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.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 BC. A dynastic conflict of the period could have been the inspiration for the Jaya, the foundation on which the Mahabharata corpus was built, with a climactic battle eventually coming to be regarded as a historic event.
Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahabharata narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. The first case, it is the direct statement that there were 1015 (or 1050) years between the birth of Parikshit (Arjuna's son small) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda, generally dated to 382 BC, which would give an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle. However, this would imply implausible long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies of the second kind are parallel analysis of genealogies in the Puranas between the times Adhisimakrishna (Parikshit great-son) 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.
BB 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 sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in the epic.
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. The date of the end of the fourth millennium has a precedent in the calculation of the Kali Yuga era, based on planetary conjunctions, by Aryabhata (6th century). His date of February 18 3102 BCE has spread in the Indian tradition (for example, Aihole inscription of Pulikeshi II, dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3735 years have elapsed since the Bharata battle) Another astronomers traditional school and historians, represented by Vriddha-Garga, Varahamihira (author of the Brhatsamhita) and Kalhana (author of the Rajatarangini), place the Bharata war 653 years after the time of Kali Yuga, corresponding to 2449 BCE.
Older generationsShantanu woos Satyavati, the fisherwoman. Painting by Raja Ravi Janamejaya's ancestor Shantanu Varma.King, the king of Hastinapura, has a short marriage with the goddess Ganga and has a son, Devavrata (later called Bhishma, a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Several 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 solve the dilemma of his father, Devavrata agrees to waive 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 celibacy for life to ensure the promise of his father.Shantanu has two son by Satyavati, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Shantanu's death, Chitrangada became King. He lives a very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules Hastinapura. Meanwhile, the king of Kasi organizes Swayamvara for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of the young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the three princesses Amba Swayamvara, Ambika and Ambalika, uninvited, and proceeds to remove. 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 let marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting from the 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, making him responsible for his fate. 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.
Kauravas and the Pandavas princesDraupadi with her five husbands - the Pandavas. The central figure is Yudhishthira, the two on the bottom are Bhima and Arjuna. Nakula and Sahadeva, the twins, are standing. Raja Ravi Varma painting, c. 1900.When Vichitravirya died young without heirs, Satyavati asks her first son Vyasa to have children with the widows. The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and if his son Dhritarashtra is born blind. Ambalika pale and bloodless in the light, and therefore his son Pandu is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean "jaundice"). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks Vyasa to try once more. However, Ambika and Ambalika send them prominently in the room Vyasa. Vyasa fathers a third son, Vidura, by the maid. He was born healthy and grows up to be one of the wisest characters in the Mahabharata. It serves as the Prime Minister (or Mahatma Mahamantri) at King King Pandu and 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 can not be king. Indeed, a blind man can not control and protect his subjects. The throne is then given to Pandu cause of blindness Dhritarashtra the. Pandu marries twice, to Kunti and Madri. Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari, a princess from Gandhara, who blindfolds so she can feel the pain that her husband feels. Her brother Shakuni is enraged by this and vows 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 noise. However the arrow hits the Kindama sage, who cursed as he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his blindness.Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahabharata narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. The first case, it is the direct statement that there were 1015 (or 1050) years between the birth of Parikshit (Arjuna's son small) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda, generally dated to 382 BC, which would give an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle. However, this would imply implausible long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies of the second kind are parallel analysis of genealogies in the Puranas between the times Adhisimakrishna (Parikshit great-son) 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.
BB 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 sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in the epic.
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. The date of the end of the fourth millennium has a precedent in the calculation of the Kali Yuga era, based on planetary conjunctions, by Aryabhata (6th century). His date of February 18 3102 BCE has spread in the Indian tradition (for example, Aihole inscription of Pulikeshi II, dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3735 years have elapsed since the Bharata battle) Another astronomers traditional school and historians, represented by Vriddha-Garga, Varahamihira (author of the Brhatsamhita) and Kalhana (author of the Rajatarangini), place the Bharata war 653 years after the time of Kali Yuga, corresponding to 2449 BCE.
