Krishna Dharma
Encyclopedia
Krishna Dharma is a British
Hindu
scholar and author.
Krishna Dharma is "the author of the world's most popular editions of India's great epics": the Ramayana: India's Immortal Tale of Adventure, Love, and Wisdom (1998) and the Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time (1999). He is also a contributor to the press and a regular radio
broadcaster.
Krishna Dharma was born as Kenneth Anderson in 1955 in London
. In his youth he served as a merchant navy
officer. In 1979 he joined ISKCON and converted
to the monotheistic Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism
. Since the beginning of the 80's, he has offered seminars and lectures on the Vedas
and associated disciplines. In 1986 he established the first ISKCON temple in Manchester
, England
, and served there as a temple president until 2001. In 1989 he started in Manchester a "Hare Krishna Food for Life" programme, which has become the largest free food distribution effort in the city. He is married to Cintamani devi dasi and has three children, Madhava,Radhika and Janaki. He currently lives with his family in Hertfordshire
.
In 1999 Krishna Dharma published the first edition of his adaptation of the Mahabharata
. British author and journalist James Meek
wrote in his review in The Guardian
: "With its intense love scenes, jewelled palaces, vast battles, superheroes, magical weapons and warring families, the novelised version resembles a 20th century saga-cum-soap opera, a marriage of Barbara Taylor Bradford
and Arthur Hailey
. Salman Rushdie was threatened with murder for it. William Tyndale
was strangled and burned for it. Altering, challenging or even translating sacred texts can be dangerous. But a British Hindu priest expects only praise, high sales and converts from an epic effort of literary digestion launched next week: the 100,000-verse Mahabharata, turned by him into a 1,000-page blockbuster
novel
".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
scholar and author.
Krishna Dharma is "the author of the world's most popular editions of India's great epics": the Ramayana: India's Immortal Tale of Adventure, Love, and Wisdom (1998) and the Mahabharata: The Greatest Spiritual Epic of All Time (1999). He is also a contributor to the press and a regular radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcaster.
Krishna Dharma was born as Kenneth Anderson in 1955 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In his youth he served as a merchant navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
officer. In 1979 he joined ISKCON and converted
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to the monotheistic Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. Since the beginning of the 80's, he has offered seminars and lectures on the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
and associated disciplines. In 1986 he established the first ISKCON temple in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and served there as a temple president until 2001. In 1989 he started in Manchester a "Hare Krishna Food for Life" programme, which has become the largest free food distribution effort in the city. He is married to Cintamani devi dasi and has three children, Madhava,Radhika and Janaki. He currently lives with his family in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
In 1999 Krishna Dharma published the first edition of his adaptation of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. British author and journalist James Meek
James Meek (author)
James Meek is a British writer and journalist. He was born in London and grew up in Dundee, Scotland.Meek spent several years living in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and now resides in London. He has published four novels and two short story collections. In 2004 he was named Foreign...
wrote in his review in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: "With its intense love scenes, jewelled palaces, vast battles, superheroes, magical weapons and warring families, the novelised version resembles a 20th century saga-cum-soap opera, a marriage of Barbara Taylor Bradford
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE is an English novelist, and one of the world's most beloved storytellers. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide. To date, she has written 27 novels -- all bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic...
and Arthur Hailey
Arthur Hailey
Arthur Hailey was a British/Canadian novelist.- Biography :Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, Hailey served in the Royal Air Force from the start of World War II during 1939 until 1947, when he went to live in Canada. Hailey's last novel, Detective , is a mystery told from the perspective of a...
. Salman Rushdie was threatened with murder for it. William Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
was strangled and burned for it. Altering, challenging or even translating sacred texts can be dangerous. But a British Hindu priest expects only praise, high sales and converts from an epic effort of literary digestion launched next week: the 100,000-verse Mahabharata, turned by him into a 1,000-page blockbuster
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
".