2002 Lesser Known Tales From The Mahabharata: Volume 1

by Sharath Komarraju

An ocean of stories. Now at your fingertips.

The Mahabharata is the world's longest epic. It contains within it numerous fables, anecdotes and pieces of practical wisdom that make up what we today call Indian culture.

Two thousand tales from this ocean of Vedic literature are now being retold for your reading pleasure. Crisp, comprehensive, contextual.

In this volume you will find stories such as:

- The three disciples of Dhaumya the sage
- The strange adventures of Uttanka
- The tortoise that fought with an elephant over years by a lake
- How Sesha came to become the supporter of Mother Earth
- Who the second Indra was and how he was 'defeated'

And many more. Whether you're a casual reader of mythology or a die-hard fanatic, this is a must-read.

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2017

About the author

Sharath 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.

Reviews

[karun jamwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you are casual reader or a die hard fanatic of hindu epics, Iam sure this series is going to make it to your favourite shelf of the books. It covers many unexplained parts that we hear / read / watch about mahabharata and take them for granted that this is how it was without ever questioning them. The writer did not shy away to share different views that exist about a topic by clearly mentioning them where required. This is just the first volume that I have read with around 50 stories in it and as the name suggests 2002 lesser know stories there are already 10 vol published and more to follow. Stories are short and simple to read. I would love to continue with the series and get mesmerised by the enchanting stories that not many know and would know in future. Mahabharata is indeed a complex story which has a huge backdrop of stories which makes it even more interesting if covered properly and this series I think does justice to that. Each chapter begins with a श्लोक with its meaning below it , this helps to maintain the cultural touch to the book and was my favourite part of the book. Narration is crisp and makes you read the whole story in one go. 5 stars to the author for the research he has done to compile the beautiful and intresting stories in a book.

[Hemant Jain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mahabharata is a complex tale with many backstories. A whole lot of events happening in the 'main' Mahabharata storyline is the result of some event that happened way before in time. A whole lot of boons, curses and existential jugglery is at the root of most of the events.

Sharath has begun a massive project of bringing together 2002 such events into a series of books. The first book of the series has about 45 short stories, each spanning a few pages only.

The stories are amusing and makes you wonder about the complexity of the overall story / arc.

What I found a bit jarring was fact that while some of the stories were connected (through common characters and cause-effect events); they did not appear in their chronological order in the book. Things got a bit confusing at times.

Overall, an interesting read and written in a simple manner, keeping the stories very short and to-the-point.

[Soumyabrata Sarkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to say, that it's a great start wih the original slokas and the interbetween intervention of the author. As evident, the slow pace of telling the tales, interwoven with other, much like inception movie, is a revelation itself in the great epic, but its great to see the author excel at walking that line, with poise and proper depth, instead of a hurried pace.

The stories in this first volume could be finished in a sitting itself. Its esay, memorable and fun. But thanks for the interactive discussion of the in-depth matters. Its much like amalgamation of Ashok Banker's and Devdutt Pattanaik's turn at the epic. You go slow and easy, with each different context at each chapter.

Kudos to the author to attempt a project of this much magnitude.
Eager for the next chapters! Carry on!

[Raviteja Andhavarapu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two interpretations of Mahabharata in English: by CRR and Devdutt Pattanaik. Both of them, i thought were meant to be concise and don't delve much into much other than the central plotline. Since i don't have the patience to read the entire Mahabharata (i don't know if there's one in english), for my interest in the side-stories this seemed a perfect solution. The language is quite good and the stories interesting but they're too short and simplified for my liking. Excited to read more in the series.

[Biswajit Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just amazing, creative, exciting, fascinating and excellent. There are many such books available in market but this is extra ordinary in the way the stories are depicted, the language used, the narratives used, just amazing. It is a must read and gets a 5 star rating from me based on the contents, topic used, way of story depiction, the selection of stories, and the quality of writing.

