Mahabharata A STUDY SWAMI HARSHANANDA -- AMAYANA AND MAHABHARATA, the two accept a much later date, VIZ 1424 BC or great epics of India, have captivated 950 BC. the hearts of its people for several millennia Traditional lore ascribes the authorship Whether it is literature ' both Sanskrit and of this epic to the great sage Veda Vyasa vernacular -arts, crafts, painting, music, also known as Knma Dvaipayana. He was dance and drama, or temple motifs, no a contemporary of the grandsire Bhi!;>ma and aspect of Indian culture has escaped the had a firsthand knowledge of most of the stamp of their influence. The simple village events described in the epic. folk who shed tears while listening to the Research-scholars, however, feel that the ballads on the banishment of Sitli or the original work called Jaya, written by Vyasa highly skilled artisans working on the temple to commemorate the victory (jaya=victory) motifs depicting the Kuruk~etra war, are of the Plif.lQava princes over the wicked both responding to a dynamic and continuing Kauravas, might have been a much smaller culture of these epics. work comprising about 8,800 verses. This Hindu tradition has always considered was subsequently revised and enlarged into these two epics as itihiisa (,verily did it exist Bhiirata, a work of 24,000 verses, by thus') or history. Modem scholars have VaiSampayana, a disciple of Vyasa, and largely conceded that the core of the epics recited during the Sarpayaga (serpent could have had a historical basis. sacrifice) of Janamejaya, the great grandson of the Plif.lQava hero Arjuna. The final Reputed scholars, both Eastern and edition that has come down to us is the work Western, have battled for years to fix the of SOta Ugrasravas, son of Lomahar~~ date of the Mahabharata war, also known (also spelt as Romahar~~), and was recited as the Kuruk~tra war. Incidentally this at the Sattrayaga (a kind of sacrifice, the would also fix the date of its heroes and, performance of which, is spread over several of course, their historicity. If the years) of the sage Saunaka in the Naimi~ meticulously preserved Hindu oral traditions forest. It is this that has been called based on their notion of time as the Mahiibhiirata, due to its immense size yuga-system are to be relied upon, the great (mahii=great) and its dealing with the story war should have taken place during 3139 of the people of the race descended from Bc.Writings of Megasthanes (312 BC) as also the ancient emperor Bharata, culminating in internal astronomical evidence corroborate the, war. This edition is reputed to be this date. Modern historians, however, have 'Satasahasri Sarhhita,' a collection of assailed this theory and are inclined to 100,000 verses, though the extant text ,A senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, Swami Harshananda IS the head of' Sri Ramakrishna • Ashrama, Bangalore. He is an accomplished orator, ttlUsician, and author of several books in English, Kannada and Sanskrit, a few of which have also been translated into Korean, German and French. Some of his more well-known books are Hin4u Gods and Goddesses, Hinduism through Questions ana h.lswers, and All about Hindu Temples. 329 330 11fE VEJ'Am'A KFSARI SEPIEMBEk contains less. The round figure is obviously rivalries; marriage of Draupadi, the PaflcaIa an approximation. Some scholars have tried princess, to the Pllndavas; Arjuna's to establish that the epic has evolved over pilgrimage , and man iage with Subhadra, a period of eight centuries (from 400 Be sister of Sri Krsna.• • • to 400 AD) to its present proportions. At the present stage of the research it has not been Sabhiiparva, the second, deals mainly possible to clinch the issue, and hence with the performance of the Rajasuya chronological questions continue to remain sacrifice by Yudhi~thira, the eldest of the open to discussions. Pandava princes, the game of dice manoeuvred by the wily, Duryodhana, the Different regions of India have eldest of tl}e Kauravas, and its tragic preserved different recensions of the text of consequences for the fmmer. this epic. These have been broadly classified as the Northern and the Southern Ara~yaparva, also called Vanaparva recensions. Scholars opine that the latter (and sometimes as Ara~yakaparva) is the which is the longer of the two is more third book that covers the story of the impressive because of its precision and Pi'iQ<;iavas in exile in the Kamyaka forest. schematization as also its practical outlook. This voluminous book is replete with several One of the standard editions published stories from the past like those of Nala and contains 95,826 slokas or verses, in 18 Damayanti, Savitri and Satyavan, of sages 'parvans' or boo~", with 107 sub-parvans like ~yasmga, Agastya and Markal)<;Ieya, as