Few works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience, in nations with radically different languages and cultures, as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Sanskrit verse epics written some 2,000 years ago.

In Ramayana (written by a poet known to us as Valmiki), William Buck has retold the story of Prince Rama—with all its nobility of spirit, courtly intrigue, heroic renunciation, fierce battles, and triumph of good over evil—in a length and manner that will make the great Indian epics accessible to the contemporary reader.

The same is true for the Mahabharata—in its original Sanskrit, probably the longest Indian epic ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle, between the Kurus and Pandavas, for land. In his introduction, Sanskritist B. A. van Nooten notes, "Apart from William Buck’s rendition [no other English version has] been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic."

Presented accessibly for the general reader without compromising the spirit and lyricism of the originals, William Buck’s Ramayana and Mahabharata capture the essence of the Indian cultural heritage.

William Buck(1933-1970) was a Sanskritist, devoting his life's work to modern retellings of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the unfinished Harivamsa.

"Buck recaptures a spirit . . .,a poetry of expression, an atmosphere of awe, a liveliness of appreciation. . . . A pleasure to read and to look at; the many illustrations by Shirley Triest have a magical quality in total harmony with the magic of the text."—Times Literary Supplement





"The Mahabharata. . . . embodies the essence of the Indian cultural heritage. . . .The Mahabharata is an absorbing tale of a feud between two branches of a single Indian ruling family that culminates in a vast, cataclysmic battle. . . . [Buck] has retold the story so that the modern reader will not be discouraged from knowing and loving the stories as he did himself."—Focus on Asian Studies Newsletter

"Buck recaptures a spirit which is lacking in the more [literal and complete] translation; there is a poetry of expression, an atmosphere of awe, a liveliness of appreciation. . . . Buck captures much of the beauty of the Sanskrit thought. . . . A pleasure to read and to look at; the many illustrations by Shirley Triest have a magical quality in total harmony with the magic of the text."—Times Literary Supplement