Major Hindu epic
The
Mah?bh?rata
(
m?-
HAH
-
BAR
-?-t?,
MAH
-h?-
;
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Sanskrit
:
?????????
,
IAST
:
Mah?bh?ratam
,
pronounced
[m??aː?b?aːr?t??m]
) is one of the two major
Smriti
texts and Sanskrit
epics
of
ancient India
revered in
Hinduism
, the other being the
R?m?ya?a
.
[5]
It narrates the events and aftermath of the
Kurukshetra War
, a
war of succession
between two groups of princely cousins, the
Kauravas
and the
P???avas
.
It also contains
philosophical
and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or
puru??rtha
(12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the
Mah?bh?rata
are the
Bhagavad Gita
, the story of
Damayanti
, the story of
Shakuntala
, the story of
Pururava
and
Urvashi
, the story of
Savitri and Satyavan
, the story of
Kacha
and
Devayani
, the story of
Rishyasringa
and an
abbreviated version of the
R?m?ya?a
, often considered as works in their own right.
Traditionally, the authorship of the
Mah?bh?rata
is attributed to
Vy?sa
. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of the
Mah?bh?rata
was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE.
[6]
[7]
The text probably reached its final form by the early
Gupta period
(
c.
4th century CE
).
[8]
[9]
The
Mah?bh?rata
is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written".
[10]
[11]
Its longest version consists of over 100,000
?loka
or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. At about 1.8 million words in total, the
Mah?bh?rata
is roughly ten times the length of the
Iliad
and the
Odyssey
combined, or about four times the length of the
R?m?ya?a
.
[12]
[13]
Within the Indian tradition it is sometimes called the
fifth Veda
.
[14]
The title is translated as "Great
Bharat
(India)", or "the story of the great descendents of
Bharata
".
[15]
[16]
Textual history and structure
The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage
Vyasa
, who is also a major figure in the epic.
[10]
Vyasa described it as being an
itihasa
(
transl.
history
). He also describes the
Guru?shishya tradition
, which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times.
The first section of the
Mah?bh?rata
states that it was
Ganesha
who wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and the "Critical Edition" does not include Ganesha.
[17]
The epic employs the
story within a story
structure, otherwise known as
frametales
, popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It is first recited at
Takshashila
by the sage
Vaisampayana
,
[18]
[19]
a disciple of Vyasa, to the King
Janamejaya
who was the great-grandson of the
Pandava
prince
Arjuna
. The story is then recited again by a professional storyteller named
Ugrashrava Sauti
, many years later, to an assemblage of sages performing the 12-year sacrifice for the king Saunaka Kulapati in the
Naimisha Forest
.
The text was described by some early 20th-century
Indologists
as unstructured and chaotic.
Hermann Oldenberg
supposed that the original poem must once have carried an immense "tragic force" but dismissed the full text as a "horrible chaos."
[20]
Moritz Winternitz
(
Geschichte der indischen Literatur
1909) considered that "only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes" could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole.
[21]
Accretion and redaction
Research on the
Mah?bh?rata
has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present
Mahabharata
can be traced back to Vedic times.
[22]
The background to the
Mah?bh?rata
suggests the origin of the epic occurs "after the very early
Vedic period
" and before "
the first Indian 'empire'
was to rise in the third century B.C." That this is "a date not too far removed from the 8th or 9th century B.C."
[7]
[23]
is likely. The
Mahabharata
started as an orally-transmitted tale of the charioteer
bards
.
[24]
It is generally agreed that "Unlike the
Vedas
, which have to be preserved letter-perfect, the epic was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably conform to changes in language and style,"
[23]
so the earliest 'surviving' components of this dynamic text are believed to be no older than the earliest 'external' references we have to the epic, which include an reference in
Panini
's 4th century BCE grammar
Ashtadhyayi
4:2:56.
[7]
[23]
Vishnu Sukthankar, editor of the first great critical edition of the
Mah?bh?rata
, commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid text in an original shape, based on an archetype and a
stemma codicum
. What then is possible? Our objective can only be to reconstruct
the oldest form of the text which it is possible to reach
based on the manuscript material available."
[25]
That manuscript evidence is somewhat late, given its material composition and the climate of India, but it is very extensive.
The
Mah?bh?rata
itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses: the
Bh?rata
proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while the
Ashvalayana Grihyasutra
(3.4.4) makes a similar distinction. At least three redactions of the text are commonly recognized:
Jaya
(Victory) with 8,800 verses attributed to Vyasa, the
Bharata
with 24,000 verses as recited by
Vaisampayana
, and finally the
Mah?bh?rata
as recited by
Ugrashrava Sauti
with over 100,000 verses.
[26]
[27]
However, some scholars, such as John Brockington, argue that
Jaya
and
Bharata
refer to the same text, and ascribe the theory of
Jaya
with 8,800 verses to a misreading of a verse in the
Adi Parva
(1.1.81).
[28]
The
redaction
of this large body of text was carried out after formal principles, emphasizing the numbers 18
[29]
and 12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the
Anushasana Parva
and the
Virata Parva
from the "
Spitzer manuscript
".
[30]
The oldest surviving Sanskrit text dates to the
Kushan Period
(200 CE).
[31]
According to what one figure says at Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic, beginning with
Manu
(1.1.27),
Astika
(1.3, sub-Parva 5), or
Vasu
(1.57), respectively. These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues. The
Vasu
version would omit the frame settings and begin with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The
astika
version would add the
sarpasattra
and
ashvamedha
material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the name
Mah?bh?rata
, and identify Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these additions were probably
Pancharatrin
scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the
Huna
in the
Bhishma Parva
however appears to imply that this Parva may have been edited around the 4th century.
