Mahabharata

One of the 134 illustrations Razmnama (‘war book’, 1761-1763), Persian translation of Majabharata. King Akbar (1556-1605) ordered Naqib Khan to translate the Hindu text to improve relations between the two cultures. In this scene, Grandpa Bhishmá — still alive weeks after the end of the battle of Kurukshetra — imparts his latest teachings as he agonizes (on the “arrows bed” with which his nephew grandson Aryuna described him), surrounded by the five Pandavas (with Muslim clothes) and Krisná (blue skin). Below is a spring of Mother Ganges, which Aryuna invoked to quench the thirst of Bhishma.

The Mahabhárata or Mahābhārata (c. 3rd century BC) is an extensive epic-mythological text from India.

The Mahabharata (Sanskrit Mahābhārata, महाभारत), traditionally attributed to Viasa, is one of the two Sanskrit epic poems of the itihasa or Indian epic poetry, the other text is the Ramayana.

Various names

The name of this book is found written in various ways in literature in Spanish and in other languages such as the following:

• Majabharata
• Mahabharata
• Maja-bharata
• Mahābhārata
• Maha-bharata
• Maha bharata
• Mahabarata
• Mahabrata
• The Hindu Book

Etymology

When considering the origin of the name, the following aspects must be taken into account:

• mahābhāratain the AITS system (international alphabet of transliteration of the Sanskrit).
• in devanagari writing of the Sanskrit.
• Etymology: ‘the great [war] of the bharaths’; being mahā: ‘great’; and bhārata: ‘the bharatas clans’. Generally it meets with iudhá (yuddhá), ajava (āhavá) or some other word that means ‘battle’.

The title can be translated as 'the great India', since bhārata is a patronymic meaning 'that which belongs to Bharatá', the mythical founding king of the country of Bhárata-varsha (< i>varshá: 'country'), which is the current official name of India in Hindi.

The name does not mean that the subject is the story of King Bharatá or the story of Bhárata Varsha (the name of India in Sanskrit and Hindi). It is very rare to see him called "the Bharata."

Dating

The dates of origin of these books are never described in the texts themselves.

The oldest hypotheses attributed its creation to the sage Viasa, who would have written it shortly after having written the four Vedas, in the same century as the battle of Kuruksetra (a mythical war mentioned only in the Majabhárata ), which Hindu religionists consider true and affirm that it happened in February 3102 BC. C. However, this hypothesis does not explain the difference between the ancient Sanskrit used in the Vedas, and the modern Sanskrit used in the Majabhárata.^{[citation required]}

Another hypothesis ―which does not provide any historical evidence― maintains that its creation should have been earlier, having an autochthonous origin in the Indus Valley culture.

Some writers^{[citation needed]} place it temporarily after the time of Buddha (420-368 BCE), at the time of Emperor Ashoka (304 -232 BC).

In sutra 6.2.38 of the Astadhiai of the grammarian Panini (fl. 4th century BC) it is mentioned that the Bhárata (of 24,000 verses), which is the basis on which the Majabhárata (of 100,000 verses) was written (it is not known if in years or centuries).

Like much of the world's major literature, these stories were passed down and transformed by oral means through generations. This made it easy for additional episodes and interpolated stories to appear in the original text. This also caused the development of regional variations.

Dating of the content

The Majabhárata contains astronomical data (planetary conjunctions and eclipses) that could serve to date the time when these events could have taken place. Each writer gives different dates.

Currently, most Hindus believe that the Majabhárata narrates real events that happened in India itself, and that it was put into writing shortly after by the mythical writer Viasa and the god Ganesh (half man half elephant).

In the Aria-bhattíia, the Indian astronomer Aria Bhatta (AD 476-550) ―without explaining his basis― stated that kali-iugá had started in February 3102 a. c.

According to the Mahabharata, the mythical war that is the center of the plot of the epic text, ended on the day of the beginning of kali-yugá.

Hindus today believe in that tradition.

Extension

The complete version of the Majabharata contains about 100,000 slokas (or 200,000 verses) in the Sanskrit language. It is four times longer than the Bible and eight times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined.

It is the second largest literary work in the world, after the Tibetan Tales of Gesar (late 1st millennium AD), which contains more than a million verses.

Context

Within the categorization of Hindu texts, the Majabhárata is part of the Itijasa (iti-ja-āsa: 'so-really -was', stories), which is the name given to Sanskrit texts that are not directly philosophical, along with the Puranas ('ancient stories') and the Ramaiana.

Text Composition

The author

The author of the Majabhárata is unknown.

According to the text itself, it was told by a mythical writer named Viasa, one of the main dynastic characters within it (although he does not appear many times during the story). The wise Viasa was the grandfather of the two main dynasties of the legend: the Kauravas and the Pandavas. This relationship allowed him to know a lot about the events within the royal family.

