By :

Akanksha Rohilla

Achlesh Negi

MAHABHARATA Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two great epics

of India, have captivated the hearts of its people for several millenniam

Hindu tradition has always considered these two epics as itihasa (verily did it exist thus) or history.

Modern scholars have largely conceded that the core of the epics could have had a historical basis.

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 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 a contemporary of the grandsire Bhisma and had a firsthand knowledge of most of the events described in the epic.

. Many verses of Mahabhrata composed by Vyasa were difficult for his scribe, Lord Ganesha to understand. These verses were understood by Ganesha in a split second’s break. This break allowed Vyasa to visualize the further verses. But, these verses are so difficult that 80% of them remain unsolved even today. There are 8800 such verses in the Mahabharata.

Major chapters in mahabharat

Adiparva Sabhaparva Vanparva/Aranyaparva Viratparva Udyogaparva Bhismaparva Dronaparva Karnaparya Salyaparva

Sauptikaparva Striparva Santiparva Anusasanikaparva Asvamedhikaparva Asramavasikaparva Mausalaparva Mahaparasthanika Svargarohana Parvas

Adiparva

The birth and eduction of Pandavas and Kauravas their early rivalries; marriage of Draupadi, the Pancala princess, to the Pandavas, Arjuna’s pilgrimage and marriage with Subhadra, sister of Sri Krishna.

Sabhaparva

The second deals mainly with the performance of the Rajasurya sacrifice by Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandava princes, the game of dice maneuvered by the wily Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, and its tragic consequences for the former.

Infuriated Duryodhana Plans to Destroy Pandavas

Vanaparva/Aranyaparva

The third chapter that covers the story of the Pandavas in exile in the Kamyaka forest.

The famous quiz, Yaksaprasna, belongs to this book.

The forth, is one of the smaller chapter dealing mainly with the stay of the Pandavas incognito in the kingdom of Virata.

Slaying of the villain Kicaka and the battle for rescuing the cattle of the king Virata which had been captured by the Kauravas to force the Pandavas to come out of their hiding, as also the wedding of the Virata princess Uttara with Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son, are the chief incidents portrayed here.

Virataparva

Abhimanyu

Udyogaparva The fifth, is also a short chapter which deals with

the peace parleys and preparations for the war curiously going together.

The most touching scene of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, disclosing to Karna the secret of his birth in her womb, and the statesmanship of Sri Krishna, who makes a last minute bid for peace, are the highlights of this section.

The famous discourse of the sage Santsujata to the blind kind Dhrtarastra, well-known as the Sanatsujatiya, which is full of philosophical truths.

Bhismaparva

Bhismaparva, contains the crown-gem of the epic, viz., the Bhagavad Gita.

Details descriptions of the first ten days of the war containing the superhuman exploits of the grandsire Bhisma, ultimately ending in his being mortally wounded by Arjuna, form the bulk of this section.

Since Bhisma had the unique boon of dying at will, he preferred to lie down on the bed of arrows and postpone his demise till the beginning of Uttarayana or the northern solstice.

Dronaparva

The seventh, apart from describing the heroic exploits of Drona, the preceptor, culminating in his death through stratagem, also contains an account of the brilliant achievements of the boy-hero Abhymanya on the battlefield and his tragic death.

Karnaparva

The eight chapter, details the glory death of the evil genius Dussasana, the second of the Kaurava brothers, at the hands of the colossal Bhima, and the fall of Karna himself at the hands of Arjuna after a bitter fight.

Salyaparva

The ninth chapter, describes the final encounter between Bhima and Duryodhana on the last day of the war, the latter succumbing to the mortal blow receiving during the duel.

Sauptikaparva

The tenth chapter, delineates the gruesome massacre of the Pandava army and its allies, in the night during sleep, by Asvatthaman, Drona’s Vengeful son.

Striparva

The eleventh chapter, describes graphically the pitiful lamentations of the women and widows of the dead warriors.

Santiparva / Anusasanikaparva

The twelfth and the thirteenth chapters, containing wonderful discourses on all aspects of Dharma by the patriarch Bhisma at the quest of Yudhisthira.

Bhisma’s demise and Yudhisthira’s coronation are the other incidents dealt with.

The two well-known hymns, Visnusahasranama and Sivasahasranama, as also the Anugita (a subsidiary discourse by Sri Krishma to Arjuna) are parts of these chapters.

