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51 Lesser Known Tales From the Mahabharata
A treasure trove for all mythology buffs!
The Mahabharata is a veritable jungle teeming with stories. While some of them form part of the main story and are well known, there are some hidden gems scattered throughout the epic that make for insightful reading.
This book contains fifty-one of these hidden gems, including the tales of:
- Barbarik
- Uttanka
- Kartikeya
- The Battle between Krishna and Arjuna
- The Blinding of Shukracharya
And many more. Whether you're a casual reader or a die-hard fan of the Mahabharata, you will find in here tales that will delight and amaze you.
The Mahabharata is a veritable jungle teeming with stories. While some of them form part of the main story and are well known, there are some hidden gems scattered throughout the epic that make for insightful reading.
This book contains fifty-one of these hidden gems, including the tales of:
- Barbarik
- Uttanka
- Kartikeya
- The Battle between Krishna and Arjuna
- The Blinding of Shukracharya
And many more. Whether you're a casual reader or a die-hard fan of the Mahabharata, you will find in here tales that will delight and amaze you.
107 pages, ebook
First published November 2, 2015
313 people are currently reading
368 people want to read
About the author
Sharath Komarraju
134 books213 followersSharath Komarraju is an author of fiction and nonfiction based in Bangalore, India. Once a software engineer, now he writes for a living, and on lazy days he watches cricket and talks to his wife (often at the same time).
His most popular work to date is the Hastinapur series, in which he speaks into the silences of the Mahabharata story through the epic's many women characters.
His most popular work to date is the Hastinapur series, in which he speaks into the silences of the Mahabharata story through the epic's many women characters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
March 28, 2016
Mahabharata is a tale that contains so many shorter stories and myths that it is almost impossible for any one person to categorically state that he or she has read it in completeness. And this is the basic fact on which this author has written this book to bring to our attention the lesser known tales within that epic. As far as intention is concerned, I would applaud this author for taking this initiative and giving us something to chew upon and learn. However, there were far too many faults in this book to make it anything but an okay read, which was a major disappointment to me as I honestly love Mahabharata as an epic and am constantly in search for new material, new interpretations and definitely more nuggets of wisdom that this epic encompasses within its verses.
Let me start with the good point about this book because it is just a single one - It is a fast paced read, one that you can easily finish in a single setting, without getting bored or distracted. It does contain some good stories from the Mahabharata and does give some insight into the various actions that we have read about or have knowledge of, especially the historical features of a particular decision or act. In this the author has definitely achieved what he wanted to achieve, giving us a brief idea about the whole epic and its underlying tales.
However, as I mentioned, there are far too many cons to make this book a great read. The first one being the misleading title of the book. The book is supposed to contain 51 lesser known tales from the Mahabharata, however, the book contains tales from Indian mythology and is not restricted to the Mahabharata. What makes this more irritating is the fact that the author in the preface has accepted this and warns his readers that the book contains tales other than those in the Mahabharata but his excuse is that it happens in the Mahabharata universe. On reading the book, I found many tales having nothing to do with Mahabharata or its universe but were actually from other mythological tales or incidents. My question here is, why didn't the author simply title his work as "51 lesser known tales from Indian mythology"? Why was it so important to him to put Mahabharata in the title and then give a lame explanation in the preface about it being from the universe and not specifically the epic? This made no sense and was the first irritant in the many that made me relegate this book to a 2-starer.
Moving on, another point of irritation was the narration or should I say the extra commentary provided by the author at the end of some of the tales, his own analysis of the symbolism and effect of the tale, which mostly did not have any basis in fact but was merely an individual interpretation. If the book had been a commentary on the tales of the Mahabharata, where the author is providing a detailed understanding and interpretation of the stories, this would have been acceptable, provided of course the author references to other sources to explain his interpretation. However, this is a book of tales and more importantly the author states at the very beginning that it is the short version of the tales, which he has adopted for the sake of brevity (will come to this point later) and yet instead of presenting the tales as it has been told, he chooses to make personal comments, which has no basis and nor is there any need for it. I wish that instead of making these unnecessary and unwanted comments, the author had instead spent his time fleshing out each story so that it doesn’t come across as something abrupt.