Legend about writing the text

The great Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe) descended and told Viasa to get help from Ganesha for his task [to put the speech in writing]. Ganesh wrote the hymns recited by Viasa of memory and thus the Bharata It was registered. Ganesh could not write at the speed of Viasa, so several words, or even whole verses were lost.

Majabharata

During Viasa's time, writing was either unknown or too new a technology or at least not a mainstream medium. The sages would not know how to write, because they considered that writing was appropriate for mortals of the age of Kali, who would have a short memory to remember several thousand verses.

Map with locations mentioned in the Majabharata. The yellow names represent the kingdoms, the oranges are foreign kingdoms (specified location), the roses are exotic tribes, the rivers appear in blue, the mountains in violet and the forests in green.

The first preserved texts date from around the 6th century AD, in Indu and Brahmi scripts (the first fonts used to write the Sanskrit language, before using the current Devanagari script).

When comparing the stories told by different professional reciters, differences were noted, which they explained as Ganesh's failures to put the text in writing. In any case, it is believed that it suffered a minimum of information loss during its existence as an oral recitation, due to the excellent repetition used by the ancient Indians. The Rig-veda (the oldest text in India, composed around the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE) was the longest-preserved text by oral tradition, being a millennium older than the Rig-veda. i>Majabharata.

Another legend about how it was written

The first section of the Majabhárata states that the god Ganesha (the elephant-headed god, son of the god Shivá) agreed to write the manuscript under the dictation of Viasadev, only on the condition that he never pause in his recitation. Viasa then put another condition: that, before writing, Ganesh assimilate what Viasa recited. Then Viasa would say a verse that was difficult to understand in order to have some breath in his continuous dictation. Each Sanskrit verse can be read in about two seconds, so the 100,000 verses can be finished in about 56 hours.

This myth also serves as a popular explanation as to why the image of Ganesh has a broken left tusk: in the rush to write, the god's pen failed, so he broke off the tip of his tusk and used it as a quill (using his blood as ink) so that the dictation would not be interrupted.

The difficulty Ganesh faced in writing the Majabhárata, as the myth describes, could have been real, and could have been the problem of people trying to write down the stories recited by the professional reciters. They might not have been able to stop the recitation and start over, as the lines were memorized as a continuous recitation.

The name Ganapati was used to designate a leader chosen by the elite. In ancient India there were kingdoms (small areas or provinces), led by rashas, and there were also a kind of republics led by leaders (elected by the upper castes, as in Athens), or ganapatis.

The Ganapati who wrote down the Majabhárata, may have been the leader of one of these republics, well educated in the art of writing. The use of the names Ganapati and Ganesha for the Hindu elephant god may have been a later phenomenon.

The book “Yaia”, by Viasa

Intrincado Bajorrelieve the Hoysaleśwara temple (in Halebid, India) which shows the legend of Majabharatawhere the Abhimaniu warrior (son of Aryuna) enters the chakra-viuja.

The writer Viasa would have composed only the heart of the Majabhárata, of 8800 verses. He titled his story Yaia ('victory').

The text Yaia of Viasa is structured in the form of a dialogue between Dhritarashtra (king Kuru father of the Kauravas), who opposed the Pandavas—sons of his deceased brother Pandú—in the battle of Kuru Kshetra), and his secretary and well-wisher Sanyaia. Sanyaia narrates each incident of the 18-day battle as it happens. Dhritarashtra sometimes asks questions and sometimes laments, as he comes to know of the destruction of every one of his children, friends and relatives of his. He also feels guilty because his greed was the cause of the destruction of all the kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent.

In the beginning, Sanyaia gives a description of the different continents of the Earth, of the different oceans (salt water, fresh water, milk, butter, successively) of other planets and their inhabitants, and then he focuses on Bhárata Varsha (India) and gives an elaborate list of hundreds of kingdoms, tribes, provinces, cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains and forests.

It also explains about the (viuja) military formations that each of the two armies adopt each day. As in the rock-paper-scissors game, the army that adopts the correct formation wins that battle: the eagle-shaped army defeats the snake-shaped army, etc.

Eighteen chapters of this text Yaia from Viasa, form the religious text Bhagavad-guitá (about 700 verses).

The book "Bharata" by Vaisampaiana

A disciple of Viasa named VaisamPaiana developed the text Yaia from 8,800 verses to 24,000 verses, naming it Bhárata. Vaisham Paiana narrated it to King Yanam Eyaiá, the great-grandson of Áryuna, one of the five Pándava brothers.

The book “Majabhárata”, by UgraSravá Sauti

A professional historian named Ugrasrava Sauti developed the text Bhárata from 24,000 verses to more than 100,000 verses and christened it Majá-Bhárata. Ugrasrava narrated it before an assembly of sages gathered in the Naimisarania forest, led by Shaunaka Rishi.

