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Mahabharatha

Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is the great religious, philosophical and mythological epic of India. It is a keystone text of Hinduism. It is the second longest literary work in the world (after the Tibetan tale of Gesar) and is hailed as not only one of the greatest epics, but literary accomplishments, of humanity. The title may be translated as "Great India" (bhārata means the son/progeny of Bharata, the king believed to have founded the kingdom of Bhāratavarsha, in present day India; "Bharat" has equal status as the official name of India in all Indian governments today and is still commonly used). The work is part of the Hindu itihaas, literally 'that which happened,' along with the Puranas and Ramayana. The full version contains more than 100,000 verses, making it around four times longer than the Bible and seven times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey.

Primary purport

With its vast philosophical depth and sheer magnitude, a consummate embodiment of the ethos of not only grand India but of Hinduism and Vedic tradition, the Mahabharata's scope and grandeur is best summarized by one quotation from the beginning of its first parva (section): "What is found here, may be found elsewhere. What is not found here, will not be found elsewhere."

In its scope, the Mahabharata is more than simply a story of kings and princes, sages and wisemen, demons and gods; its author, Vyasa, says that one of it aims at elucidating the four goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth), dharma (duty) and moksha (salvation). The story culminates in moksha, believed by Hindus to be the ultimate goal of human beings. Karma and dharma play an integral role in the understandings of the Mahabharata.

Background and history

The epic is said to have been told by Vyasa, who places himself as one of the major dynastic characters within the epic. The first section of the Mahabharata states that it was Lord Ganesh (the elephant-headed god of the Hindus) who, at the behest of Vyasa, wrote the epic down on manuscript. Lord Ganesh is said to have agreed, but only on condition that Vyasa never pause in his recitation. Vyasa then put a counter-condition that Ganesh understand whatever he recited, before writing it down. In this way Vyasa could get some respite from continuously speaking by saying a verse which was difficult to understand. This situation also serves as a popular variation on the stories of how Ganesh's left tusk was broken (a traditional part of Ganesh imagery). This version attributes it to the fact that, in the rush of writing, the great elephant-headed divinity's pen failed, and he snapped off his tusk as a replacement in order that the transcription not be interrupted.

The Mahabharata is thought to have been derived from what was originally a much shorter work, called Jaya (Victory). While the dating of these is unclear, the events of the story may be reliably placed in Vedic India around 1400 BCE. Scholars have studied the astronomical activities described in the Mahabharata (like eclipses) and have claimed to have dated it to around 3100 BCE. From this early beginning, the story was developed in its present form during the establishment of Classical Hinduism, from which modern Hinduism was developed.

Like much of other early Indian literature, it was often transmitted by oral means through the generations. This made it easier for additional episodes and stories to be interpolated within it. It also resulted in regional variations developing. However, the variation has in most cases been in the new additions, and not in the original story.

The Mahabharata, the epic story

The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom of the Kuru clan. Hastinapura and the immediately surrounding kingdoms are based in the Doab, the region of the upper Ganga (Ganges when anglicized) and Yamuna rivers, to the north of present-day New Delhi. The two cousin branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the Kauravas, the elder branch of the family, and the Pandavas, the younger branch.

The struggle culminates in the great battle at Kurukshetra, and the Pandavas are victorious in the end. The Mahabharata itself ends with the death of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his dynasty, and ascent of the Pandava brothers to Heaven, one with God, the achievement of the primary goal of Hindu life. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali (Kali Yuga), through the steady breakdown of truths of which the eighteen-day war of Kurukshetra, the clash of hundreds of thousands of men, elephants and horses, consisted. This is the fourth and final age of mankind, where the great values and noble ideas that humanity represented have crumbled, and man is speedily heading toward the complete dissolution of right action, morality and virtue in general.

Some of the history's most noble and revered figures end up fighting on the side of the Kauravas, due to allegiances formed prior to the conflict.

Stories

A list of short descriptions of some of the characters and stories:

• One of the most poignant stories is that of Karna, the noble warrior whose immense powers failed him during the battle because he had lied, so many years before, to his Guru about who he was.

