What was expected when taking on translations from The Mahabharata may be quite difficult to say, but this one thing is certain: as every Indian knows, The Mahabharata is the great epic that traces the genesis of the five brothers, Pandavas, pitted against the Kauravas, until relations devolve and they are caught in the great internecine war. This war sets brother against brother, father against son; and no one emerges the winner. It is also known that the epic has many parables, fables, esoteric stories, bits of history and other bits of wisdom tacked on over a period of 600-700 years.
Yet, these bits have been disregarded as they hold lesser truths. It is thanks to Wendy Doniger that a totally different side to The Mahabharata is seen here in The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and Faithful Jackals; a side that speaks of women unfaithful and a mouse wise beyond its years. The parables or morality tales are from book Twelve and Thirteen of The Mahabharata and are called the Shanti and the Anushasana Parvanas.
They consist of many questions asked by Yudhishthira of his grand-uncle Bhisma as he lies dying on his deathbed of arrows, though some are asked and answered by others. These have nothing to do with the war, but clarify some moral dilemmas and seek to clarify certain questions of vital interest. In some, the stories also told in The Ramayana are retold here, slightly differently.
Of special interest are the parables because it is clear that the animals spoken about are human.