Lesson 6: The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is the epic tale of the great war between the cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. This war is seen as a clash between Good and Evil, in which God Incarnate in the form of Krishna guides the Pandavas to victory.
Introduction
The Mahabharata was written by Vyasa. It was originally titled ‘Jaya’ meaning victory. He needed to concentrate on the composing so needed someone to write it down as he recited the verses. Finally Ganesh agreed to do so but put a condition that the recitation speed should be such that there is no break in the writing. Vyasa agreed but put forward his own condition. Ganesh must understand everything before he wrote it down. Whenever Vyasa needed time to compose the next verses he would first recite some complex verses. Ganesh would take time to figure out what they meant. This gave Vyasa the time he needed. At one point Ganesh’s quill broke while he was writing. He then broke one of his tusks (remember he had an elephant head) and continued writing. This is the reason that Ganesh is always depicted with one tusk. Over time, different narrators added verses to the epic. At one point the name was changed to Bharat. By 400 AD the epic was crystallized in the form we now have under the title Mahabharata.
We will assume that the text has been read and straight away begin discussion of some salient points. The warring cousins of the Mahabharata are descendants of the Moon demi-God. This lineage is traced. Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, plays a major role in the Mahabharata. His lineage can also be traced to the Moon demi-God. Some comparisons between the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are important in order to depict the changes in society. Three issues of social importance will be taken up. The first is Polyandry. Polygamy was acceptable but polyandry was not. Yet Draupadi, the central female character in the epic, has five husbands. The ill-fated game of dice raises certain issues on the status of women. We will discuss those in some depth. The story of Barbareek is often excluded from popular versions of the Mahabharata because it does not influence the main plot. It is being included in this course because it highlights one of the most pertinent contemporary issues – the concentration of power.
We shall use ‘The Indian Epics Retold’ as a text. In addition there is a wealth of material on Hindu mythology on the Internet. We will make full use of this.
Optional Exercises
1a. There is a summary of The Mahabharata on this site. Read it to refresh your memory.
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/file...
1b. This site has several images of Ganesha. Check them out to see if one tusk is missing.
http://www.vishvarupa.com/ganesha-1.html
