THE LIFE OF HARISHCHANDRA

Raghavanka

Translated from Kannada by Vanamala Viswanatha

This translation of Raghavanka’s thirteenth-century Kannada retelling of the legend of the king Harishchandra is the latest publication from the Murty Classical Library—which has translated and published 13 classic Indian texts so far, of which Harishchandra is the first translation from Kannada. The tale, which has many variations across India, centres on the suffering of Harishchandra, who loses his wealth, status and caste, all in the interest of truth. The lessons of the Harishchandra story were central to Mohandas Gandhi’s ethics.

Harvard University Press, 688 pages, Rs 599