My next grouse with this book is, yes you have guessed it correctly, its brevity. Now, I am all for short reads and short tales and all that jazz but I want that tale, however short it may be, to sound full and complete. In other words, there has to be a logical start and a good end, even if it means taking a few more paragraphs or sentences to do so. However, the author disappoints us here with his ‘brevity’ for the sake of brevity and uses that space instead to provide us with his interpretations, which as I have already said was totally unwanted. The problem wasn’t that all stories suffered from it but that some of them did and they stood out more than the others. It almost felt as if I were jumping from one place to another without any pause or even need to imbibe what I was reading. There was no space for me to dwell on the lessons or morals being told through these tales, almost as if the author thought that there was no need for it. So, while it was a fast paced one, it was jerky and that made me want to throw the book away, which according to me is a mark of a bad book or at least a disappointing one.
I also had some issues with the veracity of the tales. There were some tales that I knew from my reading of other books based on the various Indian mythological stories and to see them being put forth in a strange manner that almost bespoke of the author’s personal issues with it made me feel really disappointed. One tale in particular irked me the most. It was a tale of Ganesha and Karthikeyan, the two sons of Shiva. According to the author, the brothers only felt hatred towards each other or rather Karthikeyan hated Ganesha for his popularity and was constantly sabotaging things or something like that. He goes onto add that Karthikeyan is not revered anywhere in India except maybe in Orrisa. Both these are not true. Firstly, there was only one competition between the two, which definitely angered Karthikeyan for he interpreted the terms of the competition literally while Ganesha interpreted it spiritually. However, this did not mean that the brothers were constantly at war with each other! Secondly, I can confidently state that Tamil Nadu is a state in India where Karthikeyan is revered even today and there are many other states like Tamil Nadu, so it isn’t as if Karthikeyan has no followers or believers today. Given that the author makes such a basic mistake and interprets it so disastrously, I wonder how many of the other tales were really true to their form.
My last grouse with this book is sloppy editing, which made the reading an absolute displeasure. It was almost as if the author spent one night writing this book and the next morning sent it for publication, where neither the publisher nor the editor paid much attention to things like basic sentence construction and spellings. It felt as if the tale superceded everything and that there was no need for a proper language or style to be maintained. While I understand that this book is chiefly meant for the Indian populace and is not really being targeted for a foreign audience, I nevertheless, felt that this was a much needed aspect in this book and that it would have been a much better book, if the author/editor/publisher had taken care of these small things. Who knows, it could have actually resulted in a better presentation of the story with less personal input from the author.
I won’t really recommend this book to anyone, and most definitely not to a person who has no knowledge of Indian myths and Mahabharata as an epic. However, if you don’t fall into the second category and are in a mood for a quick read, you can try this one, but do bear in mind that these stories may not necessarily be true to fact or even scripture. Nevertheless, it is a light read and enjoyable in parts, despite the various issues, one where different people will have different thoughts and interpretations; so I really leave the choice to you.
Let me start with the good point about this book because it is just a single one - It is a fast paced read, one that you can easily finish in a single setting, without getting bored or distracted. It does contain some good stories from the Mahabharata and does give some insight into the various actions that we have read about or have knowledge of, especially the historical features of a particular decision or act. In this the author has definitely achieved what he wanted to achieve, giving us a brief idea about the whole epic and its underlying tales.
However, as I mentioned, there are far too many cons to make this book a great read. The first one being the misleading title of the book. The book is supposed to contain 51 lesser known tales from the Mahabharata, however, the book contains tales from Indian mythology and is not restricted to the Mahabharata. What makes this more irritating is the fact that the author in the preface has accepted this and warns his readers that the book contains tales other than those in the Mahabharata but his excuse is that it happens in the Mahabharata universe. On reading the book, I found many tales having nothing to do with Mahabharata or its universe but were actually from other mythological tales or incidents. My question here is, why didn't the author simply title his work as "51 lesser known tales from Indian mythology"? Why was it so important to him to put Mahabharata in the title and then give a lame explanation in the preface about it being from the universe and not specifically the epic? This made no sense and was the first irritant in the many that made me relegate this book to a 2-starer.
