MAHABHARATA

                                                                              Prologue Mahabharata is a literary treasure and a blend of Hindu mythology and philosophy. It is considered to be for adults only. But this great epic is more than that. Its varied stories and many characters have an appeal for the kids too. In fact, it is a treasure trove for today’s generation raised on Harry Potter and likewise tales. It has countless stories that teach valuable lessons in ethics and morality. This great epic is a part of our culture and should have a rightful place in the hearts of our children.                                                                        What is Mahabharata? It is one of the two major Hindu Mythological Sanskrit epics of India. It is the narration of the great eighteen-day Kurukshetra war between the hundred Kauravas and the five Pandavas, the children of two brothers. Interwoven with many stories and a multitude of characters, it comprises philosophical and devotional material. It also contains the Bhagwat Gita, the much revered Hindu religious text. Mahabharat is not meant to be read as a pastime for amusement. You have to delve deeply into it and understand the characters and their actions and reactions. Once involved in the story, you will find yourself playing out so many roles, identifying something similar with the characters as they appear in the story.The Mahabharata, that is, the great Bharata, is one of the two most important ancient epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. The Mahabharata was compiled in Ancient India. One of the Indian sages (rishi) named Vyasa is believed to have composed the work. The legend states that god Ganesh wrote the Mahabharata while Vyasa dictated the same in city of Rourkela in Odisha State. It is possibly one of the longest work of its kind in the world. The epic contain about 110,000 couplets in eighteen sections. There is also a 19th section named Harivamsha. The Bhagavadgita, a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, is a part of the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa taught this epic to his son Suka and his students Vaisampayana and others. King Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, and the grandson of the heroes of the epic, performed a great sacrifice (yagna). The epic was retold by Vaisampayana to Janamejaya at the advice of Vyasa. Later on, an other sage Suta retold the Mahabharata similar to Vaisampayana to Janamejaya, to Saunaka and others, during a sacrifice performed by Saunaka in Naimisaranya, which is near Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. The Mahabharata in its eighteen sections deals with a number of topics. These topics cover a number of aspects of Hinduism, Hindu mythology, ethics, and the Hindu way of life. One more section is called Harvamsha.                                                                    Mahabharata Story – in Short The Mahabharata is the bulkiest Epic consisting of 100,000 verses and is divided into 18 paravas (books). This book is usually assigned to Rishi Ved Vyas, but scholars have expressed doubts if such a great work could have been accomplished by one single person. Hopkins believes that it was composed by not one person, nor even by one generation, but by several. Mahabha­rata differs from Ramayana in a basic sense in so far as the later depicts the conflicts of the Aryans and non-Aryans, the former is a story of conflict between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, both Aryan people.The battle of Mahabharata, which was fought at Kurukshetra, involved the Aryan kings of almost the entire of India. While Kashi, Kosala, Magadha, Matsya, Chedi and Yadus of Mathura allied with the Pandavas, the Yavanas, Sokas, Madras, Kambojas, Kaikeyas, Sindhus, Sanviras, the Bhojas, the Andhras, the rulers of Mahismati, Avanti and Pragjyotish were the allies of the Kurus. Ultimately the Pandavas won a victory with the help of Krishna. According to the story of Mahabharata, King Shantanu, of the Lunar dynasty, ruled over Hastinapur, a territory lying between river Ganges and Jamuna. He had two sons Bhisma and Yichitravirya. As Bhishma remained unmarried, Vichitravirya became the king. Vichitravirya had two sons—Pandus and Dhritrashtra. Since Dhritrashtra was blind by birth, Pandu became the king. Pandu had five sons who were known as Pandvas. Dhritrashtra on the other hand had 100 sons and they were known as Kurus. After the death of Pandu Dhritrashtra became the king. He was a benign ruler and took good care of his nephews, and provided them good education. But the sons of Dhritrashtra, particularly his eldest son Daryodhan was jealous of them. He conspired and managed to exile the Pandavas, who settled down near Delhi and founded a new capital Indraprastha In the meanwhile Arjun, one of the Pandavas, won Draupadi, the princess of Panchal-Desha as a result of Swyamvara. Duryodhan, who was still jealous of the Pandavas, invited them to his kingdom to a game of dice. In the course of the game Yudhisthra, the eldest Pandava, lost everything, including Draupadi, the wife of five Pandavas, in the game. As a result once again the Pandavas were sent on exile for 13 years. After completing the term of their exile the Pandavas claimed their kingdom. However, Daryodhan refused to return the same and this ultimately resulted in the battle of Mahabharata, which lasted for eighteen days. It is said that at first Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, hesitated to fight against his own kith and kins. At this juncture Krishna, his ally, gave him the divine message which is contained in the Bhagavad Gita. As a result Arjuna took up arms and fought bravely. In this battle an unprecedented s*******r of men took place and all the Kurus were killed. Then Yudhishtra became the king. After some time the five Pandvas retired to the Himalayas and handed over the kingdom to King Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna. It may be noted that besides the main story mentioned above, the Mahabharata contains a number of other mythical and legendary stories as well.