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.
