The Mahabharata is some 3,500 years old and is the longest poem in existence. It is one of the founding epics of Indian culture, yet is also a highly dramatic and enthralling story. It centres around a royal family who are at war with each other, and is filled with heroism, bloodshed, satanic hates and intrigue, gods, heavenly cities and vivid, super-human characters. Its often violent narrative also encompasses philosophy, history and cosmology, and contains the Bhagavad Gita, the masterly spiritual discussion between Krishna and the prince Arjuna which forms the cornerstone of the Hindu religion. R. K. Narayan’s brilliant shortened prose interpretation of this monumental, cosmic drama is one of his finest achievements, and brings all the excitement and depth of this great Indian epic to life.