Mahabharata

The Mahābhārata (/məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə, ˌmɑːhə-/ mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-/) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Ramayana. It tells the story of a big war called the Kurukshetra War between two groups of royal cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.

The book includes many important ideas and stories, such as the Bhagavad Gita and tales like those of Damayanti, Shakuntala, and Savitri and Satyavan. People often say Vyāsa wrote it, but scholars think it grew over many years, with most of it put together between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE.

The name means "Great Bharat (India)" or "the story of the great descendants of Bharata". It is one of the longest epic poems ever written, with over 100,000 shlokas or verses. In fact, it is about ten times longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey together! In Indian tradition, it is sometimes called the fifth Veda.

Textual history and structure

The Mahabharata is a very old story from India. It is said to have been written down by a wise man named Vyasa. He called it an itihasa, which means "history."

The story is told in a special way, like a story inside another story. It was first told by a wise man named Vaisampayana to a king named Janamejaya. Later, another storyteller named Ugrashava Sauti told the story again to some wise people in a forest.

Some old scholars thought the Mahabharata was hard to follow. They believed the original story might have been very powerful but thought the whole book was confusing.

Research shows that parts of the Mahabharata go back to very old times. The story started as an oral tale, told by traveling storytellers. Over time, the story changed with the language and styles of the times.

The Mahabharata has many parts. The story was put together in stages, with different parts added over time.

The Mahabharata includes many old stories and traditions. One part tells about a big snake sacrifice done by King Janamejaya. There are also older poems that are similar to parts of the Mahabharata.

Early writers mentioned the Mahabharata, which suggests that parts of the story were known by the 4th century BCE. Some stories from the Mahabharata became famous on their own and were used in other Indian writings.

The Mahabharata is divided into 18 main parts or books.

Historical context

The real story behind the Kurukshetra War is not clear. Many believe it happened in Iron Age India around the 10th century BCE. The story is set when the Kuru kingdom was powerful, between about 1200 to 800 BCE. Some think a real family fight from that time might have inspired the story of the Mahābhārata.

The old books called Puranic literature give family history details connected to the Mahābhārata. These histories help try to guess when events happened, but they can be hard to understand.

B. B. Lal looked at old objects found by archaeologists and matched them with places in the story, suggesting the war might have been around 836 BCE.

A teacher of old Indian writings, Robert P. Goldman, says the Mahābhārata uses myths but is not just make-believe. It is a true story in the way the people of that time saw history. It is also a poem, a guide, and a way to teach good behavior in life.

Synopsis

See also: List of characters in the Mahabharata

The main story is about a fight for the throne of Hastinapura, ruled by the Kuru clan. Two families, the Kaurava and the Pandava, both want to be king. Even though the Kaurava family is older, Duryodhana, the oldest Kaurava, is younger than Yudhishthira, the oldest Pandava. Both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira think they should be the next king.

The fight ends in the Kurukshetra War, where the Pandavas win. The battle shows many conflicts between family members and friends.

The MahāBhārata ends with the death of Krishna, and the Pandava brothers going to heaven. It also marks the start of the Hindu age of Kali Yuga.

Themes

Just war

The Mahābhārata talks about the idea of a "just war." In the story, one of the brothers wonders if fighting can ever be right. The brothers have a long talk about what makes a war fair. They talk about rules like only fighting in fair ways, not hurting people who are already hurt, and making sure the fight is for a good reason.

Translations, versions and derivative works

Translations

The first Bengali translations of the Mahabharata appeared in the 16th century. We do not know if Kavindra Parameshwar of Hooghly or Sri Sanjay of Sylhet was the first to translate it.

A Persian translation called Razmnameh was made in the 16th century under Akbar by Faizi and ʽAbd al-Qadir Badayuni.

The first full English translation was by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883 and 1896. Another translation by Romesh Chunder Dutt came in 1898. Poet P. Lal made a poetic version, published in Calcutta.