[32]
The
Adi Parva
includes the snake sacrifice (
sarpasattra
) of
Janamejaya
, explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why despite this, there are still snakes in existence. This
sarpasattra
material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the
Mah?bh?rata
by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have a particularly close connection to
Vedic
(
Brahmana
) literature. The
Panchavimsha Brahmana
(at 25.15.3) enumerates the officiant priests of a
sarpasattra
among whom the names
Dhritarashtra
and Janamejaya, two main figures of the
Mah?bh?rata'
s
sarpasattra
, as well as
Takshaka
, a snake in the
Mah?bh?rata
, occur.
[33]
The
Suparnakhyana
, a late Vedic period poem considered to be among the "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend of
Garuda
that is included in the
Astika Parva
, within the
Adi Parva
of the
Mah?bh?rata
.
[34]
[35]
Historical references
The earliest known references to
bh?rata
and the
compound
mah?bh?rata
date to the
Ashtadhyayi
(
sutra
6.2.38)
[36]
of
Panini
(
fl.
4th century BCE) and the
Ashvalayana Grihyasutra
(3.4.4). This may mean the core 24,000 verses, known as the
Bh?rata
, as well as an early version of the extended
Mah?bh?rata
, were composed by the 4th century BCE. However, it is not certain whether Panini referred to the epic, as
bh?rata
was also used to describe other things.
Albrecht Weber
mentions the
Rigvedic
tribe of the
Bharatas
, where a great person might have been designated as
Mah?-Bh?rata.
However, as Panini also mentions figures that play a role in the
Mah?bh?rata
, some parts of the epic may have already been known in his day. Another aspect is that Pani determined the
accent
of
mah?-bh?rata
. However, the
Mah?bh?rata
was not recited in
Vedic accent
.
[37]
The Greek writer
Dio Chrysostom
(
c.
40
? c.
120 CE
) reported that
Homer
's poetry was being sung even in India.
[38]
Many scholars have taken this as evidence for the existence of a
M?habh?rata
at this date, whose episodes Dio or his sources identify with the story of the
Iliad
.
[39]
Several stories within the
Mah?bh?rata
took on separate identities of their own in
Classical Sanskrit literature
. For instance, the
Abhijnanashkuntala
by the renowned Sanskrit poet
Kalidasa
(
c.
400 CE
), believed to have lived in the era of the
Gupta
dynasty, is based on a story that is the precursor to the
Mah?bh?rata
. The
Urubhanga
, a Sanskrit play written by
Bhasa
who is believed to have lived before Kalidasa, is based on the slaying of Duryodhana by the splitting of his thighs by
Bhima
.
[40]
The copper-plate inscription of the
Maharaja
Sharvanatha (533?534 CE) from Khoh (
Satna
District,
Madhya Pradesh
) describes the
Mah?bh?rata
as a "collection of 100,000 verses" (
?ata-sahasri sa?hit?
).
[40]
The 18 parvas or books
The division into 18 parvas is as follows:
Parva
|
Title
|
Sub-parvas
|
Contents
|
1
|
Adi Parva
(The Book of the Beginning)
|
1?19
|
How the
Mah?bh?rata
came to be narrated by
Sauti
to the assembled
rishis
at
Naimisharanya
, after having been recited at the
sarpasattra
of
Janamejaya
by
Vaisampayana
at
Takshashila
. The history and genealogy of the
Bharata
and
Bhrigu
races are recalled, as is the birth and early life of the
Kuru
princes
(
adi
means first). Adi parva describes
Pandava
's birth, childhood, education, marriage, struggles due to conspiracy as well as glorious achievements.
|
2
|
Sabha Parva
(The Book of the Assembly Hall)
|
20?28
|
Maya Danava erects the palace and court (
sabha
), at
Indraprastha
. The Sabha Parva narrates the glorious
Yudhisthira
's Rajasuya sacrifice performed with the help of his brothers and Yudhisthira's rule in Shakraprastha/
Indraprastha
as well as the humiliation and deceit caused by conspiracy along with their own action.
|
3
|
Vana Parva
also
Aranyaka Parva
,
Aranya Parva
(The Book of the Forest)
|
29?44
|
The twelve years of exile in the forest (
aranya
). The entire Parva describes their struggle and consolidation of strength.
|
4
|
Virata Parva
(The Book of Virata)
|
45?48
|
The year spent incognito at the court of
Virata
. A single warrior (
Arjuna
) defeated the entire Kuru army including
Karna
,
Bhishma
,
Drona
,
Ashwatthama
, etc. and recovered the cattle of the
Virata
Kingdom.
[41]
|
5
|
Udyoga Parva
(The Book of the Effort)
|
49?59
|
Preparations for war and efforts to bring about peace between the Kaurava and the Pandava sides which eventually fail (
udyoga
means effort or work).
|
6
|
Bhishma Parva
(The Book of Bhishma)
|
60?64
|
The first part of the great battle, with
Bhishma
as commander for the Kaurava and his fall on the bed of arrows. The most important aspect of Bhishma Parva is the
Bhagavad Gita
narrated by
Krishna
to
Arjuna
. (Includes the
Bhagavad Gita
in chapters 25?42.)
[42]
[43]
|
7
|
Drona Parva
(The Book of Drona)
|
65?72
|
The battle continues, with
Drona
as commander. This is the major book of the war. Most of the great warriors on both sides are dead by the end of this book.
|
8
|
Karna Parva
(The Book of Karna)
|
73
|
The continuation of the battle with
Karna
as commander of the
Kaurava
forces.
|
9
|
Shalya Parva
(The Book of Shalya)
|
74?77
|
The last day of the battle, with
Shalya
as commander. Also told in detail, is the pilgrimage of Balarama to the fords of the river Saraswati and the mace fight between Bhima and Duryodhana which ends the war, since Bhima kills Duryodhana by smashing him on the thighs with a mace.
|
10
|
Sauptika Parva
(The Book of the Sleeping Warriors)
|
78?80
|
Ashwatthama
, Kripa and Kritavarma kill the remaining Pandava army in their sleep. Only seven warriors remain on the Pandava side and three on the Kaurava side.