Asvamedhikaparva

The fifteenth chapter, describes the departure of the old Dhrtarastra to the forest along with Gandhari, his spouse, and Kunti and their subsequent death in a forest fire.

Mausalaparva

The sixteenth chapter, gives an account of the mutual destruction of the Yadava heroes as also the death of Sri Krishna at the hands of a hunter.

Mahaprasthanika & Svargarohana Parvas

The last two chapters, give an account of the final journey of the Pandavas, their death on the way, with Yudhisthira alone reaching heaven.

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CHARACTERS

The Mahabharata presents us with a veritable arry of human characters, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

No type of human emotion, no deed of valour, generosity, sacrifice or meanness is missed here.

Nor is there any artificiality in these portrayals. A brief delineation of some of the more

important characters may now be attempted here.

Men Characters Sri Krishna Bhisma Yudhisthira Bhima Drona Vidura Duryodhana Dhrtarastra

Women Characters Dhaurpadi Kunti Gandhari

Sri Krishna

Said by the Vedas to be God, the Supreme Person, who is the origin of all other incarnations of the Godhead such as Vishnu and Nârâyana.

The Bhâgavata Purâna [Srîmad Bhâgavatam] contains extensive descriptions of his qualities and activities.

He spoke the Bhagavad Gîtâ to Arjuna at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war.

Bhishma Son of Shantanu, known as the "grandfather"

of the Kurus. Although he never became king, he officiated

at Hastinapura as regent until Vichitravirya was of age.

He is said to be an incarnation of Dyau, the chief Vasu.

The original text of the Mahâbhârata contains an entire Parva, the Shanti Parva, devoted to Bhîshma's instructions on religion and morality, which he delivered while lying on the bed of arrows.

BHISMA

Yudhisthira Eldest Pândava, born from the union of Kuntî

and the god Dharma. He performed a Rajasuya sacrifice which

established him as world emperor. Famous for his adherence to virtue and truth,

he is also known as Dharmaraja, as well as Ajatashatru, which means "one who has no enemies."

After the war he ruled the world for thirty-six years and was succeeded by Parîksit.

YUDHISTHIRA

Bhimasena Pându and Kuntî's second son, sired by Vayu, the

wind-god. After the great war he was installed by Yudhisthira

as crown prince. A story is told in the Skanda Purâna that Bhîma

became a little proud after the war, considering that it was by his own power that he had achieved success in the war.

All his brothers attributed their success to Krishna. Wanting to curb Bhîma's pride, Krishna took him on

Garuda and traveled a long way to the south, where they came to a great lake many miles wide.

Krishna sent Bhîma to find the source of the lake. Bhîma ran around its perimeter, but could not discover

its source. As he ran he encountered a number of powerful

Asuras. Bhîma found himself unable to defeat them and he ran

to Krishna for shelter. Krishna lifted and threw the lake away and dispersed

the Asura's (celestial demon). He said to Bhîma, "This lake was contained in

Kumbhakarna's skull, the Rakshasa killed by Râma in a previous age.

The warriors who attacked you were from a race of demons who fought with Ravana against Rama." Bhîma's pride was thus curbed.

Drona (Dronâcârya) The Kurus' martial teacher. The sage Bharadvaja once caught sight of the

Apsara Ghrtachi and, as a result, semen fell from his body, which he caught in a pot. Drona was later born from that pot.

He was taught by Agnivesha and Parasurama. Said to be an expansion of Brihaspati, the

celestial seer and preceptor of the gods.

Vidura Son of Vyâsadeva and a palace maidservant. He

was said to be an expansion of Yamaraja, the lord of justice. Once a rishi named Mandavya was mistaken for a robber. The king arrested and punished him by having him pierced by a lance. The sage later went to Yamarâja and asked why this had happened and was told that in his childhood he had pierced an insect with a blade of grass. Hearing that he had received punishment for a mistake made when he was still an ignorant child, the sage cursed Yamaraja to take birth on earth as a s'ûdra. Thus he became Vidura.

Duryodana Eldest of Dhritarâstra's sons and leader of the

Kauravas. From childhood he formed an enmity with the

Pândavas, which later resulted in the Kurukshetra war.

He was killed by Bhîma and went to the heavenly planets as a result of his adherence to kshatriya duties.

He was said to be an expansion of Kali, the god presiding over the dark age.

