From childhood, the author was affectionate with writing. In the course of time, when that affectionate feeling turns into an addiction in the core of his heart the author himself was not aware of.
In that addiction, he started to self-expose by writing in the course of time. That may be in the wall magazine of the IIEST, Shibpur (Howrah), or in different magazines and books during his journey throughout his life in India & abroad. This is an attempt to analyze the various questions that arise in our minds about the facts and incidents of the great epic Mahabharata. This is a self-motivated effort that encouraged the author to bring to light and discuss all the aspects of Mahabharata that took place once upon a time.
Dedicated To:
This book is dedicated to the present generation & the upcoming future generations To have the analysis of the great epic Mahabharata with logical ground in the form of twelve basic questions with answers.
Courtesy & References:
The references of the facts are from Veda Vyas Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavad Gita.
Introduction to the first edition
None of the stories in history is absolute truth. In the same way from the start to the end, the extent of the stories of Mahabharata raises questions in our logical mind. However, the major incidents of Mahabharata are logical. Even though some incidents raise questions in the logical minds of people. This is a small effort to search for the answers through analysis & discussion of twelve subjects
The Essence Of Gita & Mahabharata
Lord Krishna reveals in Gita that he is the source of all that exists. This means it is from his mind the seven great sages, the four great saints & the fourteen Manus taken birth. All the mortal people of this globe then descended from them & the exceptional qualities of humans also arise from him only. These are described as the essence of the Bhagavad Gita in Chapter Ten.
Bhagavad Gita is the source of skill to come out of our ignorance & leads the human race to the light of knowledge. Only through self-knowledge can an individual be happy in the true sense in this ever-changing universe. And we all are empowered with inner strength & have the ability to face any adverse situation that arises in the way of life.
The Bhagavad Gita & the great epic Mahabharata of which it is a part is attributed to the great sage Krishna Daipayana Vyasa. Who is also well-known by the name Vedavyasa.
It was told that after the Mahabharata war the great sage Vedavyasa orally narrated & Lord Ganesha wrote Mahabharata the great sacred epic of Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a part of the epic Mahabharata. According to Bhagavad Gita, We are not these bodies but spirit souls. We are only eternal fragmental parts & parcels of the Lord Sri Krishna the supreme personality of Godhead who is our supreme master, great philosopher& guide on every step of life with the flow of time.
The essence of the Bhagavad Gita as Lord Sri Krishna said” One who works too much and one who is lazy both can not reach the height of Yoga. Only those who walk on the path of moderation can get out of mystery.” The Gita is an essential spiritual text as it establishes a person’s right to question everything its approach is a dialogue between symbolic Arjun & the reality symbolized in this text as Lord Sri Krishna. The reality states that it is good to question about life and Sri Krishna answers Arjuna’s questions. The Gita puts these concepts into simple language so that everyone can understand the nature of things & how to live life.
The word Gita means song so Bhagavad Gita means the Lord’s song. The Bhagavad Gita is a mystical text that speaks about the nature of things. It speaks about humanity. Guides us about the reality and the actions we are to take to search for wisdom and happiness. It also emphasizes the various yogas ways in which humanity can deal with the ever-changing world and the emotions of our mind it deals with the pathways to wisdom & with humanity’s relationship to the ultimate reality. It is more commonly expressed as the art that you the eternal self are one with reality the fundamental indispensable principle of existence. This means the purpose of your life is to discover who you really are and the purpose of your life.
There are four basic principles in the perennial philosophy.
- The consciousness in the macrocosm & the consciousness of the cosmos, you will find that which upholds and sustains you as a self-entity if you find that which upholds your being. You will find the consciousness that sustains and upholds the cosmos.
- Humans possess a dual nature. The Gita states that everything is composed of pre-matter matter called nature & spirit of consciousness called Purusha.
- The meaning of Earth life has only one purpose to know the spiritual foundation that sustains and upholds the cosmos and all therein.
- Humans are capable of knowing this fundamental foundation of absoluteness which is goodness. This earth is not a place of punishment. This earth is a place where you learn about the nature of the real you. Yoga which is a mystical science is a set of principles and tools that help you to understand your spiritual essence.
The five topics of Srimad Bhagavad Gita are
- Ishvara- The supreme Lord
- Jiva - The living entity
- Prakruti - The material nature
- Kala-Eternal time
- Karma-Activities,
In the end, the moral of the Gita is one should practice austerity means not taking in every way in body, mind, personal behavior & dealings with others. Physically austerity means not making nonsense and not eating meat. Mental austerity means restraining the force of just anger and greed. One should treat others the way one would treat himself.
The Bhagavad Gita emphasizes the importance of self-realization and the pursuit of knowledge to attain spiritual enlightenment. It teaches that true wisdom lies in understanding the impermanence of the material world and recognizing the eternal nature of the soul.
Karna & Arjuna In Mahabharata
In Mahabharata Karna & Arjun are two very special characters apart from the central character Sri Krishna who played a significant role in the epic Mahabharata written by the great sage Vyas Deva. Karna is the most ignored and neglected character of Mahabharata who was born in the womb of virgin princess Kunti by the boon of sage Durvasa by the inspiration of the Sungod.To keep the facts secret from society Kunti the virgin mother floated in the river the infant Karna who was without identity & tribeless with a laden heart eyes full of water and a heart full of pain. But she could never forget him and could forgive herself throughout her life.
Therefore Karna’s life was full of ignorance and negligence and that’s the reason Karna's life is a lesson of embodied example of struggle who was deprived of all his rights right from his birth. Who lost his basic fundamental right to his mother’s affection. Although he grew up in the shelter of Adhirath & Radha with their paternal affection.Even his name Karna was given by Adhirath only. Karna had the only blessing from the Sungod kabach Kundala which made him invincible in the later days. Adhirath was a carpenter and chariot technician of King Dhritarastra and that was the background for Karna to get the opportunity in the hermitage of the royal preceptor Dronacharya. He paid the debt by supporting all the evil acts of Duryodhan till his last breadth.