The text continued to develop until it reached 215,000 verses.

Structure of the "Majabharata"

Illustration about Draupadi and her husbands, the five Pandavas. In the center, Yudhishthira with Draupadi. Below: Bhima on the left, Arjuna on the right. Standing on the sides the twins Nakula and Sahadeva. Raja Ravi Varma painting, 1900.

The Mahabharata is written in eighteen parvas (books), which are:

1. Adi-parva (ādi: 'first': introductory stories of the book, birth and education of the five Pándavas princes.
2. Sabha-parva: the life in the house of the Pándavas, the game of dice with his wicked cousin Duriódhana (the son of Dhrita-Rastra), which provokes the exile of the Pándavas into the desert. The god Indra (father of Aryuna) creates and gives them a vergel city, Indraprastha, where the dánava Maia (one of the 40 demon sons of Danu and the wise Kashiapa) erects the palace and court (sabha) of the Pandavas.
3. Araniaka-parva (also Aranya-parva or Vana-parva) aranya or vain: ‘bosque’: the twelve years in exile in the forest.
4. Virata-parva: the year of exile in the kingdom of Virata (Aryuna becomes eunuch).
5. Udioga-parva: Preparations for war.
6. Bhishma-parva: the first part of the great battle, with the “virgin grandfather” Bhishma as commander of the Kauravas.
7. Drona-parva: Follow the battle, with Drona as commander.
8. Karna-parva: the battle again, with Karna as commander.
9. Salia-parva: the last part of the battle, with Śalya as commander.
10. Sauptika-parva: how the Pandava army is destroyed during sleep (suapná-hypnoos) by Ashwattama (the vindictive son of Master Drona) and the few surviving Kauravas.
11. Stri-parva (Stri-parva)stri: ‘woman’): Gandhari and the other women mourn the dead.
12. Shanti-parva (śanti: ‘peace’: the coronation of Iudishtira, and the instructions of Bhishma.
13. Anushasana-parva (anushasana: ‘Instruction’: Bhishma’s final instructions.
14. Asuamedhika-parva: the imperial or asua-medha (‘the sacrifice of a horse or ashua’) driven by Iudishtira.
15. Ásrama-vásika-parva: Dhritarashtra (the senscal of King Pandu), his wife Gandhari and Queen Kunti (mother of the Pándavas and Karna) are isolated in a ashram in the woods to die.
16. Mausala-parva: the body-to-body slaughter with mazas (mausala) among the Yadavas (the 16,100 sons of King-gods Krisna) intoxicated at a feast on the shores of the sea.
17. Majah-prasthanika-parva: Iudishtira and his brothers walk to the Himalayas until they die (majá-prasthana: ‘the great journey’, euphemism of death.’
18. Suarga-arojana-parva (suarga: ‘Heaven’: the Pandavas ascend to material paradise.

There is also an appendix of 16,375 verses, the Jari-vamsa ('the family of Harí' [another name of the god Krisná]).

Among the main work and the stories that are part of the Majabhárata are the following. They are often isolated and presented as complete works in themselves.

Krishna and Arjuna on a car, illustration of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

Manuscript Illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra, in which one sees the god Krisna driving the Quadrant of the Arquero Pandava Aryuna, who shoots his arrows against the wicked Kauravas.

• Bhagavad-guita: Krisná instructs and teaches Arjuna (in part 6, Bhishma-parva).
• Krisna-avatara: the story of the god Krisná, which is told in many chapters of history).
• Rama: an abbreviated version of the epic text Ramáiana (in the Araniaka-parva).
• Nala and Damaiantí: the love story of a king and his wife (in the Araniaka-parva).
• Savitrí and Satiaván: the love story of Princess Savitrí and King Satiaván (in the Araniaka-parva).
• Risiasringa (also written as Rishia Shringa), a rishi (wife) with horns (in the Araniaka-parva).

Critical Edition

Between 1919 and 1966, scholars at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Poona compared the various manuscripts from India and abroad and prepared a critical edition of the Mahabharata, with 13,000 pages in 19 volumes, followed by the two-volume Jari-vamsa plus and six index volumes. This is the text normally used in reference studies on the Mahabharata. This work is sometimes referred to as the 'Pune' edition. or 'Poona' from the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata, the epic story

The main story of this work is of a dynastic struggle for the throne of the capital Jastina Pura, the kingdom of the Kuru clan. Jastina Pura and the immediately surrounding kingdoms were based in the Doab, the region of the upper Ganges and the Yamuna River, north of present-day New Delhi. The two cousin branches of the family that participate in the fight are the Kauravas (the sons of Kuru, the older branch of the family), and the Pandavas (the younger branch, made up of the sons of King Pandú ('pale'). who was the brother of Dhrita-rastra and son of Viasa with the wife of Vichitra-Viria).

