Mahabharata - Influence, Historicity, Synopsis, Modern Interpretations, Critical Edition, English Translations

A major epic of Hindu culture and history, and a holy book. Dating from the first millennium BC, its 110 000 couplets make it the longest epic in the world. It was orally transmitted and later became literature printed in Sanskrit and other languages. Various editions were brought together and published in the 19th-c as the Mahabharata. The central plot concerns the conflict between two related families, the Kurus (spirits of evil) and Pandus (spirits of good). Woven around this story are myths, legends, folk tales, and philosophical pieces, including the Bhagavadgita.

It is also of immense religious and philosophical importance in India, in particular for including the Bhagavad Gita, an important text of Hinduism.

The title may be translated as "Great India", or "the great tale of the Bharata Dynasty", according to the Mahabharata's own testimony extended from a shorter version simply called Bhārata of 24,000 verses The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsas, literally "that which happened", along with the Ramayana and the Purāṇas.

Traditionally, the Mahabharata is ascribed to Vyasa. In its final form, it was completed by the first century, with its central core Bharata (consisting of 24,000 verses) dating back to the 6th century BC, and some parts possibly dating back as far as the 8th century BC.

Influence

Part of a series on Hindu scriptures
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Samaveda · Atharvaveda
Vedic divisions
Samhita · Brahmana
Aranyaka  · Upanishad
Upanishads
Aitareya  · Bṛhadāraṇyaka
Īṣa  · Taittirīya · Chāndogya
Kena  · Muṇḍaka
Māṇḍūkya  ·Praśna
Vedanga
Shiksha · Chandas
Vyakarana · Nirukta
Jyotisha · Kalpa
Itihasa
Mahabharata · Ramayana
Other scriptures
Smriti · Purana
Bhagavad Gita · Sutra
Pancharatra · Tantra
Kumara Vyasa Bharata · Stotra
Hanuman Chalisa · Ramacharitamanas
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With its philosophical depth and sheer magnitude, a consummate embodiment of the ethos of not only 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.

In its scope, the Mahabharata is more than simply a story of kings and princes, sages and wisemen, demons and gods;

The Mahabharata includes large amounts of Hindu mythology, cosmological stories of the gods and goddesses, and philosophical parables aimed at students of Hindu philosophy. Among the principal works and stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the following (often considered isolated as works in their own right):

Bhagavad Gita (Krishna instructs and teaches Arjuna. According to the Adi-parva of the Mahabharata (shlokas 81, 101-102), the text was originally 8,800 verses when it was composed by Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa and was known as the Jaya ("Victory"), which later became 24,000 verses in the Bharata recited by Vaisampayana, and finally over 90,000 verses in the Mahabharata recited by Ugrasravas.

Not unlike the field of Homeric studies, research on the Mahabharata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating various layers within the text.

The earliest known references to the Mahabharata and its core Bharata date back to the 6th-5th century BC, in the Ashtadhyayi (sutra 6.2.38) of Pāṇini (c. This indicates that the core 24,000 verses, known as the Bharata, as well as an early version of the extended Mahabharata, were composed by the 6th-5th century BC, with parts of Jaya's original 8,800 verses possibly dating back as far as the 9th-8th century BC.

The division into 18 parvas is as follows:

parva	title	sub-parvas	contents
1	Adi-parva	1-19	Introduction, birth and upbringing of the princes.
2	Sabha-parva	20-28	Life at the court, the game of dice, and the exile of the Pandavas.
3	Aranyaka-parva (also Vanaparva, Aranyaparva)	29-44	The twelve years in exile in the forest (aranya).
4	Virata-parva	45-48	The year in exile spent at the court of Virata.
5	Udyoga-parva	49-59	Preparations for war.
6	Bhishma-parva	60-64	The first part of the great battle, with Bhishma as commander for the Kauravas.
7	Drona-parva	65-72	The battle continues, with Drona as commander.
8	Karna-parva	73	The battle again, with Karna as commander.
9	Shalya-parva	74-77	The last part of the battle, with Shalya as commander.
10	Sauptika-parva	78-80	How Ashvattama and the remaining Kauravas killed the Pandava army in their sleep (Sauptika).
11	Stri-parva	81-85	Gandhari and the other women (stri) lament the dead.
12	Shanti-parva	86-88	The crowning of Yudhisthira, and his instructions from Bhishma
13	Anusasana-parva	89-90	The final instructions (anusasana) from Bhishma.
14	Ashvamedhika-parva	91-92	The royal ceremony of the ashvamedha conducted by Yudhisthira.
15	Ashramavasika-parva	93-95	Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti leave for an ashram, and eventual death in the forest.
16	Mausala-parva	96	The infighting between the Yadavas with maces (mausala).
17	Mahaprasthanika-parva	97	The first part of the path to death (mahaprasthana "great journey") of Yudhisthira and his brothers.
18	Svargarohana-parva	98	The Pandavas return to the spiritual world (svarga).
khila	Harivamsa-parva	99-100	Life of Krishna.

