Maha-bharata The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse [Kindle Edition]

Product Description This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Product Details Format: Kindle Edition File Size: 226 KB Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited Publisher: Public Domain Books (March 17, 2006) Sold by: Amazon Digital Services Language: English I have read very little of this book, but I am writing a review to explain some things that might help someone. The Mahabharata is one of the 2 major national epics of India. It is most famous in the west for containing the Hindu classic scripture Bhagavad Gita. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) this Kindle version is severely abridged. According to Wikipedia the full-length Mahabharata is 10 times the length of the Odyssey and the Illiad combined. That is one long poem! This Kindle version is fairly short at only 2,322 locations. As far as I can tell the Bhagavad Gita is missing. If it is in here it is hiding under a different title. The Kindle formatting is better than that of most classic freebies. The table of contents links to chapters. Headings are clear. And unlike many Kindle freebies, the poetry is actually formatted as poetry. I can't say much about the translation except that for a layman such as myself it appears to be written in an easy-to-read poetic style - at least as easy as you can expect from a 100 year old translation of an ancient epic composed in Sanskrit. This epic is largely about the war that is taking place in the Bhagavad Gita, and it involves many of the same characters from the Gita including Arjuna. I think this book would be most useful if you have already read the Gita and are looking for a companion piece to tell you more about the war, characters, and philosophical/religious ideas.