Moving on, another point of irritation was the narration or should I say the extra commentary provided by the author at the end of some of the tales, his own analysis of the symbolism and effect of the tale, which mostly did not have any basis in fact but was merely an individual interpretation. If the book had been a commentary on the tales of the Mahabharata, where the author is providing a detailed understanding and interpretation of the stories, this would have been acceptable, provided of course the author references to other sources to explain his interpretation. However, this is a book of tales and more importantly the author states at the very beginning that it is the short version of the tales, which he has adopted for the sake of brevity (will come to this point later) and yet instead of presenting the tales as it has been told, he chooses to make personal comments, which has no basis and nor is there any need for it. I wish that instead of making these unnecessary and unwanted comments, the author had instead spent his time fleshing out each story so that it doesn’t come across as something abrupt.
My next grouse with this book is, yes you have guessed it correctly, its brevity. Now, I am all for short reads and short tales and all that jazz but I want that tale, however short it may be, to sound full and complete. In other words, there has to be a logical start and a good end, even if it means taking a few more paragraphs or sentences to do so. However, the author disappoints us here with his ‘brevity’ for the sake of brevity and uses that space instead to provide us with his interpretations, which as I have already said was totally unwanted. The problem wasn’t that all stories suffered from it but that some of them did and they stood out more than the others. It almost felt as if I were jumping from one place to another without any pause or even need to imbibe what I was reading. There was no space for me to dwell on the lessons or morals being told through these tales, almost as if the author thought that there was no need for it. So, while it was a fast paced one, it was jerky and that made me want to throw the book away, which according to me is a mark of a bad book or at least a disappointing one.
I also had some issues with the veracity of the tales. There were some tales that I knew from my reading of other books based on the various Indian mythological stories and to see them being put forth in a strange manner that almost bespoke of the author’s personal issues with it made me feel really disappointed. One tale in particular irked me the most. It was a tale of Ganesha and Karthikeyan, the two sons of Shiva. According to the author, the brothers only felt hatred towards each other or rather Karthikeyan hated Ganesha for his popularity and was constantly sabotaging things or something like that. He goes onto add that Karthikeyan is not revered anywhere in India except maybe in Orrisa. Both these are not true. Firstly, there was only one competition between the two, which definitely angered Karthikeyan for he interpreted the terms of the competition literally while Ganesha interpreted it spiritually. However, this did not mean that the brothers were constantly at war with each other! Secondly, I can confidently state that Tamil Nadu is a state in India where Karthikeyan is revered even today and there are many other states like Tamil Nadu, so it isn’t as if Karthikeyan has no followers or believers today. Given that the author makes such a basic mistake and interprets it so disastrously, I wonder how many of the other tales were really true to their form.
My last grouse with this book is sloppy editing, which made the reading an absolute displeasure. It was almost as if the author spent one night writing this book and the next morning sent it for publication, where neither the publisher nor the editor paid much attention to things like basic sentence construction and spellings. It felt as if the tale superceded everything and that there was no need for a proper language or style to be maintained. While I understand that this book is chiefly meant for the Indian populace and is not really being targeted for a foreign audience, I nevertheless, felt that this was a much needed aspect in this book and that it would have been a much better book, if the author/editor/publisher had taken care of these small things. Who knows, it could have actually resulted in a better presentation of the story with less personal input from the author.
I won’t really recommend this book to anyone, and most definitely not to a person who has no knowledge of Indian myths and Mahabharata as an epic. However, if you don’t fall into the second category and are in a mood for a quick read, you can try this one, but do bear in mind that these stories may not necessarily be true to fact or even scripture. Nevertheless, it is a light read and enjoyable in parts, despite the various issues, one where different people will have different thoughts and interpretations; so I really leave the choice to you.
May 27, 2024
Apart from being a fun and fast read, I did not like much in this book. No takeaways!
Neither the tales are lesser known, nor they are all from Mahabharata.
I couldn't figure who would be a good audience for this kind of book - definitely not someone who has read Mahabharata in some form or the other.... won't recommend this even if you are getting introduced to it.
Overall:
Avoid.
Neither the tales are lesser known, nor they are all from Mahabharata.
I couldn't figure who would be a good audience for this kind of book - definitely not someone who has read Mahabharata in some form or the other.... won't recommend this even if you are getting introduced to it.
Overall:
Avoid.
