Re-ending the Mahabharata: The Rejection of Dharma in the Sanskrit Epic

This book challenges two prevalent assumptions about the Mahabharata: that its narrative is inherently incapable of achieving a conclusion and that its ending, the Svargarohana parva, is an extraneous part of the text. While the exegetic traditions have largely tended to suppress, ignore, or overlook the importance of this final section, Shalom argues that the moment of the condemnation of dharma that occurs in the Svargarohana parva, expressed by the epic protagonist, Yudhisthira, against his father, Dharma, is of crucial importance. It sheds light on the incessant preoccupation and intrinsic dismay towards the concept of dharma (the cardinal theme around which the epic revolves) expressed by Mahabharata narrators throughout the epic, and is thus highly significant for understanding the Mahabharata narrative as a whole.