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WAR OF
MAHABHARATA
 A
Agenda

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 Introduction
Mahabharata, (Sanskrit: “Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty”) one of the two Sanskrit epic poems of ancient India
 (the other being the Ramayana). The Mahabharata is an important source of information on the development of 
Hinduism between 400 BCE and 200 CE and is regarded by Hindus as both a text about dharma (Hindu moral law)
and a history (itihasa, literally “that’s what happened”). Appearing in its present form about 400 CE,
the Mahabharata consists of a mass of mythological and didactic material arranged around a central heroic narrative
that tells of the struggle for sovereignty between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarashtra, the
descendant of Kuru) and the Pandavas (sons of Pandu). The poem is made up of almost 100,000 couplets—about
seven times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined—divided into 18 parvans, or sections, plus a
supplement titled Harivamsha (“Genealogy of the God Hari”; i.e., of Vishnu). Although it is unlikely that any single
person wrote the poem, its authorship is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who appears in the work as the
grandfather of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The date and even the historical occurrence of the war that is the
central event of the Mahabharata are much debated.

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 DATE AND AUTHORSHIP
• The great war should have taken place during 3139 BC ,writings of Megasthenes (312 BC) as also
internal astronomical evidence corroborate this date .
• Modern historians have assailed this theory and are inclined to accept a much better later date ,
viz, 1424 BC or 950 BC.
• Traditional lore ascribes the authorship of this epic to the great sage Veda Vyasa, also known as
Krsna Dvaipayana.
• He was contemporary of the grandsire Bhisma and had a firsthand knowledge of most of the
events described in the epic.
• Research scholars feel that the original work called Jaya , written by Vyasa to commemorate the
victory of the Pandava princes over the wicked Kauravas , might have been a much smaller work
comprising about 8800 verses.
• This was subsequently revised and enlarged into Bharata , a work of 24000 verses , by
Vaisampayana , a disciple of Vyasa , and recited during the Sarpayaga (serpent sacrifice) of
Janamejaya , the great grandson of the Pandava hero Arjuna.

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Primary goals
Annual revenue growth
THE KURUKSHETRA
WAR AND AFTERMATH
 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 charioteer. To
him Arjuna said, "Take me back, Krishna. I can't kill these
people. They're my father, my brothers, my teachers, my
uncles, my sons. What good is a kingdom that's gained at the
cost of their lives?" Then followed a philosophical discourse
that has today become a separate book on its own - the
Bhagavad Gita. Krishna explained the impermanence of life to
Arjuna, and the importance of doing one's duty and of sticking
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to the right path. Arjuna picked up his bow again. 7
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 The battle raged for 18 days. The army totalled 18 akshauhinis, 7 on
the Panadava side and 11 on the Kaurava (1 akshauhini = 21,870
chariots + 21,870 elephants + 65,610 horses + 109,350 soldiers on
foot). Casualties on both sides were high. When it all ended, the
Pandavas had won the war but lost almost everyone they held dear.
Duryodhan and all of the Kauravas had died, as had all of the
menfolk of Draupadi's family, including all of her sons by the
Pandavas. The now-dead Karna was revealed to be a son of Kunti's
from before her marriage to Pandu, and thus, the eldest Pandava and
the rightful heir to the throne. The grand old man, Bheeshm, lay
dying; their teacher Drona was dead as were several kinsfolk related
to them either by blood or by marriage. In about 18 days, the entire
country lost almost three generations of its men. It was a war not
seen on a scale before, it was the Great Indian war, the Maha-bharat.

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 After the war, Yudhishthir became king of Hastinapur and
Indraprastha. The Pandavas ruled for 36 years, after which
they abdicated in favour of Abhimanyu's son, Parikshit. The
Pandavas and Draupadi proceeded on foot to the Himalayas,
intending to live out their last days climbing the slopes
heavenwards. One by one, they fell on this last journey and
their spirits ascended to the heavens. Years later, Parikshit's
son succeeded his father as king. He held a big sacrifice, at
which this entire story was recited for the first time by a
disciple of Vyasa called Vaishampayan.

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 L
LEGACY
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. Beyond India,
the Mahabharata story is popular in south-east Asia in
cultures that were influenced by Hinduism such as
Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Thank you

- Ankur Kaushik
- 22BCON143