The difficulty of being good

Name: The difficulty of being good
ISBN: 9780670083497

on the subtle art of dharma

by Gurcharan Das

4/5

(39 votes)

In his new book, Gurcharan Das turns to the Mahabharata in order to answer the question, "why be good'', and discovers that the epic's world of moral haziness and uncertainty is closer to our experience as ordinary human beings than the narrow and rigid p.

Format: 434 pages, Hardcover
First published: 2009
Publishers: Allen Lane·Penguin Group (USA)
Subjects: Mahābhārata·Criticism·Interpretation·Etc·Mahābhārata·Characters·Dharma
Language: English

This is an excellent read and this review will not do it justice but I am compelled to say at least something having recommended it to a number of friends and family. With the ancient Mahabharata as the theme and background, the admirable author explains characteristics of humankind that were true then and are true now.

The way he has portrayed every characters dilemma's is just awesome. I personally enjoyed chapters on Draupadi, Krishna and Yudhishtira.

I would like to think that this level of discourse is what our original storytellers envisioned. The honest, agenda-free discussion on actions by characters in a mythical setting, that we could apply to our lives.

About Gurcharan Das

Gurcharan Das (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਚਰਨ ਦਾਸ, Hindi: गुरचरण दास), (born October 3, 1943), is an Indian author, commentator and public intellectual. He is the author of The Difficulty of Being Good: On the subtle art of dharma which interrogates the epic, Mahabharata. His international bestseller, India Unbound, is a narrative account of India from Independence to the global Information Age, and has been published in many languages and filmed by BBC.He is a regular columnist for six Indian newspapers in English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi, and he writes periodic pieces for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Newsweek.He graduated with honors from Harvard University in Philosophy. He later attended Harvard Business School (AMP), where he is featured in three case studies. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and later Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning). In 1995, he took early retirement to become a full time writer. He is currently on many boards and is a regular speaker to the top managements of the world’s largest corporations.His other literary works include a novel, A Fine Family, a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and anthology, Three English Plays....

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