The story begins when the blindness of Dhritarashtra, the elder of two princes, causes him to be passed

over in favour of his brother Pandu as king on their father’s death. A curse prevents Pandu from
fathering children, however, and his wife Kunti asks the gods to father children in Pandu’s name. As a
result, the god Dharma fathers Yudhishtira, the Wind fathers Bhima, Indra fathers Arjuna, and the
Ashvins (twins) father Nakula and Sahadeva (also twins; born to Pandu’s second wife, Madri). The
enmity and jealousy that develops between the cousins forces the Pandavas to leave the kingdom when
their father dies. During their exile the five jointly marry Draupadi (who is born out of a sacrificial fire
and whom Arjuna wins by shooting an arrow through a row of targets) and meet their cousin Krishna,
who remains their friend and companion thereafter. Although the Pandavas return to the kingdom, they
are again exiled to the forest, this time for 12 years, when Yudhishthira loses everything in a game of
dice with Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas.

The feud culminates in a series of great battles on the field of Kurukshetra (north of Delhi, in Haryana
state). All the Kauravas are annihilated, and, on the victorious side, only the five Pandava brothers and
Krishna survive. Krishna dies when a hunter, who mistakes him for a deer, shoots him in his one
vulnerable spot—his foot—and the five brothers, along with Draupadi and a dog who joins them
(Dharma, Yudhisththira’s father, in disguise), set out for Indra’s heaven. One by one they fall on the way,
and Yudhisthira alone reaches the gate of heaven. After further tests of his faithfulness and constancy,
he is finally reunited with his brothers and Draupadi, as well as with his enemies, the Kauravas, to enjoy
perpetual bliss.

The central plot constitutes little more than one fifth of the total work. The remainder of the poem
addresses a wide range of myths and legends, including the romance of Damayanti and her husband
Nala (who gambles away his kingdom just as Yudhishthira gambles away his) and the legend of Savitri,
whose devotion to her dead husband persuades Yama, the god of death, to restore him to life. The
poem also contains descriptions of places of pilgrimages.

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Along with its basic plot and accounts of numerous myths, the Mahabharata reveals the evolution of
Hinduism and its relations with other religions during its composition. The period during which the epic
took shape was one of transition from Vedic sacrifice to sectarian Hinduism, as well as a time of
interaction—sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile—with Buddhism and Jainism. Different sections of
the poem express varying beliefs, often in creative tension. Some sections—such as the Narayaniya (a
part of book 13), the Bhagavadgita (book 6), the Anugita (book 14), and the Harivamsha—are important
sources of early Vaishnava theology, in which Krishna is an avatar of the god Vishnu. Above all, the
Mahabharata is an exposition of dharma (codes of conduct), including the proper conduct of a king, of a
warrior, of an individual living in times of calamity, and of a person seeking to attain moksha (freedom
from samsara, or rebirth). The poem repeatedly demonstrates that the conflicting codes of dharma are
so “subtle” that, in some situations, the hero cannot help but violate them in some respect, no matter
what choice he makes.

The Mahabharata story has been retold in written and oral Sanskrit and vernacular versions throughout
South and Southeast Asia. Its various incidents have been portrayed in stone, notably in sculptured
reliefs at Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia, and in Indian miniature paintings.

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Gate at Angkor Thom, Cambodia, c. 1200.

R. Manley/Shostal Associates

Wendy Doniger

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Vyasa [Vee-YA-sha]: narrator of the story and father of Pandu and Dhritarashtra

BHISH-ma: half-uncle by marriage of Pandu and Dhritarashtra

Dhri-ta-RASH-tra: blind king, father of Duryodhana and the Kauravas

GAN-dhari: wife of Dhritarashtra

KUN-ti: wife of Pandu and mother to the five Pandavas and Karna

Yu-DHISH-thira: leader of the Pandavas, rightful heir to the throne

BHI-ma: strongest of the Pandava brothers

AR-juna: mightiest of warriors

NA-kula and Saha-DE-va: Pandava twins

DRAU-pa-di: wife to the five Pandavas

Du-ry-ODH-ana: leader of the Kauravas

Duh-SA-sa-na: brother to Duryodhana

KRISH-na: supporter of the Pandavas and avatar of Vishnu

DRO-na: teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas

KAR-na: warrior, secret son of Kunti, ally of the Kauravas

Yudhishtra

The eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhisthira is their leader as both king and commander in battle. A
bad series of dice games he plays lands him, his wife, and his brothers in exile for 13 years, which
precipitates a war between the Pandavas and Duryodhana. Yudhisthira is described as living fully by
dharma, and in turn always has the gods on his side.

