Overview: Komarraju. Lesser Known Tales from The Mahabharata

Title: 51 Lesser Known Tales from The Mahabharata
Author: Sharath Komarraju
Year: 2015

Comments: If you like this book, there are other books here by the same author you can read: Sharath Komarraju.

Kindle: You can buy your own Kindle copy from Amazon for $2.99 (checked price November 2017); more about Kindles.

Length: two weeks. I've divided the reading into four parts: A-B (first week) and C-D (second week).

Part A
Note to the Reader
Sage and Scribe
Pandu’s Last Wish
Yudhisthir’s Chariot
The Final Journey
Parashurama Kills the Kshatriyas
Jaya and Vijaya
Krishna Fights Arjun
Barbarik
The Incarnation of Yama
The Other Wives of Arjun
How Abhimanyu’s Death Saved Arjun’s Life
The Death of Krishna, and His Rebirth as God

Part B
The Two Boons of Jayadratha
The Three Men in Amba’s Life
The Two Different Faces of Ganga
Matsya
Kurma
Varaha
Mohini
Bhrigu and His Relationship with Vishnu
Yayati
Shukracharya and Agastya
The Syamantaka Jewel
The Birth of Garuda
Snakes and Their Forked Tongues
The Birth of Satyavati

Part C
The Unused Weapon: Pashupatastra
Demolition of Arjun’s Vanity: The Chariot
The Birth of Jamadagni
The Birth and Death of Jarasandha
The Blinding of Shukracharya
Anasuya, the Mother of the Trinity
The Three Myths of Ganesha
Kartikeya, the Forgotten Brother
The Ever-giving Myth
Uttanka
Kalmashapada
Ashtavakra
Nahusha

Part D
Trishanku
Kinnaras and Kimpurushas
Yakshas and Gandharvas
Divine Musician: Tumbura
The Yaksha Prashna
The Unlikely Hero: Yudhisthir
Ashwamedha and Rajasuya
Maya the Gifted Architect
The Seven Chiranjeevis
Nala Damayanti
Kali, the Arch Enemy of Vishnu
Rambha, Urvashi, Menaka, Tilottama

Overview: Komarraju. Women from the Mahabharata

Title: 17 Fascinating Women from the Mahabharata
Author: Sharath Komarraju
Year: 2015

Comments: If you are interested in this book, you might also enjoy Dear Sakhi: The Lost Journals of the Ladies of Hastinapur by the same author.

Kindle: You can buy your own Kindle copy from Amazon for $2.99 (checked price November 2017); more about Kindles.

Length: one-and-a-half week. I've divided the reading into three parts: Part A, Part B, and Part C (if you want to read it all in one week, you can use Part C for extra credit).

Part A
Draupadi
Kunti
Ganga
Satyavati

Part B
Gandhari
Amba
Subhadra
Ulupi and Chitrangada
Uttara
Renuka

Part C
Damayanti
Devayani and Sharmishtha
Sukanya
Shakuntala
Savitri

Overview: Komarraju. Ladies of Hastinapur

Title: Dear Sakhi: The Lost Journals of the Ladies of Hastinapur
Author: Sharath Komarraju
Year: 2015

Comments: Here is the author's own introduction to the book, which can give you an idea of what it is about:

We do not know if the royals of Hastinapur kept journals. But we do know that they had companions – whom they called sakhis – with whom they shared their joys and sorrows. The monologues that appear in this book are a recording of some such conversations that some women of the Mahabharata had with their waiting women. These are largely concocted from my imagination, so if at any point the text makes you wonder whether it really happened that way, my answer is that it could have. I have selected each of the scenes that appear in this book with care, so as to stay away from the over-analyzed bits – like Draupadi’s disrobing, for instance – in the hope that you will take delight in some of the rarer stories too.

Kindle: You can buy your own Kindle copy from Amazon for $2.99 (checked price November 2017); more about Kindles.

Length: 1 week. I've divided the reading into two parts:

Part A: Ganga, Satyavati, and Amba

Part B:  Kunti and Draupadi