The Mahabharata is the longest, and arguably one of the greatest, epic poems in any language. Intended to be a treatise on life itself, it embraces religion and ethics, polity and government, philosophy and the pursuit of salvation. With its central theme of universal destruction and the evils of war, the epic poem reveals not the exploits of heroes but the lives of ordinary people in search of the most fundamental of human desires: peace and reconciliation. This ...