Arjuna

One of the Pandavas brothers, Arjuna is dubbed the "wealth-winner." He is the greatest warrior of all
the brothers, having been trained by his future military opponent Drona. Arjuna is a skilled archer and
popular with women.

Karna

Karna is technically the oldest of the Pandava brothers, but was raised by adoptive parents, and
therefore does not consider himself part of the family. He fights alongside Duryodhana, and is ultimately
killed by Arjuna. The Pandavas are devastated to later learn that Karna was one of their own.

Dhritarashtra

The blind king of Hastinapur who believes his blindness is a curse upon him, he gives birth to 100 sons
who are demons incarnate. The most powerful of these sons is Duryodhana, who leads the 100 brothers
into war against the Pandavas. From early on, Dhritarashtra is well aware that fate is working against
Duryodhana, and the blind king pleads with his son over and over to compromise with the Pandavas,
lest he violate dharma.
Draupadi

The wife of the five Pandava brothers, Draupadi is a celebrated princess who is widely regarded as the
most beautiful woman in the world. During their years in exile, Draupadi must pose as a maidservant
and suffer a series of indignities, including an attempted rape by one of Duryodhana's brothers. The
humiliation she suffers ends up being one of the causes of the great battle that the Mahabharata
revolves around.

Duryodhana

The leader of 100 demon brothers who are all born of the blind king Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana is
portrayed as living in flagrant violation of dharma. He is motivated by greed, jealously, and a desire for
retribution, tricking Yudhisthira into a dice game that ultimately robs the Pandavas of their kingdom,
and gladly engaging them in war when they return from exile and seek what is rightfully theirs.
Duryodhana hides in a lake after all his warriors are killed, and is ulimately killed by Bhima. In the
afterlife, he resides in hell.

Bhima

The strongest of the Pandavas, Bhima is often the brother who kills the brothers' greatest enemies and
protectors them from their most skilled aggressors. Bhima is often described as "wolf-bellied" and is
ruthless in acts of violence.

Krsna

The god who assists the Pandavas throughout the story, Krsna helps them understand their dharma as
rulers and fighters in the war, and constantly reassures them that any violent act they have trepidation
about is mandated by faith. His speech on dharma and action to Arjuna is known as the "Bhagavad Gita,"
and has been accepted as central to the Hindu tradition alongside the traditional Vedic texts.

Drona

At the time of the story, Drona is an 85-year-old man who fights like a 16-year-old. Even though he fights
on behalf of Duryodhana, he shares a close bond with the Pandavas, having trained Arjuna as a warrior.
Like many in Duryodhana's army, and unlike Duryodhana himself, Drona is a strict adherent of dharma,
and lays down his weapons to accept his death at the Pandava's hand when he violates his dharma on
the battlefield.
Vyasa

As depicted in the story, Vyasa is the narrator of the entirety of the Mahabharata epic, dictating the tale
to Ganesha. The historical Vyasa is popularly considered to have written the Mahabharata and is
considered one of the seven immortal beings in the Hindu tradition

Dharma

Dharma is the central theme of the Mahabharata. Dharma, most simply put, is the destiny and
responsibility of an individual. Everyone has a different dharma, and it is his or her obligation to follow
it. Yudhisthira is portrayed as a righteous king who closely follows his dharma, while Duyodhana is said
to live in defiance of his dharma. Hence, the conflict between the two that drives this story acts as a
parable about man's conflict between living in accordance with dharma versus failing his dharma.

Action

As outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, action is crucial to fulfilling dharma. Throughout the epic, we see
characters deliberating about whether or not to take action, and ultimately almost always choosing to
take the action that is in accord with their dharma. There are also a number of actions taken impulsively
or out of greed, such as Duryodhana's decision to steal Yudhisthira's kingdom or Dhrtarastra's
destruction of an effigy he believes is Bhima. These instances show that while action is important to
achieving dharma, action taken without detachment or proper consideration could result in sin and,
ultimately, adharma.

Caste

Even though the Mahabharata focuses nearly exclusively on characters in higher, privileged castes—
Brahmin, Ksatriya, Suta—the duties and dharma of those castes are profoundly important. The Pandava
brothers often grapple with the dharma of their Ksatriya caste, which obliges them to be warriors and
rulers often acting in conflict with more generalized principles of dharma. Much of the ethical discourse
in the epic focuses on this conundrum. Characters who break with their caste are often shown in distress
or committing sin, such as when Draupadi disguises herself as a maidservant or how Karna decides to
live by the dharma of the Ksatriya caste despite being a Brahmin.

