Contents: Preface. Introduction. I. Textual complex: 1. The critical edition of the Mahabharata - its constitution, achievements and limitations/M.A. Mehendale. 2. The Mahabharata in Asian literature and arts/Lokesh Chandra. 3. The Mahabharata: the global epic/Saroja Bhate. 4. The Mahabharata in the literary creativity of Indonesia/Manjushree Gupta. 5. Some reflections of the Mahabharata in Japanese literature/Anita Khanna. 6. Was Draupadi ever sought to be disrobed?/Pradip Bhattacharya. 7. Computational database of the Mahabharata for assisting research/analysis/Ramanujan. II. Regional traditions: 9. Tamil women and a Mahabharata myth/Vijaya Ramaswamy. 10. Nilalkkuttu and other Mahabharata episodes from Kerala/A. Purushothaman and A. Harindranath. 11. The epic imagination and its (dis)continuities: the Mewati Mahabharata/Shail Maryaram. 12. Bheel Bharath: when the Mahabharata incarnates down under/Satya Chaitanya. III. Performance: 13. Ideals in music as seen through the Mahabharata/Leela Omcherry. 14. Life outside the text: on the background and interpretation of the Mahabharata characters in contemporary Kataikuttu performances/Hanne M. de Bruin. 15. The Mahabharata on screen/Pradip Bhattacharya. 16. The Mahabharata as represented in the classical contemporary theatre of Kerala/K.G. Paulose. IV. Purusartha: 17. Purusarthas: values of life/D. Prahladachar. 19. Artha--Purusartha/Nrisinha Prasad Bhaduri. 20. The principle of Kama Purusartha in the Mahabharata: its conception and variations/Shalini Shah. [2 articles in Hindi).