| abstract | - The Mahabharata is a great Indian epic, part of Hindu Mythology and a Narrative Poem primarily about the Civil War between two factions, the Kauravas and the Pandavas of the Puru dynasty who are Royal Cousins. It is popularly said to be written by the sage and Author Avatar "Ved-Vyasa" (meaning the Arranger of the Vedas). Though based on earlier oral stories, recording did not begin until around 400 BCE, according to the most widely accepted theories about its composition. The Epic starts with King Shantanu, the ancestor of the Purus falling in Love At First Sight with (unknown to him) River Goddess Ganga whose condition for marrying him is that he should refrain from questioning her about anything that she does. Ganga however appears to be a Complete Monster and a Jerkass and drowns every single child she begets as soon as they were born. Shantanu finally asks her to stop, only to find out that her sons are holy souls that, who, due to a crime of vandalism that they had committed, were forced to be born as mortal humans, and that by drowning them, she's letting them go back to the place where souls go after having transcended the cycle of rebirth. Ganga leaves and her son, Devadatta, becomes the apparent heir. Shantanu finds his Second Love, a young fisherwoman named Satyavati whom he cannot marry due to Parental Marriage Veto. The Wise Prince Devadutta promises to step away from the throne and to remain celibate for the rest of his life so that Satyavati's children can inherit the throne. Satyavati is allowed to marry Shantanu. Devadatta is hence called Bhishma or the 'one with a terrible vow'. Later on, he abducts three princesses from the kingdom of Kasi during a Svayamvara (a marriage ceremony where the princess gets to choose her husband), for his half-brother (the son of Satyavati and Shantanu) Vichitravira, to marry. Two of the princesses agree to wed his half brother. Amba, the eldest refuses but her lover, the King of Salva, refuses to take her back. She is unable to persuade Bhishma to wed her (and thus gain the respect that comes with marriage) and she takes up austerity, vowing to take her revenge on Bhishma which she eventually does. Vichitravira dies without an heir to the throne, and as Bhishma is unwilling to procreate, Satyavati calls on the sage Ved-Vyasa to impregnate the two widowed queens. Ved-Vyasa is the illegitimate offspring of Satyavati and Parashara, a wandering sage, before her marriage to Shantanu who was brought up by his father. Three children result, and are deemed to be the sons of Vichitravira. Blind Prince Dhritarashtra is the oldest, but due to his blindness, the right to be an emperor was passed down to Prince Pandu. Dhritarashtra marries the queen of Gandhara, Gandhari who brings along her brother, Chessmaster Shakuni. Pandu, the second son is sickly. He marries Princess Kunti and a second woman named Madri. He begets five children by magical means - his wife Kunti has the power to call any God to father her children. The third son, Vidura is wise but since his mother was a servant of the Palace and not a princess, he cannot rise beyond the rank of Prime minister. Pandu dies shortly after he exiles himself to the forest and Dhritarashtra remains king. The children of Dhritarashtra are called Kauravas and the children of Pandu are called Pandavas. A rivalry quickly develops and Duryodhana, the oldest of the Kauravas, resolves to eliminate his cousins. When Duryodhana attempts to wipe the Pandavas off by tricking them into living in a palace made of lac and then burning it down, they escape and resolve to hide their identity till they are in safe territory. On the way, they marry Draupadi, the Princess of Panchala. Meanwhile, King Dhritarastra learns of the plot to kill the Pandavas and, obviously displeased with the infighting, gifts them with half the kingdom. This does not please the Kauravas, and only add to their dislike of the Pandavas. Duryodana and his uncle, Shakuni, challenge the Pandavas to play in a dice game where the Pandavas stake and lose their kingdom, wealth, themselves and even temporarily their wife Draupadi (who is married to all five of the brothers). After being humiliated, they are exiled for thirteen years. King Dhritarashtra promises to give back their kingdom if they are not caught by the end of the Exile. His sons, however, are desperate to prevent this. Peace is exhausted and a war ensues. The Pandavas are five brothers The Man Behind the Man and the Xanatos Speed Chess Master of this entire epic is Krishna. The Kauravas consists of the numerous sons of Dhritarashtra and their allies. Subject to countless Alternative Character Interpretation. Mostly because of Moral Dissonance and most characters being Jerkass or worse, or some characters being Screwed By Destiny. Countless adaptations have taken place, and this epic is the Shakespeare of Indian literature.
- The Mahabharata can be called an epic by itself.
- Mahabharata , Μαχαμπαράτα, Μαχαβαράτα thumb|250px|Mahabharata Είναι ένα έπος.
- The Mahābhārata (Devanāgarī: महाभारत) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa (literally "history"), and forms an important part of Hindu mythology. It is of immense importance to culture in the Indian subcontinent, and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (dharma or duty, artha or purpose, kāma, pleasure or desire and moksha or liberation) takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'Self') and the workings of karma. The title may be translated as "the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty". According to the Mahābhārata's own testimony it is extended from a shorter version simply called Bhārata of 24,000 verses. Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyasa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and composition layers. Its earliest layers probably date back to the late Vedic period (ca. 8th c. BC) and it probably reached its final form by the time the Gupta period began (ca. 4th c. CE). With about one hundred thousand verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is one of the longest epic poems in the world. It is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, roughly five times longer than Dante's Divine Comedy, and about four times the length of the Ramayana. Including the Harivaṃśa, the Mahabharata has a total length of more than 90,000 verses.
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