5 h 52 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does duty demand when the people you must fight are your own family?
In Romesh Chunder Dutt’s verse epic Maha-bharata, the Pandavas and Kauravas share a royal house but clash over its inheritance. Yudhishthira seeks justice, Bhima brings immense strength, and Arjuna excels in battle. Against them, Duryodhana resists their claims. Their rivalry turns kingship into a painful struggle over loyalty, honour, and the right to rule.
A game of dice carries the conflict into the royal hall, where Yudhishthira’s gambling exposes his brothers and Draupadi to humiliation and exile. Away from power, patience and resolve face fresh tests. As the question of return draws near, pride and distrust threaten negotiation. Dharma—right conduct and duty—becomes hard to judge when promises and responsibilities pull in different directions.
What you’ll discover
- A family divided Follow a shared inheritance as it becomes a bitter contest over justice and power.
- The royal hall Enter the dice game where one man’s choices place his whole family at risk.
- Draupadi at the centre Meet the woman whose honour stands at the heart of the royal conflict.
- Warriors with divided loyalties Encounter Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, whose personal debts complicate the sides they serve.
- An epic in verse Move through court life, marriage, exile, and battle, where public skill sharpens private rivalry.
Who will love it
Readers who love heroic tales of rival cousins, great battles and divided loyalties, and anyone curious about Indian epic tradition who enjoys rhymed storytelling that sounds fine when read aloud.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tournament shows two rival archers
- Arjun shines and Karna steps forward
- A king is made from a nameless warrior
- A bride is won and the princes escape
- An emperor is crowned and a rival dies
- Dice, shame and the road to exile
- Forest tales and a year in disguise
- Words fail and the armies meet
- Love, honor and the cost of war
- How the verse tells the story
Who’s who
- YudhishthirThe eldest Pandav, truthful and pious, who keeps his word even when it costs him a kingdom.
- ArjunThe third Pandav, a peerless archer and son of Indra, who wants to win and also to keep his honor.
- BhimaThe second Pandav, a mighty fighter with the mace, who swears vengeance for the insult to Draupadi.
- DraupadiPrincess of Panchala and wife of the Pandavs, who demands justice for the shame done to her.
- DuryodhanEldest son of Dhrita-rashtra, jealous and proud, who will not give his cousins a share of the kingdom.
- KarnaA warrior of unknown birth, crowned king by Duryodhan, who wants to prove himself the equal of Arjun.
- KrishnaA wise prince of Dwarka, friend and charioteer of Arjun, who works for peace and then for the right.
- BhishmaThe old commander of the Kurus, bound by his oath to Duryodhan though he loves the Pandavs.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 52 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Mahābhārata
Five exiled princes, a bride won by a bow, a game of dice and a war that splits one royal family.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
This is the Maha-bharata as retold in English verse by Romesh Chunder Dutt. It does not give the whole Sanskrit poem.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A tournament shows two rival archers
The story opens in Hastina-pura, capital of the Kurus. The blind king Dhrita-rashtra raised his own hundred sons beside the five sons of his dead brother Pandu. Their teacher is Drona, a Brahman who is also a warrior. Drona asks the king to let the princes show their skill in public, and the king, who cannot see, is glad to agree.
A level meadow with a fountain is cleared, and stands and mansions are built around it. On the festival morning the royal ladies, the lords and the common people crowd in. Priests make offerings, trumpets sound, and the princes ride in with bows, swords and maces.
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What is the Mahabharata about?
It tells of a feud between two branches of the Kuru royal family, the five Pandav brothers and the hundred sons of Dhrita-rashtra. It leads to a great war over who will rule, with themes of duty, loyalty and family.
Who is Karna in the Mahabharata?
Karna is a great archer of unknown birth, raised by a charioteer and crowned king of Anga by Duryodhan. He becomes the rival of Arjun. The poem says he was born to Pritha before her marriage.
What is the Bhagavad Gita and where does it appear here?
It is the teaching Krishna gives Arjun when the armies stand ready and Arjun hesitates to fight his kin. This retelling mentions it in a note, and its central idea is belief in one Supreme Deity.
The author
Romesh Chunder Dutt
1848–1909 · Indian historian and novelist
Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848–1909) was an Indian historian, economist, writer, and civil servant. He was born in Calcutta, studied in London, and worked in India. He wrote in Bengali and English. His English verse translation of the Mahabharata appeared in 1898. He also wrote economic histories of India. He died in Baroda.
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