• Bhishma, the grandsire who had renounced his kingdom and become celibate for the sake of his father's love of a fisherwoman and had the gods' boon to choose his time of death. He ended up dying on a bed of arrows laid by Arjuna, the Pandava brother whose army had fought against Bhishma's side.

• Bhima is one of the five Pandava brothers whose strength, size, and loyalty is legendary.

• Yudishtira, the eldest Pandava, is known never to have told a single lie in his life, and thus gained great power from it. It was only in the middle of the war, at a critical juncture, that to save his army from defeat at the hands of his own teacher, Drona, a general of fabulous power, he lied. Having told the one lie of his life to his former teacher, that Drona's son had been killed, Yudishtira's chariot, which had earlier floated above the ground, immediately sank into the mud. Yudishtira is commonly known in India as the paragon of integrity, fallen for his one lapse.

Structure

The Mahabharata is written in eighteen parvas (chapters or books) which are:

1. Adiparva - Introduction, birth and upbringing of the princes. (Adi = first).
2. Sabhaparva - Life at the court, the game of dice, and the exile of the Pandavas. Maya Danava erects the palace and court (sabha), at Indraprastha.
3. Aranyakaparva (also Vanaparva, Aranyaparva) - The twelve years in exile in the forest (aranya).
4. Virataparva - The year in exile spent at the court of Virata.
5. Udyogaparva - Preparations for war.
6. Bhishmaparva - The first part of the great battle, with Bhishma as commander for the Kauravas.
7. Dronaparva - The battle continues, with Drona as commander.
8. Karnaparva - The battle again, with Karna as commander.
9. Salyaparva - The last part of the battle, with Salya as commander.
10. Sauptikaparva - How Ashvattama and the remaining Kauravas killed the Pandava army in their sleep (Sauptika).
11. Striparva - Gandhari and the other women lament the dead (stri = woman).
12. Shantiparva - The crowning of Yudhisthira, and his instructions from Bhishma (shanti = peace).
13. Anushasanaparva - The final instructions of Bhishma (anushasana = instruction).
14. Ashvamedhikaparva - The royal ceremony or ashvameda conducted by Yudhisthira.
15. Ashramavasikaparva - Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti leave for an ashram, and eventual death in the forest.
16. Mausalaparva - The infighting between the Yadavas with maces (mausala).
17. Mahaprasthanikaparva - The first part of the path to death of Yudhisthira and his brothers (mahaprasthana = death).
18. Svargarohanaparva - The Pandavas return to the spiritual world (svarga = heaven).

There also exists an appendix of 16,375 verses, the Harivamsaparva.

Among the principal works and stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the following. They are often isolated and presented as works complete in and of themselves.

1. Bhagavad Gita (Krishna instructs and teaches Arjuna. Bhishmaparva.)
2. Damayanti (or Nala and Damayanti, a love story. Aranyakaparva.)
3. Krishnavatara (the story of Krishna, which is woven through many chapters of the story)
4. Rama (an abbreviated version of the Ramayana. Aranyakaparva.)
5. Rsyasrnga (also written as Rishyashringa, the one horned boy and rishi. Aranyakaparva.)

During the 20th century, scholars have used the earliest existing copies of the work in their regional variations, to develop a composite reference work known as the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata. This project was completed in 1966 at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune.

Modern Mahabharata

The Mahabharata claims to contain the essence and sum of all the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. It does include large amounts of interpolated Hindu mythology, cosmological stories of the gods and goddesses, and philosophical parables aimed at students of Hindu philosophy. The stories are commonly told to children, at religious functions, or around the house. The Mahabharata claims that those who do not read it shall find their spiritual and yogic quests remain unfulfilled.

In the late 1980s, the Mahabharata was televised and shown on India's national TV (Doordarshan). It was immensely popular, so much so that streets were deserted when it was telecast and even Cabinet meetings were re-scheduled so that Ministers could watch it. The Mahabarata is arguably familiar to the vast majority of Hindus living in the Indian subcontinent, if not abroad.

See also: Ramayana