|
11
|
Stri Parva
(The Book of the Women)
|
81?85
|
Gandhari
and the women (
stri
) of the Kauravas and Pandavas lament the dead and Gandhari cursing
Krishna
for the massive destruction and the extermination of the Kaurava.
|
12
|
Shanti Parva
(The Book of Peace)
|
86?88
|
The crowning of
Yudhishthira
as king of Hastinapura, and instructions from
Bhishma
for the newly anointed king on society, economics, and politics. This is the longest book of the
Mahabharata
.
|
13
|
Anushasana Parva
(The Book of the Instructions)
|
89?90
|
The final instructions (
anushasana
) from
Bhishma
. This Parba contains the last day of Bhishma and his advice and wisdom to the upcoming emperor
Yudhishthira
.
|
14
|
Ashvamedhika Parva
(The Book of the Horse Sacrifice)
[44]
|
91?92
|
The royal ceremony of the
Ashvamedha
(Horse sacrifice) conducted by Yudhishthira. The world conquest by Arjuna. Anugita is told by Krishna to Arjuna.
|
15
|
Ashramavasika Parva
(The Book of the Hermitage)
|
93?95
|
The eventual deaths of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti in a forest fire when they are living in a hermitage in the Himalayas. Vidura predeceases them and Sanjaya on Dhritarashtra's bidding goes to live in the higher Himalayas.
|
16
|
Mausala Parva
(The Book of the Clubs)
|
96
|
The materialization of Gandhari's curse, i.e., the infighting between the
Yadavas
with maces (
mausala
) and the eventual destruction of the Yadavas.
|
17
|
Mahaprasthanika Parva
(The Book of the Great Journey)
|
97
|
The great journey of Yudhishthira, his brothers, and his wife
Draupadi
across the whole country and finally their ascent of the great Himalayas where each Pandava falls except for Yudhishthira.
|
18
|
Svargarohana Parva
(The Book of the Ascent to Heaven)
|
98
|
Yudhishthira's final test and the return of the Pandavas to the spiritual world (
svarga
).
|
khila
|
Harivamsa
Parva
(The Book of the Genealogy of Hari)
|
99?100
|
This is an addendum to the 18 books, and covers those parts of the life of Krishna which is not covered in the 18 parvas of the
Mahabharata
.
|
Historical context
The historicity of the
Kurukshetra War
is unclear. Many historians estimate the date of the Kurukshetra war to
Iron Age India
of the 10th century BCE.
[45]
The setting of the epic has a historical precedent in Iron Age (
Vedic
) India, where the
Kuru
kingdom was the center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800 BCE.
[46]
A dynastic conflict of the period could have been the inspiration for the
Jaya
, the foundation on which the
Mah?bh?rata
corpus was built, with a climactic battle, eventually coming to be viewed as an epochal event.
Puranic literature
presents genealogical lists associated with the
Mah?bh?rata
narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. Of the first kind, there is the direct statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between the birth of
Parikshit
(Arjuna's grandson) and the accession of
Mahapadma Nanda
(400?329 BCE), which would yield an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle.
[47]
However, this would imply improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies.
[48]
Of the second kind is analysis of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of Adhisimakrishna (
Parikshit
's great-grandson) and
Mahapadma Nanda
. Pargiter accordingly estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and, assuming 18 years for the average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850 BCE for Adhisimakrishna, and thus approximately 950 BCE for the Bharata battle.
[49]
B. B. Lal
used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE, and correlated this with archaeological evidence from
Painted Grey Ware
(PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in the epic.
[50]
John Keay
confirms this and also gives 950 BCE for the Bharata battle.
[51]
Attempts to date the events using methods of
archaeoastronomy
have produced, depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimates ranging from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BCE.
[52]
The late 4th-millennium date has a precedent in the calculation of the
Kali Yuga
epoch, based on planetary conjunctions, by
Aryabhata
(6th century). Aryabhata's date of 18 February 3102 BCE for
Mah?bh?rata
war has become widespread in Indian tradition. Some sources mark this as the disappearance of
Krishna
from the Earth.
[53]
The
Aihole
inscription of
Pulakeshin II
, dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3,735 years have elapsed since the Bh?rata battle, putting the date of
Mah?bh?rata
war at 3137BCE.
[54]
[55]
Another traditional school of astronomers and historians, represented by
Vrddha Garga
,
Var?hamihira
and
Kalhana
, place the Bharata war 653 years after the
Kali Yuga
epoch, corresponding to 2449 BCE.
[56]
According to Var?hamihira's
B?hat Sa?hit?
(6th century),
Yudhishthara
lived 2,526 years before the beginning of the
Shaka era
, which begins in the 78 CE. This places Yudhishthara (and therefore, the Mahabharata war) around 2448?2449 BCE (2526?78). Some scholars have attempted to identify the "Shaka" calendar era mentioned by Var?hamihira with other eras, but such identifications place Var?hamihira in the first century BCE, which is impossible as he refers to the 5th century astronomer
Aryabhata
.
Kalhana
's
Rajatarangini
(11th century), apparently relying on Var?hamihira, also states that the Pandavas flourished 653 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga; Kalhana adds that people who believe that the Bharata war was fought at the end of the
Dvapara Yuga
are foolish.
[57]
Synopsis
The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of
Hastinapura
, the kingdom ruled by the
Kuru
clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the
Kaurava
and the
Pandava
. Although the Kaurava is the senior branch of the family,
Duryodhana
, the eldest Kaurava, is younger than
Yudhishthira
, the eldest Pandava. Both
Duryodhana
and
Yudhishthira
claim to be first in line to inherit the throne.
The struggle culminates in the
Kurukshetra War
, in which the
Pandavas
are ultimately victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what is right, as well as the converse.