The Tragedy of War

In dharma, war is considered a last resort, only to be fought when all other methods of resolving a
conflict fail. Duryodhana, living in adharma, violets this tenet by seeking conflict with the Pandavas
essentially from the very beginning. But the people actually fighting in the war are often conflicted
about the enterprise. Arjuna initially wants to throw down his arms when he realizes how many kin he
will be slaughtering, and both Bhisma and Drona desire their deaths at the hands of the Pandavas once
they feel that they can no longer fight in the war honorably. The death toll of the war is massive, with
less than 10 warriors left on each side when it's all said and done. The funeral pyre and river ritual in the
Ganga stand as one of the most affecting segments of the epic, as we fully come to terms with the
destruction the war has caused.

Gods and Humans

The blurring of boundaries between the gods and humans in the Mahabharata is both a recurring trope
and an important theme, as it helps wed the cosmic, metaphysical aspect of Hinduism to a material, if
mythical, version of humanity. The gods are frequently disguising themselves as humans or inhabiting
characters in the book, while the Pandavas are commonly understood to be incarnates of the gods while
the 100 Kaurava brothers are manifestations of demons. The battle between gods and demons that
opens the epic quickly spills over into the human realm, and the celestial struggle between good and evil
is, quite poetically, one that humans are tasked with arbitrating.

Storytelling

As the Mahabharata is itself a framed story, dictated by Vyasa, storytelling is foundational to the epic
unfolding. But even within it, all manner of parables are recited to clarify moral matters and all the
major events of the epic are recited by a character as either a first– or a second–hand account.
Storytelling pegs the Mahabharata in the oral narrative tradition, but also gives a sense of the multitude
of perspectives that necessarily shape the narratives of world-important events.

Deception

Deception is an interesting theme in the Mahabharata since there is no decisive ethical judgment on the
matter. Instead, it is used by a tool of both dharma and adharma. When Duryodhana deceives
Yudhisthira into gambling away his entire kingdom and even Draupadi's freedom during the dice game,
this is clearly an instance of deception committed in sin. But when Krsna offers Drstarasrta an iron effigy
of Bhima to maul so that he won't actually kill Bhima, this deception is carried out so that Drstarasrta
does not impulsively stray from his dharma

Anonymous, John D. Smith. The Mahabharata. London: Penguin Classics, 2009.

Alf Hiltebitel. Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahabharata. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke
Brill, 2011.

Lourens Minnema. Tragic Views of the Human Condition. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
V.S. Sukthankar. Critical Studies in the Mahabharata. Bombay: Karnatak House, 1944.

V.S. Sukthankar. On the Meaning of the Mahabharata. Bombay: The Asiatic Society of Bombay, 1957.

EMajor Conflict

Duryodhana instigates a war with Yudhisthira and his brothers over the rights to the brothers' kingdom.

there is also a notable account of the origin of kingship and of rajadharma, or the dharma (law) of the
king as king. Bhishma, who is discoursing, refers with approval to two different theories of the origin of
kingship, both of which speak of a prior period in which there were no kings.

The primary function of the king is that of protection, and dandaniti, or the art of punishment, is
subordinated to rajadharma, or dharma of the king. Though it recognizes a quasi-divinity of the king, the
Mahabharata makes the dharma, the moral law, superior to the king.

karma-yoga (“discipline of action”) is made to depend on jnana-yoga (“discipline of knowledge”), and

the latter is shown to lead to bhakti-yoga (“discipline of devotion”). Instead of looking upon Krishna’s
teaching as laying down alternative ways for different persons in accordance with their aptitudes, it
would seem more logical to suppose that he taught the essential unity and interdependence of these
ways. How one should begin is left to one’s aptitude and spiritual makeup.

The Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem
Mahābhārata. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins, the
Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki

Kurukshetra War - Wikipedia

Mahabharata concern itself with the most essential premise for understanding the Hindu notion of
existence: the all-pervading Self (Atman). Through the story of Krsna’s explanation to Arjuna of his duty
to fight, we see also a treatise on the imperishable nature of the Self that conveys this important
message to the recipients of this story, both past and present. This paper seeks to explore the notion of
Atman in the Mahabharata through the use of textual examples and by placing the story of Arjuna’s
delay in battle within the greater scope of Hinduism as a whole.

