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Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King
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Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King Hardcover - 2001 - 1st Edition

by Alf Hiltebeitel

From the publisher

The ancient Indian Sanskrit tradition produced no text more intriguing, or more persistently misunderstood or underappreciated, than the Mahabharata. Its intricacies have waylaid generations of scholars and ignited dozens of unresolved debates. In Rethinking the Mahabharata, Alf Hiltebeitel offers a unique model for understanding the great epic. Employing a wide range of literary and narrative theory, Hiltebeitel draws on historical and comparative research in an attempt to discern the spirit and techniques behind the epic's composition. He focuses on the education of Yudhisthira, also known as the Dharma King, and shows how the relationship of this figure to others-especially his author-grandfather Vyasa and his wife Draupadi-provides a thread through the bewildering array of frames and stories embedded within stories. Hiltebeitel also offers a revisionist theory regarding the dating and production of the original text and its relation to the Veda. No ordinary reader's guide, this volume will illuminate many mysteries of this enigmatic masterpiece. This work is the fourth volume in Hiltebeitel's study of the Draupadi cult. Other volumes include Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Volume One), On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess (Volume Two), and Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics (Volume Three).

From the rear cover

The ancient Indian Sanskrit tradition produced no text more intriguing, or more persistently misunderstood or underappreciated, than the Mahabharata. Its intricacies have waylaid generations of scholars and ignited dozens of unresolved debates. In Rethinking the Mahabharata, Alf Hiltebeitel offers a unique model for understanding the great epic. Employing a wide range of literary and narrative theory, Hiltebeitel draws on historical and comparative research in an attempt to discern the spirit and techniques behind the epic's composition. He focuses on the education of Yudhisthira, called the Dharma King, and shows how the relationship of this figure to others-especially his author-grandfather Vyasa and his wife Draupadi-provides a thread through the bewildering array of frames and stories embedded within stories. Hiltebeitel also offers a revisionist theory regarding the dating and production of the original text and its relation to the Veda. No ordinary reader's guide, this volume will illuminate many wonders of this enigmatic masterpiece. This work is the fourth volume in Hiltebeitel's study of the Draupadi cult. Other volumes include Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Volume One), On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess (Volume Two), and Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics (Volume Three).

Details

  • Title Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King
  • Author Alf Hiltebeitel
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 375
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Chicago Press
  • Date 2001-10
  • ISBN 9780226340531 / 0226340538
  • Weight 1.38 lbs (0.63 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.28 x 6.32 x 1 in (23.57 x 16.05 x 2.54 cm)
  • Themes
    • Religious Orientation: Hindu
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001027300
  • Dewey Decimal Code 294.592

About the author

Alf Hiltebeitel is a professor of religion and director of the Human Sciences Program at The George Washington University. He is the author or editor of numerous books including the two-volume Cult of Draupadi and Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

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