On the other side, Arjun had his paternal identity and all the opportunities as he grew up with time being a prince. He was one of the dearest disciples of Dronacharya. Arjuna’s supporting strength was Sri Krishna who was his friend philosopher & guide. Hence Arjuna was proud of having luck all his way of life. Similar to Karna’s birth by the boon of Sage Durbasha by the grace of the Sungod Arjun’s birth was also by the grace of the king of gods Indra after the marriage of Kunti with Pandu. As Indra is the god of clouds and rain the Sungod is the god of light removing the darkness as a source of life. That’s the root cause of the contrast observed between the basic characters of Karna & Arjuna. These were their very special nature by birth. Again it was found Karna is famous as a donor where as utmost practical. In the war field, both are equally mighty as warriors. Besides all these factors Arjuna survived again and again through the tactics & diplomacy of Sri Krishna. When Kunti requested Karna not to kill Arjuna Karna promised to mother Kunti and kept his promise in the war field of Kurukshetra.
Although when Krishna found that it was merely impossible to defeat Karna he sent the god-king Indra in the disguise of a Brahmin instructing him to take away the kabach kundal which was engraved in his body as an organ. And Indra did it however it was known by Karna although he was not afraid to put his life in danger. That’s the reason he is famous as a donor Karna to date. There are a number of stories in support of donations by Karna in Mahabharata but in the case of Arjuna, we don’t find such stories as a donor. Ultimately the most focal characters of Mahabharata Karna & Arjuna are full of contrast. And exactly due to the same reason Karna is famous by the name Donar Karna until now. Arjun also wished his own to be famous as a donor like Karna. Sri
Krishna could read the mind of Arjuna and he arranged for a donation camp where both Karna & Arjuna were present. Sri Krishna was first offered the opportunity to donate by Arjuna. When Arjuna donated systematically maintained the discipline one after another but when Karna’s turn came he told the people present there “All these are your’s so you please collect the things as you wish.”After the completion of the donation Krishna told Arjuna the reason behind Karna was famous as a donor and he told” This is the difference between you Partha and Karna.”
At the very beginning of the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna became emotional and said to Krishna” Oh friend I can’t fight with all these blood relatives” He came down off the chariot keeping his favorite bow and arrow Gandib then Sri Krishna advised him the games of sacred Gita. And ultimately he could make him understand when he says
“Oh Partha you are only the reason” & Lord Si Krishna showed him his original form of Lord Narayana reminding him” What is happening is inevitable & all these are happening by my directives only.” And Arjun retains in his sense. again. He again holds up his weapon. Even Arjun’s unrequited affection was also utilized by Sri Krishna when Abhimannu was brutally killed unethically by Kuravas.
Only to keep his gratefulness for Karna who was all through his life on the way to truth and religion supported the sinful acts of his friend Duryodhan.For example, when the elder Yudhishtir lost the chess game by cheating on Sakuni and Yudhistir was forced to keep Draupadi betting Karna taunted the ill-fated helpless lady including the Pandav brothers. Karna blindly supported all the injustice acts of Duryodhana. This calls for an expression of acknowledgment of forgetting the moral sense and blindly surrendering to injustice. He got the result in his lifetime of being on the side of evil and sinful acts.
Mahabharata In Terms Of Truth
Mahabharata was a real event and the Mahabharata war happened approximately 3100 B.C.Moreover, all the places described in the epic are identified as real places. For example, Hastinapur is in Uttar Pradesh & Indraprastha is in present-day Delhi. Also, Dwarka is located in the present day on the Gujarat coast. Some researchers have found the city of Dwarka under the sea in the said place. They found the ruins have been verified to be five thousand to three thousand and two hundred years older. And thus the island city of Dwarka did exist.
Mahabharata is based on certainties. Its astronomical dating puts it somewhere around 3100 B.C.The place named Kurukshetra in Mahabharata is still there in the state Haryana of northern part of India. Also other places like Bhadrakali temple, Brahma Sarobar & the great banyan tree famous as the Gita tree still exist near Kurukshetra war field. Even Daipayan Lake is still there where Duryodhan hid himself from the Pandavas being defeated by them to save his life.
However, all these are only background context to the total plot of Pandavas & Kauravas. Such proof can only suggest that the great sage Veda Vyas was a pretty accurate novelist who wrote screenplays with perfection.
We should keep in mind that Mahabharata is the interplay of Gods and human beings. Hence Considering the scenarios Mahabharata is a reality. Mahabharata is also a contradiction of biology where Barbarika is said to have witnessed the entire eighteen-day battle of Mahabharata despite having himself been beheaded and placed on the top of a hill. One does believe that there are exceptions in biology although exceptions need to be supported by logic. But the place still exists in the Sikhar district of Rajasthan famous by name Khatushyam temple on the top of the hill.
Mahabharata bears an element of the supernatural not just for Gods, but also for the base human characters like Gandhari, Bhisma, etc. are well-known for their snippets of supernatural claims which is also a bit unacceptable.
One can go ahead about the logical flaws of Mahabharata. But we should remember that Mahabharata was written on a logical surmise while targeting the metaphysical. More than anything it's about those snippets of lessons that lay all over the epic inabundance.The objective of Mahabharata is to provide us with every situation a person can encounter & decisions that one can go along with. It is the basis of Dharma and the path of truth. This is the one book that exceptionally explains the whole notation of right and wrong is true if only when aligned along the route of Dhama.
Hence Mahabharata may be true or may not be true but it is based on logic which gives us a direction of our social activities. But Mahabharata did happen if not in the form in which we know it today but definitely what we know as the Mahabharata is the adapted version of a true story. The astronomical dating seems a great way of proving the legitimacy of the sacred epic.
