Since the epic centers on the colossal war fought at Kuru Kshetra, a sensitive issue is the vastness of the carnage. The revered Drona's white locks are seized and his head cut off and cast on the ground by Jumna; Bhishma, the oldest of the Bharatas, is shot with twenty arrows; Arjuna shoots off Kama's head when his chariot wheel is stuck; and Asvattama avenges his father's death by killing all the remaining warriors (the Pandavas happen to be elsewhere) in the Pandava camp. Bhima avenges the unclothing of Draupadi when he cuts open Dushasa's breast and drinks his blood.

"The taste of this blood," he says, "is sweeter than my mother's milk or good wine mixed with honey."

Another disturbing aspect of the book is that the "good" characters, who are favored by the gods, have to use unfair means to defeat the Kuravas. Arjuna...