Older generationsShantanu woos Satyavati, the fisherwoman. Painting by Raja Ravi Janamejaya's ancestor Shantanu Varma.King, the king of Hastinapura, has a short marriage with the goddess Ganga and has a son, Devavrata (later called Bhishma, a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Several 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 solve the dilemma of his father, Devavrata agrees to waive 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 celibacy for life to ensure the promise of his father.Shantanu has two son by Satyavati, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Shantanu's death, Chitrangada became King. He lives a very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules Hastinapura. Meanwhile, the king of Kasi organizes Swayamvara for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of the young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the three princesses Amba Swayamvara, Ambika and Ambalika, uninvited, and proceeds to remove. 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 let marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting from the 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, making him responsible for his fate. 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.
Queen Kunti Pandu most, however, was 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 wind, and Indra the lord of heaven for son. She gave birth to three son, Yudhisthira, 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 sex and Pandu dies. Madri dies on his funeral pyre remorse. Kunti raises the five brothers, who are therefore generally called the Pandava brothers.
Dhritarashtra has a hundred son by Gandhari, all born after the birth of Yudhishtira. These are the Kaurava brothers, the eldest being Duryodhana and Dushasana second. Other Kaurava brothers were Vikarna and Sukarna. Rivalry and hostility between them and the Pandava brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the Kurukshetra war.Lākṣagṛha (La Maison du Lac) After the death of their mother (Madri) and father (Pandu), the Pandavas and their mother Kunti return to the palace of Hastinapur. Yudhisthira is made Crown Prince by Dhritarashtra, under considerable pressure from his kingdom. Dhritarashtra wanted his own son Duryodhana to become king and lets his ambition get in the way of preserving justice.
Plot Shakuni, Duryodhana and Dusasana to get rid of the Pandavas. Shakuni calls the architect Purochana to build a palace from flammable materials such as lac and ghee. It then organizes the Pandavas and the Queen Mother Kunti to stay there, with the intention of setting fire. However, the Pandavas are warned by their uncle wise Vidura, who sends them a miner to dig a tunnel. They are able to escape to safety and go into hiding. Back to Hastinapur, the Pandavas and Kunti are presumed dead.
Marriage to DraupadiArjuna piercing the eye of the fish as described in the temple built by Hoysala Chennakesava Empire.During during their hiding the Pandavas learn of a Swayamvara taking place for the hand of Princess Draupadi Pāñcāla. The Pandavas enter the contest disguised as Brahmins. The task is to lay a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which is the eye of an artificial fish movement, while watching her reflection in oil below. Most of the princes fail, many being unable to lift the bow. Arjuna succeeded, however. The Pandavas return home and inform their mother that Arjuna has won a competition and see what they brought. Without looking, Kunti asks them to share whatever Arjuna won them. To explain the previous life of Draupadi, she ends up being the wife of all five brothers.IndraprasthaAfter marriage, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The elders of the Kuru family and relatives negotiate and negotiate a division of the kingdom, with the Pandavas obtaining a new territory. Yudhishtira has a new capital built for this territory at Indraprastha. Neither the Pandava nor Kaurava sides are happy with the arrangement however.
Shortly after, Arjuna elopes with and then marries Krishna's sister, Subhadra. Yudhishtira wishes to establish his position as king, he seeks the advice of Krishna. Krishna advises him, and after the preparation and disposal due to opposition, Yudhishthira carries out the ceremony Rajasuya Yagna, it is recognized as pre-eminent among kings.The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by Maya the Danava. They invite their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana toured 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 the water and falls in. Draupadi laughs at him and ridicules saying that it is because of his blind father Dhritrashtra. He then decides to avenge his humiliation.CrapsHumiliated.Shakuni Draupadi, Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishtira with loaded dice. Yudhishtira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom. He then plays even 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 her honor is saved by Krishna who miraculously creates lengths of cloth to replace the ones being 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 must remain hidden. If discovered by the Kauravas, they will be forced into exile for 12 years.