June 29, 2019
A very superficial treatment of the epics.
Though the title states Mahabharatha,there are also mentions of the Ramayana scattered here and there.I am familiar with most of the tales but the author tries to insert his own opinions here and there and it does not gel together at all.
In some places,the author has made blatant mistakes such as stating that Kartikeya is a forgotten minor god.One can truly tell that in the state of Tamilnadu,Kartikeya is very revered and a whole festival is celebrated in his name with much pomp and splendour even today.
One more grouse I had with the author is how he states the epics would have been rewritten by him.I would have been happy to just read his interpretations and how one could see the events in a new light.
This book will not be able to satisfy mythology geeks.
Though the title states Mahabharatha,there are also mentions of the Ramayana scattered here and there.I am familiar with most of the tales but the author tries to insert his own opinions here and there and it does not gel together at all.
In some places,the author has made blatant mistakes such as stating that Kartikeya is a forgotten minor god.One can truly tell that in the state of Tamilnadu,Kartikeya is very revered and a whole festival is celebrated in his name with much pomp and splendour even today.
One more grouse I had with the author is how he states the epics would have been rewritten by him.I would have been happy to just read his interpretations and how one could see the events in a new light.
This book will not be able to satisfy mythology geeks.
November 15, 2017
The book is indeed quite revealing in terms of certain lesser known aspects of Indian mythology, The author is candid enough to admit that what he states can be contested. He also adds his personal views on certain issues.
Interesting read.
Interesting read.
April 10, 2018
Summaries of stories you mostly know in an easy to read style.
April 12, 2020
A very good collection of stories.
March 28, 2023
Interesting stories and skillfully written. There is however a hurried quality to the writing, which makes sense for the book to be short and simple. Maybe I would've preferred a much more detailed description of the stories and the backstories.
October 31, 2019
The author does a great job in compiling some of the most interesting links of the epic. These lesser known tales further enhances the understanding of the epic.
February 13, 2019
I love and the stories from our Indian mythology fascinates me. I have read and heard a lot of stories from my Grandparents and parents. When I saw the book, its title "51 lesser known tales from the Mahabharata" made me curious. Out of the 51 stories written by Sharath Komarraju, I would have read/heard a lot of stories earlier… But there were a few stories which I came across for the first time. And it made me quite happy :)
However, the book is too crisp and short. There isn’t much description/narration in any of the stories. It could have been good if the writer could have given more detail in the stories.
However, the book is too crisp and short. There isn’t much description/narration in any of the stories. It could have been good if the writer could have given more detail in the stories.
November 9, 2017
I wouldn't say the stories in the selection are very remote. I knew most of them save for a couple. I wont hold it against the author as it varies too much, and 'the lesser known' is a very subjective term.
There are three things that made my experience not so good:
1. There are spelling mistakes and typos, a lot.
2. I like authors comments in classic stories, gives us a different perspective. But I'd rather those comments are at the end of the story. I'd like to have my own perspective first before learning anyone else's.
3. Tales themselves feel more like summaries than tales. Like the time we have to read the gist of a chapter before the exam. There isn't much strucure.
It's a good book to read. These reminded me of my childhood days when my parents or some book or some movie told these stories to me.
There are three things that made my experience not so good:
1. There are spelling mistakes and typos, a lot.
2. I like authors comments in classic stories, gives us a different perspective. But I'd rather those comments are at the end of the story. I'd like to have my own perspective first before learning anyone else's.
3. Tales themselves feel more like summaries than tales. Like the time we have to read the gist of a chapter before the exam. There isn't much strucure.
It's a good book to read. These reminded me of my childhood days when my parents or some book or some movie told these stories to me.
June 21, 2019
Utter nonsense.
Without any proof it must be concluded that the author is confused and has misinterpreted the itihaas. spreading lies should be curbed
Without any proof it must be concluded that the author is confused and has misinterpreted the itihaas. spreading lies should be curbed
March 24, 2019
A good collection of stories related to the great epic. The author seems to have read different versions of the Mahabharatha and related books too. However, he seems to be less informed about Karthikeya worship,Lord Murugan is not a less known God, he is very popular in Southern part of India and also in the South East Asian countries too, esp. Malayasia - Batu Caves. Overall, it was a good read.
