This document provides an overview of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It discusses that the epic was composed in Sanskrit between 300 BC and 300 AD, making it one of the longest works of literature in the world. It recounts a historical war that took place around 1000 BC between the Kauravas and Pandavas dynasties. While some characters and events may be based on history, much of the epic contains additional myths and teachings rather than a literal historical account. The document also examines some key characters, like Yudhisthira, and themes around caste discrimination in episodes like that of Eklavya.

1. 
BY - M.AMAN MASIS
XII-G

2. 
WE GRATEFUULY ACKNOWLEDGE THE VALUABLE GUIDANCE & SUPPORT GIVEN
TO US BY OUR HISTORY TEACHER Mrs. ASHA
JAKHMOLA IN SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING OUR PROJECT FILE.
PROJECT GIVE US AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES TO APPLY US THE CRITICAL & ANALYTICAL
KNOWLEDGE TO ENTER RIGHT CONCLUSION.

5. Mahabharata is name of the book in Sanskrit
language.
Composed B/W 300 B.C & 300 A.D .
Has the Honor of being the longest Epic in
World Literature.
Work is divided into 18 Books(concerning 18
Days of Warthat took place around 1000 BC)

6. In this course of Narration stories aregiven of Ancestors of Heroes who fought
the Battle.
Onlyabout 4000 lines relate to main story ;the restcontain additional Myth &
Teachings.

8. 
. According to Indian traditionthe Mahabharata
is the Literary record of the Historical War
fought B/W“ Kauravas ” & “ Pandavas ”.
.From the values point of view that war was
B/W “Evil” and “Good”.
.In Hindu mythologypopular stories are woven
around Vedic themes they had nothing todo
with History.
In Vedic literature alsonames like
‘PARIKSHIT’ , ‘SANTANU’, ‘DEVAPI’ are found
which are similarto characters of
Mahabharata.

9. 
In Mahabharata occurrence of no.5 is about 81 times indifferent
context and a few Hundreds in total.
Composer must have seen some Sacredness in that Number.
It could be evenSpiritual,as itwas more used in a spiritual context. For e.g-
“Five Pranas”, “Five Indriyas” .

10. 
.Throughoutthe Epic in Battle ,Warriorsused Five Arrows, TenArrowsfor
hitting each other.
.It is clear that composer was more concernedabout Spiritual aspect and
hence, the Historicity would be doubted presentedin the Epic.
THIS CAN’TBE A MERE COINCIDENCEABOUTOBSESSIONOF NUMBER
5 IN THE EPIC.

11. On comparing“Mahabharata” with “Battleof Ten Kings” , it is clear that one to
one mappingof characters can be done.
Sudas ,a Bharataking = Yudhistra , another
Bharataking, son of Dharma.
Vasista, chief priest of Sudas = Vyasa,
descendants of vasista .
Indra, chief god of Battles= Arjuna, sonof
Indra ,chief fighter among Pandavas.

12. 
I concludeby saying that Epicwas Dramatized version
of “Battleof Ten Kings”andthere is no Historicity
involved in thisEpic.

14. 
TheGreat war should have taken place during
3139 B.C.
Traditional ascribesthe Authorshipofthis
Epic to Great sage Veda Vyasa, also known
as ‘KrisnaDvaipayana’.
ResearchScholarsfeel that original work
called Jaya, might have been a muchsmaller
work comprising of 8800 verses.
Thefinal Edition that come tous is the work of Suta Ugrasravas,
son ofLomaharsana.

15. 
It is this has been called Mahabharata, due to it’s
Immense Size and it’s dealingwiththe story of people of
the race descended from the emperor Bharata.

17. 
THERE ARE 16 PARVAS IN THE
MAHABHARATA
1. Adi‐parva,
2. Sabha‐parva,
3. Vana‐parva,
4. Virat‐parva,
5. Udyog‐parva,
6. Bhism‐parva,
7. Drone‐parva,
8. Shalya‐parva,
9. Saupitaka‐parva
10. Stri‐parva,
11. Shanti‐parva,
12. Anushasana parva,
13.Ashvamedheka‐parv
14. Mausala‐parva,
15.Mahaprasthana‐parva,
16. Swargarohana‐parva

19. 
SECTIONS CONTAINS STORIES , DESIGNATED AS
NARRATIVE. THIS USUALLY CONTAIN A SOCIAL
MESSAGE.

20. 
SECTION CONTAINS PRESCRIPTIONS ABOUT
SOCIAL TERMS .
2. CONTAINS STORIES ,WHICHWERE ADDED
LATER WHEN THE WORSHIP OF KRISHNA
BECAME POPULARAS AN INCARNATION OF
VISHNU.

21. 
THIS TEXT IS DESCRIBEDAS “ITIHASA” , LITERALLY MEANS
‘THUS IT WAS’.
THIS IS WHY IT IS TRANSLATED AS “HISTORY”

23. (MEANS WHO IS FIRM IN A BATTLE)
His other is name is king “Dharma”, and oftenaddressed as ‘Son of Dharma’in
the epic.
Eldestamong Five Pandavas , born from union of Kunti and the God Dharma.
Also known as “Dharmaraja”& “Ajatsatru” means who has noenemies.
After the War , he ruled for Thirty Six years and was succeded by Parikshit.

24. 
ABOVE QUOTES ABOUT YUDHISTHIRA CLEARLY
TESTIFYHIS CHARACTER AS “PURIFYING AGNI”.

25. Episode of Eklavya also indicates the
attitude of High Caste Brahamins had for
Nishadas.
He was the son of Hiranyadhanus (King of
Nishadas) , came for the learning science of
Arms by Drona.
But according to the rules of Morality , the
Nishada boy can’t became a better Archer than
High Born Boy.
SO AVOIDING SUCH POSSIBILITY , DRONA HAD
REFUSED TO ACCEPT EKLAVYA AS HIS PUPIL.

26. 
Eklavya went into the Forest wherehe made a
clay image of Drona and began practicing
weapon and became a GoodArcher.
When Princes meetEklavya , this createda
feeling of Jealously in the mind of Prince
“Arjuna” .
Drona thought and went to Eklavya with Arjuna
Dronacharya played Ruthlessly and Demanded
Thumb of Right Hand of Eklavya.
IN RESPONSE TO THIS CRUEL DEMAND, EKLAVYA CUT
HIS RIGHT THUMB AND ARJUNA BECAME HAPPY.