Pandavas exile returnThe spend thirteen years in exile, many adventures occur during this period. They also prepare alliances for a possible future conflict. They spend their final year in disguise in the court of Virata, and are discovered just after the end of the year.At the end of their exile, they try to negotiate a return to Indraprastha. However, this is not enough, as Duryodhana objects that they were discovered while in hiding, and that no return of their kingdom was agreed. War becomes inevitable.The Battle of Article KurukshetraMain: Kurukshetra war
A scene from the Mahabharata war, Angkor Wat: a black stone relief representing a number of men wearing a crown and a dhoti, fighting with spears, swords and bows. A chariot with half the horse out of the frame is seen in both sides summon vast armies middle.The for their help and tail Kurukshetra for a war. The kingdoms of Panchala, Dwaraka, Kasi, Kekaya, Magadha, Matsya, Chedi, Pandya, Telinga, and 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, and Sauviras SIVIS) Mahishmati, Avanti Madhyadesa, Madra, Gandhara, Bahlikas, Kambojas and many others. Prior to war being declared, Balarama had expressed his dissatisfaction with the conflict developed and left to go on pilgrimage, so it does not take part in the battle itself. Krishna takes part in a non-combatant role, as check for Arjuna.
Before the battle, Arjuna, seeing himself facing his great grandfather Bhishma and Drona teacher on the other side, has doubts about the battle and he fails to lift his bow Gāndeeva. Krishna wakes up to his call of duty in the famous Bhagavad Gita section of the epic.Though initially sticking to chivalrous notions of warfare, both sides soon adopt dishonest tactics. At the end of the 18-day battle, only the Pandavas, Satyaki, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Kritavarma, Yuyutsu and Krishna survive.
The end of the PandavasGandhari, blindfolded, supporting and Kunti Dhrtarashtra following when Dhrtarashtra became old and infirm and retired to the forest. A miniature from a manuscript of the 16th century part of the Razmnama, Persian translation of MahabharataAfter "seeing" the carnage, Gandhari who had lost all his son, curses Krishna to be a witness of a similar annihilation of his family, as if divine and capable of stopping the war, he had not. Krishna accepts the curse, which bears fruit 36 years later.
The Pandavas who had ruled their kingdom meanwhile, decide to renounce everything. Dressed 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 misstep, Yudhisthira gives the rest the reason for their fall (Draupadi was partial to Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were vain and proud of their looks, Bhima and Arjuna were proud of their strength and archery, respectively ). Only the virtuous Yudhisthira, who had tried everything to prevent the carnage and the dog remain. The dog turns out 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 to heaven and explains that it was necessary to expose the underworld because (Rajyante narakam dhruvam) any rule must go to the afterlife at least once . Yama then assures his siblings and his wife joined him in heaven after they were exposed to the underworld for measures of time according to their vices.
Parikshit rules Arjuna grand-son after them and dies bitten by a snake. His son angry, Janamejaya, decides to perform a snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) to kill snakes. It is at this sacrifice that the tale of his ancestors is reported to him.
ThemesJust Warthe Mahabharata offers one of the first examples of theories of "just war", which illustrates many of the standards that would be discussed later around the world. In the story, one of five brothers wonder if the suffering caused by war can never be justified. A lengthy discussion ensued between the brothers and sisters, the establishment of criteria such as proportionality (tanks can not attack the cavalry, only other tanks, not people who attack in distress), simply means (not poisoned or barbed arrows) just cause (no attack of rage), and fair treatment of prisoners and wounded.
Versions, translations and derivative worksMany regional versions of the work developed over time, mostly differing only in minor details, or with verses or subsidiary stories added. These include some versions from outside the Indian subcontinent, as Bharatayuddha Kakawin Java. Plays street Tamil and Kattaikkuttu terukkuttu, use themes from the Tamil language versions of Mahabharata, focusing on Draupadi.
Critical EditionBetween 1919 and 1966, researchers 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 Mahabharata, on 13,000 pages 19 volumes, followed by two other Harivamsha volumes and six index volumes. This is the text that is usually used in current Mahabharata studies for reference. This work is sometimes called the 'Pune' or 'Poona' edition of the Mahabharata.
Modern interpretationsKrishna as depicted in Yakshagana of Karnataka, based largely on stories MahabharataThe Tamil writer S. Ramakrishnan has written a critically acclaimed book based on the Mahabharata called "Uba Paandavam." It deals with the story of a non-linear manner from the point of view of a traveler.