August 26, 2019
It is a short crisp book covering some off-course stories of Mahabharata. And what a journey. Strongly recommended to get familiarised to some of the side stories. But for better understanding, I always recco Jaya by Devdutt Patnaik.
July 15, 2019
I am super disappointed.. there was so much potential.. but the author has missed a golden opportunity..
July 30, 2019
The apt name for the book should be 'Summary of 51 non-famous tales from the Indian mythology'; as there are many references out of Mahabharata. I also added the word summary because the tales are so short that we do not get the full context, nor the analogy of a tale. It is well understood by someone who is well versed with the Indian mythology, I was expecting it to stand on it own as short stories or children read.
Another major disappointment is the author's commentary in between the tale. As someone who is an avid reader of Indian mythology, it was ill-suited for an author to use a few lines which might be taken in the wrong view. For example, when the author states that, 'If I have to rewrite Mahabarata..'. Few of the tale doesn't fall into the category of a tale, they are just there for information.
To sum up, the pros of the book are it is easy to read, easily understandable if the reader is aware of Indian mythology and few stories are fresh.
Another major disappointment is the author's commentary in between the tale. As someone who is an avid reader of Indian mythology, it was ill-suited for an author to use a few lines which might be taken in the wrong view. For example, when the author states that, 'If I have to rewrite Mahabarata..'. Few of the tale doesn't fall into the category of a tale, they are just there for information.
To sum up, the pros of the book are it is easy to read, easily understandable if the reader is aware of Indian mythology and few stories are fresh.
May 27, 2020
**Very Disappointing**
Firstly, the author has made his own interpretations and given his misleading comments in quite a few stories. The comments and the authors interpretations are not based on the actual story or the morals behind those stories.
Secondly, the stories that the author is telling leave you with a feeling of incompletion. I know, the author has mentioned that he has narrated the stories in short but he fails to provide the actual teachings and morals behind stories but instead goes on to give his opinions on what had or had not been.
Lastly, the title of the book is misleading as these are not 51 Lesser Known Tales from the Mahabharata but more like the 51 Lesser Known Tales from the Indian Mythology.
The book simply seems like not much research or thought is put into it. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who has a genuine interest in the Indian Mythology. If someone wants “a quick read” then only reach for this book.
Firstly, the author has made his own interpretations and given his misleading comments in quite a few stories. The comments and the authors interpretations are not based on the actual story or the morals behind those stories.
Secondly, the stories that the author is telling leave you with a feeling of incompletion. I know, the author has mentioned that he has narrated the stories in short but he fails to provide the actual teachings and morals behind stories but instead goes on to give his opinions on what had or had not been.
Lastly, the title of the book is misleading as these are not 51 Lesser Known Tales from the Mahabharata but more like the 51 Lesser Known Tales from the Indian Mythology.
The book simply seems like not much research or thought is put into it. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who has a genuine interest in the Indian Mythology. If someone wants “a quick read” then only reach for this book.
March 1, 2021
Even though the author does give us a fair forewarning- "The intention of this book is to introduce a casual reader to the breadth and variety present in the Mahabharata in one short, easy-to-read volume. Detail is therefore sometimes sacrificed for the sake of brevity " - this book is at best reserved for either NRI kids (like my own!) who are getting introduced to Mahabharata story and who haven't had a chance to watch the televised narrative; or for a western casual reader.
My main gripe with the book is the "bevity" part- in an aim to cover the entire breadth of events of Mahabharata, in just 51 bits the book has ended up being just a collection of snippets and not a narrative which may keep its reader enthused. Its like reading a 3-line summary of the recently concluded epic Gabba test between India & Australia.
My main gripe with the book is the "bevity" part- in an aim to cover the entire breadth of events of Mahabharata, in just 51 bits the book has ended up being just a collection of snippets and not a narrative which may keep its reader enthused. Its like reading a 3-line summary of the recently concluded epic Gabba test between India & Australia.
May 4, 2020
Engrossing read. Always a fan of mythology and Indian mythology holds a dear place in my heart. Now about the veracity of the stories presented I hope one grain of rice does not seal the others fate.
