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The Mahabharata Secret

novel by Christopher Doyle

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ20926204
Source-derived summary

The Mahabharata Secret is the debut novel by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle and was released on 21 October 2013 by Om Books. The story follows Vijay and his friends, as they try to decipher a series of clues which would lead them to a devastating Secret hidden by a brotherhood known as the Nine Men. Doyle had initially started writing a story for his daughter, which gradually expanded into the book. The author was primarily inspired by the Indian epic Mahabharata, believing its events to be based on scientific facts. The book was followed by Doyle's second novel, The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret, which is the first book in a planned trilogy of sequels.

Doyle believes in the possibility of the existence of a secret history which was probably not recorded in antiquity. While researching he also came across legends prevalent about King Ashoka and linked the story with him. Following its release, The Mahabharata Secret was a commercial success, which enabled the author to get signed for further thriller novels based on the subject matter and was also nominated for the 2014 Crossword Book Award.

Plot synopsis

In 244 BC, Indian emperor Ashoka finds a hilly cave with an astonishing secret. Believing it could destroy the world, he creates a secret brotherhood of Nine Men, who would guard the cave's contents through the centuries.

Editorial summary

“The Mahabharata Secret” enters the record as novel by Christopher Doyle. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Mahabharata, Secret and novel can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013, 2014—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2013-10-21. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Mahabharata, Secret and novel.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Mahabharata Secret” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Mahabharata, Secret and novel provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20926204. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013 and 2014.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Mahabharata Secret”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Mahabharata Secret primary sources, The Mahabharata Secret archive and Mahabharata research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Mahabharata Secret”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Mahabharata Secret” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.