| (see introduction) The English translation of the word "Mahabharata" is "Great Bharata"; "Bharata" can mean many things (see the disambiguation), although relevant to the epic it refers to the kingdom of emperor Bharata, or "Bharatvarsha"; "Bharat" is now the Hindi term for the "Republic of India". Within the Bharata Dynasty falls the Kuru clan, who fight among themselves (the Pandava and the Kaurava factions) leading to the famous Battle of Kurukshetra, which becomes the subject of the epic Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is the oldest and longest epic poem found to date, containing about 90,000 slokas (verses). The poem begins when the credited author Vyasa (who is also a character in the narrative) asks Ganesha to write down the narration that he has just composed. Later the poem would be recited to Janamejaya (a Kuru descendant), as a cautionary tale about the war of his ancestors that almost entirely annihilated the Kuru race. These beginnings are noted in the first book of the Mahabharata, along with a brief summary of the epic. The next 17 books provide, in excruciating detail, the story of Mahabharata. One additional book, the Harivamsa Parva (the book of Hari's genealogy), talks about the life of Krishna (Hari), who is considered Vishnu's eighth avatar in Vaishnav Hinduism (see Context: Mythology). The fact that this book is more or less appended to the end of the epic has caused some debate among scholars (see Literature: Themes). Other than good old Wikipedia, which is appropriate for a general overview of the Mahabharata, MahabharataOnline.com is a pretty good online resource for informal reading of the epic. |
MAIN CHARACTERS Mahabharantaonline.com has individual stories of the epic's characters; however those listed here are linked to Wikipedia pages. The Kuru Family  The central characters in the family are:
Divine Intervention Krishna is approached by both Arjuna and Duryodhana for alliance in the war; while Duryodhana chooses to take Krishna's military help, Arjuna chooses Krishna himself, who then becomes his charioteer. Prior to the battle, Krishna delivers to the Kauravas a peace message from the Pandavas, which is unreciprocated; ironically he is also the one who convinces Arjuna to fight the battle by delivering the Bhagvad Gita (song of God). At both these scenes, Krishna reveals himself to be Vishnu but only Arjuna is able to see the divine vision (read about darshan in Hinduism). See Context: Mythology, Literature: Themes. |
SYNOPSIS Mahabharata is full of side-stories that make the text of the epic so lengthy; however, the "meat" of the poem is made up of the conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas and the war that ensues between them. Let's begin with the romantic-at-heart king Shantanu of Hastinapur, who woos Ganga and suffers the deaths of seven of their sons at her hands, before he breaks his vow and stops her in order to keep the eighth son, Devdatta (read the story of Shantanu). Devdatta would have to take a vow of celibacy and service to the throne of Hastinapur before a fisherman would agree to marry his daughter, Satyavati, to Shantanu, who had once again fallen in love, alas. Since then Devdatta would be known as Bhishma for his terible vow (read the story of Bhishma). Satyavati's son Vichitravirya dies before he is able conceive an heir so the terrible sage Vyasa (Satyavati's first son, born out of wedlock; read the story of Satyavati) is asked to lie with the two wives of Vichitravirya: Ambika, who had shut her eyes for fear of Vyasa, conceives the blind Dhritirashtra, and Ambalika who had trembled with fear of him, conceives the weak Pandu. Fearing this, Satyavati asks Vyasa to grant the family another son and so a fearless maid-servant conceives the wise Vidhur, who would become the voice of reason and foresight to the throne of Hastinapur (read one version of this story). Dhritirashtra marries Gandhari, the princess of Gandhar, who spends the rest of her life blindfolded for the sake of her husband's blindness. Her brother Shakuni out of spite for this, vows to destroy the Kuru clan. Shakuni becomes one of the key players for causing of the conflict between the cousins as he sows the seeds of jealousy in the minds of his nephews (the Kauravas), especially Duryodhana (read the stories of Gandhari and Shakuni). Dhritirashtra fathers 101 sons and one daughter, forming the Kaurava faction of the family. Because Dhritirashtra is blind, the kingdom passes to Pandu. Pandu marries Kunti (an aunt of Krishna), who has been granted a boon so that she may invoke a god and conceive a child by him. Kunti has already tried out this boon, and abandoned her firstborn (Karna, of Surya, the Sun god) for fear of society. Pandu obtains a curse that he will die