The
Mah?bh?rata
itself ends with the death of
Krishna
, and the subsequent end of his dynasty and ascent of the Pandava brothers to heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of
Kali Yuga
, the fourth and final age of humankind, in which great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and people are heading towards the complete dissolution of right action, morality, and virtue.
The older generations
King Janamejaya's ancestor
Shantanu
, the king of
Hastinapura
, has a short-lived marriage with the goddess
Ganga
and has a son, Devavrata (later to be called
Bhishma
, a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Many years later, when King
Shantanu
goes hunting, he sees
Satyavati
, the daughter of the chief of fisherman, and asks her father for her hand. Her father refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati the king upon his death. To resolve his father's dilemma,
Devavrata
agrees to relinquish his right to the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honoring the promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise.
Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati,
Chitr?ngada
and
Vichitravirya
. Upon Shantanu's death, Chitrangada becomes king. He lives a very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules
Hastinapura
. Meanwhile, the King of
K???
arranges a
swayamvara
for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the swayamvara of the three princesses
Amba
,
Ambika
, and
Ambalika
, uninvited, and proceeds to abduct them. Ambika and Ambalika consent to be married to Vichitravirya.
The oldest princess Amba, however, informs Bhishma that she wishes to marry the king of Shalva whom Bhishma defeated at their swayamvara. Bhishma lets her leave to marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting at his humiliation at the hands of Bhishma. Amba then returns to marry Bhishma but he refuses due to his vow of celibacy. Amba becomes enraged and becomes Bhishma's bitter enemy, holding him responsible for her plight. She vows to kill him in her next life. Later she is reborn to King
Drupada
as
Shikhandi
(or Shikhandini) and causes Bhishma's fall, with the help of
Arjuna
, in the battle of Kurukshetra.
The Pandava and Kaurava princes
When Vichitravirya dies young without any heirs, Satyavati asks her first son
Vyasa
, born to her from a previous union with the sage
Parashara
, to
father children with
the widows. The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and so her son
Dhritarashtra
is born blind. Ambalika turns pale and bloodless upon seeing him, and thus her son
Pandu
is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean 'jaundiced'
[58]
). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks Vyasa to try once again. However, Ambika and Ambalika send their maid instead, to Vyasa's room. Vyasa fathers a third son,
Vidura
, by the maid. He is born healthy and grows up to be one of the wisest figures in the
Mahabharata
. He serves as Prime Minister (Mahamantri or Mahatma) to King Pandu and King Dhritarashtra.
When the princes grow up, Dhritarashtra is about to be crowned king by Bhishma when Vidura intervenes and uses his knowledge of politics to assert that a blind person cannot be king. This is because a blind man cannot control and protect his subjects. The throne is then given to Pandu because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu marries twice, to
Kunti
and
Madri
. Dhritarashtra marries
Gandhari
, a princess from Gandhara, who blindfolds herself for the rest of her life so that she may feel the pain that her husband feels. Her brother
Shakuni
is enraged by this and vows to take revenge on the Kuru family. One day, when Pandu is relaxing in the forest, he hears the sound of a wild animal. He shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound. However, the arrow hits the sage
Kindama
, who was engaged in a sexual act in the guise of a deer. He curses Pandu that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest along with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his blindness.
Pandu's older queen Kunti, however, had been given a boon by Sage
Durvasa
that she could invoke any god using a special mantra. Kunti uses this boon to ask
Dharma
the god of justice,
Vayu
the god of the wind, and
Indra
the lord of the heavens for sons. She gives birth to three sons,
Yudhishthira
,
Bhima
, and
Arjuna
, through these gods. Kunti shares her mantra with the younger queen
Madri
, who bears the twins
Nakula
and
Sahadeva
through the
Ashwini
twins. However, Pandu and Madri indulge in lovemaking, and Pandu dies. Madri commits suicide out of remorse. Kunti raises the five brothers, who are from then on usually referred to as the
Pandava
brothers.
Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons, and one daughter?
Duhsala
?through
Gandhari
,
[59]
all born after the birth of Yudhishthira. These are the
Kaurava
brothers, the eldest being
Duryodhana
, and the second
Dushasana
. Other Kaurava brothers were
Vikarna
and Sukarna. The rivalry and enmity between them and the Pandava brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the
Kurukshetra
war.
Lakshagraha (the house of lac)
After the deaths of their mother (Madri) and father (Pandu), the Pandavas and their mother Kunti return to the palace of Hastinapur. Yudhishthira is made Crown Prince by Dhritarashtra, under considerable pressure from his courtiers. Dhritarashtra wanted his son Duryodhana to become king and lets his ambition get in the way of preserving justice.
Shakuni, Duryodhana, and Dushasana plot to get rid of the Pandavas. Shakuni calls the architect
Purochana
to build a palace out of flammable materials like lac and ghee. He then arranges for the Pandavas and the Queen Mother Kunti to stay there, intending to set it alight. However, the Pandavas are warned by their wise uncle,
Vidura
, who sends them a miner to dig a tunnel. They can escape to safety and go into hiding. During this time Bhima marries a
demoness
Hidimbi
and has a son
Ghatotkacha
. Back in Hastinapur, the Pandavas and Kunti are presumed dead.
[60]
Marriage to Draupadi
Whilst they were in hiding the Pandavas learn of a
swayamvara
which is taking place for the hand of the
P?nc?la
princess
Draupad?
. The Pandavas disguised as
Brahmins
come to witness the event. Meanwhile, Krishna who has already befriended Draupadi, tells her to look out for Arjuna (though now believed to be dead). The task was to string a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which was the eye of a moving artificial fish while looking at its reflection in oil below. In popular versions, after all the princes fail, many being unable to lift the bow, Karna proceeds to the attempt but is interrupted by Draupadi who refuses to marry a suta (this has been excised from the Critical Edition of Mahabharata
[61]
[62]
as later interpolation
[63]
). After this the swayamvara is opened to the Brahmins leading Arjuna to win the contest and marry Draupadi. The Pandavas return home and inform their meditating mother that Arjuna has won a competition and to look at what they have brought back. Without looking, Kunti asks them to share whatever Arjuna has won amongst themselves, thinking it to be
alms
. Thus, Draupadi ends up being the
wife of all five brothers
.
