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The Encyclopedia of Religion. Mercea Elide, editor in chief. New York: Macmillan, 1986.
Alf Hiltebeitel, summarizing contemporary scholarship, characterizes the text of the epic as an "essentially mythlogical" narrative in the Indian sacrificial tradition. The two groups of cousins, he continues, represent "the nucleus of social and diving hierarchy and dharma," on the one hand, and chaos on the other. Aspects of Hinduism itself and Indo-European mythology in general are covered in a series of separate articles including:
- Bhagvadgita
- Hindi Religious Traditons
- Hinduism
- Indo-European Religions
- Krsna
CALL NUMBER: Ref BL 31 .E46
"Mahabharata." EncyclopÊdia Britannica Online. [ Online ] Available: http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=51304&sctn=1 [Accessed 25 July 2000].
Available to members of the Union community via EncyclopÊdia Britannica Online, this article summarizes the central narrative and puts the work in context as "an important source of information about the evolution of Hinduism." The online article includes a link to the following EncyclopÊdia Britannica Online article:
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edited by Edward Craig. London and New York: Routledge, 1998.
The article on "Duty and Virtue, Indian Conceptions of" sheds light on dharma, which is central The Mahabharata. There is also a general article on "Hindu Philosophy." Each has a fairly extensive bibliography.
CALL NUMBER: Ref B 51 .R68 1998
Strobel, Craig S. "Peter Brook, The Mahabharata and Cultural Performance. [ Online ] Available: http://members.aol.com/Conspiritu/Mahaintr.htm [Accessed 30 March 2001]
An extensive analysis of the Peter Brook interpretation of the epic poem, including sections on Orientalism and the Presentation of Cultures, background on the epic, the production itself, Brook in India, and a bibiography of relevant resources.
Grimes, John A.
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanscrit Terms Defined
in English. Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1989.
A one-volume "introduction to the basic terms found in the major schools of Indian philosophy.
CALL NUMBER: Ref B 131 .G67 1989
Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale, 1992—
Extended excerpts from critical interpretations and commentaries on The Mahabharata starting with Christian historian Charles J. Stone's 1884 lecture on the cultural, historical, and mythological aspects of the epic poem through contemporary Indian and Western sources (including Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade). There is also an introductory essay and an annotated bibliography of sources for further reading.
CALL NUMBER: Ref PN 610 .C530 v.5
Coleman, Tracy. Bibliography on Teaching the Mahabharata. [ Online ] Available: http://www.acusd.edu/~lnelson/risa/biblio/b-maha.html [Accessed 30 March 2001].
Compiled by Coleman for the Religion in South Asia Section (RISA) of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) based on discussion list comments regarding appropriate resources for the teaching of the epic.
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. by Paul Edwards. New York: Macmillan, 1967.
The article on "Hinduism" discusses "The Gita" portion of the epic.
CALL NUMBER: Ref B 41 .E5
"India." Britannica Online. [ Online ] Available: http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=121169&sctn=1 [Accessed 2 October 2000].
An overview of Indian history. Available to members of the Union community via Britannica Online.
"Indian Philosophy: The Philosophical Portions of the "Mahabharata." Britannica Online. [ Online ] Available: http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=109263&sctn=7 [Accessed 2 October 2000].
Available to members of the Union community via Britannica Online, this article discusses the epic in terms of the process of the integrating non-Aryan communities into the framework of Aryan beliefs, practices, and institutions.
Brockington, John. "Origins of Indian Philosophy." In Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. Edited by Brian Carr and Indira Mahalingam. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
Brockington discusses how the Indian epic poems provide evidence of the development of Hinduism as a religion and how the Bhagavadgita (contained within the narrative of the Mahabharata) has become the main religious text for many Hindus.
CALL NUMBER: Ref B 121 .C66 1997
Books -- Online Catalog
The Online Catalog is a computerized listing of this library's materials--books, government documents, and sound recordings.
The Online Catalog may also be searched by keyword using combinations of terms for more precise search results.
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Link to a more extensive listing of subject headings on The Mahabharata.
About.com's section on Hindu epics including a number of links to material on The Mahabharata.
Address:
http://hinduism.about.com/religion/hinduism/cs/epics/index.htm
The University of Evansville site Exploring Ancient World Cultures comprises "an on-line course supplement for students and teachers of the ancient and medieval world," featuring original essays and electronic versions of primary texts. Eight cultures are represented—The Near East, India, Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Early Islam, and Medieval Europe—with a chronology, essay, image gallery, and links to relevant Websites and e-text sources available for each one.
Address:
http://eawc.evansville.edu/index.htm
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Scholarly periodical databases give a researcher access to articles on specific subjects that have appeared in variety of periodicals. Such databases may cover a broad area of study the way Humanities Abstracts and Arts and Humanities Search do. Others, such as Bibliography of Asian Studies, focus more sharply. Most journal articles listed are written by scholars and aimed at other researchers in that field, making them particularly important research sources. Searching a database will give the researcher the bibliographic citation needed to identify and locate a specific work on a topic: author, title of article, journal title, volume and issue number, date, and pages. An abstract briefly summarizes an article's contents.
Some online databases—EBSCOhost, H.W. Wilson Select Full Text in FirstSearch, and ProQuest Direct—include the full text of at least some of the articles online. Databases are accessible via the Library's Electronic Resources Page.
Relevant online databases for research on The Mahabharata and its context include:
OCLC FirstSearch Databases:
- Arts and Humanities Search — citation database
- Bibliography of Asian Studies
- Humanities Abstracts — includes philosophy, history, culture
- Wilson Select Full-Text
- WorldCat — books and other library materials
Relevant CD-ROM databases include:
- Philosopher's Index OnDisc [1940— ] — via Schaffer Library Networked CD-ROM Collection
Last revised on April 02, 2001