where can I read full mahabharata in English and what's its significance to Indian culture?
So I haven't actually read the Mahabharata myself but what I know is from the kids book when I was young (which wasn't a typical comics book but covered a lot of the story), what my parents told me and a few episodes of the TV serials. I too haven't read the whole Mahabharata in detail so I wouldn't be the right person to guide you. However, after researching a bit on the internet and if you want an actual book, this can be a good one:
If you just want to read online without spending money, then you can refer the KMG version which people say is good. Or you can refer the one
@indushek shared.
Translation of Mahabharata of Veda Vyasa by K.M.Ganguli in Simple English Prose - Mahabharata Chapter-wise English Translation
www.mahabharataonline.com
Since you don't know much of the story, it could be a little hard for you to dissect and understand what is happening or who even are the main characters when you read it initially. Conversely, it might give you the capability to read it fresh without any external biases on certain characters. It means you'll apply your own judgement on them.
The other approach is to have a basic understanding of the main events and then read it to have better context. It's completely up to you.
Speaking about significance to Indian culture, well it's huge. Almost every Hindu/Jain/Buddhist/Sikh(not sure) in India knows about the events that transpired in the Mahabharata. They know who the two sides were, where the battles was fought (Kurukshetra) and what the outcome was.
The Bhagavad Gita, arguably one of the most if not the most sacred text for Hindus is part of the Mahabharata. The Pandavas and Kauravas are already on the battlefield and are about to fight when Arjuna, the leader of the Pandavas hesitates. He is about to throw down his weapons since he feels that even if he wins the battle, he'll still be killing his own family.
O Krishna, seeing my own kinsmen arrayed for battle here and intent on killing each other, my limbs are giving way and my mouth is drying up.
My whole body shudders; my hair is standing on end. My bow, the Gāṇḍīv, is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning all over. My mind is in quandary and whirling in confusion; I am unable to hold myself steady any longer. O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon, I only see omens of misfortune. I do not foresee how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle.
This is where Shri Krishna who is Arjuna's charioteer explains what Dharma means and what his Dharma at that moment should be. There is a continuous back and forth between Arjuna and Shri Krishna where Arjuna asks questions and Shri Krishna answers. Different concepts such as the artha, kama, moksha, etc are also discussed. The below is the most famous verse from the scriptue:
BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.
BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. … Commentary: This is an extremely popular verse of the <em>Bhagavad Gita</em>, so much so that even most school children in India are familiar with it. It offers …
www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org
It simply means that you have to do your work without expectation of result. We usually get disappointed if we don't get the result we want or we get overly excited if we achieve what we wanted. The focus should always be on the work (karma) not on the result (karma-phal).