The Kannada novelist SL Bhyrappa wrote a novel in Kannada (now translated into the languages most Indian and English) titled Parva, giving a new interpretation of the story of the Mahabharata. He tried to understand the social and ethical practices in these regions and correlate them with the story of Mahabharata.MT Vasudevan Nair Malayalam writer Randamoozham novel (in English: Second round) tells the Mahabharata from the point of view of Bhima. Mrityunjay (English: Triumph Over Death) written by Shivaji Sawant is a novel with Karna as the central character of Mahabharata.In Indian cinema, several film versions of the epic exist, dating from 1920. The internationally acclaimed parallel Bengali film director Satyajit Ray also intended to direct a theatrical adaptation of the epic, but the project was never realized.
In the 1980s, the Mahabharat TV series, directed by Ravi Chopra, was televised and shown on India's national television (Doordarshan). In the Western world, a well-known presentation of the epic is Peter Brook's nine hours of play, which premiered in Avignon in 1985, and his film version of The Mahabharata five hours (1989).
Among literary reinterpretations of the Mahabharata is Shashi Tharoor important work, entitled The Great Indian Novel, a novel involved literary, philosophical and political superimposes the major moments of post-independence India in the 20th century on the driving events of the epic Mahabharata.Mahabharata was also reinterpreted by Shyam Benegal in Kalyug. Kalyug is a modern rereading of the Mahabharata.
Amar Chitra Katha released a 1260 page comic book Mahabharata.
Western interpretations of the Mahabharata include William Buck Mahabharata and Elizabeth Seeger five son of King Pandu.Persian translationBhishma on his deathbed of arrows with the Pandavas and Krishna. Portfolio of Razmnama (1761-1763), Persian translation of the Mahabharata, commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar. The Pandavas are dressed in Persian armor and robes. It has been translated into Persian at the orders of Akbar, by Faizi and `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni (1761-1763) and named Razmnameh.
Jain versionFurther information: Salakapurusa
Representation of the wedding procession of Lord Neminatha. The box displays the animals to be slaughtered for food for weddings. Moved by compassion for animals, Neminatha refused to marry and renounced his kingdom to become ShramanaJain version of Mahabharata can be found in the various Jain texts like Harivamsapurana (history Harivamsa) Trisastisalakapurusa Charitra (Hagiography of 63 people illustrious) Pandavacaritra (life of the Pandavas) and Pandavapurana (stories of Pandavas). In the previous literature canon Antakrddaaśāh (8th cannon) and Vrisnidasa (upangagama or secondary canon) contain the stories Neminatha (22nd Tirthankara), Krishna and Balarama. Prof. Padmanabh Jaini note that, contrary to 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 class of mighty brothers, who appear nine times in each half of time cycles of the Jain cosmology and exclude half the earth as half chakravartins. Jaini traces the origin of this list of brothers Jinacharitra Bhadrabahu by swami (4-3rd century BC). According to Jain cosmology Balarama, Krishna and Jarasandha are the ninth and the last set of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Partivasudeva. The main battle is not the Mahabharata, but the fight between Krishna and Jarasandha who is killed by Krishna. Ultimately, the Pandavas and Balarama take renunciation as Jain monks and are reborn in the heavens, while on the other hand Krishna and Jarasandha are reborn in hell. According to the law of karma, Krishna is reborn in hell for his exploits (sexual and violent) while Jarasandha for his evil ways. Prof. Jaini admits the possibility that perhaps because of its popularity, the Jain authors were keen to rehabilitate Krishna. The legislation provides that after his karmic term Jains in the hell is sometimes more during the next half-hour cycle, Krishna will be reborn as a Jain Tirthankara and attain liberation. Krishna and Balrama are shown as contemporaries and cousins of the 22 Tirthankara, Neminatha. According to this story, Krishna arranged young Neminath's marriage with Rajamati's daughter Ugrasena but Neminatha, empathy with the animals that were to be slaughtered for the marriage feast, left the procession suddenly and renounced the world.
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