continues to fascinate us. Even today, we have passionate discussions about the people and their actions in the epic, fervidly defending our favourites and denouncing others. The number of works on the Mahabharata-adaptations, retellings and fiction-that still get written is a testimony to its enduring relevance. While the general storyline is largely known, a lot of questions and myths prevail, such as-What was the geographical extent of the war? Did Drona actually refuse to take on Karna as his disciple? What were Draupadi's responsibilities as the queen of Indraprastha? Did she ever mock Duryodhana? Were the women in the time of the Mahabharata meek and submissive? What were the names of the war formations during the time? What role did the sons of the Pandavas play? Does the south of India feature at all in the Mahabharata? What happened after the war? These and many other intriguing questions continue to mystify the contemporary reader. Author Ami Ganatra debunks myths, quashes popular notions and offers insights into such aspects not commonly known or erroneously known, based solely on facts as narrated in Vyasa's Mahabharata from generally accepted authentic sources. For a history of such prominence and influence as the Mahabharata, it is important to get the story right. So pick this book up, sit back and unveil the lesser-known facts and truths about the great epic.
Author: Publisher: Penguin UK ISBN: 818475681X Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 632
Book Description
The Greatest Story Ever Told Dispute over land and kingdom may lie at the heart of this story of war between cousins—the Pandavas and the Kouravas—but the Mahabharata is about conflicts of dharma. These conflicts are immense and various, singular and commonplace. Throughout the epic, characters face them with no clear indications of what is right and what is wrong; there are no absolute answers. Thus every possible human emotion features in the Mahabharata, the reason the epic continues to hold sway over our imagination. In this superb and widely acclaimed translation of the complete Mahabharata, Bibek Debroy takes us on a great journey with incredible ease.
Author: Jenny Williamson Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1507219415 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
"Get inspired with 50 fascinating stories of powerful female figures from mythologies around the world. From heroines and deities to leaders and mythical creatures, this collection explores figures of myth who can inspire modern readers with their ability to shape our culture with the stories of their power, wisdom, compassion, and cunning. Featured characters include: Atalanta (Greek heroine and huntress who killed the Caledonia Boar and joined the Argonauts); Sky-Woman (the first woman in Iroquois myth who fell through a hole in the sky and into our world); Clídna (Queen of the Banshees in Irish legend); and La Llorona (a ghostly woman in Mexican folklore who wanders the waterfront). Celebrate these game-changing, attention-worthy female characters with this collection of engaging tales"--
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik Publisher: Penguin UK ISBN: 8184753454 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 360
Book Description
‘I am not sure that I am a man,’ said Yuvanashva. ‘I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?’ Among the many hundreds of characters who inhabit the Mahabharata, perhaps the world’s greatest epic and certainly one of the oldest, is Yuvanashva, a childless king, who accidentally drinks a magic potion meant to make his queens pregnant and gives birth to a son. This extraordinary novel is his story. It is also the story of his mother Shilavati, who cannot be king because she is a woman; of young Somvat, who surrenders his genitals to become a wife; of Shikhandi, a daughter brought up as a son, who fathers a child with a borrowed penis; of Arjuna, the great warrior with many wives, who is forced to masquerade as a woman after being castrated by a nymph; of Ileshwara, a god on full-moon days and a goddess on new-moon nights; and of Adi-natha, the teacher of teachers, worshipped as a hermit by some and as an enchantress by others. Building on Hinduism’s rich and complex mythology—but driven by a very contemporary sensibility—Devdutt Pattanaik creates a lush and fecund work of fiction in which the lines are continually blurred between men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Confronted with such fluidity the reader is drawn into Yuvanashva’s struggle to be fair to all—those here, those there and all those in between.
Author: Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Publisher: Darryl Morris ISBN: Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 5718
Book Description
The Mahabharata, "What is found here, may be found elsewhere. What is not found here, will not be found elsewhere." The ancient story of the Mahabharata casts the reader's mind across spiritual and terrestrial vistas and battlefields. Through the experiences of divine incarnations and manifest demons, a great royal dynasty is fractured along fraternal lines, resulting in the greatest war of good and evil ever fought in ancient lands. This most venerable of epics remains profoundly timeless in it teachings of truth, righteousness and liberation. This second edition ebook of the Mahabharata is Kisari Mohan Ganguli's 1896 translation and is complete with all 18 parvas in a single ebook. It features a comprehensive table of contents, book summaries and double linked footnotes.
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Author: Ramesh Menon
Author: Ashwini Shenoy
Author: Karthika Nair
Author: Ami Ganatra
Author: 
Author: Jenny Williamson
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Author: Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
Author: Dr. D. D. Sinha