Indraprastha
After the wedding, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The Kuru family elders and relatives negotiate and broker a split of the kingdom, with the Pandavas obtaining and demanding only a wild forest inhabited by
Takshaka
, the king of snakes, and his family. Through hard work, the Pandavas build a new glorious capital for the territory at
Indraprastha
.
Shortly after this, Arjuna elopes with and then marries Krishna's sister,
Subhadra
. Yudhishthira wishes to establish his position as king; he seeks Krishna's advice. Krishna advises him, and after due preparation and the elimination of some opposition, Yudhishthira carries out the
r?jas?ya yagna
ceremony; he is thus recognized as pre-eminent among kings.
The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by
Maya
the
Danava
.
[64]
They invite their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana walks round the palace, and mistakes a glossy floor for water, and will not step in. After being told of his error, he then sees a pond and assumes it is not water and falls in.
Bhima
,
Arjuna
, the twins and the servants laugh at him.
[65]
In popular adaptations, this insult is wrongly attributed to Draupadi, even though in the Sanskrit epic, it was the Pandavas (except Yudhishthira) who had insulted Duryodhana. Enraged by the insult, and jealous at seeing the wealth of the Pandavas, Duryodhana decides to host a dice-game on Shakuni's suggestion. This suggestion was accepted by Yudhisthira despite the rest of the Pandavas advising him not to play.
The dice game
Shakuni
, Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishthira with loaded dice. In the dice game, Yudhishthira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom. Yudhishthira then gambles his brothers, himself, and finally his wife into servitude. The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of the entire court, but Draupadi's disrobe is prevented by Krishna, who miraculously make her dress endless, therefore it couldn't be removed.
Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, and the other elders are aghast at the situation, but Duryodhana is adamant that there is no place for two crown princes in Hastinapura. Against his wishes Dhritarashtra orders for another dice game. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 12 years, and in the 13th year, they must remain hidden. If they are discovered by the Kauravas in the 13th year of their exile, then they will be forced into exile for another 12 years.
Exile and return
The Pandavas spend thirteen years in exile; many adventures occur during this time. The Pandavas acquire many divine weapons, given by gods, during this period. They also prepare alliances for a possible future conflict. They spend their final year in disguise in the court of the king
Virata
, and they are discovered just after the end of the year.
At the end of their exile, they try to negotiate a return to Indraprastha with Krishna as their emissary. However, this negotiation fails, because Duryodhana objected that they were discovered in the 13th year of their exile and the return of their kingdom was not agreed upon. Then the Pandavas fought the Kauravas, claiming their rights over Indraprastha.
The battle at Kurukshetra
The two sides summon vast armies to their help and line up at
Kurukshetra
for a war. The kingdoms of
Panchala
,
Dwaraka
, Kasi,
Kekaya
,
Magadha
,
Matsya
,
Chedi
,
Pandyas
,
Telinga
, and the
Yadus
of
Mathura
and some other clans like the
Parama Kambojas
were allied with the
Pandavas
. The allies of the
Kauravas
included the kings of Pragjyotisha,
Anga
, Kekaya, Sindhudesa (including Sindhus,
Sauviras
and Sivis), Mahishmati,
Avanti
in Madhyadesa,
Madra
,
Gandhara
,
Bahlika people
,
Kambojas
and many others. Before war was declared,
Balarama
had expressed his unhappiness at the developing conflict and leaves to go on
pilgrimage
; thus he does not take part in the battle itself. Krishna takes part in a non-combatant role, as charioteer (
Sarathy
) for
Arjuna
and offers
Narayani Sena
consisting of
Abhira
gopas to the
Kauravas
to fight on their side.
[66]
[67]
Before the battle, Arjuna, noticing that the opposing army includes his cousins and relatives, including his grandfather
Bhishma
and his teacher
Drona
, has grave doubts about the fight. He falls into despair and refuses to fight. At this time, Krishna reminds him of his duty as a
Kshatriya
to fight for a righteous cause in the famous
Bhagavad Gita
section of the epic.
Though initially sticking to chivalrous notions of warfare, both sides soon adopt dishonorable tactics. At the end of the 18-day battle, only the Pandavas,
Satyaki
,
Kripa
,
Ashwatthama
,
Kritavarma
,
Yuyutsu
and Krishna survive. Yudhisthira becomes King of Hastinapur and Gandhari curses Krishna that the downfall of his clan is imminent.
The end of the Pandavas
After "seeing" the carnage,
Gandhari
, who had lost all her sons, curses
Krishna
to be a witness to a similar annihilation of his family, for though divine and capable of stopping the war, he had not done so. Krishna accepts the curse, which bears fruit 36 years later.
The Pandavas, who had ruled their kingdom meanwhile, decide to renounce everything. Clad in skins and rags they retire to the
Himalaya
and climb towards heaven in their bodily form. A stray dog travels with them. One by one the brothers and Draupadi fall on their way. As each one stumbles, Yudhishthira gives the rest the reason for their fall (
Draupadi
was partial to
Arjuna
,
Nakula
and Sahadeva were vain and proud of their looks, and Bhima and Arjuna were proud of their strength and archery skills, respectively). Only the virtuous Yudhishthira, who had tried everything to prevent the carnage, and the dog remain. The dog reveals himself to be the god Yama (also known as Yama Dharmaraja) and then takes him to the underworld where he sees his siblings and wife. After explaining the nature of the test, Yama takes Yudhishthira back to heaven and explains that it was necessary to expose him to the underworld because (Rajyante narakam dhruvam) any ruler has to visit the underworld at least once. Yama then assures him that his siblings and wife would join him in heaven after they had been exposed to the underworld for measures of time according to their vices.