Also, the epic has very realistic descriptions of how people think & how people are exploitative. So one thing that might intrigue people about the existence of the Mahabharata might be the role of Sri Krishna.For someone who is described as divinity throughout the epic. He is the most unacceptable character in real life for someone who thinks the Mahabharata is a work of fantasy fiction.
Is the Gita Advise The Same Which Was Delivered By Srikrisha To Arjun In The Battle Field Of Kurkhetra To Reveal His Vision Of Knowledge?
The battle of Kurukshetra lasted for eighteen days. That battle is known as the fight to establish the truth & justice. The motto of the battle was to establish justice by demolishing the injustice. In that battle, Lord Sri Krishna was the driving power & central character. All the incidents turned around Sri Krishna only & in the end, justice was established ruining the injustice. The Kurukshetra battle commenced every day with the roar of Panchajanya by Lord Sri Krishna as well as the end of everyday fighting. In the very beginning day when Sri Krishna announced the commencement of battle, Arjuna was totally confused and affectionate. He expressed his mental agony not to take part in the battle and told to Sri Krishna “Oh dear friend I can’t kill my blood relations and I would like to withdraw myself from this fight.”Then the advice Lord Sri Krishna delivered to Arjuna the ever-great archer to relieve him from the situation and to retain the harsh reality of taking part in the battle is the sacred memorable message of the evergreen Gita to date. Those messages of the Srimadbhagabad Gita guide us on the way of our daily life as pathfinders. The battle of Kurukshetra to establish justice is history now. History never spreads rumor as history have some base and logic in support of incidents told there. And history has acceptable logical proofs as well. In the case of Mahabharata, all the proofs still exist. As an example, the great banyan tree still exists in Kurukshetra under which tree Sri Krishna delivered the Gita advice to Arjuna. That banyan tree is famous today as the sacred Gita tree & it is the living witness of that miraculous incident and stands still alone.
The Krishna Daipayan lake under which the last Kaurav Duryodhana hid himself the lake also still exists today. Even the Bhadra Kali temple and the Brahmo Sarovar are there still today. One can feel the sound of the conch just before sunset as Sri Krishna declares the interval of the day-long battle. That’s the reason why Arjuna’s confusion and affection for his blood relatives resulted in him coming out of the illusion stage to face the hard reality. Ultimately inspired by Sri Krishna he took up the Gandib bow & arrow. The twang of Gandib echoed in the Kurukshetra battlefield to commence the blood-shed battle & to establish justice and truth demolishing the injustice & lie.
The meaning of the Gita in the Sanskrit language is “Geet” which means song or the slokas delivered by Lord Sri Krishna to Arjuna in Kurukshetra before commencing the great war to demolish the injustice. The Gita is the sacred book of the Hindu religion where knowledge & advice as told by Lord Srikrishna is written in the form of slokas. Whear Srikrishna mentioned, “ I’m the origin reason of all living beings and at the same time I am the cause of destruction as well.”
Just before the Kurukshetra battle started Sri Krishna told the Gita advice to Arjuna and showed him the Viswarup which is the original form of Lord Narayana. It is mentioned in the great epic Mahabharata only two persons could have seen the original form of Sri Krisha. The first person was Barbarik the grandson of the middle Pandav Bhima & the son of the great warrior Ghatotkocha. The second person was the great archer third Pandava Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Sri Krishna promised that he would not be taking up arms in the Kurukshetra war he would only play the role of guide & advisor as time demanded being a charioteer Kapi Dhawaja donated the fire god to Arjuna. So he kept his promise by his continuous direction to go ahead on the battlefield in the right direction. By the blessing and boon of Sri Krishna, Barbarik the son of Ghatotkoch was a silent witness of the eighteen-day battle of Kurukshetra. When the battle came to an end with the win of the Pandavas there was an argument among Pandavas especially between Yudhistira, Bhima & Arjuna asking who was the great warrior. To get the right answer the Pandavas approach their friend, philosopher, and guide Lord Sri Krishna. Listening to the matter of argument Sri Krishna smiled and replied” What shall I answer you? You better go to Barbarika who is the witness to every moment of the Kurukshetra battle and watched minutely every activity of the fighting that you have taken part in. So he is the best judge of this question.”
As advised by Sri Krishna when the Pandavas asked Barbarik he said “I have seen only the Sudarshan Discuss and the bloodthirsty Slick tongue of Mahamaya licking the blood other than these nothing else.”Then the Pandav brothers realized who was the real hero of the war in reality.
The witness of this incident is still famous as the sacred Khatushyam temple on the hilltop in the Sikhar district of Rajasthan state. Khatushyam still attracts the devotees till today. All these are now history and myth as well. These are the proofs of the incidents that happened in those ancient days once upon a time. So the Gita advice is also true which was told by Sri Krisha to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Hence I shall bring the end of this analysis with the starting sloka of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita as
“Om Parthaya Pratibodhitang Bhagata Narayanena Shayam, Vyasena Grathitang Purana-Munina Madhye Mahabharatam, Adwaitamritabarshinim Bhagabatimastadashadhainim.
Amba! Tamanusandadhami Bhagabad Gite Bhabadeshwinim.”
These words are alias the message of Gita is like ambrosia whose slokas are the coronet of every scripture and humble to all the community of the human race irrespective of caste & creed. Who is the everlasting time & the pillar of traditional religion? Gita is the dearest of the savior of sinners Sri Krishna. This Gita is eternal & the pathfinder to the reverence route of the Almighty.
In the battle of Kurukshetra Lord Sri Krishna said this knowledge of Gita to the affectionate & confused Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just before the war started.
Really The Mahabharata Battle Did Happen?
