Download or read book The Indian Epics Retold Penguin Premium Classic Edition written by R. K. Narayan and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2023-03-20 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Indian Epics Retold collects three of R. K. Narayan's best narratives on Hindu tradition and culture. The Ramayana and The Mahabharata are an intrinsic part of our legacy. Narayan's Ramayan is based on the Tamil version of the verse by the poet Kamban. Narayan's love for Rama's character and his admiration for Kamban's beautiful poetry is conveyed through this work. For The Mahabharata and for Gods, Demons and Others, Narayan referred to the original Sanskrit version of Mahabharata and other puranas. The stories follow the original text as closely as possible and make for a wonderful read for the young and old.
Download or read book The Indian Epics Retold written by R. K. Narayan and published by Penguin Books India. This book was released on 2000 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One Of India s Finest Novelists Retells The Two Great Indian Epics As Well As Some Well-Known Tales From Hindu Mythology And Folklore. While The Eleventh Century Tamil Poet Kamban s Version Inspires His Ramayana, Narayan S Mahabharata Is Based On Vyasa S Monumental Work. In Gods, Demons And Others, He Includes Stories From Kalidasa S Sanskrit Classic Abhijnana Shakuntalam, The Tamil Epic Silappadikaram, The Shiv Purana And The Devi Bhagwatam.
Download or read book Gods Demons and Others written by R. K. Narayan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1993-05-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following in the footsteps of the storytellers of his native India, R. K. Narayan has produced his own versions of tales taken from the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. Carefully selecting those stories which include the strongest characters, and omitting the theological or social commentary that would have drawn out the telling, Narayan informs these fascinating myths with his urbane humor and graceful style. "Mr. Narayan gives vitality and an original viewpoint to the most ancient of legends, lacing them with his own blend of satire, pertinent explanation and thoughtful commentary."—Santha Rama Rau, New York Times "Narayan's narrative style is swift, firm, graceful, and lucid . . . thoroughly knowledgeable, skillful, entertaining. One could hardly hope for more."—Rosanne Klass, Times Literary Supplement
Download or read book The Ramayana written by R. K. Narayan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-08-29 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The greatest Indian epic, one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytelling A Penguin Classic A sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Download or read book Rama the Steadfast written by Valmiki and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2006-06-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warrior-prince Rama is about to be crowned Young King, when he hears the devastating news that his father, King of Ayodhya, has been tricked into banishing him to the forest. His devoted wife Sita insists on accompanying him in exile, but the evil ten-headed lord Ravana has fallen deeply in love with the beautiful princess and steals her away. Aided by Hanuman, mighty captain of the monkeys, Rama sets out across the world to find her and destroy Ravana in a deadly battle. Rama the Steadfast was composed in the oral tradition in about the fifth century BC and has been retold over the generations ever since. With its fantastical characters ranging from monsters to apes, a very human hero and its profound moral purpose, it is one of the greatest of all Indian tales.
Download or read book The Mahabharata written by R. K. Narayan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Narayan makes this treasury of Indian folklore and mythology readily accessible to the general reader . . . he captures the spirit of the narrative.”—Library Journal The Mahabharata tells a story of such violence and tragedy that many people in India refuse to keep the full text in their homes, fearing that doing so would invite a disastrous fate upon their house. Covering everything from creation to destruction, this ancient poem remains an indelible part of Hindu culture and a landmark in ancient literature. Centuries of listeners and readers have been drawn to The Mahabharata, which began as disparate oral ballads and grew into a sprawling epic. The modern version is famously long, and at more than 1.8 million words—seven times the combined lengths of the Iliad and Odyssey—it can be incredibly daunting. But contemporary readers have a much more accessible entry point to this important work, thanks to R. K. Narayan’s masterful, elegant translation and abridgement of the poem. Now with a new foreword by Wendy Doniger, as well as a concise character and place guide and a family tree, The Mahabharata is ready for a new generation of readers. Narayan ably distills a tale that is both traditional and constantly changing. He draws from both scholarly analysis and creative interpretation and vividly fuses the spiritual with the secular. Through this balance he has produced a translation that is not only clear, but graceful, one that stands as its own story as much as an adaptation of a larger work.