Arjuna's grandson
Parikshit
rules after them and dies bitten by a snake. His furious son, Janamejaya, decides to perform a snake sacrifice (
sarpasattra
) to destroy the snakes. It is at this sacrifice that the tale of his ancestors is narrated to him.
The reunion
The
Mah?bh?rata
mentions that
Karna
, the Pandavas, Draupadi and Dhritarashtra's sons eventually ascended to
svarga
and "attained the state of the
gods
", and banded together ? "serene and free from anger".
[68]
Themes
Just war
The
Mah?bh?rata
offers one of the first instances of theorizing about
dharmayuddha
, "
just war
", illustrating many of the standards that would be debated later across the world. In the story, one of five brothers asks if the suffering caused by war can ever be justified. A long discussion ensues between the siblings, establishing criteria like
proportionality
(chariots cannot attack cavalry, only other chariots; no attacking people in distress),
just means
(no poisoned or barbed arrows),
just cause
(no attacking out of rage), and fair treatment of captives and the wounded.
[69]
Translations, versions and derivative works
Translations
The first
Bengali
translations of the
Mahabharata
emerged in the 16th century. It is disputed whether
Kavindra Parameshwar
of
Hooghly
(based in
Chittagong
during his writing) or
Sri Sanjay
of
Sylhet
was the first to translate it into Bengali.
[71]
[72]
A
Persian
translation of
Mahabharata
, titled
Razmnameh
, was produced at
Akbar
's orders, by
Faizi
and
?Abd al-Qadir Badayuni
in the 16th century.
[73]
The first complete English translation was the
Victorian
prose version by
Kisari Mohan Ganguli
,
[74]
published between 1883 and 1896 (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers) and by M. N. Dutt (
Motilal Banarsidass
Publishers). Most critics consider the translation by Ganguli to be faithful to the original text. The complete text of Ganguli's translation is in the
public domain
and is available online.
[75]
[76]
An early poetry translation by
Romesh Chunder Dutt
and published in 1898 condenses the main themes of the
Mah?bh?rata
into English verse.
[77]
A later poetic "transcreation" (author's description) of the full epic into English, done by the poet
P. Lal
, is complete, and in 2005 began being published by
Writers Workshop
,
Calcutta
. The P. Lal translation is a non-rhyming verse-by-verse rendering, and is the only edition in any language to include all slokas in all recensions of the work (not just those in the
Critical Edition
). The completion of the publishing project is scheduled for 2010.
[
needs update
]
Sixteen of the eighteen volumes are now available. Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya stated that the P. Lal version is "known in academia as the ‘
vulgate
'".
[78]
However, it has been described as "not strictly speaking a translation".
[79]
A project to translate the full epic into English prose, translated by various hands, began to appear in 2005 from the
Clay Sanskrit Library
, published by
New York University
Press. The translation is based not on the
Critical Edition
but on the version known to the commentator
N?laka??ha
. Currently available are 15 volumes of the projected 32-volume edition.
Indian Vedic
Scholar Shripad Damodar Satwalekar
translated the Critical Edition of Mahabharata into Hindi
[80]
which was assigned to him by the
Government of India
. After his death, the task was taken up by Shrutisheel Sharma.
[81]
[82]
[note 1]
Indian economist
Bibek Debroy
also wrote an unabridged English translation in ten volumes. Volume 1: Adi Parva was published in March 2010, and the last two volumes were published in December 2014. Abhinav Agarwal referred to Debroy's translation as "thoroughly enjoyable and impressively scholarly".
[79]
In a review of the seventh volume, Bhattacharya stated that the translator bridged gaps in the narrative of the Critical Edition, but also noted translation errors.
[78]
Gautam Chikermane of
Hindustan Times
wrote that where "both Debroy and Ganguli get tiresome is in the use of adjectives while describing protagonists".
[83]
Another English prose translation of the full epic, based on the
Critical Edition
, is in progress, published by
University of Chicago
Press. It was initiated by
Indologist
J. A. B. van Buitenen
(books 1?5) and, following a 20-year hiatus caused by the death of van Buitenen is being continued by several scholars.
James L. Fitzgerald
translated book 11 and the first half of book 12. David Gitomer is translating book 6, Gary Tubb is translating book 7,
Christopher Minkowski
is translating book 8,
Alf Hiltebeitel
is translating books 9 and 10, Fitzgerald is translating the second half of book 12,
Patrick Olivelle
is translating book 13, and Fred Smith is translating book 14?18.
[84]
[85]
Many condensed versions, abridgments and novelistic prose retellings of the complete epic have been published in English, including works by
Ramesh Menon
,
William Buck
,
R. K. Narayan
,
C. Rajagopalachari
, Kamala Subramaniam,
K. M. Munshi
, Krishna Dharma Dasa, Purnaprajna Dasa,
Romesh C. Dutt
, Bharadvaja Sarma,
John D. Smith
and
Sharon Maas
.
Critical Edition
Between 1919 and 1966, scholars at the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
,
Pune
, compared the various manuscripts of the epic from India and abroad and produced the
Critical Edition
of the
Mah?bh?rata
, on 13,000 pages in 19 volumes, over the span of 47 years, followed by the
Harivamsha
in another two volumes and six index volumes. This is the text that is usually used in current
Mah?bh?rata
studies for reference.
[86]
This work is sometimes called the "Pune" or "Poona" edition of the
Mahabharata
.
Regional versions
Many regional versions of the work developed over time, mostly differing only in minor details, or with verses or subsidiary stories being added. These include the
Tamil
street theatre,
terukkuttu
and
kattaikkuttu
, the plays of which use themes from the Tamil language versions of
Mah?bh?rata
, focusing on
Draupadi
.
