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Mahabharata is a Sanskrit epic of ancient India that narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War. It is one of the two major Smriti texts and contains philosophical, devotional and mythological stories, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Rama story.
- The Prelude
- Dhritarashtra, Pandu & Vidur
- Kauravas & Pandavas
- The First Exile
- Arjuna & Draupadi
- Indraprastha & The Dice Game
- The Second Exile
- The Kurukshetra War & Aftermath
- Legacy
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Shantanu, the king of Hastinapur, was married to Ganga (personification of the Ganges) with whom he had a son called Devavrat. Several years later, when Devavrat had grown up to be an accomplished prince, Shantanu fell in love with Satyavati. Her father refused to let her marry the king unless the king promised that Satyavati's son and descendants ...
So that the family line did not die out, Satyavati summoned her son Vyasa to impregnate the two queens. Vyasa had been born to Satyavati of a great sage named Parashar before her marriage to Shantanu. According to the laws of the day, a child born to an unwed mother was taken to be a step-child of the mother's husband; by that token, Vyasa could be...
A few years later, Kunti returned to Hastinapur. With her were five little boys, and the bodies of Pandu and Madri. The five boys were the sons of Pandu, born to his two wives through the Niyog custom from gods: the eldest was born of Dharma, the second of Vayu, the third of Indra, and the youngest - twins - of the Ashvins. In the meanwhile, Dhrita...
Yudhishthir's being the crown prince and his rising popularity with the citizens was extremely distasteful to Duryodhan, who saw himself as the rightful heir since his father was the de factoking. He plotted to get rid of the Pandavas. This he did by getting his father to send the Pandavas and Kunti off to a nearby town on the pretext of a fair tha...
Meanwhile, the Pandavas and Kunti went into hiding, moving from one place to another and passing themselves off as a poor brahmin family. They would seek shelter with some villager for a few weeks, the princes would go out daily to beg for food, return in the evenings and hand over the day's earnings to Kunti who would divide the food into two: one...
After the wedding ceremonies at Panchal were over, the Hastinapur palace invited the Pandavas and their bride back. Dhritarashtra made a great show of happiness on discovering that the Pandavas were alive after all, and he partitioned the kingdom, giving them a huge tract of barren land to settle in and rule over. The Pandavas transformed this land...
For this exile, the Pandavas left their ageing mother Kunti behind at Hastinapur, in Vidur's place. They lived in forests, hunted game, and visited holy spots. At around this time, Yudhishthir asked Arjuna to go to the heavens in quest of celestial weapons because, by now, it was apparent that their kingdom would not be returned to them peacefully ...
Just before the war bugle was sounded, Arjuna saw arrayed before him his relatives: his great-grandfather Bheeshm who had practically brought him up, his teachers Kripa and Drona, his brothers the Kauravas, and, for a moment, his resolution wavered. Krishna, the warrior par excellence, had given up arms for this war and had elected to be Arjuna's c...
Since that time, this story has been retold countless times, expanded upon, and retold again. The Mahabharata remains popular to this day in India. It has been adapted and recast in contemporary mode in several films and plays. Children continue to be named after the characters in the epic. The Bhagvad Gita is one of the holiest of Hindu scriptures...
Learn about the ancient Indian epic that narrates the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas for the throne of Hastinapura. Explore the prelude, the characters, the events, and the philosophical discourses of this epic poem.
- Anindita Basu
Jul 5, 2024 · Learn about the origins, backstory, and main events of the Mahabharata, the longest epic poem in the world. The epic narrates the struggle for power between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two groups of cousins, and their fates in the afterlife.
The Mahabharata is a Sanskrit epic that tells the story of the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas for the Bharata kingdom. It contains the famous Bhagavad Gita, a sermon on ethics and divinity by Krishna, and has influenced Indian culture for centuries.
Oct 25, 2024 · Learn about the Mahabharata, one of the two great Sanskrit epics of ancient India, and its central theme of the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Explore the myths, legends, and religious teachings of the poem, as well as its authorship, date, and historical significance.
Feb 27, 2024 · The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two branches of a family – the Pandavas and Kauravas – who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura.
Learn about the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of India, that tells of the struggle between two groups of cousins and contains the Bhagavadgita. Find out who wrote it, when it was compiled, and what it reveals about Hinduism.