The extent of the Mahabharata is such that it is said “The things not mentioned in Mahabharata do not exist in India.” The philosophic secret of this epic is not only limited to the mythological narrative it is the summary of Vedic philosophy & literature covering Hinduism in all respects. The traditional background of the name “Mahabharata” is that the gods placed the four Vedas on one side and the holy book Bharata on the other side of a weighing machine. It was noticed by them that the book Bhatara weighs more. That’s the reason the gods named the sacred book “Mahabharata”.Again in another opinion, Mahabharata is known as the fifth Veda as well. The Mahabharata is considered the best epic of the universe that exists so far from the ancient days. It is quoted as” Mahatada Bharatavccha Mahabharata Mucchate. ”This means the matters one can’t find in Mahabharata that don’t exist in India including the whole universe as well.
It is described in Mahabharata that after completion of penance in one of the sacred caves of the mountain Himalalya the great sage Veda Vyas remembered the complete incidents of Mahabharata. By the wish of Vyas Deva Lord Ganesha wrote the story of the great epic. Lord Ganesha agreed to write on the condition that once he started writing till the end of the story Vyas Deva couldn’t stop his recitation. Then Vyas Deva also kept a counter condition saying Ganesha has to first understand thoroughly the sloka he wrote and recited by Vyas Deva. He can’t write just ignorantly. Lord Ganesha also agreed with the precondition kept by the great sage Vyas Deva. In this way, Vyas Deva composed a few difficult slokas which resulted in Ganesha having to take time to understand the meaning of the sloka. In the meanwhile, Vyas Deva composed the next slokas and could find some time gap to think as well. In this way, three years were taken to compose the epic Mahabharata. Initially, the great sage Vyas Deva composed the episodes of the original epic consisting of one lakh Sanskrit slokas to describe the win of justice by destroying injustice. Lastly, he composed another book containing sixty lakh slokas out of which thirty lakh slokas are in heaven, fifteen lakh slokas in the region of the departed souls, fourteen lakh slokas in the dummy god world & only the remaining one lakh slokas are welcomed in this mortal human world by the name “Mahabharata”.The basic subject of Mahabharata is the domestic dispute between the Kauravas and the Pandavas & flow of prior and post-incidents of the Kurukshetra battle. Although other than the narratives the ingredients of religion and philosophy are also added in this epic. For example, religion, wealth, desire, and salvation these four passions are discussed indicated, and highlighted in this epic. As per traditional beliefs, the author of Mahabharata is the great sage, Vyas Deva.
A number of researchers explored the historical manifestation during the period of this episode in different stages. The most ancient part of the book presently available is composed of approximately 400 B.C. during the Gupta reign. The original Mahabharata got its present form during the first phase of the Gupta tradition.
The meaning of Mahabharata is a great anecdote of the Bharat lineage. In due course, Vysampayan the disciple of Vyas Deva enlarged and composed Mahabharata continuing 24000 slokas. Later another disciple named Ugrashraba Souti enlarged the book Bharata with one lakh slokas & composed Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is available now having one lakh slokas and related long stories. The volume of this episode is ten times of the epics Iliad and Odyssey combined written by Homer & four times of the epic Valmiki’s Ramayana. After completion of the epic Mahabharata, the great sage Vyas Deva get it studied by his competent son Sukdeva.In the course of time this epic was read by Vysampayan, Paila, Jaimini, Asit-Debal, etc. all the sages read the epic following the tradition. Vysampayan was the first saint who preached this story by the name of Bharata among human beings. The story was narrated by Vysampayan to King Janmejaya the great-grandson of Arjuna including Souti & the saints present in Maha Yajna organised by the king himself.
Once when the emperor Parikshit died from the bite of snake Takshak, his son Janmejay organised a Yagna to destroy all the snakes of the world. But the saint Astik spoiled the Yagna by the request of Tkshak to save the snakes. Janmejay felt repented & to rebuttal from the act of sin, he organized a horse sacrifice ceremony. But in Kaliyuga the horse sacrifice ceremony creates mishaps & that’s the reason the god-king Indra spoiled the horse sacrifice ceremony also tactfully. Hence Janmejay earned the sin of murder of Brahmin. So to be from this deadly sin he performed atonement he listened to the sacred story from the sage Vysampayan obeying the advice of Vyas Deva. And later he was freed from all his sins.
After listening to the story of Mahabharata Saint Ugra Sraba Souti who was also present there narrated to the saint Sounak & other saints who were performing Yagna in the Naimisharanya.And this way the story of Mahabharata preached.
So let me bring an end to this essay by the holy sloka of Mahabharata “Tringshachasahashrantu Devoloke Pratishishtitam!!
Pitre Panchadasha Proktang Rakshoyakshe Chaturdasha! Ekang Shatasahashrantu Manusheshu Pratishthitam!!”
Did the Pandavas apply any Material Weapon In The Battle Of Mahabharata??
It is mentioned in Mahabharata that massive weapons were used in the battle of Kurukshetra. The weapons were swords, javelins, clubs, spears, bows& arrows, and other various types of weapons were used in that religious war.
In Mahabharata, the battle not only happened in Kurukshetra only but also a number of battles occurred in different places in different episodes. In all those battles different types of massive weapons were used by both the Pandavas & Kuravas. The weapons applied in those battles could create universal terror & capable of horrifying the civilization. By the application of those weapons, this earth could be destroyed within a moment. One hundred and sixty crore people were killed during the eighteen days Kurukshetra battle. It is impossible the reason for the death of this massive number of human beings was only by bows and arrows, javelins, swords, clubs & spears. Experts say in the Kurukshetra battle the weapons applied which were horrible like today’s atomic weapons.
In that battle similar to the present days missiles were certainly thrown. In the description of the war, such types of weapons were mentioned whose destructive power is similar to the nuclear weapons only. Third Pandav Arjuna gained these divine weapons as a result of his hard penance for a long period. To gain these divine weapons Arjun succeeded by overcoming hardles & very difficult tasks. Among those weapons, Brahamastra was the most powerful one. This Brahmastra is mentioned in Mahabharata & several mythological stories. It is also mentioned this weapon is devastating causing massive destruction that’s also indicated again and again. From the very beginning, Sri Krishna tried not to apply this weapon in the Kurukshetra battle. The rule to use Brhamastra was restricted to destroy the evil power only.