Projects to translate the Mahabharata into English began in 2005 from the Clay Sanskrit Library, and 15 of 32 planned books are now available.

Scholar Shripad Damodar Satwalekar translated the Mahabharata into Hindi for the Government of India.

Economist Bibek Debroy also made an English translation in ten books.

Many shorter versions and novel-like retellings of the Mahabharata have been written in English.

Critical Edition

Between 1919 and 1966, scholars at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune compared many versions of the story. They made the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, a big book used in studies today.

Regional versions

Many regional adaptations of the Mahabharata exist, often with small changes. These include Tamil street theatre forms such as terukkuttu and kattaikkuttu, which focus on Draupadi.

Outside India, ancient Java made a version called Kakawin Bhāratayuddha in the 11th century. This version has special characters called the Punakawans—Semar, Petruk, Gareng, and Bagong.

Derivative literature

Playwright Bhasa wrote two plays based on Mahabharata episodes. Modern plays include Andha Yug by Dharmvir Bharati in 1955, and works by many other writers.

Amar Chitra Katha made a comic book version of the Mahabharata.

In film and television

Many film versions of the Mahabharata have been made since 1920. In 1988, B. R. Chopra made a television series called Mahabharat. In the Western world, Peter Brook made a play and a film version.

A new Mahabharat series aired on STAR Plus in late 2013.

A Zee TV series ran from October 2001 to July 2002.

Other adaptations

The BBC made the Mahabharata into a radio drama.

In folk culture

In the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, villagers perform the Pandav Lila each year. This includes dancing, singing, and recitation with folk instruments.

Jain version

Jain versions of the Mahabharata tell different stories. In these stories, Krishna and Jarasandha go to a bad place, while the Pandavas become monks and go to a good place.

Kuru family tree

This shows the line of royal and family succession, not necessarily the parentage. See the notes below for detail.

Key to Symbols

• Male: blue border
• Female: red border
• Pandavas: green box
• Kauravas: yellow box

Notes

• a**^^^^^^^**: Shantanu was a king of the Kuru dynasty or kingdom, and was some generations removed from any ancestor called Kuru. His marriage to Ganga happened before his marriage to Satyavati.
• b: Pandu and Dhritarashtra were fathered by Vyasa in the niyoga tradition after Vichitravirya's death. Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were the sons of Vyasa with Ambika, Ambalika and a maid servant respectively.
• c: Karna was born to Kunti through her invocation of Surya, before her marriage to Pandu.
• d: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were acknowledged sons of Pandu but were begotten by the invocation by Kunti and Madri of various deities. They all married Draupadi (not shown in tree).
• e: Duryodhana and his siblings were born at the same time, and they were of the same generation as their Pandava cousins.
• f : Although the succession after the Pandavas was through the descendants of Arjuna and Subhadra, it was Yudhishthira and Draupadi who occupied the throne of Hastinapura after the great battle.

The birth order of siblings is correctly shown in the family tree (from left to right), except for Vyasa and Bhishma whose birth order is not described, and Vichitravirya and Chitrangada who were born after them. The fact that Ambika and Ambalika are sisters is not shown in the family tree. The birth of Duryodhana took place after the birth of Karna and Yudhishthira, but before the birth of the remaining Pandava brothers.

Some siblings of the characters shown here have been left out for clarity; this includes Vidura, half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

Cultural influence

The Bhagavad Gita is a special part of the Mahabharata where Krishna talks to Arjuna about being a good leader and warrior. It also shares ideas about life and thinking, which many people find helpful. Important leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and others used these ideas to help India gain its freedom.

The Mahabharata has also inspired many modern books in Hindi. One famous example is Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. This book, written in 1952, focuses on the character Karna and his challenges. It won a big award called the Jnanpith Award in 1972.

Explanatory notes

This section has notes to help you understand the Mahabharata better. These notes explain words, names, and ideas in the story. They make it easier to follow the story and its meanings.