at the moment of orgasm, so he asks Kunti to use her boon in order to obtain children. Yudhishthira (of Yama, the god of Judgement), Bhima (of Vayu, the god of the Winds), and Arjuna (of Indra, god of War) are conceived this way. Because of Kunti's teachings, Pandu's second wife Madri also obtains two twin sons this way:Nakula and Sahadeva (of the Ashvin Twins, the Vedic gods of the Sunset and Sunrise). Eventually, Pandu has intercourse with Madri and dies. Dhritirashtra then takes over the kingdom until the princes finish their education and training that they were then taking under their teacher Drona. Rifts have already built between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, as the Pandavas (especially Arjuna) excel at everything earning the love of Drona Acharya and the jealousy of Duryodhana and the rest of the Kauravas (read the story of Drona Acharya). At the return of the princes, Karna is introduced to the Kauravas (and Pandavas) in a tournament and becomes friends with Duryodhana, who makes him king of Anga. Yudhishthira is older than Duryodhana by a bit, and so he inherits the kingdom from Dhritirashtra and prospers. Yudhishtira bases his capital in Indraprastha, where he commissions a Palace of Wonders worthy of envy. Duryodhana, on the other hand, wants the kingdom back. With Shakuni, the Kauravas plan to gamble with the Pandavas with the kingdom at stake. Shakuni, who has never been defeated at dice, plays for the Kauravas and Yudhishthira, who has a weakness for gambling, plays for the Kauravas. When Yudhishthira loses his wealth, he stakes the kingdom, then his brothers, and then Draupadi, their wife, and loses all. In what is probably one of the most emotionally-charged chapters in the epic, now that Draupadi is no longer queen, Duryodhana orders younger brother Dushasana to drag her into court. When she questions the ethics and judgement of the court, Dushasana begins to disrobe her. Draupadi prays to Krishna, who saves her honour by creating an illusion of a never-ending sari. After Dushasana has tired, Draupadi once again questions the morality of the elders and people present in the court to witness this, including her husbands. See the scene from BR Chopra's Mahabharat, episode 47 on Youtube (seek to 14:00). At Draupadi's appeal, Dhritirashtra agrees to return what they won to the Pandavas on the condition that the Pandavas be banned for the next 12 years, and spend the 13th year incognito. Here ends the second book, the Sabha Parva. Their twelve years are described in the third book (the Vana Parva), and their thirteenth year in the fourth book (the Virata Parva). When the Pandavas return a conflict about their condition having been met arises leading to no compromise but war, hence take place the remaining books, in war. Bhishma is the first Kaurava commander, as he must service the throne of Hastinapur (currently under Duryodhana) according to his vow. Eventually these warriors (Bhishma, Karna, Drona) fall at the hands of the Pandavas. The Pandavas lose all their sons by Draupadi in a fire set by an enemy warrior. In the end, apart from the Pandavas themselves, only Arjuna's unborn grandson survives as an heir. Arjuna's son Abhimanyu had already impregnated his wife Uttara, before he makes a heroic sacrifice (read the story of Abhimanyu). Uttara would give birth to Parikshit, who would be killed by a serpent and his son Janamejaya would then vow to annihilate the naga (serpent) race (read the stories of Parikshit and Janamejaya). Janamejaya would be stopped by Vyasa, Satyavati's first son and the author of the epic, who would tell him the story of Mahabharata and caution him about the consequences of emotional vows and wars. |
TEXT & TRANSLATIONS The full Sanskrit text of the Mahabharata is available online, along with English alliterations of the verses. Kisari Mohan Ganguli published the first complete English translation of the epic Mahabharata between the years 1883 and 1896. It is currently the only complete translation available in the public domain. A brief summary by Professor James L. Fitzgerald of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is also available online. |
ONLINE CHAPTER SUMMARIES MahabharataOnline.com has a summary by C. Rajagopalachari who tells the Mahabharata in a story-like format. About.com has a summary by Romesh C. Dutt, who follows the structure of the epic and translates the Mahabharata according to selected verses from the chapters of the books. About.com also has a detailed timeline of events occurring in the story of the Mahabharata compiled by Dr. K.N.S. Patnaik. see part 3: Literature and the Mahabharata |
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8 years ago
Interesting work!
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