Brhmashirsha was a more powerful weapon than Brahmastra. The power of that weapon was equivalent to the power released from the mouth of the God of creation Lord Brahma. The expert expressed their opinion that the application of this weapon and the extent of the destruction may be similar to the present day’s hydrogen bomb. By the application of this weapon, vast areas can be destroyed. The next weapon was the Narayani weapon. This weapon can be gained from Narayana by special virtue and this is described in the holy epic Mahabharata. This weapon is considered to be powerful like thousands of missiles but this weapon was restricted to single-time application only. This weapon would be available with some special warriors only. Because everybody was not eligible and permitted to use this weapon.
The next is the Brahnanan weapon. This weapon has a similarity with the fifth face of Lord Brahma. This weapon is created in a very special technique so that it has the power to destroy the whole universe. There are various principles & morality that need to be followed before the application of this weapon. So use and application of this weapon were just impossible for all the warriors. More than these was the Bhargabha weapon. The power of destruction of this weapon was also equal to the Brhmashirsha weapon. With the application of this weapon, the universe could be destroyed in a moment only. This weapon had the power to destroy both the Brahmastra & Brahmashirsha weapon as well. The seawater used to be boiled by the use of this weapon.
The last one was the Pashupat weapon To gain this weapon Arjun fought with Lord Shiva the god of destruction By the bravery of the third Pandav Arjuna Lord Shiva was pleased and blessed him with the Pashupata weapon. This weapon was possible to apply by eyesight. However, this weapon could never be applied to a weak warrior of the opposite team.
It said that after the battle of Mahabharata, all these devastating weapons became inactive. Even the great warrior Arjuna also lost all the skills to use the weapons.
The Battle Of Mahabharata In Different Dimensions
The stories of the battle of Mahabharata initiated to grab the right of the royal throne. To keep the promise to Santanu his son Debabrata was lifelong unmarried. He never sat on the throne. Owing to this rigid promise he was named Vishma. As Vishma gave up the royal throne his younger brother Bichitrabirya accepted the responsibility of administration of the kingdom. The names of his two sons were Dhritarastra and Pandu. Elder Dhritarastra was blind by birth and that’s the background why the younger brother Pandu ascended to the royal throne next to Bichitrabirya. But Dhritarastrs became the king causing the untimely death of his younger brother Pandu.
Then the question arose who would be the next king Pandu’s son or Dhritarastra’s son? This question came up through lots of family quarrels and conspiracies that resulted in the Kurukshetra battle. And in the battle finally, the winner was Pandavas. The first Pandava Yudhistir became the ruler of the kingdom
Hastinapur.In that battle, Dhritarastra’s one hundred sons including the elder Kaurav Duryodhana lost their lives. Dhritarstra became prostrated with grief. The battle of Kurukshetra has lasted for eighteen days. On the eighteenth day, the death of Duryodhan drew the end of the battle. During that battle, approximately forty lakh soldiers sacrificed their lives. It is said that during the year when the Mahabharata battle took place in the same year incidentally three numbers of Solar eclipse happened within a month. This is considered a bad omen.
The advice delivered by Sri Krisha to the confused & affectionate Arjuna is still honoured as knowledge of Gita and the sacred and holy book of Hinduism named Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Which is recognized as an eternal book of traditional Hindu religion. Srikrishna instructed Arjuna through Gita's advice not to bow down to the insulative cowardness & to fight against his relatives Kauravas. He also reminded Arjuna that this is a battle to destroy the unrighteousness and the sinners for the establishment of truth & righteousness. He told to Arjuna that it was his prime responsibility for him to destroy the Kauravas who were fighting for unrighteousness. Then Sri Krishna Showed his divine form and explained to him everything in the Sloka form of Gita. Sri Krisha said he takes birth in every era to destroy evil powers when the bad becomes mightier than the good. Again the other opinion says that our human body itself is another form of the battlefield of Kurukshetra where the five senses are the representatives of the Pandavas who are continuously fighting with good & bad feelings. When the evil power wins then the collapse of human beings is assured.
Everybody knows that the Battle of Mahabharata took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. During that severe battle maximum soldiers were brutally killed. Sri Krishna was responsible for the ultimate decision to select the place where the battle of Mahabharata would be held. Sri Krishna was overwhelmed by the successive sinful acts. Then he decided to destroy the evil power and to establish the reign of religion and justice. So by any means, he had to destroy the Kauravas in this battle. But Sri Krishna was in a dilemma in this battle when the fighting was at its peak as the Pandavas and Kauravas who are cousins as well may be in the soft corner in the bloodshed of one family member by the other can stop the battle on the way to a peaceful treaty. Seeing the severe bloodshed the brotherly affection may return. To ensure it doesn’t happen Sri Krishna was in search of a ground where the tradition of murder by brother exists. So he was in search of a battlefield where the stain of the blood of his brother would not turn to love and affection. Hence he sent his men to different places for searching of such a land. One of his spies told Sri Krishna the past story about Kurukshetra. Once upon a time, a man instructed his younger brother to make a barrage as all the water flowing in his cultivated land & effecting his harvesting. But the younger brother didn't agree to provide the barrage. As a result, the elder brother gets annoyed & kills his brother and places the dead body as a barrage to stop the flow of water. Listening to this incident Sri Krishna decided that Kurukshetra would be the ideal place for the battlefield of Mahabharata. All these are the different dimensions of the Mahabharata battle.
Are The Characters Of Mahabharata Is Historical?