Quote from the book “Kartikeya is one of those lesser-known Gods that do not have a festival of their own.” I would invite the author down south where we have so many festivals for lord Murugan as we call him. Some call him the God of Tamil. You want a list of festivals? How about Thai Poosam, Vaigasi Visakam, Soora Samharam to name a few. Or how about the Arupadai veedu? Literally the Six homes of Lord Murugan. I dearly hope the rest of the stories did not include making up or poor research.
Quote from the book “Kartikeya is one of those lesser-known Gods that do not have a festival of their own.” I would invite the author down south where we have so many festivals for lord Murugan as we call him. Some call him the God of Tamil. You want a list of festivals? How about Thai Poosam, Vaigasi Visakam, Soora Samharam to name a few. Or how about the Arupadai veedu? Literally the Six homes of Lord Murugan. I dearly hope the rest of the stories did not include making up or poor research.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2020
51 mythological stories have been picked for this book from Mahabharat.
I certainly did not like the way author tried to judge and drew conclusion by putting his views on the happenings of this epic.
It’s not authors own creation\novel.
If you’re borrowing epics like Mahabharata to compose a book - stick to the facts only.
Bring lesser known facts as per title of the book but you shouldn’t judge the way it happened.
Billions of Minds, Billions of thought process - provide us facts and information and we readers will interpret those as per our mindset.
If this was a novel - then you are free to put your imagination and creative things.
I will NOT recommend this book and specially the writer to anyone.
I certainly did not like the way author tried to judge and drew conclusion by putting his views on the happenings of this epic.
It’s not authors own creation\novel.
If you’re borrowing epics like Mahabharata to compose a book - stick to the facts only.
Bring lesser known facts as per title of the book but you shouldn’t judge the way it happened.
Billions of Minds, Billions of thought process - provide us facts and information and we readers will interpret those as per our mindset.
If this was a novel - then you are free to put your imagination and creative things.
I will NOT recommend this book and specially the writer to anyone.
February 27, 2019
"We wonder why everything is being taken away, forgetting, that it had all been given to us on loan, and that every loan has to be repaid." - Sharath Komarraju in 51 Lesser Known Tales from the Marabharata
A great shot at sharing some hidden as well as some known tales from the Mahabharata. Of course, those not familiar with the Indian mythology or Mahabharata may not be aware of any of these stories. But this book is definitely like a breath of fresh air among many that I've read so far in the genre. Tales of Dattatreya, Apsaras, true heroism of Yudhisthir and everything else, well done. Recommended.
A great shot at sharing some hidden as well as some known tales from the Mahabharata. Of course, those not familiar with the Indian mythology or Mahabharata may not be aware of any of these stories. But this book is definitely like a breath of fresh air among many that I've read so far in the genre. Tales of Dattatreya, Apsaras, true heroism of Yudhisthir and everything else, well done. Recommended.
September 19, 2019
If you want pure Indian mythology, without a lot of over interpretation (like what Devdutt does), then this book is for you. Of course, Sharath does make some interpretations, but mostly stays true to narrating facts(?) as depicted in Mahabharata / allied texts. At one or two occasions he even tries to draw parallel with other mythologies.
The stories he has picked up are good and some indeed are lesser well known- a refresher for others too is in good taste. The length of the book is right about OK and writing style is decent. Go read it of you have forgotten/ never knew some of the lesser well known tales around the epic.
The stories he has picked up are good and some indeed are lesser well known- a refresher for others too is in good taste. The length of the book is right about OK and writing style is decent. Go read it of you have forgotten/ never knew some of the lesser well known tales around the epic.
February 2, 2020
Succinct yet revealing
I am aware of several Hindu mythologies and one of my interests is comparative mythology and religion. This book can be considered as a refresher, although to understand it, you need to know the main epics to understand the context. I appreciate that the author is objective, presents different versions, tries to portray the stories as spiritual lessons which have evolved over the centuries and yet not long drawn. I am really happy that the author was not dogmatic and did not present it as true history which is the latest fashion among Indians and NRIs nowadays.
I am aware of several Hindu mythologies and one of my interests is comparative mythology and religion. This book can be considered as a refresher, although to understand it, you need to know the main epics to understand the context. I appreciate that the author is objective, presents different versions, tries to portray the stories as spiritual lessons which have evolved over the centuries and yet not long drawn. I am really happy that the author was not dogmatic and did not present it as true history which is the latest fashion among Indians and NRIs nowadays.