The Adi-parva is dedicated to the snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) of Jayamejaya, explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why in spite of this, there are still snakes in existence. This sarpasattra material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mahabharata by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have particularly close connection to Vedic (Brahmana literature), in particular the Panchavimsha Brahmana which describes the Sarpasattra as originally performed by snakes, among which are snakes named Dhrtarashtra and Janamejaya, two main characters of the Mahabharata's sarpasattra, and Takshaka, the name of a snake also in the Mahabharata.

Historicity

The historicity of the Mahabharata war is unclear.

Ancient Indian scholars have calculated chronologies for the Mahabharata war, the 5th century mathematician Aryabhatta arriving at an approximate date for the Kurukshetra battle of 3137 BCE.

According to Varahamihira, Yudhisthira lived 2526 years before the beginning of the Saka era (Brhatsamhita 13.3).

According to the Puranas, there is a time gap of 1015 or 1500 years between Parikshit's birth during the Mahabharata war and the coronation of king Mahapadma Nanda (ca.

Synopsis

The epic employs the story within a story structure popular in many Indian religious and secular works.

The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral 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 leading to the Great battle of Kurukshetra, and the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The Mahabharata itself ends with the death of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his dynasty, and ascent of the Pandava brothers to Heaven. Thus, he was required to fight on the side of evil knowing that his Pandavas would end up victorious only with his death.

Authorship

The epic is traditionally ascribed to Maha Rishi Veda Vyasa, who is one of the major dynastic characters within the epic.

Bhishma

Janamejaya's ancestor Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura has a short-lived marriage with the goddess Ganga and has a heroic son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma).Devavrata a young man with a reputation already as a fearsome warrior is the heir apparent to the throne. Again an awesome promise as all kingdoms are under constant threat.This promise was to cost him dearly , a long life with constant tribulations and battles and though seriously wounded could not give up his soul till the Final battle resulted in th rule of the righteous Pandavas.

The Pandavas

Unfortunately Satyavati's sons die young and her grandson Pandu ascends the throne as his elder brother Dhritarashtra is blind. The rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas starts from childhood itself. Dhritarashtra’s sons, the Kauravas, led by the eldest Duryodhana, detest their cousins the Pandavas. Each one of the Pandavas is said to have one exceptional strength or virtue - Yudhishthira is the most virtuous, Arjuna the bravest warrior, Bhima the strongest, Nakula the most handsome and Sahadeva wise and able to predict the future.

The House of Wax

Meanwhile Duryodhana plots to get rid of the Pandavas and tries to kill the Pandavas secretly by burning their palace which is made of lac.

City of Ekchakra

The Pandavas stay in the city of Ekchara in the guise of Brahmans.

Draupadi

In course of this exile the Pandavas are informed of a "competition" called a swayamvar taking place with the prize being the hand of win being the hand of the Panchal princess and the daughter of King Drupad, Draupadi. All of the Pandavas love Draupadi dearly.

Indraprasth

Duryodhan and Shakuni are furious when they learn that the Pandava brothers are alive and that King Dhritrashtra has sent Vidur to call them back to Hastinapur. Karna, as usual, is ready to fight them, but Shakuni realizes that with King Drupad and Krishna on the side of the Pandavas it would be difficult to defeat them. Just then Vidur arrives and tells the Pandava brothers that they have been invited back to Hastinapur along with their bride. Determined to establish peace between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Bheeshma suggests giving half the Kingdom to Yudhishthir. This land given to them again becomes another unjustice to the Pandavas as it neither has any agricultural soil neither any buildings nor people. Krishna consolidates the Pandavas saying that Indraprasth is not a waste but instead a Land of Action. Taking the advice of Krishna, the Pandavas make Indraprasth a beautiful town where justice is always met and the inhabitants are happy.