The main subsistence and the subject of the story of the great epic Mahabharata is the domestic dispute between the Kauravas & Pandavas and the root cause prior to and after the flow of incidents of the Kurukshetra battle. And beyond all these narratives maximum philosophical & devotional concepts are also added. As per traditional belief, the composer of Mahabharata is the great sage Krishna Daipayan Veda Vyas. A lot of research work has been conducted regarding the historical basis & the period of composition of this great epic. The epic Mahabharata presently available is composed of approximately four hundred B.C. during the Gupta era. In the starting phase of the Gupta era, the original text of Mahabharata was written which has taken the present form The word Mahabharata means the great anecdote of Bharat lineage. So Mahabharata is considered a great epic as well and its historical background is also indisputable. The great sage Vyas Deva composed the epic Mahabharata after the Kurukshetra battle already happened.
A number of proofs are available including the Kurukshetra even today. However, there are various opinions are expressed about the time period of Mahabharata by different researchers from the time of the famous Indian astrologer & mathematician Barahamihir up till the Indian researcher B.N.Achar, N.S.Rajaram. K.Sadanand.As Mahabharata is written in the form of a book in that case some marvelous & dramatic effects possibly may be added. But there is no opportunity to say that the full story is merely imagination. So we can say Mahabharata is an epic based on historical incidents.in reality, there was no historian in the ancient India. History was a subject unknown to the people of that period that’s the reason they didn’t write the past incidents in the form of story. That is the reason the histories are available in present days about the stories of the glorious past of the ancient kings written in the form of praise by their courtiers.
Sometimes Mahabharata is mentioned as fiction like the epic Eliod & Odyssey written by Homer. A number of archaeologists concluded in support of Mahabharata and its time duration after digging and performing scientific tests which establishes strong logic for the epic.
Vyas Deva himself said his composition is a history. Here history means that once upon a time all these incidents had taken place. Hence if Mahabharata was based on mere imagination then Veda Vyas would mentioned it as only an epic or story. It is said that the story composed by the great sage Krishna Daipayan Veda Vyas was named Jay or Jaysanghita and consists of eight thousand & eight hundred slokas. During the Sarpa Yagna organized by King Janmejay the son of Parikshit then Vyshampayan who was one of the favorite disciples of Krishna Daipayan increased the number of slokas of this story to twenty-four thousand and named Bharata. In the next generation, rhapsodist Ugrashraba described this story to Shounak and other sages the book’s volume increased by more than one lakh slokas. So in the Mahabharata which is the main episode & which are interpolated incidents is still undetermined.
The researchers of “The Bhandarkar oriental research institute” prepared and published an edition of Mahabharata in nineteen volumes consisting of thirteen thousand pages between 1919 & 1963 analyzing the various documents within the country & abroad. This edition was disclosed by the honourable president of India Dr.Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan on 22nd September 1963.
In the opinion of the noble laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore Mahabharata is not a history composed by a particular person this is a self-composed history by a race. Hence by the version of Rabindranath Tagore, the historical importance of Mahabharata can be well established.
Obviously, these are the strong logic in support of the historical background of Mahabharata which has proofs as well. We the Indians in general grew up right from childhood listening to the mythological stories about the ancient past in such a way that our concepts are very limited to only the mind-blowing stories of sages &saints, Kings & ministers, demons, forest boys and girls, hermitage, palace etc. And we can not at all think out of all these. We are only aware that the geography & culture are very old and our civilization is of immemorial time. This is the reason why we are habituated to wandering around the riddle of mythology and history puzzles. Considering all these reasons the early stage of Indian history is also mentioned as” Itihas-Puranam”
It is a very important task to determine the time period of the incidents of Mahabharata in view of historical contexts. The most common query is the duration of when these incidents happened. What is the basis of calculation to determine that time period? In answer to these important questions, we should keep in mind the historical background in different times varies with the context of political, socioeconomic & cultural scenarios.
By the way, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his classic Krishna Charitra as per the mythological tradition made an assessment of the battle of Kurukshetra which took place in 1430 B.C.Actually, some stories are spread by folks which are myths. Those myths mix up with the historical incidents with the flow of time. It is a very hard task to segregate from the reality. On the basis of this myth, only Indraprastha is mentioned in some books written during the Middle era. This myth is about the story of the aero chariot of Ravana well-known as “Pushpaka Rath”.Similarly, Indraprastha is also mentioned in the fourteenth century engraved on the stones as the inscription.
Is Gandhari Of Mahabharata Still Exist?
As per Hindu mythology, Gandhari was the daughter of King Subal of Gandhar State on the northwestern border of India. The original name of Gandhari is not known. She is known as the daughter of King Subal & by the name Gandhari in line with her place of birth Gandhar. Her mind was full of motherly desire and in her virgin stage, she got the blessing of having one hundred sons from the supreme Lord Mahadeva. In the meantime, the grandfather Vishma sent the marriage proposal for Dhritarahtra to the king of Gandhara. And he sent his daughter Gandhari to Hastinapur palace having ornaments on with his son Shakuni & her marriage was performed with Dhritarashtra there. Causing the blindness of her husband she used to cover her eyes with a piece of cloth. One day when hungry Veda Vyas visited Hastinapur Ganghari and pleased him with her proper care & service. When the satisfied sage wished to give her boon Gandhari prayed for the blessing of one hundred sons and earned it.
After two years of pregnancy, she could not deliver a child even though Pandu’s first son Yudhistir born Gandhari herself started hurting her belly out of jealousy. As a result, she gave birth to a lump of meat hard like iron.
Owing to anger and sadness prepared to throw that lump of meat Vyas Deva appeared there & stopped her from doing so. Soon after that Gandhari washed the lump with cool water and set up one hundred bowls full of ghee by the advice of Vyas Deva. As a result, the lump of meat was divided into one hundred parts. Later she added one more bowl and placed there one hundred and one pieces. After one year first Dyrodhan was born from that lump and within one year and one month rest ninety-nine sons & one daughter were born. The name of the daughter was Dushala. Later Dushala was married to Jayadratha the King of Sindhu.