Download or read book The Great Indian Epics written by Devdutt Pattanaik and published by . This book was released on 2015-02-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This special gift edition brings together Devdutt Pattanaik's lavishly illustrated and immensely popular retellings of India's greatest epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.Jay- An Illustrated Retelling of the MahabharataIn this entralling retelling, Devdutt Pattanaik seamlessly weaves into a single narrative plots from the Sanskrit classic as well as its many folk and regional variants. Richly illustrated with over 250 line drawings by the author, the 108 chapters abound with little-known details such as the names of the hundred Kauravas, the Mahabharata version of the Ramayana, and the dating of the war based on astronomical data. Jayareveals the eternal relevance of the Mahabharata, the complex and disturbing meditation on the human condition that has shaped Indian thought for over 3000 years. Sita- An Illustrated Retelling of the RamayanaDevdutt Pattanaik approaches Ram by speculating on Sita- her childhood with her father, Janaka, who hosted sages mentioned in the Upanishads; her stay in the forest with her husband, who had to be celibate ascetic while she was in the prime of her youth; her interactions with the women of Lanka, recipes she exchanged, emotions they shared; her connection with the earth, her mother, and with the trees, her sisters; her role as the Goddess, the untamed Kali as well as the demure Gauri, in transforming the stoic prince of Ayodhya into God.
Download or read book The Great Indian Epics written by John Campbell Oman and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-09-17 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Great Indian Epics: The Stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata Where, for any reason, I have especially desired that an event recorded, or an Opinion expressed, in the epics should be reproduced without the possibility of misrepresentation on my part, I have thought it best to quote verbatim the translations of them made by Hindu scholars; although, unfortunately, their versions are by no means elegant, and, indeed, often quite the reverse. But as they, no doubt, reflect the structure and texture of the poems in a way that no more free or polished English rendering could possibly do, I fancy the citations I have made will not be un welcome to most readers. My book is divided into two distinct parts dealing separately with the Ramayana and the Maha bharata, and at the end of each part I have given, in the form of an Appendix, one or two of the more striking legendary episodes lavishly scattered through these famous epics, and which, though not essential for the comprehension of the main story, are too beautiful or important to be omitted. Of these episodes I should say that they are the best-known portions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, having been told and retold in all the leading Indian vernaculars, and having, most of them, been brought before the European world in both prose and verse. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Download or read book The Book of Kali written by Seema Mohanty and published by Penguin Books India. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most unconventional yet immensely popular deities in the Hindu pantheon, goddess Kali essentially represents the dark and contrary aspects of the cosmos. Her naked form and association with violence, blood and gore challenge the very concept of divinity. Yet, over the centuries, she has come to represent a whole gamut of conflicting images-from bloodthirsty ogress to benign goddess. So today while she is venerated as Chamunda, a deity who verges on the macabre and grotesque, she is also adored in household shrines in one of her milder forms, Dakshina-Kali. It is this evolution of Kali-from her origin as a tantric goddess to her metamorphosis into a divinity in mainstream religion-that Seema Mohanty captures brilliantly in this book. Drawing upon a variety of sources-rituals associated with the worship of Kali, tales from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Tantras and Agamas, folklore and films-she has succeeded in portraying in engrossing detail the myriad manifestations of the enigmatic deity that is Kali.
Download or read book The Penguin Book of Classical Indian Love Stories and Lyrics written by Ruskin Bond and published by Penguin Books India. This book was released on 1996 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compilation of love stories and poems from the classical literature and folklore of India Set in regions of great natural beauty where Kamadeva, the god of love, picks his victims with consummate ease, these stories and lyrics celebrate the myriad aspects of love. In addition to relatively well-known works like Kalidasa's Meghadutam and Prince Ilango Adigal's Shilappadikaram, the collection features lesser-known writers of ancient India like Damodaragupta (eighth century AD), whose 'Loves of Haralata and Dundarasena' is about a high-born man's doomed affair with a courtesan; Janna (twelfth century), whose Tale of the Glory-Bearer is extracted here for the story of a queen who betrays her handsome husband for a mahout, reputed to be the ugliest man in the kingdom; and the Sanskrit poets Amaru and Mayaru (seventh century), whose lyrics display an astonishing perspective on the tenderness, the fierce passion and the playful savagery of physical love. Also featured are charming stories of Hindu gods and goddesses in love, and nineteenth-century retellings of folk tales from different regions of the country like Kashmir, Punjab, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Both passionate and sensuous in its content, this book is sure to appeal to the romantic in all of us.
