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Questions and Answers
What is the approximate total word count of the Mahābhārata?
What is the approximate total word count of the Mahābhārata?
Who is traditionally ascribed as the author of the Mahābhārata?
Who is traditionally ascribed as the author of the Mahābhārata?
In what context has W.J. Johnson compared the importance of the Mahābhārata to other works?
In what context has W.J. Johnson compared the importance of the Mahābhārata to other works?
Who recites the Mahābhārata first at Takshashila according to the text?
Who recites the Mahābhārata first at Takshashila according to the text?
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Which scholar criticized the full text of the Mahābhārata as a 'horrible chaos'?
Which scholar criticized the full text of the Mahābhārata as a 'horrible chaos'?
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What major Hindu epic narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War?
What major Hindu epic narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War?
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Who is traditionally credited with the authorship of the Mahabharata?
Who is traditionally credited with the authorship of the Mahabharata?
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When was the bulk of the Mahabharata likely compiled?
When was the bulk of the Mahabharata likely compiled?
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'Puruṣārtha' refers to which concept discussed in the Mahabharata?
'Puruṣārtha' refers to which concept discussed in the Mahabharata?
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'The longest poem ever written' is a description commonly associated with which epic?
'The longest poem ever written' is a description commonly associated with which epic?
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Study Notes
The Mahābhārata
- The Mahābhārata is a major Hindu epic and one of the two Sanskrit epics of ancient India, revered in Hinduism.
- It is considered one of the most important works in the context of world civilization, comparable to the Bible, the Quran, and the works of Homer and William Shakespeare.
Structure and Length
- The longest version of the Mahābhārata consists of over 100,000 śloka (couplets) and 200,000 individual verse lines.
- It is approximately 1.8 million words in total, making it roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined.
- It is about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa, another major Hindu epic.
Authorship and Textual History
- The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who is also a major figure in the epic.
- Vyasa described the Mahābhārata as an itihasa (history).
- The text employs a story within a story structure, known as frametales, popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works.
Content
- The epic narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.
- It contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha.
- It includes several principal works and stories, such as the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, and an abbreviated version of the Rāmāyaṇa.
Composition and History
- The bulk of the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE.
- The oldest preserved parts of the text are not much older than around 400 BCE.
- The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE).
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Description
Explore the overview of the major Hindu epic The Mahābhārata, which narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War. Learn about the philosophical and devotional aspects included in the epic.
