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Volume 7 brings the 18-days war to a close. This was an emotional roller coaster.

Yudhisthira‘s foolishness almost costs him the kingdom. With no choice left but deceit, Krishna advises Bhima to break dharma in the fight.

This act brings into focus the many times the Pandavas & Krishna perpetrate immoral acts in the name of “the greater good”.

The Pandavas end up the winners of a broken & grieving kingdom; with a bleak future awaiting them.

With this we end Day 15 of the war. The five days after Bhishma‘s fall are the most brutal. Drona is a savage.

There are a LOT of battle scenes in this book. But the book ends with a huge debate and fight about what Dharma really means; and who is morally right or wrong.

When Drona finally succumbs, we don‘t know whether to feel anger or horror or relief. Ashwatthama is MAD and gets reckless, showing no mercy with his divine weapons.

The first ten days of the Kurukshetra war are led by Bhishma - oscillating in favour between the Kauravas & Pandavas because of Bhishma‘s equal love for both sets of grandsons.

Krishna‘s wisdom in the form of the Gita fails to rouse Arjuna to action - but others pick up the slack.

Duryodhana has many tricks up his sleeve, but he is an equally honourable warrior. But things don‘t seem good for him as Bhishma is felled and Drona takes the reins.

Vol 4 starts at the Virata parva - where the Pandavas are incognito. After the 13-year exile, Duryodhana refuses to accept the legitimacy of Yudhisthira‘s claim to kingship and the preparations for the war begin.

This book shows stories of ancient sages, swarga, patala, nagas and the wise woman Viduraa. Incredible & poignant philosophy here.

We end this volume on the Kurukshetra grounds, a few hours away from the start of the 18-days massacre.

Volume 3 started out with lots of descriptions about the sacred tirthas of ancient India.

The book was divided almost equally between philosophical discussions and the stories of ancient characters such as Savitri & Satyavan, Sukanya & Chyavana, Agni & Svaha and God Kartikeya.

Karna gives away his Kavacha-Kundala to Indra and we end the book by completing the massive Aranyaka Parva.

Time to go incognito in Vol 4; with the war imminent.

Second volume complete. What a ride. Lots of action and many philosophical discussions in this one. We end with Arjuna having visited Indraloka; and the Nala-Damayanti story. We are in year 6 of the Pandava exile right now.

This book discusses a lot of morally grey areas and offers a lot of food for thought. Many notes mark these pages too; which I will revisit sometime in the future.

Now, onto Volume 3.

Read this book over a year ago. Loved every bit of it. This first volume has the origin stories of Hinduism, followed by the creation of Gods and the royal dynasties. The actual Mahabharata story starts after 70-75% of the book is complete. We end this volume with the marriage of the Pandavas to Droupadi. Lots of notes and highlights in this one. A gem that everyone should read.