Download or read book King Of Ayodhya written by Ashok K. Banker and published by Penguin Books India. This book was released on 2006 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Original Ramayana Was Written Three Thousand Years Ago. Now, With Breathtaking Imagination And Brilliant Storytelling, Ashok K. Banker Has Recreated This Epic Tale For Modern Readers Everywhere. Rama, Soon To Be King Of Ayodhya, Crosses The Ocean To Wage His War Of Dharma Against The Rakshasa Forces Of The Demonlord Ravana. The Valiant Vanars And Bears Suffer Huge Losses When Ravana Unleashes His Iniquitous Sorcery On Them, Destroying Tens Of Thousands Of Rama'S Loyal Soldiers. Despite The Formidable Odds They Fight On Even As The Warfare Spirals Into A Maelstrom Of Unimaginable Carnage And Brutality. And Then, Ravana Does The Unthinkable. Hovering Over The Battlefield In His Flying Vehicle He Executes Sita In Full Public View, Right Before Rama'S Unbelieving Eyes. Rama'S Grief And Rage Know No Bounds And On This Cataclysmic Day He Finally Draws Upon His Ultimate Reservoir Of Brahman Shakti. Invoking The All-Powerful Dev-Astras, The Bow Of Vishnu And The Arrow Of Shiva, He Prepares For A Reckoning And A Victory Like No Other . . .
Download or read book The Woman Who Flew written by Nasreen Jahan and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Philips Literary Award in Bangladesh The Woman Who Flew (Urukkoo) tells the story of Nina, a young woman who moves from small-town Bangladesh to the megacity of Dhaka, where she soon finds herself divorced, bereaved of her newborn and trapped in a mundane existence. Hungry for fresh air, Nina strikes up a friendship with her mother’s handsome ex-lover, Irfan, who encourages her to paint again. But as Nina tugs at her chains, her sexually confused ex-husband, Rezaul, insinuates himself back into her life, leaving her pregnant . . . Intense, edgy and tinged with rage, The Woman Who Flew lays bare the inner world of a woman beating her wings against a hostile, conservative landscape.
Download or read book The Mahabharata written by and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2009-07-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new selection from the national epic of India Originally composed in Sanskrit sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD, The Mahabharata-with one hundred thousand stanzas of verse-is one of the longest poems in existence. At the heart of the saga is a conflict between two branches of a royal family whose feud culminates in a titanic eighteen-day battle. Exploring such timeless subjects as dharma (duty), artha (purpose), and kama (pleasure) in a mythic world of warfare, magic, and beauty, this is a magnificent and legendary Hindu text of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Download or read book The Ramayana written by R. K. Narayan and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A retelling of the Tamil epic poem which records Prince Rama's search for his abducted sweetheart, Sita.
Download or read book Sonia written by Rasheed Kidwai and published by Penguin Books India. This book was released on 2011 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sonia Gandhi's transformation from an unsure Congress party president to the unchallenged political chief of the ruling United Progressive Alliance government happened with some speed in the aftermath of the Congress-led coalition's surprise victory in the 2004 general election. Her renunciation of the prime minister's post enhanced her moral stature in the public eye, but it is her skilled handling of the equation with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, that indicates the emergence of a self-confident politician, secure in her position at the helm of national affairs. In this fully revised and updated biography, Rasheed Kidwai tracks the evolution of the new Sonia Gandhi against the backdrop of the Congress party's return to power after years in the Opposition. The last five years have witnessed the Congress president's growing assurance in her dealings with party stalwarts, with coalition partners and Opposition leaders. Drawing on his long experience as a political journalist, Kidwai chronicles how Rahul Gandhi's smooth passage into the front rank of the party's leadership was achieved and gives a vivid account of how Sonia Gandhi navigated such critical moments as the 'office of profit' crisis, the presidential election, the Indo-US nuclear deal and the vote of confidence. In Sonia, A Biography, Rasheed Kidwai tells the extraordinary story of one of India's most enigmatic women, whose journey from the small Italian town of Orbassano to 10 Janpath, New Delhi, is one of the most fascinating in contemporary India.
Download or read book Ghost Kisses written by Tanveer Bookwala and published by Penguin Random House India. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Oh my god, you’re naked.’ Gita’s high-pitched voice was unable to disguise her excitement. The rain continued dancing on the pool. Mahira lay back in the water; a backstroke was in order.’ When Gita comes to the club’s pool late one night, all she wants to do is wash away the thoughts of her lover, who was taken away too cruelly from her by death. Without him, she yearns to feel alive again. There, she meets Mahira—mysterious, mesmerizing, maddening Mahira. Alone in the pool at midnight, surrounded by the falling rain, Mahira awakens the passions lying dormant in Gita, and finally makes her feel again. The best way to forget the past is to submit to your future. But can Gita ever really forget her love? And what can Mahira do to make her remember? Tanveer Bookwala writes a stunningly sexy story, aching with tenderness and lust. A quick, hit of desire. The perfect read for adults.
Download or read book Mahabharata written by Krishna Dharma and published by Torchlight Pub. This book was released on 2006-01 with total page 941 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cheated of their kingdom and sent into exile by their envious cousins, the Pandavas set off on a fascinating journey. This work recounts the history of the five heroic Pandava brothers. Its includes spiritual themes, and is filled with suspense, intrigue, and wisdom.
