The Mahabharata of Vyasa: Condensed from Sanskrit and transcreated into English (2nd Edition)
 
Author: P. Lal (transcreator)
Pages: 478
Year of Publication: First published 1980, Second edition 2006
Price: HB Rs 400
ISBN: 81-8157-444-3 (8181574443)
 
About the Book
“There are many condensed versions in English of the Mahābhārata of Vyāsa but the only one that can be called a translation is Dr. V. Raghavan’s rendering which, by shortening the 100,000 śhloka epic to about 2,000 śhlokas, is microscopic in its compression. My aim has been to re-tell the story of the Kurukshetra war at greater length but always in Vyāsa’s own words, without simplifying, interpreting, or elaborating. I have selected only such śhlokas as formed a continuous narrative, leaving out the large clutch of sub-stories, legends, peripheral digressions and other tangential material that is fascinating by itself but not absolutely relevant to the tale of the Kaurava-Pāndava conflict.
 
I have stressed incidents and episodes with dramatic qualities which provided illuminating entries into the complex motivation of the Mahābhārata‘s main characters.”
P. Lal, in his preface