The Epic That Is...

A compendium of ancient Indian mythology, history, political theory and philosophy; an ancient encyclopedia of Indian knowledge. One of the two great Indian epics. Know what we are talking about right? I’m talking about India’s biggest bestseller, The Mahabharat. It is the world’s longest epic poem at 1,00,000 shlokas or 1.8 million words. The Mahabharat is ten times the combined length of the Iliad and Odyssey and three times the length of the Bible.

The Mahabharat was written 2,500 years ago, by Sage Vyas. Legend has it that Sage Vyas dictated the Mahabharat to Lord Ganesh, who agreed to write it all out. It is said that the task was so circuitous that no mortal could have ever accomplished it.

What we actually know today as the Mahabharat actually started off as a much shorter story called Jaya; which contained the core story and the Gita. It was first narrated by Sage Vaishampayana (a disciple of Sage Vyas) to King Janamejaya, the great-grandson of Arjun. Years later with several  additions, Jaya was narrated by a bard Ugrashrav Sauti to a group of sages. This version is what we know today as the Mahabharat.

Here’s the last bit of trivia, many historians believe that the Mahabharat is not just a story Sage Vyas made up entirely. It is believed to be a story set against actual historical events that occurred in the 8^th century BCE.

So, what exactly is the Mahabharat about?

The Mahabharat is the story of a great war between two sets of cousins- the 5 Pandavas (the good guys) and the 100 Kauravas (the not-so-good guys) over the throne of Hastinapur (believed to be located in present day Uttar Pradesh). Of the 1,00,000 shlokas that make up the Mahabharat, 700 make up the Bhagvad Gita (or the Gita for short) which is the holy book of the Hindus.

   Now the question is: ‘Is the Mahabharat relevant in the modern era where our questions have become so direct that we are even questioning the very existence god?’ The answer is yes.

 Ancient stories are often allegories- stories that work on many levels. While one is the most obvious: The Mahabharat is the story of a war. The other one is: the Mahabharat symbolises the war that rages on the battlegrounds of our minds, everyday. As humans, we have an advantage over other creatures because we have the ability to make choices. Not just simple choices like jeans vs. shorts but moral choices like being nice vs. being downright awful. 

The Mahabharat is against the concept of ‘non-violence’ that most people think India is known for, it says, exhaustively that war is sometimes justified. It contains the advice similar to the ideas of Sun Tzu- political strategies that serve the ultimate goal of political and military triumph. Many political and military strategies that are used in today’s world actually come from the Mahabharat.

The Mahabharat’s timeless lessons continue to guide Indian thinking- always steering it away from the extremes- the extreme of idealism and the extreme of immorality. It argues that it is sometimes better to resort to what seems unjust in order to achieve a greater justice.