A short introduction to the Mahābhārata, India’s Great Epic
by Maximilian Mehner, M.A. (Philipps University Marburg, Germany)
glimpses of greatness
- title: Mahābhārata ‘great [story] of the descendants of Bharata’
- length:
- main text: 160 000 verse lines + 1 100 lines of prose
- appendix Harivaṃśa: 32 000 verse lines
ambition:
धर्मे चार्थे च कामे च मोक्षे च भरतर्षभ ।
यदिहास्ति तदन्यत्र यन्नेहास्ति न तत्क्वचित् ॥
dharme cārthe ca kāme ca mokṣe ca bharatarṣabha /
yad ihāsti tad anyatra yan nehāsti na tat kvacit // 1,56.33 / 18,5.38
“Bull among Bhāratas, whatever is here, on [1] Law [dharma], on [2] Profit, on [3] Pleasure, and on [4] Salvation, that is found elsewhere. But what is not here is nowhere else.” (Translation Buitenen)
time frame
| after 2 000 BCE | Indo-Aryan migration into the Punjab |
| 1400–900 BCE | early Vedic age (Ṛgveda), diffusion East along the Gangetic Plain |
| 900–600 BCE | late Vedic age (Upaniṣads) |
| 563–483 / 420–350 BCE | life time of Buddha |
| ~ 350 BCE | Pāṇini (grammarian) |
| 327–325 BCE | Indian Campaign of Alexander the Great |
| 268–233 BCE | Aśoka rules almost entire subcontinent, promotes Buddhism |
| ~ 150 BCE | Puṣyamitra, promotes Vedic religion |
| 375–413 CE | Candragupta II, classical age of Sanskrit poetry |
| 606–647 CE | Harṣa of Kanauj, late classical age |
indications and estimates
| after 2 000 BCE | Indo-Aryan migration into the Punjab |
| 1400–900 BCE | early Vedic age (Ṛgveda), diffusion East along the Gangetic Plain |
| 900–600 BCE | late Vedic age (Upaniṣads) |
| ~ 600 BCE | two late Vedic texts mention the terms bhārata and mahābhārata |
| 563–483 / 420–350 BCE | life time of Buddha |
| before 400 BCE | oral origns of the Mahābhārata? successive layering since? |
| ~ 350 BCE | Pāṇini (grammarian) mentions names of three protagonists |
| 327–325 BCE | Indian Campaign of Alexander the Great |
| 268–233 BCE | Aśoka rules almost entire subcontinent, promotes Buddhism |
| ~ 150 BCE | Puṣyamitra, promotes Vedic religion |
| historic events reflected in the text up to this date (Witzel 2005) | |
| written archetype by single author or committee? (Hiltebeitl 2001) | |
| ~ 200 CE | Spitzer manuscript with list of books (parvan) |
| 375–413 CE | Candragupta II, classical age of Sanskrit poetry |
| final redaction? Under Gupta patronage? (Fitzgerald 2018) | |
| 606–647 CE | Harṣa of Kanauj, late classical age |
| late final redaction? (Witzel 2005) | |
| ~ 1300 CE | oldest manuscript utilized by Critical Edition |
geography
Figure 1: Georg v. Simsons adaptation (Mahābhārata 2011, p. 799) of Schwartzberg’s Historical atlas of South Asia.
main agenda: dharma
Dharma is the differentiated “custom” and “propriety” which constitutes the Aryan form of life, which upholds the identity of the ārya and distinguishes him from the mleccha [‘foreigner’, MM], and which also legitimizes the privileged position of Brahmins as the teachers and guardians of the dharma.
[…]
In traditional Hinduism, dharma is primarily and essentially the varṇāśramadharma, the “order of the castes and the stages of life” which breaks down into countless specific rules and cannot at all be derived from a general principle of behavior.
Halbfass 1988: India and Europe, pp. 320.
reception: some milestones
| ~ 1000 CE | partial or complete translation into Old Javanese |
| ~ 1585 | translation into Persian under Akbar (r. 1556–1605, Mughal Empire) as Razm-nāmah |
| 1933–1972 | Critical Edition (Poona) |
| 1985 | stage adaptation by Peter Brook, later adapted as tv series and movie |
| 1988–1990 | 94-episode Hindi tv series (B.R. Films) |
| 2013–2014 | 267-episode Hindi tv series (Swastik Productions) |
Arjuna receiving the Bhagavad-gītā from Kṛṣṇa on the battle field in above mentioned tv adaptations.
contents and conflicts
main plot: convoluted succession (books 1–2) 🠒 suspension (3–5) 🠒 18-day war (6–9) 🠒 aftermath (10–12) 🠒 fading of the dynasty (13–18)
1 ādi-parvan 4 virāṭa- 7 droṇa- 10 sauptika- 13 anuśāsana- 16 mausala- 2 sabhā- 5 udyoga- 8 karṇa- 11 strī- 14 āśvamedhika- 17 mahāprasthānika- 3 āraṇyaka- 6 bhīṣma- 9 śalya- 12 śānti- 15 āśrama- 18 svargārohaṇa- - human action (pauruṣa) vs. predestination (daiva)
- worldly involvement (pravṛtti) vs. renunciation (nivṛtti)
- cf. genealogical overview.
recap and focus points for general discussion
“epicness”
aspects: oral origins/prehistory – vastness – meta-genre – heroism – cosmological scale – “national” myth
authorship
type: single author – committee – multi-generational committee – layered redactions
reception
domains: religion – education – entertainment – scholarship
reach: “national” – cultural – worldwide
sources and reading suggestions
- Sukthankar, Vishnu Sitaram (ed., 1933–1972): The Mahābhārata, for the first time critically edited. Poona.
[Critical edition of the primary text.] - Buitenen, Johannes A. B. / Fitzgerald, James L. (1973–2004): The Mahābhārata. Translated and edited. Chicago und London.
[Complete English translation of Books 1–5, 11 and the first part of book 12, each including an introduction and chapter summaries.] - Fitzgerald, James L., “Mahābhārata”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_2020040, First published online: 2018.
[Short introduction to the Mahābhārata.] - Brockington, John (1998): The Sanskrit Epics (Handbuch der Orientalistik: Indien, Band 12). Leiden.
[Comprehensive introduction to both Sanskrit epics.] - Witzel, Michael (2005): “The Vedas and the Epics. Some Comparative Notes on Persons, Lineages, Geography, and Grammar.”
In: Epics, Khilas, and Purāṇas. Continuities and Ruptures, ed. by Petteri Koskikallio. Zagreb, pp. 21–80.
[Systematic study of intra- and extratextual evidences for the development of the Mahābhārata.] - Hiltebeitl, Alf (2001): Rethinking the Mahābhārata. A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King. Chicago und London.
[Essays on the Mahābhārata with a focus on plotting, early reception and the concept of dharma.]