Mahabharata

This book is a huge part of the Hindu religion, which is the reason why I chose it. I think that Hinduism and its teachings and all the gods and characters involved are actually really interesting, which is why I wanted to read it. I think it would be so interesting to learn more about Hinduism. I chose the Bhagavad Gita as the book for Hinduism because I know that it is important to the Hindu religion and so would therefore have a lot of information about Hinduism and their beliefs. The…

Amongst the enormous corpus of Hindu literature, Mahabharata stands out as a text of great magnitude, originally comprising of 100,000 Sanskrit shlokas, say about 2 million words. ‘Vedvyasya’, the author of Mahabharata has weaved a plethora of characters in this great Hindu epic, through which he takes the reader through every conceivable human emotion and situation, thus making it possible to identify with it even today. It even boasts, ‘What is here is found elsewhere. What is not here is…

Introduction Mahabharata, a resplendent mythology, partially historical, has reigned in our hearts and minds with ages running down .Vyasa; the original writer of this epic has portrayed the controversial conjugal relations of the Pandavas and The Kauravas. Vedvyasa had written the Upanishads and Puranas which were not comprehended easily by the general mass. Hence, to make them more comprehensive he wrote Mahabharata, which provided a guiding light to connect to…

refurbish the various epic characters. This brought about new and new retellings of the epics. The Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata always allured the writers because of the complex characters and the various issues discussed in these epics. These peculiarities gave rise to fresh interpretations of the epic stories and characters. Among the two epics, the Mahabharata is one in which we meet many strong women characters. This specialty of the epic equipped the writers to retell the…

present day. Upon carefully analysing the History of our past and present we realise that man has experienced cultural crisis, dislocation, displacement and dispossession. When we turn a few pages of Indian legendary epics,The Ramayana and The Mahabharata, we are astonished to observe that most of the great heroes were forced to live in exile; however, they successfully created or formed their…

as a rational activity coalescing with arête (a virtue of character). Aristotle concluded that a good human life must be worked at, and would consist of someone achieving Eudaimonia coupled with the practice of temperance and continence. In the Mahabharata, the eldest brother, Yudhistira, prominently displays all of these characteristics of Aristotle’s defined virtue ethics. Throughout the book, Yudhistira consistently adapted and overall betters himself as an individual. Yudhistira’s…

212 In the Mahabharata, this concept was dissociated from heaven and earth. According to Moghe, the concept of witness in the epic is associated with punya and papa (good deed and sin). There lies the benefit for telling truth in the form of heaven and hell for telling lies. In the Mahabharata, 11.61.76, 213 it is pointed that he is called a witness who has directly heard (the conversation or) speech…

Mahabharata has the honor of being the longest epic in world literature but it is not a mere epic; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women, and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems. It is an embodiment of a scripture which provides traditional, ritual and mythical ground for modern Hindus. In a patriarchal society, men set the rules and…

DAMAYANTI Introduction The story of Nala-Damayanti has been narrated in Vana-Parva in Mahabharata by Rishi Vrihadswa. Damayanti was the daughter King Bhima who ruled Vidharbha Kingdom. Damayanti had earned a reputation of being the most beautiful Princess of Universe at that time. She was described as lovely-waisted Damayanti. As per Nala-Damayanti Katha, Damayanti was famous for 'for her incandescent beauty, grace, virtue and excellence' she was faultless-featured; 'with her ornaments she…

Mahabharata and Kali Era: The usage of Kali era by the astronomers with the Mahabharata, that too, with Mahabharat war in particular, has been consistent. Many astronomers mention Kali era and Saka era together. "Since the birth of Brahma up to the beginning of the Saka era, 8 ½ years (of Brahma)…