Mahabharata is ‘one of the greatest books in the world’, says Dr. Annie Besant, in the Introduction of this book.

It is the story of the Aryan race in India some five thousand years ago and includes an account of the epic war between the Pandavas and Kauravas, two groups descended from King Bharata, from whom India takes its name, Bharata.

This book is based on notes of lectures delivered by Dr. Besant (deep scholar in Hinduism as well as comparative religion, and International President of the Theosophical society, 1907-33) at the Central Hindu College, Benares (now Varanasi) in the first decade of this century.