Wendy Doniger is the author of several acclaimed and bestselling works, among them, The Hindus: An Alternative History; Hindu Myths; The Ring of Truth; Dreams, Illusion and Other Realities; Women, Androgynes and Other Mythical Beasts; Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares; and translations of the Rig Veda, Kamasutra, and most recently, the last four books of the Mahabharata, titled After the War. She is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago, and has also taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the University of California, Berkeley
<p><span style="font-size: 1rem;">How did Brahma create alluring women, and for what purpose? Why did the righteous King Bhangashvana choose womanhood? How did the sage Markandeya’s pupil prevent his guru’s wife from committing adultery? What role did Indra play in the births of Vishvamitra and Parashu Rama? How were death, diseases, desire and anger created? Why and how did the institution of kingship come about? What can one learn from the mouse who escaped the cat, the owl, the mongoose and the hunter; or the wise jackal who was betrayed by the lion king? Why did Shiva swallow Shukra, the guru of the Asuras? </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Embedded within the lengthy discourse on dharma in the Shanti and Anushasana Parvans of the Mahabharata are answers to a whole range of such </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">questions—moral lessons from a dying Bhishma to King Yudhishthira, on life, death and everything in between. The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Faithful Jackals is a highly entertaining selection of these tales—tangled at times, insightful at others, yet always quirky—about women, both good and bad, fathers and sons, kings, gods and kings of gods, and fables. The perceptive translations by Wendy Doniger, hailed as ‘the greatest living mythologist’, are a treat for anyone fascinated by the bewildering complexity of Hindu myth and lore.</span></p><div><br></div>