Know that [the soul] to be immortal by which all this [universe] is pervaded. No one can compass the
destruction of that which is imperishable." He goes on to describe the attributes of Atman as "eternal,
indestructible and infinite." These descriptions are similar to the description of Atman found in the
Katha Upanisad: "…bodiless among bodies, stable among the unstable, the great, all-pervading Self—on
recognizing Him, the wise man sorrows not."
To fulfill one’s duty is the highest perfection of the Self and to resist one’s specific role in society at a
critical time is unacceptable to Hindus.

Radhakrishnan identifies Atman as "ultimate reality" and goes on to define it as "an unborn and so
immortal element in man." With rhetoric similar to the Mahabharata and to the Katha Upanisad,
Radhakrishnan calls Atman "that which neither lives nor dies, which has neither movement nor change
and which endures when all else passes away." Much like Krsna speaks to Arjuna, the writings of
Radhakrishnan speak to Hindus and bring the Mahabharata into the present world.

First, he is linked in spirit to all people, past and present, through Atman. This unity is inescapable and
thus he is called to act in such a way that reflects this unity. If the modern Hindu believes himself to be
equal in spirit to all people, he is less likely to do them harm, for in doing others harm, he is ultimately
harming himself. Wars would not occur if everyone subscribed to this view of Atman, nor would anyone
wish injury on their neighbor. Second, if the Hindu does not realize the unity of Atman, he is condemned
to the cycle of deaths and rebirths (samsara) that govern the world. Continuing to see disparity, the
Hindu will be reborn until he finally realizes unity and through it obtains liberation (moksa). Finally, the
notion of Atman calls the Hindu to expound these ideas to others. Much like Krsna was there to help
Arjuna in a time of doubt, so must the modern Hindu be prepared to defend this tenet and help others
to understand its significance.

Thus, we can surmise that the messages found in the Mahabharata transcend time and appeal to
modern Hindus as well. The notion of the Self, Atman, as the all-pervading, imperishable spirit is central
to Hindu beliefs and is important both in an epic setting and also in present-day philosophical writings,
helping believers to discover an element that unites them despite the seeming disparity in time. As long
as there are epics like The Odyssey and the Mahabharata to teach and reveal virtues to those willing to
hear them, they will have an appeal that is beyond the topical, placing them within the grasp of the
modern reader and assuring their survival for centuries to come

The Mahabharata tells the story of two sets of paternal first cousins--the five sons of the deceased king
Pandu (the five Pandavas and the one hundred sons of blind King Dhritarashtra--who became bitter
rivals, and opposed each other in war for possession of the ancestral Bharata kingdom with its capital in
the "City of the Elephants," Hastinapura , on the Ganga river in north central India. What is dramatically
interesting within this simple opposition is the large number of individual agendas the many characters
pursue, and the numerous personal conflicts, ethical puzzles, subplots, and plot twists that give the story
a strikingly powerful development.Formerly there was only infinite space. Without sun, moon, stars and
wind, it remained still and seemed asleep. Then water sprang into existence, as something darker within
darkness. The pressure from water gave forth to wind, just as an empty vessel when filled with water
makes noise due to the water’s turbulence. The friction between water and wind gave forth to fire. Fire
subsequently solidified as it came in contact with the find to become earth”

there is also a notable account of the origin of kingship and of rajadharma, or the dharma (law) of the
king as king. Bhishma, who is discoursing, refers with approval to two different theories of the origin of
kingship, both of which speak of a prior period in which there were no kings.

We may mention only a few of such concepts here: the relation between the eternal and the
ephemeral,47 the cause and the effect, the manifest and the unmanifest, the theory of creation, the
knower and the field of his knowledge,48 the Brahman and its maya, the theory of action without
anchorage in desires,49 the earthly ways of involvement vis-à-vis the transcendental.50 The discussions
to be found in the Mahabharata on the areas would undoubtedly be of great interest to the reader of
the Gita.51

Gita that adds a lustre to the ancient thesis of synthesis,'15 held so dear to India's heart, signifying to
Tagore her very special characteristic.

'Although about the whole of the story of the Mahabharata,' he says, 'is occupied by description of
fights, fight is not the end of it. There is no description here of the violent rejoicings of the Pandavas
after they rescued the lost wealth from the ocean filled with blood. The story shows instead the
victorious Pandavas abandon the conquered riches beside the ashes of the funeral pyres in Kurukshetra,
and take the path of detachment toward the land of peace. Such is the final dictate of the epic, which is
addressed to the humanity of all times.'

At the beginning of the seventeenth chapter he says that human beings are not satisfied even after
having enjoyed the world in so many ways; the way to peace opens only with forsaking all the desires.
At the start of his commentary on the final chapter he points to freedom as the ultimate aim of human
life, wherein lies its culmination.