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Podcast: New Books in Indian Religions
Episode: Kevin McGrath, "VyÄsa Redux: Narrative in Epic MahÄbhÄrata" (Anthem Press, 2019)
Description: In VyÄsa Redux: Narrative in Epic MahÄbhÄrata (Anthem Press, 2019), Kevin McGrath examines the complex and enigmatic VyÄsa, both the primary creative poet of the Sanskrit epic MahÄbhÄrata and a key character in the very epic he composes. In doing so McGrath focuses on what he considers the late Bronze Age portions of the epic feature prioritizing the concerns if the warrior class. In his discussion, McGrath distinguishes between plot and story and how this distinction comes to bear on the differences between preliterate and literate phases of the epicās compositional history.For in...