The Epistemology and Aesthetics of the Mahabharata

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Dr K S Radhakrishnan is a renowned academic, writer, orator and politician. He had been a Professor of Philosophy for more than four decades, and was the Vice-Chancellor of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala and Chairman of the Kerala Public Service Commission. His doctorate is on the Advaita Philosophy. He is a regular contributor to International journals on Philosophy. He was also formerly serving as Reader in the Department of Philosophy of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, Kerala. At present, he is the editor-in- chief, OMEGA, Indian Journal of Science and Religion. He has more than 20 years of teaching and research experience at postgraduate level. His specialization is in Advaita System, Gandhian Studies and Philosophy of Science. He started his career as a journalist for one of the prominent daily in Kerala. He was a Research Guide of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady and Kerala Sahitya Academy, Thrissur. He had been a Member of the Board of Studies in Philosophy, MG University and University of Kannur. He is a former member of the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, the Governing Body of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, the Governing Body of Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai and the Expert Committee of University Grants Commission on Sanskrit. He has published 17 books and more than 100 articles in various journals and periodicals, attended more than 30 international as well as national level conferences and broadcasted more than 35 talks in All India Radio.

There is a misconception on the Mahabharata that, it is a gospel of war. The euro-centric pandits are the exponents of this view and the same has been shared by the Indian counterparts of eurocentrism. They placed their arguments based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita as, the Gita had been advised to a soldier Arjuna, who was appointed as the Commander in chief of his army, in the battle field. Krishna advised the Gita to a person who collapsed on the sight of his enemies amidst warfare. He was infused with self-confidence at the end of the advice and he could fight and win the war. The central point of the teachings of the Gita is Nishkama karma and Krishna explained the various nuances of the term Nishkama karma to his disciple to make him aware of his duty as the Commander-in-Chief of an army. Since Gita was taught to a soldier, the narration of the Gita was filled with images and metaphors related to war for the sake of easy communication. This is the background in which the enquiry to know the meaning of the term Nishkama karma has been started. The term is not an accidently occurred concept in the Gita, but it has been the central point of discussion in the Mahabharata from the chapter one itself.

The book, "Epistemology and Aesthetics of the Mahabharata" is a philosophical study of the epic intended to expose its epistemological infrastructure and aesthetic content. The text contains 1,76,376 words and those words have been classified into three parts. The part 1, deals with the unique epistemology of the Mahabharatha.