Week 7 Reading Feedback

This week I read the online book of Nivedita's Mahabharata. She was definitely a longer read. I'm not sure what it is, but the Mahabharata story did not appeal to as much as the previous epic. Nivedita definitely went into more depth in the religious aspect. She discussed passages to heaven and hell and even personified death in one chapter. I do appreciate the fact that I could understand what I was reading, but sometimes the old English put me to sleep. Now it wasn't a terrible book. I just happen to read the chapters late at night when I'm already exhausted from the day. My favorite chapter was the conflict with Yudhishthira and Indra regarding the passage to heaven with the dog. It was interesting to see how Yudhishthira gave up heaven, the one place that religious people wish to reach in the afterlife, for a dog that he barely knew. The chapter that I was least interested in was the war. I guess I couldn't keep up with all the character names, so it became confusing or who killed who. Although, I must say that Nivedita's version did explain Shikhandin's revenge plot against Bhishma. Overall, I prefer reading Nivedita's Mahabharata than reading Narayan's Mahabharata.

Drona training the Pandavas. Source.