Mahabharata

The ***Mahābhārata*** (; ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Hinduism written by saint Vyasa, the other is the _Rāmāyaṇa_. It tells of issues between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War. It also tells the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors.

The _Mahābhārata_ includes philosophical and devotional material. It has a discussion of the four "_goals of life_" or _puruṣārtha_ (12.161). The stories in the _Mahābhārata_ include 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 Devyani and the story of Rishyasringa. It also has a shortened version of the _Rāmāyaṇa_.

The _Mahābhārata_ is normally said to be written by Vyāsa. Most of it was probably put together between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE. The oldest parts o it are not much older than around 400 BCE. The text probably became in its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE).

The _Mahābhārata_ is the longest epic poem known. It has been said to be "the longest poem ever written". Its longest version has over 100,000 _śloka_ or over 200,000 individual verse lines. It also has and long sections of prose. The _Mahābhārata_ has about 1.8 million words in total. It is about ten times the length of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ combined, It is about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa. The importance of the _Mahābhārata_ to world civilization has been compared to that of the Bible, the Quran, the works of Homer, Greek drama, or the works of William Shakespeare. It is sometimes called the fifth Veda.
These sections deal with a number of topics such as a number of aspects of Hinduism, Hindu mythology, ethics, and the Hindu way of life. There is also a nineteenth section named _Harivamsha_. The Bhagavadgita, a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, is a part of the _Mahabharata_.

Sage Vyasa taught this epic to his son Suka and his students Vaisampayana and others. King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit and grandson of the heroes of the epic, performed a great sacrifice (_yajna_). The epic was retold by Vaisampayana to Janamejaya at the advice of Vyasa. Later on, the other sage Suta retold the _Mahabharata_ similar to Vaisampayana to Janamejaya, to Saunaka and others, during a sacrifice performed by Saunaka in Naimisaranya, which is near Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

## Parvas

Noted below are few words about the eighteen sections of the _Mahabharata_. In _Mahabharata_, these sections are called _parvan_. A _parvan_ means a book. The names of all _parvas_ or books of the _Mahabharata_ are noted below.
|Parva|Title|Contents|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1|Adi-Parva|Introduction, birth and growing up of the princes.|
|2|Sabha-Parva|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|Aranyaka-Parva (also Vanaparva, Aranyaparva)|The twelve years in exile in the forest (_aranya_).|
|4|Virata-Parva|The year in exile spent at the court of King Virata.|
|5|Udyoga-parva|Preparations for war.|
|6|Bhishma-parva|The first part of the great battle, with Bhishma as commander for the Kauravas.|
|7|Drona-parva|The battle continues, with Dronacharya as commander.|
|8|Karna-parva|The battle again, with Karna as commander.|
|9|Shalya-parva|The last part of the battle, with Shalya as commander.|
|10|Sauptika-parva|How Ashvattama and the remaining Kauravas killed the Pandava army in their sleep (Sauptika).|
|11|Stri-parva|Gandhari and the other women (stri) lament the dead.|
|12|Shanti-parva|The crowning of Yudhisthira, and his instructions from Bhishma|
|13|Anusasana-parva|The final instructions (_anusasana_) from Bhishma.|
|14|Ashvamedhika-Parva|The royal ceremony of the Ashvamedha conducted by Yudhisthira.|
|15|Ashramavasika-Parva|Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti leave for an ashram and eventual death in the forest.|
|16|Mausala-parva|The infighting between the Yadavas with maces (_masala_).|
|17|Mahaprasthanika-parva|The first part of the path to death (_mahaprasthana_ or ‘the great journey’) of Yudhisthira and his brothers.|
|18|Svargarohana-parva|The Pandavas return to the spiritual world (_svarga_).|
|19|Harivamsha|Life of Krishna.|

## The Pandavas

Kunti wants to fulfil her maternal expectations, but she has no man. She recollects the moment when her first son Karna was conceived from an arcane _mantra_ which had given her once. Surya, the Sun God, appeared to her then. Thus, Kunti remembers her secret _mantra_ and gives birth to the three sons – Yudhistra, Bhima and Arjuna. Yudhisthira’s father was god Yama, Bhima’s father was god Vayu, and Arjuna's father was Indra.

Madri, the second wife of Pandu, gave birth to two other sons - the twins, whose fathers were Ashwins (divine twins). Madri's sons are Nakula and Sahadeva.

These all are called the five Pandavas.

## Donation for it's compilation

In the year 1932, The _Bhandarkar oriental research institute_ located in Pune, needed money for the compilation and publication of the Holy Mahabharata and a guest house. A formal request was made to the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad State, Mir Osman Ali Khan who in no time released a farman to donate Rs.1000 per year for a period of 11 years.

Whereas, Rs. 50,000 was offered for the guest which is known as "Nizam guest house".

## Related page

- Manipur of Odisha

## More information

- Mahabharata - The Complete Translation of Vyasa Mahabharata and Stories from Mahabharata
- Some nice info on Hinduism including the Mahabharata