The fighting culminates in the great 18-day battle at Kurukshetra, which the Pandavas win in the end. The Majabhárata ends with the death of the god Krisná, and the end of his dynasty, and the ascent of the Pandavas brothers to a heavenly planet together with the gods. This moment also marks the beginning of the age of Kali. (Kali yuga). This is the fourth and final age of humanity, where the great values and noble ideas that humanity represented are crumbling, and men are rapidly heading towards the complete dissolution of morality and virtue in general.

Stories

Short description of some personalities and stories:

King Śantanu (father of Bhishma) fell in love with the virgin fisherman Satiavati (who had already been the mother of Viasa).

• Some of the most noble and revered figures in history end up fighting on the Kurus side, due to loyalties formed before the conflict.
• Iudishtira is the eldest of the five Pandavas brothers, the son of Queen Kunti (the wife of Pandu) with Dharmarash (the 'king of religion', also known as Iamarash, the 'king of prohibition'). Iudishtira is commonly known in India as a model of integrity, as he had never said a lie in his life and thus had obtained mystical powers. He participated in a stratagem designed to kill Drona, the weapons master of the five Pandavas. They killed an elephant with the same name as Master Drona's son. Then Iudishtira approached his teacher and said, "Ashwattama (the elephant) is dead." Drona dropped his weapons and was killed by the Pandavas brothers. At that time Iudishtira's crew—which, due to its virtue until that time, had floated a few inches of the ground (which filled the enemy army with terror)—has immediately touched land.
• Bhima is one of the five Pandavas brothers whose strength, size, and loyalty are legendary.
• Aryuna (Latin Congnated argentum: ‘plated’), son of Kuntí with the god Indra, the best friend of the god Krisná (who finally makes him win the war of Kurukshetra by non-sanctos means).
• Nakula and Sajádeva are the twin sons of Madri (the second wife of King Pandu) with the Asuini-kumaras (the doctors of the gods).
• One of the most touching stories Majabharata is that of Karna (‘oreja’), the son of Queen Kunti with Suria (the god of the sun), was a noble warrior of whom no one knew he was the elder brother of the five Pandavas. His immense powers failed him during the battle because he had lied, a few years before, to his guru about who he was.
• The “grandfather” Bhishmah was the most noble grandfather of all the chief warriors (who were cousins among them). He had renounced his kingdom and became celibate for his father's love for a fisherman. (She wanted her son with the king to be the crown prince, so Bhismah had to swear not to have children all his life.) By this act of renunciation he obtained the blessing of the gods to choose the moment of his death. He ended up dying on an arrow bed set by Aryuna, his most beloved grandson (who had asked him the night before how he could do to kill him, as they could never win the war in the presence of Grandpa).

Simhika appears in the text (atta katha) Malay of the plays kathakali Call Kirmira VadhamKottayam Tampuran (17th century). Presents two characters that did not appear in the Majabharata: a rakshasa called Sardula and his wife the Simjika Monster. Aryuna kills Sardula. To get revenge, Simjika becomes a young woman (lalita) — black dress in this picture—and he wants to show Draupadi a temple of Durga in the woods (to rapture her and take her to his other brother Kirmira). Draupadi suspects the trap and refuses. Simjika adopts its original form and drags Draupadi. When she hears her screams, Sachadeva intervenes and cuts her breasts and nose to the attacker. Kirmira and Bhima arrive at the scene and Bhima kills Kirmira.

See also: Draupadi.

Modern Mahabharata

The Majabhárata claims to contain the essence and sum of all the Vedas (epic-religious texts composed a millennium before the Majabhárata , and the oldest of Indian literature) and other Hindu scriptures. It includes large amounts of Hindu mythology, cosmological stories of gods and goddesses, and philosophical parables aimed at students of Hindu philosophy. The stories are commonly told to children, at religious functions, or around the home. To those who do not read it, the Majabhárata threatens that they will never fulfill their yogic and spiritual quests.

In the late 1980s, Majabhárata was broadcast on India's national TV (Doordarshan). Each chapter was broadcast on Sundays before noon, and practically the entire country was paralyzed to see it. People dressed in their best clothes, and adorned the television with flower garlands (as if it were a deity at the family altar).

In art

In the temple of Angkor Wat (Cambodia) there is a forty-nine meter long frieze whose bas-reliefs describe the passage from the Mahábharata in which the terrible final battle of Kurukshetra between the rival clans is narrated Pandavas and Kauravas. The Kaurava army advances from the left and the Pandava from the right, and as they meet in the center the battle begins to unfold.