After the death of King Subal of Gandhar his son Shakuni became the ruler. In view of Shakuni Vishma was held responsible to spoil the family of King Subal. So to take revenge he made a division between Kauravas and Pandavas which led to a fight between them. This was the conspiracy of Shakuni to destroy the peace of Hastinapur. So after losing her hundred sons Gandhari cursed him in anger that as Shakuni’s policy killed her sons similarly Gandhar shall be never peaceful. Present Afganisthan & those days Gandhar are still disturbed by the curse of Gandhari. That country is considered a symbol of disturbance. This means that the country is still suffering the effects of the curse given by Gandhari.
However, Gandhari pardoned all the guilty deeds of Duryodhan blindly with motherly affection. Which encouraged Duryodhan & Dushashan to perform the guilty deeds repeatedly. Gandhari’s heart was full of unrequited love and affection. So she used to cover her eyes with a piece of cloth at the same time she used to pardon all the evil deeds of Duryodhan. It is mentioned that her blind motherhood is the main reason for the destruction of the Kuurav lineage. In the present time also number of mothers are also there who behave like Gandhari. Some of them got the result of their blind motherly affection and suffered during their lifetime only. So Gandharis are still there in this society who keep them blind with motherly love & affection.
However, Gandhari had some sense of justice also. After the defeat of Yudhistir in the tricky strategy of the dice game by the conspiracy of Shakuni the wife of the Pandavas Draupadi was insulted in the royal court in the presence of all the seniors like Vishma, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, and Dhritarastra as well. Then Gandhari requested repeatedly to the blind King Dhritarastra to declare Duryodhan as a prodigal son viewing the heartbreaking situation of the defeated poor Pandavas and Draupadi. But Dhritarastra who was blind with parental affection didn’t listen to the appeal of Gandhari and it was in vain only. It says that she could not forgive the behavior of her own son She could foresee that and understood that Duryodhan was enough for the ruin of the Kuru generation well in advance. Gandhari tried her utmost to give the Pandavas the half-kingdom to the Pandavas when they returned after completion of all the conditions imposed by Dyryodhan. Later when Sri Krishna was sent to Hastinapur as the messenger of Pandavas after their thirteen years of exile Gandhari came down to the royal court & advised Duryodhan to make the treaty for peace and sunbed Duyodhan saying” The attempt to achieve the wealth without truth and honesty invites the death at the ultimate end.” Although Duryodhan ignored her mother’s advice and left the royal court of Hastinapur.
Is Draupadi Only A Tragic Character In Mahabharata?
Draupadi is the central woman character of the epic Mahabharata. Her name was Draupadi and she was the daughter of King Drupad. Also, she was familiar with the name Panchali & Yagyasheni as well. She is famous for her religiousness, bravery, and polyandry. In ancient Indian literature, no other woman was portrayed like her so lively. Draupadi is the impersonation of women's empowerment full of organizing capacity with the capability to manage & direct the males. Draupadi is not at all weak as she pushes down on the earth Jayadrta & Kichak. She was spirited & outspoken, and to excite inactive males with incisive sentences was her habitual virtue. Although she had to face a tough time owing to the irony of fate. But she could overcome those adverse situations by virtue of her endurance several times so she was not at all a tragic character. The most significant incident in Draupadi’s life was the dice game held in Hastinapur royal palace. The elder Pandav Yudhistir lost his all wealth including his kingdom even his wife Draupadi in the bet of the dice game organized by Duryodhan. The vindictive Kauravas even Karna as well insulted Draupadi in the royal court of Hastinapur in front of all seniors. The second Kaurav Dushashan tried to undress Draupadi in the royal court full of seniors & juniors. By the divine interference of Srikrishna, her respect was saved. Here Draupadi's character is really tragic. She was appealing helplessly to save her respect even though she had five great warrior husbands who were also physically present on the spot and witnessed the disgusting incident. It was really a tragic scenario without any doubt. Causing the defeat of that dice game Draupadi and Pandavas had to live for twelve years in the forest &had to live incognito for one year in exile. During that phase, Draupadi had to face various conflicts. At the end of the incognito phase, the great battle of Kurukshetra commenced & after succeeding all the confrontations she established herself as the empress.
Draupadi is the most memorable among the five daughters who are piously remembered every day early morning in the traditional Hindu religion. Her life story says her inclination to different art & culture, acting, and her interest in various literature is an inspiration to women. Her sense of responsibility was such that she used to take proper care of everybody have finish their meal on time. Draupadi used to have a very busy schedule as an Empress. In the forest chapter of Mahabharata, her conversation with Satyabhama says about her busy lifestyle. She used to wake up first & she was the last person to sleep. She used to manage all the domestic activities inside the palace and used to keep information on all the activities of the servants. Even she was aware of the cowkeepers & the shepherds also. Pandavs used to give all the responsibilities of their pets to Draupadi and they used to perform their other activities. Also, Draupadi used to keep the accounts of the income and expenses of the empire. All the matters in connection with the royal treasury were in her knowledge. Sacrificing everything she bore the responsibility from morning to night time. In the last year of the forest living phase one fine day, Jayadratha appeared in the Kamya forest. He was on his way to Shalu kingdom. He was fascinated by seeing Draupadi there. Then the Pandav brothers were left to hunt keeping Dhaummya as a guard for Draupadi. Draupadi offered the possible respect to Jayadratha to welcome him as a guest as he was the husband of Dushala. But Jayadratha tried to kidnap her by force and then to save herself from Jayadratha she hit him and made him fall on the ground & called Dhaumma for help. Dhaummya failed to stop Jayadratha. Later the Pandavas arrived and the second Pandav Bhimsen properly punished him which he deserved.
