This article is about the Sanskrit epic. For other uses, see Mahabharata (disambiguation).
Mahabharata
Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra
Information
Religion
Hinduism
Author
Vyasa
Language
Sanskrit
Period
Principally compiled in 3rd century BCE–4th century CE
Chapters
18 Parvas
Verses
200,000
Full text
Mahabharata at Sanskrit Wikisource
Mahabharata at English Wikisource
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The Mahābhārata (/məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə,ˌmɑːhə-/mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-;[1][2][3][4] Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, IAST: Mahābhāratam, pronounced[mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa.[5] 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.[6][7] The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE).[8][9]
The Mahābhārata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written".[10][11] 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.[12][13] Within the Indian tradition it is sometimes called the fifth Veda.[14]
The title is translated as "Great Bharat (India)", or "the story of the great descendents of Bharata".[15][16]
^"Mahabharata". The Chambers Dictionary (9th ed.). Chambers. 2003. ISBN 0-550-10105-5.
^"Mahabharata". Collins English Dictionary (13th ed.). HarperCollins. 2018. ISBN 978-0-008-28437-4.
^"Mahabharata". Oxford Dictionaries Online.
^"Mahabharata" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
^Datta, Amaresh (1 January 2006). The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (Devraj to Jyoti). Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
^Austin, Christopher R. (2019). Pradyumna: Lover, Magician, and Son of the Avatara. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-005411-3. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
^Brockington (1998, p. 26)
^Pattanaik, Devdutt (13 December 2018). "How did the 'Ramayana' and 'Mahabharata' come to be (and what has 'dharma' got to do with it)?". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
^Van Buitenen; The Mahabharata – 1; The Book of the Beginning. Introduction (Authorship and Date)
^James G. Lochtefeld (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
^T. R. S. Sharma; June Gaur; Sahitya Akademi (New Delhi, Inde). (2000). Ancient Indian Literature: An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. p. 137. ISBN 978-81-260-0794-3. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
^Spodek, Howard. Richard Mason. The World's History. Pearson Education: 2006, New Jersey. 224, 0-13-177318-6
^Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian. Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity, London: Penguin Books, 2005.
^Fitzgerald, James (1985). "India's Fifth Veda: The Mahabharata's Presentation of Itself". Journal of South Asian Literature. 20 (1): 125–140.
^Stuart, Tristram; Albinia, Alice (16 August 2007). "India's epic struggle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^"Mahabharata". 16 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
The Mahābhārata (/məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə, ˌmɑːhə-/ mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-; Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, IAST: Mahābhāratam, pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is one of...
The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, composed by Vyasa. The main story concerns the sons of Pandu, the Pandavas, i...
(Sanskrit: कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata (Sanskrit: महाभारत), arising from a dynastic...
and hypocrisy". A complete description of Kali Yuga is found in the Mahabharata, Manusmriti, Vishnu Smriti, and various Puranas. According to P. V. Kane...
Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahābhārata. Vyasa is also regarded by many Hindus as a partial incarnation (Sanskrit:...
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Krishna is the son of the Yaduvamsha chief Vasudeva and his wife Devaki. He is also widely known by his epithet, Vāsudeva...
Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, is a major character of the epic Mahabharata and the protagonist of the Bhishma Parva episode. He was the supreme...
Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the...
University Press. pp. 68–84. Mahabharata, Book I: Adi Parva, Section 154 Mahabharata, Book I: Adi Parva, Sections 159-166.) Mahabharata, Book III: Varna Parva...
about marital life of Karna, one the prominent figures of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is hardly provided in the narrative. His wives are unnamed and belonged...
which morphed into Kalki. This proposal is supported by two versions of Mahabharata manuscripts (e.g. the G3.6 manuscript) that have been found, where the...
Drauni, is the son of Drona and a major character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In the epic, he serves as a friend to Duryodhana, the eldest of the...
Kurus continued into the post-Vedic period, providing the basis for the Mahabharata epic. The main contemporary sources for understanding the Kuru kingdom...
are generally titled as Krishna Līlā. He is a central figure in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, and the Bhagavad Gita...
(Sanskrit: अभिमन्यु, IAST: Abhimanyu) is a warrior in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, the younger sister of Krishna...
The Mahabharata Secret is the debut novel by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle and was released on 21 October 2013 by Om Books. The story follows Vijay...
Panchali, and Yajnaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and the wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna...
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Upapandavas (IAST: Upapāṇḍava, Sanskrit: उपपाण्डव, lit. junior Pandavas), also known as Pandavaputras (IAST: Pāṇḍavaputra...
द्रोणाचार्य, IAST: Droṇācārya), is a major character of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kauravas and the...
state that he was a warrior from the south. He was a character in the Mahabharata, a warrior who could change the outcome of battle in just few minutes...