Mahabharata

A Mahabharata is an Indian epic poem that narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, culminating in the Kurukshetra War.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) be considered one of the two major Itihasa texts in Hinduism, alongside the Ramayana.
  • It can (typically) encompass a wide range of stories and discourses, including the Bhagavad Gita, which is embedded within the epic.
  • It can (often) explore themes of Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha (the four goals of life in Hindu philosophy).
  • It can explore various themes of duty, righteousness, and the moral complexities of human nature.
  • It can be attributed to the sage Vyasa, who is traditionally regarded as its compiler and author.
  • It can illustrate the struggles for power, kinship, and morality through the tales of its primary characters like Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Karna, and Draupadi.
  • It can be divided into 18 *parvas* (books), each dealing with specific events and themes, such as the Udyoga Parva, Virata Parva, and Shanti Parva.
  • It can provide a detailed account of the Kurukshetra War, which serves as a central narrative and symbolizes the broader conflict between good and evil.
  • It can be a repository of various sub-stories, including the tales of Damayanti, Shakuntala, and Savitri and Satyavan.
  • It can be seen as a literary text that combines history, mythology, and philosophy, providing insight into Ancient Indian Society.
  • It can reflect diverse interpretations and retellings across different languages and cultures within India, such as the Andhra Mahabharatam and the Tamil Bharatham.
  • It can symbolize the Battle of Ideals between Kshatriya Duties and Brahmin Ideals through the decisions and dilemmas faced by its protagonists.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • a Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, compiled by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute to provide a standardized version of the text.
  • the Mahabharat (TV Series), a popular adaptation that brought the epic to contemporary audiences in India and worldwide.
  • a Mahabharata Play by Peter Brook, which presents a condensed version of the epic for the stage.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Bhagavad Gita, a spiritual and philosophical text that is part of the Mahabharata, but not the entire epic.
  • Puranas, a genre of important Hindu religious texts that are distinct from the epic narratives of the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
  • Ramayana, another Indian epic that focuses on the story of Rama and deals with different characters and themes.
• See: Fifth Veda, Vyasa, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Smriti, Indian Epic Poetry, Ancient India, Kurukshetra War.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata Retrieved:2024-10-3.
  • The Mahābhārata (; , , ) is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the Rāmāyaṇa, often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (). The title is translated as "Great Bharat (India)", or "the story of the great descendents of Bharata", or as "The Great Indian Tale". The Mahābhārata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written". Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. At about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa. Within the Indian tradition it is sometimes called the fifth Veda.

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