[Nagarajan Narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of us have read the celebrated Mahabharatha. As children, we should have heard the stories from grandparents. The devout would have heard a lot of devotional discourses on them. When Sharath puts these stories in his friendly narrative style, you are tempted to read all over it again. The icing on the cake is that we have refreshed a lot of intricate details. The reading of the book was very refreshing and enjoyable.

[Arvind Yerram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book and as author says, this is one of many such books. This book talks about the stories related to Mahabharat but are not from the generation of Pandu & Kuru dynasty. Many stories are told and few of them are really worth a note. Author has gone to a great extent in capturing details as required for Mahabharat.

This is for those readers who wants to know what inspired Mahabharat and not the main story itself.

[Swati Panwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book.... Looking forward to read further volumes.. contains interesting little stories which gives you the knowledge of the lives of the main characters and even not so main characters of the Mahabharata, which keep you hooked to the very end. Each character plays a unique plot towards the great war that the gods decided to cleanse the earth of all evil. Now, I'm really excited to read the original Mahabharata.

[Sriparna · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the stories are quite familiar. Though I shouldn't call them stories. I read a whole lot of them as the stories of Puranas while I was a kid. Sukumar Roy( father of Satyajit Roy) already wrote them in Bengali specially for kids.
Couple of concerns I would like to mention here.
1. There is no mention of Madri as mother of Nakula and Sahadeva.
2. I am still confused about who is the king of nagas. Vasuki or Takshaka?

[Bishakha Chetia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowledgeable bedtime readings

I read these stories as bedtime stories because they make me learn things about Hinduism, mythology and spiritualism to a certain extend. Learning these facts helps in viewing life differently. That's why I gave it 5 stars. It's so knowledgeable that you are thirsty for more.

[Manoj · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable little book

I wasn't familiar with any of the stories presented in the book, and it helped me to see the Mahabharata in a whole new light. I also enjoyed the author's commentary on the stories, ranging from cynical to appreciative.

[Supriya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick insight on stories of Mahabharata

It was a great read on Mahabharata in bits and pieces that completes themselves. The narrator has taken good care not to judge the Characters of this epic, or show them in negative light and give a general opinion.

[Arun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted morality tales

It's a fun, non-time consuming read about some peripheral characters, events in the Mahabharata that mostly foreshadows or lays the foundation for the main act of the epic. Good read

[Ushasree N · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.literateidiotsclub.com/rev...

[Nipun Bamania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book with tales that we are not familiar with from the most familiar epic. A must read for mytho lovers.

[Ashok V K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

Well written and very interesting, the author has brought some less known stories from Mahabharat. Although some stories are quite well known

[Rahul Karalgikar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title is quiet misleading for a person who has read original Mahabharata. And stories deviate from original compositions.

[Akshay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for a brief introduction.

Captivating stories from the legend. Good overview of the real text. The questions provide a context to apply the situation in everyday life.

[Vijay Anand Tripathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mahabharata is longest epic. Its like an ocean of numerous fables, anecdotes & pieces of practical wisdom, which have strong influence on our culture (esp. the Indian culture).

The popular Mahabharata that we have learned or known is probably a summarize version of this greatest epic and may be covering only 10% of the original texts. There are many background stories & lot of history associated with events & individuals.

Now choosing 2000 tales from this massive Vedic literature, is a mammoth and daunting task, and the credit must go to Sharath Komarraju for being successful in this "inhuman" task, being a human.
The language is Crisp, comprehensive, contextual., and it is absolutely irresistible to get away from this book.
I am a huge fan of puranic vedic stories and Sharath has indeed a great way of writing, in a simple concise, manner.

Must Must Read and it should be a part of your collection.

[Pankaj Patil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read,since author combined unknown or lesser known tales which comes during reading Mahabharata at one place.
If reader knows these tales before it will helpful in understanding Mahabharata in better way,because there are thousands of characters in Epic and all are inter linked in some ways to each other.