[87]
Outside the Indian subcontinent, in
Indonesia
, a version was developed in ancient
Java
as
Kakawin Bh?ratayuddha
in the 11th century under the patronage of King
Dharmawangsa
(990?1016)
[88]
and later it spread to the neighboring island of
Bali
, which remains a Hindu majority island today. It has become the fertile source for Javanese literature, dance drama (
wayang wong
), and
wayang
shadow puppet performances. This Javanese version of the
Mah?bh?rata
differs slightly from the original Indian version.
[note 2]
Another notable difference is the inclusion of the
Punakawans
, the clown servants of the main figures in the storyline. These
Semar
,
Petruk
, Gareng, and Bagong, who are much-loved by Indonesian audiences.
[
citation needed
]
There are also some spin-off episodes developed in ancient Java, such as
Arjunawiwaha
composed in the 11th century.
A
Kawi
version of the
Mahabharata
, of which eight of the eighteen
parvas
survive, is found on the Indonesian island of
Bali
. It has been translated into English by Dr.
I. Gusti Putu Phalgunadi
.
[89]
Derivative literature
Bhasa
, the 2nd- or 3rd-century CE Sanskrit playwright, wrote two plays on episodes in the
Marabharata
,
Urubhanga
(
Broken Thigh
), about the fight between
Duryodhana
and
Bhima
, while
Madhyamavyayoga
(
The Middle One
) set around
Bhima
and his son, Ghatotkacha. The first important play of 20th century was
Andha Yug
(
The Blind Epoch
), by
Dharamvir Bharati
, which came in 1955, found in
Mahabharat
, both an ideal source and expression of modern predicaments and discontent. Starting with
Ebrahim Alkazi
, it was staged by numerous directors.
V. S. Khandekar
's Marathi novel,
Yayati
(1960), and
Girish Karnad
's debut play
Yayati
(1961) are based on the story of King
Yayati
found in the
Mahabharat
.
[90]
Bengali writer and playwright,
Buddhadeva Bose
wrote three plays set in Mahabharat,
Anamni Angana
,
Pratham Partha
and
Kalsandhya
.
[91]
Pratibha Ray
wrote an
award
winning novel entitled
Yajnaseni
from
Draupadi
's perspective in 1984. Later,
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
wrote a similar novel entitled
The Palace of Illusions: A Novel
in 2008. Gujarati poet
Chinu Modi
has written long narrative poetry
Bahuk
based on the figure
Bahuka
.
[92]
Krishna Udayasankar
, a Singapore-based Indian author, has written several novels which are modern-day retellings of the epic, most notably the Aryavarta Chronicles Series.
Suman Pokhrel
wrote a
solo play
based on
Ray's novel
by personalizing and taking
Draupadi
alone in the scene.
Amar Chitra Katha
published a 1,260-page
comic book version of the
Mahabharata
.
[93]
In film and television
In
Indian cinema
, several film versions of the epic have been made, dating back to 1920. The
Mah?bh?rata
was also reinterpreted by
Shyam Benegal
in
Kalyug
.
[94]
Prakash Jha
directed 2010 film
Raajneeti
was partially inspired by the
Mahabharata
.
[95]
A
2013 animated adaptation
holds the record for India's most expensive animated film.
[96]
In 1988,
B. R. Chopra
created a television series named
Mahabharat
.
It was directed by
Ravi Chopra
,
[97]
and was televised on India's national television (
Doordarshan
). The same year as
Mahabharat
was being shown on Doordarshan, that same company's other television show,
Bharat Ek Khoj
, also directed by Shyam Benegal, showed a 2-episode abbreviation of the
Mahabharata
, drawing from various interpretations of the work, be they sung, danced, or staged. In the
Western world
, a well-known presentation of the epic is
Peter Brook
's nine-hour play, which premiered in
Avignon
in 1985, and its five-hour movie version
The Mah?bh?rata
.
[98]
In the late 2013
Mahabharat
was televised on STAR Plus. It was produced by Swastik Productions Pvt.
A
Zee TV
television series aired from 26 October 2001 to 26 July 2002 and starred Siraj Mustafa Khan as
Krishna
and Suneel Mattoo as
Yudhishthira
.
[99]
[100]
[101]
Uncompleted projects on the
Mah?bh?rata
include one by
Rajkumar Santoshi
,
[102]
and a theatrical adaptation planned by
Satyajit Ray
.
[103]
In folk culture
Every year in the
Garhwal region
of
Uttarakhand
, villagers perform the
Pandav Lila
, a ritual re-enactment of episodes from the
Mahabharata
through dancing, singing, and recitation. The
lila
is a cultural highlight of the year and is usually performed between November and February. Folk instruments of the region,
dhol
,
damau
and two long trumpets
bhankore
, accompany the action. The amateur actors often break into a spontaneous dance when they are "possessed" by the spirits of the figures of the
Mahabharata
.
[104]
Jain version
Jain
versions of
Mah?bh?rata
can be found in the various
Jain texts
like
Harivamsapurana
(the story of
Harivamsa
)
Trisastisalakapurusa Caritra
(Hagiography of 63 Illustrious persons),
Pandavacharitra
(lives of
Pandavas
) and
Pandavapurana
(stories of
Pandavas
).
[105]
From the earlier canonical literature,
Antakrddaa??h
(8th cannon) and
Vrisnidasa
(
upangagama
or secondary canon) contain the stories of
Neminatha
(22nd
Tirthankara
), Krishna and Balarama.
[106]
Prof.
Padmanabh Jaini
notes that, unlike in the Hindu Puranas, the names Baladeva and Vasudeva are not restricted to Balarama and Krishna in Jain Puranas. Instead, they serve as names of two distinct classes of mighty brothers, who appear nine times in each half of time cycles of the
Jain cosmology
and rule half the earth as half-chakravartins. Jaini traces the origin of this list of brothers to the Jinacharitra by
Bhadrabahu
swami (4th?3rd century BCE).
[107]
According to
Jain cosmology
Balarama, Krishna and Jarasandha are the ninth and the last set of Baladeva, Vasudeva, and Prativasudeva.
