This book was quite different. I started off the book thinking, yes it's difficult to be good but maybe he has figured out how to be good despite it being so difficult. This book is more of a question bank rather than an answer guide. It forces us to think and insists us to find our own answers. Svadharma or sadharana dharma, it's our job to figure it out for ourselves. If you are looking for answers, this is not your book. But if you want to ascertain things, revisit things you know, have heard etc, read this book. I read it because of my fondness of Mahabharatha and no matter how the characters are introduced I'll still lap it all up.

Very insightful book. Was delighted after reading the book. The book portrays the concept of the difficulty of being a good person taking Mahabharat as an apt example and brought about a concise picture of often confused concept of DHARMA. For me the question still remains as to why be (completely) good ?? ( )

I am a bit disappointed in this book, not on the subject matter or how it is rendered but rather by the methods used by the Author to present his findings.

The first thing I noticed is the undertone of elitism a la Raja Ram Mohan Roy. A feeling that western evidence trumps what is available at home. While talking about the Gita, he prefers to quote western authors who I would say are mediocre at best. They would like you to believe their version of the Truth rather than the truth (which they probably will never be able to attain). While a surfeit of superior evidence and collateral are available at home penned by the authorities in their respective domains, his choice seems rather strange.

The other thing is to conduct this study in Chicago, where this work of translation is being conducted with a purely scientific bent (I am doing it because I am being paid for it and it is after all a job and I will look cool doing all this eastern philosophical stuff). So after a lifetime of peddling diapers and toothpaste for a western corporation, these choices do not seem that strange.

The Bibliographic references towards the end are really nice.

I am a bit disappointed in this book, not on the subject matter or how it is rendered but rather by the methods used by the Author to present his findings.

The first thing I noticed is the undertone of elitism a la Raja Ram Mohan Roy. A feeling that western evidence trumps what is available at home. While talking about the Gita, he prefers to quote western authors who I would say are mediocre at best. They would like you to believe their version of the Truth rather than the truth (which they probably will never be able to attain). While a surfeit of superior evidence and collateral are available at home penned by the authorities in their respective domains, his choice seems rather strange.

The other thing is to conduct this study in Chicago, where this work of translation is being conducted with a purely scientific bent (I am doing it because I am being paid for it and it is after all a job and I will look cool doing all this eastern philosophical stuff). So after a lifetime of peddling diapers and toothpaste for a western corporation, these choices do not seem that strange.

The Bibliographic references towards the end are really nice.

This book looks at the main characters of the Mahabharata, and plumbs the moral depths of an old HIndu society where answers were no clear cut. The struggle as to what to do is at the heart of the Mahabharata, and this book, to which I did not give proper justice, takes on a journey with the main characters of the epic and their struggles. Their are major chapters devoted to Duryodhana, Draupadi, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Bhishma, Karna, Krishna, and Ashwatthama. The closely-related families of the Pandavas and Kauravas create a war that may not settle anything, but has enthralled listeners and readers for centuries. At some point I would like to have this book as a reference in my library. ( )

While most successful retirees fancy Surfing the sands in an exotic locale, Gurcharan Das decides to study the Mahabharata. Although there are number of books on this epic, this book is different and refreshing and a must read for the current generation people from all walks of life. Gurcharan reads thru each chapter and in his unique style leverages real-world analogy in explaining the essence in simple English. The central theme is the description of the Middle Path in this world intricately mixed with right and wrong in a bewildering manner. Gurcharan does a wonderful job of exploring Yudhisthira’s dilemma and transformation from extreme idealism to pragmatic middle path. He combines his years of experience of knowing India at the grass root level in analyzing and inferring the key messages and the meaning of “Dharma” throughout the epic.

Just being good does not bring about happiness and neither reserves a seat in Heaven, but then why does the epic extol followers to be good and follow the path of Dharma. The book provides the answers. It’s fascinating to read the different interpretations of Dharma espoused by the main characters – Bhishma, Vidura, Yudhisthira and Krishna. Bhisma’s post war advice to the remorseful Yudhishthira is captured brilliantly to convey the meaning of Dharma, which is absolutely contemporary and relevant to today’s real-world.

I would have loved to understand Gurcharan views on the Middle Path India should follow in its engagement with China and how does he view China in the comparison with Duryodhana. ( )