Yuganta: The End of an Epoch by Irawati Karve (originally published in Marathi, 1967; English translation 1991, Orient Longman) is a landmark work of historical and sociological analysis of the Mahabharata. Karve examines the epic not as mythology but as a record of human characters and social realities at the end of the Vedic age. Through essays on figures such as Bhishma, Draupadi, Karna, and Krishna, she explores themes of power, morality, kinship, and destiny.