[108]
The main battle is not the Mahabharata, but the fight between Krishna and Jarasandha (who is killed by Krishna as Prativasudevas are killed by Vasudevas). Ultimately, the Pandavas and Balarama take renunciation as
Jain monks
and are reborn in heavens, while on the other hand Krishna and Jarasandha are reborn in hell.
[109]
In keeping with the
law of karma
, Krishna is reborn in hell for his exploits (sexual and violent) while Jarasandha for his evil ways. Prof. Jaini admits a possibility that perhaps because of his popularity, the Jain authors were keen to rehabilitate Krishna. The Jain texts predict that after his karmic term in the hell is over sometime during the next half time-cycle, Krishna will be reborn as a Jain
Tirthankara
and attain
liberation
.
[108]
Krishna and Balrama are shown as contemporaries and cousins of 22nd Tirthankara, Neminatha.
[110]
According to this story, Krishna arranged young Neminath's marriage with Rajemati, the daughter of Ugrasena, but Neminatha, empathizing with the animals which were to be slaughtered for the marriage feast, left the procession suddenly and renounced the world.
[111]
[112]
Kuru family tree
This shows the line of royal and family succession, not necessarily the parentage. See the notes below for detail.
Key to Symbols
Notes
- a
:
Shantanu
was a king of the Kuru dynasty or kingdom, and was some generations removed from any ancestor called
Kuru
. His marriage to
Ganga
preceded his marriage to
Satyavati
.
- b
:
Pandu
and
Dhritarashtra
were fathered by
Vyasa
in the
niyoga
tradition after
Vichitravirya
's death. Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were the sons of Vyasa with Ambika, Ambalika and a maid servant respectively.
- c
:
Karna
was born to
Kunti
through her invocation of
Surya
, before her marriage to
Pandu
.
- d
:
Yudhishthira
,
Bhima
,
Arjuna
,
Nakula
and
Sahadeva
were acknowledged sons of
Pandu
but were begotten by the invocation by
Kunti
and
Madri
of various deities. They all married
Draupadi
(not shown in tree).
- e
:
Duryodhana
and his siblings were born at the same time, and they were of the same generation as their
Pandava
cousins.
- f
: Although the succession after the Pandavas was through the descendants of Arjuna and Subhadra, it was Yudhishthira and Draupadi who occupied the throne of Hastinapura after the great battle.
The birth order of siblings is correctly shown in the family tree (from left to right), except for
Vyasa
and
Bhishma
whose birth order is not described, and Vichitravirya and Chitrangada who were born after them. The fact that
Ambika
and
Ambalika
are sisters is not shown in the family tree. The birth of Duryodhana took place after the birth of Karna, Yudhishthira and Bhima, but before the birth of the remaining Pandava brothers.
Some siblings of the characters shown here have been left out for clarity; this includes
Vidura
, half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Cultural influence
In the
Bhagavad Gita
,
Krishna
explains to
Arjuna
his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different
Yogic
[113]
and
Vedantic
philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the
Gita
often being described as a concise guide to
Hindu philosophy
and a practical, self-contained guide to life.
[114]
In more modern times,
Swami Vivekananda
, Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose
,
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
,
Mahatma Gandhi
and many others used the text to help inspire the
Indian independence movement
.
[115]
[116]
It has also inspired several works of modern
Hindi
literature, such as
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
's
Rashmirathi
, which is a rendition of
Mahabharata
centered around
Karna
and his conflicts. It was written in 1952, and won the prestigious
Jnanpith Award
in 1972.
Explanatory notes
- ^
Sadwalekar has two translations in Hindi. To read BORI CE in Hindi specifically, go for the translations he published starting from 1968(BORI was published in 1966).
- ^
For example,
Draupadi
is only wed to
Yudhishthira
, not to all the Pandava brothers; this might demonstrate ancient Javanese opposition to
polyandry
.
[
citation needed
]
The author later added some female characters to be wed to the Pandavas, for example, Arjuna is described as having many wives and consorts next to
Subhadra
. Another difference is that
Shikhandini
does not change her sex and remains a woman, to be wed to
Arjuna
, and takes the role of a warrior princess during the war.
[
citation needed
]
Another twist is that
Gandhari
is described as an antagonistic character who hates the Pandavas: her hate is out of jealousy because, during Gandhari's
swayamvara
, she was in love with Pandu but was later wed to his blind elder brother instead, whom she did not love, so she blindfolded herself as a protest.
[
citation needed
]
Citations
- ^
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18 books, 18 chapters of the
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The
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is also preserved in a separate version, the
Jaimini-Bharata
(
Jaiminiya-Ashvamedha
) where the frame dialogue is replaced, the narration being attributed to
Jaimini
, another disciple of Vyasa. . It describes how Arjuna alone conquered the whole earth once again. This version contains far more devotional material (related to Krishna) than the standard epic and probably dates to the 12th century. It has some regional versions, the most popular being the
Kannada
one by Devapurada Annama Lakshmisha (16th century).
The Mahabharata
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[
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]
- ^
In discussing the dating question, historian A. L. Basham says: "According to the most popular later tradition the Mahabharata War took place in 3102 BCE, which in the light of all evidence, is quite impossible. More reasonable is another tradition, placing it in the 15th century BCE, but this is also several centuries too early in the light of our archaeological knowledge. Probably the war took place around the beginning of the 9th century BCE; such a date seems to fit well with the scanty archaeological remains of the period, and there is some evidence in the Brahmana literature itself to show that it cannot have been much earlier." Basham, p. 40, citing HC Raychaudhuri,
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, pp.27ff.
- ^
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A.D. Pusalker,
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FE Pargiter,
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Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.246, who summarize as follows: "Astronomical calculations favor 15th century BCE as the date of the war while the Puranic data place it in the 10th/9th century BCE. Archaeological evidence points towards the latter." (p.254)
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External links
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