DURYODHANA

Dhritarastra The blind son of Vyâsadeva, born of Ambika

after the death of her husband, Vichitravirya. He became king in Hastinapura after Pându

retired to the forest. He was the father of the Kauravas. In the Bhâgavata Purâna it is said that, after

practicing yoga, he achieved liberation, merging into the Supreme Brahman at the end of his life

Draupathi / Panchali

Daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala, and wife of the five Pândavas.

In her previous life she was an ascetic woman named Nalayani who received a boon from Shiva that she would have five husbands in her next life.

The epitome of womanly skills, she once gave advice on how to serve a husband to Satyabhama, one of Krishna's principal wives.

She was said to be an expansion of the Goddess Lakshmi.

DRAUPADI

Kunti

The Pândavas' mother. She was the sister of Vasudeva, Krishna's

father. Her own father, Surasena, had given her as a

baby to his close friend King Kuntibhoja, who had no children.

She was named Prithâ at birth, but became better known as Kuntî after being raised by Kuntibhoja.

Gandhari Daughter of the king of Gandhara, who became

Dhritarâstra's wife. Having once pleased Vyâsadeva by her service,

she was blessed by the sage that she would have one hundred sons.

After marrying the blind Dhritarâstra, she covered her own eyes with a cloth for the rest of her life.

She is thus famous as one of the most chaste ladies in Vedic history.

She died in the forest with her husband and Kuntî.

BHIMA

Krishna’s role in Mahabharat

A Cleansing War

Vishnu is the metaphysical principle of all that is good. He is the deity that protects, sustains and supports this universe. Krishna is said to be an incarnation, an avatar of Vishnu/Vasudeva, or perhaps we might see this in terms of Krishna being an incarnation of Vishnu’s metaphysical principles. The purpose of this incarnation is to rid the world of those warriors, the Kshatriya who have forgotten theirDharma, and who have become greedy and cruel. Krishna has come for a war that will cleanse the earth at the end of the Dvapara Yuga.

 

Krishna’s decision

• Before the war, both Arjun and Duryodhan had gone to Krishna asking for help. Duryodhan had reached Krishna before Arjun and sat near his head. Arjun came after Duryodhan and sat near krishna's feet. When Krishna woke up, he saw Arjun first since he was right opposite his eye view and asked him his purpose of visit. However, since Duryodhan had come before Arjun, he got angry and complained that he came first. To this, Krishna replied that since he saw Arjun first therefore, his wish would be fulfilled first. Arjun given the chance asks Krishna to come on his side leaving Duryodhan more than happy, as he wanted the army and not unarmed Krishna.

Manager should decide on a Goal

A manager should have decided a Goal and Krishna had 3 clear cut Goals that he followed and achieved 100% targets.a) Paritranaya Sadhunaam – Welfare for Saintsb) Vinashaya Dushkritaam – Destroy Evilc) Dharmasansthapanaay Sambhavaami yuge yuge – To establish and strengthen Religion in every Era.

Motivationalspeaker

• When Arjun reached the battle field he loose his determination to fight when he saw that among the opponents were many of his relatives young and old and that he was going to kill them for the sake of Kingdom. He resisted from fighting and dropped arms. Krishna motivated him by his speech later named “Bhagwat Gita”that’s still read and followed. Arjun recovered and decided to fight.

Stretegies planner

• Pandavas and Kauravas had soldiers and warriors strength in the ratio of 7:11, Panadvas having 1.53 millions and 2.41 millions. With this count it was clear that the battle could be won only with Effective Strategies. The fact that Pandavas won the battle proves that Krishna was successful not only in buiding stretegies but in implementing them to achieve success.

Good leader

• When Krishna asked Arjuna and Duryodhana to choose between him and his army, the choice was, in fact, between a Leader and his Resources. While a Good Leader can gain from limited resources, a Bad Leader will loose even with vast resources. Knowing his excellent Leadership Qualities, Arjuna requested Krishna not only to lead the entire mission but to personally lead him by accepting to be his “Saarthi” (Charioteer), guide him and lead him to success.

Controlled approach

• Controlling an army of 1.53 million soldiers and warriors to fight against a bigger army was not a easy task. The 1.53 million soldiers were divided in seven divisions, led by a Commander each, further controlled by a Supreme Commander who himself was guided by the Pandavas and Krishna. This all was made possible with with help of Lord Krishna’s great Management ad Controlling Skills

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