Originally published: New Delhi : Allen Lane ; New York : Penguin Group (USA), 2009.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 312-328) and index.

Prelude: I take an academic holiday -- Duryodhana's envy: "what man of mettle will stand to see his rivals prosper and himself decline" -- Draupadi's courage: "who did you lose first, yourself or me?" -- Yudhisthira's duty: "I act because I must" -- Arjuna's despair: "there are no victors in war" -- Bhishma's selflessness: "be intent on the act, not its fruits" -- Karna's status anxiety: "how could a doe give birth to this tiger?" -- Krishna's guile: "that is the way it is!" -- Aswatthama's revenge: "now I feel the whirligig of time" -- Yudhisthira's remorse: "this victory looks more like defeat to me" -- Mahabharata's dharma: "great king, you weep with all creatures" -- Conclusion: the difficulty of being good -- Appendix: dharma, the story of a word -- A short bibliographic essay.