Re-ending the Mahabharata

Book excerpt: Offers a fresh perspective on the Mah?bh?rata based on an exploration of its ending, the Svarg?roha?a parvan. This book challenges two prevalent assumptions about the Mah?bh?rata: that its narrativeis inherently incapable of achieving a conclusion and that its ending, the Svarg?roha?a parvan, 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 Svarg?roha?a parvan, expressed by the epic protagonist, Yudhi??hira, 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 Mah?bh?rata narrators throughout the epic, and is thus highly significant for understanding the Mah?bh?rata narrative as a whole.