and 2,111 chapters in all, including the also of kings like Bhagiratha and Sibi. The appendix Harivamsa. This just gives an idea famous quiz, Yak~prasna, belongs to this of the immensity of this epic poem, which book. is eight times as big as Homer's llliad and Odyssey put together. Virti.taparva, the fourth, is one of the smaller books dealing mainly with the stay Since the text contains quite a few of the Pi'iQ<;iavas incognito in the kingdom riddles known as kutaslokas and vast • of Virata. Slaying of the villain Kicaka and portions of didactic material, several commentators have tried their skill on it. th~ battle ~or rescuing the cattle of the king Vlrata whIch had been captured by the The gloss of NilakaJ.ltha ( 16th cent.) is more Kauravas to force the Pi'iQ<;iavas to come out well-known and is widely referred to. of their hiding, as also the wedding of the The contents of the eighteen major Virata princess Uttara with Abhimanyu, books may- be briefly summarized as Arjuna's son, are the chief incidents follows: Adiparva, the first book, is fairly portrayed here. long and deals with, several ancient episodes connected with Sukracarya, the preceptor of Udyogaparva, the fifth, is also a short the Asuras, and hIs intractable daughter book which deals with the peace parleys and Devayani, and Yayati, a prominent king of preparatioI1s for the war curiously going the lunar dynasty,, as also the famous together. The most touching scene of Kunti, romance of Sakuntala and the king the mother of the Pandavas, disclosing to Du~anta. However, the major part of the KaTl)a the secret of his birth, in her womb, book is devoted to the story of the ancestors and the statesmanship of Sri Kr~l)a, who of, the Pandavas. and the Kauravas like makes a last minute bid for peace, are the Santanu, Bhit>ll1a, Vicitravirya, Dhrtar~tra highlights of this section. The famous and P~<;iu; the birth and education of the discourse, of the sage Sanatsujata to the Pi'iQ<;iavas and the Kauravas; their early blind king Dhrtar~tra, well-known as the 1990 MAHABHARATA 331 Sa natsujiitfya, which is full of philosophical Yudhisthlra. Bhisma's demise and truths, forms a part of this book. Yudhisthira's• • coronation are the other incidents dealt with. The two well-known, The next book, Bhf~maparva, contains hymns, Vi~usahasraniima and Siva- the crown-gem of the epic, viz the Bhagavad sahasraniima, as also the Anugftii (a Gitii. Detailed descriptions of the first ten subsidIary discourse by Sri Kr\il)a to ArJuna) days of the war containing the superhuman are parts of these books. exploits of the grandsire Bhisma, ultimately ending in his being mortally wounded by Asvamedhikaparva, the , fourteenth, Arjuna, form the bulk of this section. Since describes the departure of Sri KrsDa for Bhi\ima had the unique boon of dying at Dvaraka and the horse-sacrifice will, he preferred to lie down on the bed (Asvamedha) performed by Yudhisthira. The of arrows and postpone his demise till the humiliation of Yudhis~hira by a talking beginning of Uttarayana or the northern weasel that describes the supreme sacrifice solstice. of a Brahmana family is an interesting sidelight. of this book. DrolJllparva, the seventh, apart from - describing the heroic exploits of Drol)a, the The next book, Asramaviisikaparva, preceptor, culminating in his death through describes the departure of the old stratagem, also contains an account of the Dhrtara\itra to the forest along with brilliant achievements of the boy-hero Gandhful, his spouse, and Kunti and their Abhimanyu on the battlefield and his tragic subsequent death in a forest fire. death. The sixteenth book, Ma usa laparva, The eighth book, Karnaparva, details gives an account of the mutual destruction the gory death of the evil genius Dussasana, of, the Yadava heroes as also the death of the second of the Kaurava brothers, at the Sri Krsna at the hands of a hunter. The hands of the colossal Bhima, and the fall Mahiiprasthiinika and the SvargiirohalJll of KaI1).a himself at the hands of Arjuna Parvas, the last two books, give an account after a bitter fight. of the final journey of the Pll1)<;Iavas, their , death on the way, with Yudhi\ithira alone Salyaparva, the ninth book, describes reaching heaven. the final encounter between Bhima and Duryodhana on the last day ot the war, the The Mahiibhiirata presents us with a latter succumbing to the mortal blow veritable array of human characters, from received during the duel. the sublime to the ridiculous. No type of human emotion, no deed of valour, Sauptikaparva, the tenth, delineates the generosity, sacrifice or meanness is missed gruesome massacre of the Pan<;lava army and here. Nor is there any artificiality in these its allies, in the night during sleep, by portrayals.