Yuganta  (English, Paperback, Karve Irawati)

Yuganta: The End Of An Epoch is a retelling of the Mahabharata by Irawati Karve that aims to provide the readers with a socio-political interpretation of the ancient Indian epic.

Summary Of The Book

In Yuganta: The End Of An Epoch, the author has attempted to interpret many of the events of the Mahabharata in a socio-political context. The author attempts to do this without highlighting the religious aspect of the epic. In the author’s opinion, the Mahabharata is not really a myth, but is an account of historical events that actually took place many thousands of years ago, in the nation of India.

In this context, the author provides the readers with in-depth insight into the political and social situations that were prevalent during that period in Indian history. Thus, the readers are able to gain a great deal of knowledge about such things by reading this book.

The author has chosen to highlight only a few characters from the Mahabharata, and has provided the readers with her point of view on them as well as the things that motivated them back then. Yuganta: The End Of An Epoch was originally written in Marathi by the author.

The author earned the Sahitya Akademi Award for this piece of work. Yuganta: The End Of An Epoch has been greatly appreciated for the fact that it provides its readers with a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the state of things in that era. It is exceptionally beneficial for those who are keen on studying history.

About Irawati Karve

The author of this book, Irawati Karve, was also a well-known anthropologist and educationist from India.

Apart from this book, Karve has published a few other books, entitled Hindu Society - An Interpretation, Maharashtra - Land And People, and Kinship Organization In India.

Born on the 15th of December, 1905, Karve spent a great deal of her childhood in Pune, India. She completed her master’s degree from Mumbai University, studying Sociology. Following that, she studied at a university in Berlin, Germany, obtaining a Doctoral degree in Anthropology. For several years, Karve was in charge of the Department Of Sociology And Anthropology, at Deccan College, affiliated to University Of Pune. She wrote a number of books, on subjects such as anthropology and sociology, in both English and Marathi. Karve passed away on the 11th of August, 1970.