February 11, 2018
This is a short but sweet collections of short stories which as proclaimed by the author are letter known.
Some of the stories are quite grappling and draws out the human lust was prevalent in the older days as well e.g. the stories of Urvashi, Menaka etc.
Some other interrelated stories were lined up to each other which really provided a grip on the content.
I learnt a lot of positive and negative shades as possessed by our characters in Mahabharata.
Truly a must read for some one who is interested in Hindu mythology
Some of the stories are quite grappling and draws out the human lust was prevalent in the older days as well e.g. the stories of Urvashi, Menaka etc.
Some other interrelated stories were lined up to each other which really provided a grip on the content.
I learnt a lot of positive and negative shades as possessed by our characters in Mahabharata.
Truly a must read for some one who is interested in Hindu mythology
January 25, 2019
This is a very short read. It includes a few stories from Indian mythology, rather than specifically the Mahabharata.
While the stories were okay, I was disappointed to see that I had already read much more elaborate versions of most of these stories. Also, some of these stories were different and or condensed from the versions that I had read, especially ones present in the Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari.
Another thing I did not like was the commentary by the author about the stories themselves, which took me out of the story I was reading.
While the stories were okay, I was disappointed to see that I had already read much more elaborate versions of most of these stories. Also, some of these stories were different and or condensed from the versions that I had read, especially ones present in the Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari.
Another thing I did not like was the commentary by the author about the stories themselves, which took me out of the story I was reading.
April 17, 2021
Most of the tales would be known to readers who have read Mahabharata even once. A lot of these tales are very popular and should not have been part of lesser known tales at all. In an effort to make these tales short and thus quick read, some of the stories are deprived of some essential elements.
The positive side of this book is that it is easy to read and could be a good read for someone who wants to get an idea of stories mentioned in Mahabharata beyond the main plot. Also liked the easy flowing style of writing.
The positive side of this book is that it is easy to read and could be a good read for someone who wants to get an idea of stories mentioned in Mahabharata beyond the main plot. Also liked the easy flowing style of writing.
January 20, 2019
The tales in the book are not the very essential ones to know the main scriptures but important to understand Hindu mythology as a whole. Many of the interconnections between different Puranas, Mahabharat amd Ramayan are revealed in addition to the individual fables. Presented in a true and realistic way, giving it a read is a must if you think you know the two most important scriptures of Hindu mythology - Ramayan and Mahabharat completely.
February 27, 2019
When a book is titled as unknown tales, it reflects that the book will talk about tales not only known much but also tales that may have different versions across different parts of the country/ world. The last thing expected and required is the author’s personal opinion and that, when given, does not leave a very pleasant after-taste. Good collection of stories but didn’t enjoy reading the book at all - finished it out of compulsion of finishing
March 30, 2020
Rare collection
Though it is very difficult to remember the names of the characters in the stories related to Mahabharata apart from the main characters, the book gives insight to a lot of related stories which I had red in comic books in childhood here and there.
The book may not find favour of the modern generation but it is quite a good read for for those who have read or seen the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Though it is very difficult to remember the names of the characters in the stories related to Mahabharata apart from the main characters, the book gives insight to a lot of related stories which I had red in comic books in childhood here and there.
The book may not find favour of the modern generation but it is quite a good read for for those who have read or seen the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
April 18, 2020
Well, the book definitely lives up to its blurb. It was a delightful read. I was not expecting a whole slew of new , or relatively lesser-known, stories but I was proven wrong. As an added bonus ,the writing is simplistic & devoid of the alternate meanings/ interpretations that's a trend among the new authors these days. I'm sure that that kind of writing has its own value, but in this case, I just simply loved reading these 2-minute snapshots from our rich & diverse Indian mythology.
October 14, 2020
Being a mythology buff myself, I can say that these tales are not exclusively from The Mahabharata but were rather collected from different scriptures like Upanishads and Puranas. I like the way the author gets candid at times and comments his personal views. These tales are not to be taken as authentic accounts tho, which the author himself mentions in disclaimer. However, if you get fascinated by all those "bedtime-grandma" stories then this book's for you.
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