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

Offers a fresh perspective on the Mahābhārata based on an exploration of its ending, the Svargārohaṇa parvan.

This book challenges two prevalent assumptions about the Mahābhārata: that its narrative is inherently incapable of achieving a conclusion and that its ending, the Svargārohaṇa 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 condemnat...