The same type of incident happened during their living incognito in the thirteenth year of exile. In the Virat chapter of Mahabharata Draupadi was the companion of King Virat’s wife Sudeshna in the identity of Sairindhri. During that period Kichak the brother-in-law of King Virat noticed Draupadi and he was fascinated by her charm. He desired Draupadi to his sister Sudeshna. Kichak was the commander-in-chief of the King Virat’s army. When Kichak expressed his desire to Draupadi she immediately refused his proposal. Even though Kichak couldn’t keep self-control he caught her hand and touched her hair forcibly. When Draupadi approached King Virat for justice he didn’t listen to her distressed appeal. Again the second Pandav Bhim was named Ballava the head cook came as the saviour of Draupadi.
Another tragic incident in Draupadi’s life is when Ashwathama the son of Dronacharya cut the heads of five infants of Draupadi by mistake as Pandavas. So the character of Draupadi is tragic & at the same time, she shows how she overcomes those tragedies through her own virtue. When Draupadi faced any danger she used to remember Sri Krishna who appeared immediately as a saviour & saved her in every adverse situation.
The Features Of The Characters Of Gandhari & Kunti
Kunti was the daughter of King Kuntibhoj. She was young and beautiful & the symbol of dignity. On the other hand, Gandhari was the princess of the King of Gandhar.In her youth, Kunti was married to Pandu. By birth, Panu was chronic and was incapable of keeping his lineage to increase further. So by the blessing of sage Durbasha, she invited the gods resulting in the birth of Yudhistira, Bhima & Arjuna one by one. In her virgin period, her son was Karna whom she left from her motherly affection in the newborn infant stage without identity. All her sons earned blessings from Dharma, Pavan, God King Indra & Sungod respectively. Later Pandu married Madri who was the princess of Madra state. Madri also followed Kunti and invited Ashwini Kumar brothers and gave birth to Nakul and Sahadeba. After some when Pandu died Madri also offered herself in the funeral pyre of Pandu. Then the widow Kunti spent as the mother of five Pandav brothers till the last day of her life and she had more motherly affection for Nakul & Sahadev than her own three sons. This was the specialty of Kunti. She has never taken the shelter of hypocrisy in her lifetime. On the other hand, Gandhari was married to Dhritarastra who was blind by birth. For the blindness of her husband, she also used to keep her eyes covered always by a piece of cloth. In due course, she understood that the blindness of her husband was too deep and the blindness was big in size with respect to ethics and theology. He has no representation for this and only exists self-deception. He supported all the offenses, misconducts, and injustices of Kauravas in paternal affection as they were his son. The number of offenses conducted by the Kauravas, particularly by the elder Kaurav Duryodhan was in numbers and speeded in the course of time.
The Incoherence Of Mahabharata
It is quite natural that there are some exaggerations & exceptions in any ancient stories. Mahabharat is also not free from such exceptions & exaggerations. The first example is Kunti. With the blessing of sage Durbasha, she gave birth to Karna, Yudhistir, Bhima & Arjuna inviting Sungod, Dharma, and Pavandeva & the king of gods Indra respectively. Out of which Karna was born in her virgin stage and the rest after her marriage with King Pandu. This is a bit of exaggeration in the story.
Secondly similar incident happened with Gandhari when she became the mother of one hundred sons & one daughter. As per the story of Mahabharata all of them were born from a lump of meat. Later they were infamous as Duryodhan, Dushashan, etc. of the Kuru family in the story of the epic Mahabharata. Almost the same incident happened with the second wife of Pandu when she also invited the Ashwini Kumar brothers to be blessed with Nakul & Sahadeva as sons. All these stories are described in Mahabharata.
After that, the way the game of dice is described is also an example of exception and in other words incoherence as well. Because Yudhistir was an exceptional example for his truthfulness in the way of justice & religious direction. It is learned that in his life only a single time he placed one sentence in an alternate way to kill Dronacharya in the battle of Kurukshetra. So how did it happen that he lost his wealth, kingdom even his own brothers and wife Draupadi in betting a symbol of honesty and truth? Which is equivalent to conducting an unrighteous act. The logic says all these are instances of incoherence only in other ways. The incident of defeat in the game of dice by elder Pandava Yudhistir was the root cause of the Kurukshetra battle later. More such stories are there like Ashwathams the son of Dronachaya used to drink the sunned rice water in place of milk in his childhood. It is really unbelievable that a stalwart like Dronacharya who was a teacher of archery to the king's family was so poor that he could not arrange some milk for his only son. What logic was there behind this story is still unknown.
Next, the Pandavas established Indraprastha returning after thirteen years of exile as mentioned in Mahabharata. The architect of Indraprastha was Vishwakarma the engineer of the gods. There is a number of incoherent stories like when Duryodhan walks on the floor of the palace he is confused thinking it may be water. Being Duryodhan also was not a common man it is truly hard to believe the stories mentioned by our logical minds.
Lastly, let us discuss about the story of the Bhima statue made of iron. It is said that during the Kurukshetra battle when Pandavas came to have the blessing of Dhritarashtra after winning the battle, he was furious for killing his dearest son Duryodhan in an unethical manner. He expressed his wish to hug the second Pandav Bhimsen as he was well aware that he only brutally killed Duryodhan in the fight with the club violating the ethics of battle & hurting Duryodhan below the belt. But Srikrishna stopped Bhimsen from the deadly hug offered by
Dhritatashtra and the iron-made statue of Bhimsen were placed near the angry Dhritarashtra who turned the statue into dust in no time. Firstly iron can’t converted to dust in the manner described in the incident and if it is so how far it is possible by a fatherly aged blind person it is a question always for the logical mind.
Ignoring all these exaggerations & exceptions we should accept Mahabharata as a great epic that is enriched with the sacred slokas of Srimad Bhagavad Gita which is eternal, traditional, immutable & legendary. Finally, the tradition of incidents and imagination enriched the great epic.