The Rajsuya Yagna

Shortly after this, Arjuna and Subhadra (Krishna's sister) get married and return to Indraprastha to be welcomed by Draupadi.

"The House of Illusion"

Duryodhan is unhappy about the prosperity of the Pandavs, Shakuni consoles him and later loses in a game of dice to Yudishthir.

Duryodhana's game

Duryodhana, who now has a friend in the peerless warrior Karna becomes aware of Yuddhisthir becoming the emperor. His maternal uncle Shakuni, convinced that however brave his nephew may be, he was no match for his cousins, decides to use a ruse to destroy the Pandavas. He forces Dhritarashtra to invite the Pandavas for a game of dice in which he wins everything from Yudhishthira, including himself, his brothers and Draupadi through the use of a trick. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 13 years, and on the 13th year they must remain hidden.

The Years in Exile

The Pandavas having lost the game of dice went into their 12 years of exile and 1 year of hiding. During the 12 years of exile the Pandavas visited many religious places and were often visited by Krishna. It was during this time that the Pandavas had to face a demon called Hidumba, Bheem killed him and married his sister called Hidumbi.

The battle at Kurukshetra

When the Pandavas after many hardships and exile return, they first request for a peace treaty with them gaining Indraprasth back. However, Duryodhan disagrees as he begins to argue that since the Pandavas where "caught" in their year of hiding, they must go into another 13 years before they can have Indraprasth. The Pandavas on Krishna's advice then again as for another peace treaty asking for at least five villages for the five brothers from the Kauravas' vast kingdom. the allies of the Kauravas comprised the kings of Pragjyotisha, Anga, Kekaya (Kekaya brothers who were enemies of the Kekeya brothers on the Pandava side), Sindhudesa (including Sindhus, Sauviras and Sivis), Mahishmati, Avanti in Madhyadesa, Madras, Gandharas, Bahlikas, Kambojas (with Yavanas, Sakas, Tusharas etc) and many others.

Arjuna, seeing himself facing grandsire Bhishma and his teacher Drona on Duryodhana's side due to their vow to serve the state of Hastinapur is heartbroken and at the idea of killing them he fails to lift his Gandiva bow. Though initially sticking to chivalrous notions of warfare, the Kauravas and Pandavas soon descended into dishonourable warfare. At the end of the 14 days slaughter only the Pandavas and Krishna survive with a few old warriors from the Kaurava side.

The end of the Pandavas

Beholding the carnage, the noble mother of the Kauravas, Gandhari who had lost all her sons, curses Krishna to be a witness to a similar annihilation of his family, for though divine and capable of stopping the war, he had not done so. One by one the Pandavas and Draupadi fall on their way.

Arjuna's grandson Parikshita rules after them and dies bitten by a snake.

Modern Interpretations

In the late 1980s, the Mahabharata TV series was televised and shown on India's national television (Doordarshan).

In the West, the most acclaimed and well known presentation of the epic is Peter Brook’s nine hour play premiered in Avignon in 1985 and its five hour movie version (1989) , which was shown on other TV networks, including PBS (through the "Great Performances" show) and Danmarks Radio (credited in the movie's credits).

However, there have been film versions of the Mahabharata long before these two versions, the earliest of which was shown in 1920..

Critical Edition

Between 1919 and 1966, the scholars at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, compared the various manuscripts of the epic from India and abroad and produced the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, on 13,000 pages in 19 volumes, followed by the Harivamsha in another 2 volumes and 6 index volumes.

English Translations

A poetic translation of the full epic into English, done by the poet P. Six of the eighteen volumes are now available:

Vol 1: Adi Parva, 1232 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-370-6 Vol 2: Sabha Parva, 520 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-382-X Vol 3: Vana Parva, 1580 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-448-6 Vol 4: Virata Parva, 400 pages, 2006 Vol 5: Udyoga Parva, 970 pages, 2006, ISBN 81-8157-530-X Vol 17: Mahaprasthana Parva, 30 pages, 2006 ISBN 81-8157-552-0

A project to translate the full epic into English prose, translated by various hands, began to appear in 2005 from the Clay Sanskrit Library, published by New York University Press.

Another English prose translation of the full epic is also in progress, published by University Of Chicago Press, initiated by Chicago Indologist J. 8: Second half of Parva 12 (forthcoming)

Until these three projects are available in full, the only available complete English translation remains the Victorian prose version by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883 and 1896.