other · epic

Mahabharata — The Great Epic of India

c. 400 BCE – 400 CE (composition and redaction) · Vedic to Classical India (c. 8th century BCE – 4th century CE) · India (composition traditionally attributed to Vyasa)

The Beginning — Sauti at the Sacrifice of Saunaka

1Om! Having bowed down to Narayana and Nara, the most exalted male being,
2and also to the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered.
3Ugrasrava, the son of Lomaharshana, surnamed Sauti,
4well-versed in the Puranas, bending with humility, one day approached
5the great sages of rigid vows sitting at their ease in the twelve-year sacrifice
6of Saunaka, surnamed Kulapati, in the forest of Naimisha.
7The ascetics said, "O son of Lomaharshana, whence do you come?
8Where have you passed this time? Tell us what you have seen."
9Sauti replied, "Listen ye ascetics. In the woods of Naimisha,
10having heard the wonderful narrations at the sacrifice of the great-spirited royal sage Janamejaya,
11I have wandered visiting many holy tirthas and shrines.
12"I shall now recite the sacred narratives collected in the Bharata,
13full of wisdom and instruction, containing the essence of every scripture,
14and worthy of being received by every ear."

The Dice Game

15Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, at the invitation of the sons of Dhritarashtra,
16came to Hastinapura for the game of dice.
17Sakuni, on behalf of Duryodhana, played against him.
18With the false dice that could not be defeated,
19Sakuni threw again and again — and Yudhishthira lost.
20He staked his kingdom, and lost.
21He staked his brothers Bhima and Arjuna, and lost.
22He staked the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, and lost.
23He staked himself, and lost.
24Then Sakuni cried, "Stake yet Draupadi, the queen!"
25And Yudhishthira, blinded by the madness of the game, staked her — and lost.
26Draupadi was dragged into the assembly by her long hair,
27and Duhsasana attempted to strip her.
28But as he pulled at her garment, the divine cloth extended without end,
29and Krishna's grace saved her from dishonour.
30Then rose Bhima with a great oath: "Never shall the wine of joy
31pass my lips again until I have broken with this mace
32the thigh of Duryodhana that showed itself in insult before Draupadi!"

The Bhishma Parva — Opening of the War

33For thirteen years the Pandavas dwelt in exile.
34In the fourteenth year they demanded their kingdom, and were refused.
35The armies gathered on the plain of Kurukshetra.
36Eleven akshauhinis stood with the Kauravas;
37seven stood with the Pandavas.
38Bhishma the aged commanded the Kaurava host;
39Dhrishtadyumna, brother of Draupadi, led the Pandava.
40The blowing of the conches shook the earth,
41and the sky was darkened by the arrows.

The Death of Bhishma

42For ten days Bhishma held the field, killing thousands.
43On the tenth day, Arjuna set Sikhandin before him in the chariot.
44Bhishma, seeing Sikhandin (born a woman), laid down his weapons and would not fight.
45Then Arjuna's arrows pierced him from throat to feet.
46Bhishma fell — but not to earth, for the arrows held him suspended in the air.
47Both armies stopped, and stood in silence around him.
48"I shall not die yet," said Bhishma. "I hold power over my own death,
49and I shall wait for the uttarayana — the sun's northern course."

The Death of Karna

50On the seventeenth day, Karna and Arjuna met.
51Long they fought. Karna's chariot-wheel sank in the mud.
52He leapt down to lift it, and cried out:
53"Wait, Arjuna! It is not fair to strike a man on foot!"
54But Krishna, sitting as Arjuna's charioteer, replied:
55"Where was your righteousness, Karna, when Draupadi was insulted?
56Where was your righteousness when the Pandavas were exiled?
57Now cease this talk of righteousness. Arjuna, strike!"
58Arjuna loosed the Anjalika arrow.
59It severed the head of Karna, and it fell upon the earth.

After the War — The Final Journey

60The war ended with the destruction of the Kaurava host,
61but also of Draupadi's five sons, killed as they slept.
62Yudhishthira ruled the earth for many years.
63At last, feeling the weight of years and the loss of his kin,
64Yudhishthira set out with his brothers and Draupadi for the Himalayas.
65They walked northward until they reached Mount Meru.
66One by one they fell. First Draupadi, then Sahadeva,
67then Nakula, then Arjuna, then Bhima.
68Only Yudhishthira and a small dog continued the climb.
69At the summit, Indra came in his chariot to bear him to heaven.
70"Come, Yudhishthira, but leave the dog. Dogs may not enter heaven."
71Yudhishthira answered, "This dog has followed me faithfully.
72I will not abandon him. I will not go to heaven without him."
73Then the dog revealed himself as Dharma — righteousness itself.
74"You have passed the last test, O king. Ascend."
75And so Yudhishthira entered heaven, in his own body.

notes

The Mahabharata is one of the two great Sanskrit epics of ancient India (the other being the Ramayana), and is the longest epic poem ever written — about 100,000 shlokas (200,000 verse lines), roughly ten times the combined length of the Iliad and Odyssey. Its central narrative is the dynastic war between two sets of cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, culminating in the eighteen-day battle of Kurukshetra. But the epic is far more than this — it contains within itself the Bhagavad Gita (Krishna's discourse to Arjuna, delivered on the battlefield), numerous embedded stories, philosophical dialogues, dharmic teachings, and cosmological speculation. Traditionally attributed to the sage Vyasa (who is also a character within the epic — grandfather to both the Pandavas and Kauravas), it was almost certainly composed over centuries by many hands, with substantial redactions between roughly 400 BCE and 400 CE. The Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation (1883–1896) was the first complete English translation and remains a monumental scholarly achievement. It was funded by Pratap Chandra Roy of Calcutta and issued in 100 fascicles over 13 years. It is public domain. Translation: Kisari Mohan Ganguli, "The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa," Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1883-1896. Public domain.

HinduDharmaKarmaWar

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