Mahabharata presentation help

[govindablu]

Hi all,

 

I'me working on a huge presentation on the Mahabharata, and it's complimentary piece: the Gita. I'm working on every aspect from historical accuracy, to it's message to it's meaning to everyone who follows it.

 

I decided to come online and try to meet some people who have had some experiece with these texts in their lives to get a better sense of my direction.

 

I would like to know what both mean to you on a personal level and how they have changed you as a person, or etcetra....

I would really like to know what the Mahabharata represents to you personally and also on a universal human level/conscioussness...The morals values (insert your other nouns here!) you derive from it. The greater meaning...

 

I know this is a wide brush stroke to be asking this large question, but hopefully I can start from here and then maybe start a more detail engaged discussion here on this...

 

thank you, and hopefully many of you will help me find the answer.

 

thank you

govinda

[theist]

Sorry you have had no responses so far. As for myself I have only read a short translation by Kamala Subramaniam and therefore cannot engage in the wonderul topic you have introduced.

 

I believe the Indian born devotees will be much more familiar having heard these accounts from birth and may have much more personal experience to share.

 

I hope they join in.

[suchandra]

 

Hi all,

 

I'me working on a huge presentation on the Mahabharata, and it's complimentary piece: the Gita. I'm working on every aspect from historical accuracy, to it's message to it's meaning to everyone who follows it.

 

I decided to come online and try to meet some people who have had some experiece with these texts in their lives to get a better sense of my direction.

 

I would like to know what both mean to you on a personal level and how they have changed you as a person, or etcetra....

I would really like to know what the Mahabharata represents to you personally and also on a universal human level/conscioussness...The morals values (insert your other nouns here!) you derive from it. The greater meaning...

 

I know this is a wide brush stroke to be asking this large question, but hopefully I can start from here and then maybe start a more detail engaged discussion here on this...

 

thank you, and hopefully many of you will help me find the answer.

 

thank you

govinda

I was always moved about the deep psychology of the Mahabharata and how the Pandavas were put into such tribulations but always kept faith in Krishna. Somehow we were always waiting for the bonafide edition of the Mahabharata, since it became known that the popular editions are published by the mayavadhis....

[indulekhadasi]

It is a very good idea, what you are doing. I will tell you something. Many people know the basic storyline of the Mahabharata. So keep the basic things brief and make sure you dive into the details of each story. So lets say you are talking about the birth of Dhritarastra, Pandu and Vidura. To catch people's interest you can go into the details of Vidura. How in the previous life he was Yamaraja and he was cursed by Manduka Muni etc. That way your presentation will hold people's attention. This is my humble opinion. Thank you.

[suchandra]

 

It is a very good idea, what you are doing. I will tell you something. Many people know the basic storyline of the Mahabharata. So keep the basic things brief and make sure you dive into the details of each story. So lets say you are talking about the birth of Dhritarastra, Pandu and Vidura. To catch people's interest you can go into the details of Vidura. How in the previous life he was Yamaraja and he was cursed by Manduka Muni etc. That way your presentation will hold people's attention. This is my humble opinion. Thank you.

 

Mahabharata put to live:

 

India heritage park set for Bangalore

24 August 2007

In a bid to enlighten people about the Vedic history of India, plans have been unveiled for the construction of a Krishna Lila theme park in the southern city of Bangalore.

The park will be built with an investment of approximately US$12.2m, of which more than half will be spent on construction.

According to Shri Chanchalapathi Das, vice president of Iskcon Bangalore and vice chairman of The India Heritage Foundation, the decision to set up a theme park on the Vedic history of India was made in response to the increasing effects of globalisation on the Indian culture.

"The park will provide a 3D story-telling experience and will be a dignified presentation of the concept of Indian heritage," he told reporters in the area.

[theist]

This one incident from the Mahabharata, which I only know about from reading in in this puport, has effected my life in a positive way, although rather unsettling also. It has surfaced and resurfaced time and time again in my mind causing me to reflect on the priorities I have set for myself in this life. It is a very sobering lesson.

 

 

TRANSLATION Srimad Bhagavatam 7.2.57

Thus Yamaräja, in the guise of a small boy, told all the queens: You are all so foolish that you lament but do not see your own death. Afflicted by a poor fund of knowledge, you do not know that even if you lament for your dead husband for hundreds of years, you will never get him back alive, and in the meantime your lives will be finished.

 

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Yamaräja once asked Mahäräja Yudhisthira, "What is the most wonderful thing within this world?" Mahäräja Yudhisthira replied (Mahäbhärata, Vana-parva 313.116):

ahany ahani bhütäni

gacchantéha yamälayam

çeñäù sthävaram icchanti

kim äçcaryam ataù param

Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world. Everyone has to die because everyone is fully under the control of material nature, yet everyone thinks that he is independent, that whatever he likes he can do, that he will never meet death but live forever, and so on. So-called scientists are making various plans by which living entities in the future can live forever, but while they are thus pursuing such scientific knowledge, Yamaräja, in due course of time, will take them away from their business of so-called research.

[gHari]

I can talk about a small portion of the great epic, the part popularly known as the Bhagavad-gita.

 

Essentially the Bhagavad-gita teaches us to become sincere. The conditioned soul has so many desires and attachments that cause us to forget our real situation. We forget God, the most amazing part of existing. So we spend our lives running here and there, building and maintaining our egos, thrilling our senses, and generally avoiding God at every step.

 

This isn't our reality. We must get real, get sincere about being alive. Krsna outlines a number of yogic processes that can help us extricate ourselves from the daily drama of the physical plane. Eventually if we follow His instruction with some degree of sincerity, we can realize more and more our best interest is Sri Krsna.

 

Arjuna becomes overwhelmed, sits down, and decides to forget Krsna's desire. That is the state most find themselves in. However, Lord Krishna is Arjuna's best friend - He will not let His friend perish in futility. Krsna offers so much good loving advice to Arjuna on the battlefield. He lifts Arjuna up with knowledge and renunciation, and then Arjuna's despair is conquered. He again has a purpose, a direction, a reason to continue. And in the center, is Bhagavan Sri Krsna.

 

And that is what life is about. The Gita teaches us how to become real, sincere about life, and from there, only the miraculous awaits our every moment.

[Murali_Mohan_das]

 

Sorry you have had no responses so far. As for myself I have only read a short translation by Kamala Subramaniam and therefore cannot engage in the wonderul topic you have introduced.

 

Well, theist, you have *me* at a disadvantage. I think the only Mahabharat I've read was the Amar Chitra Katha comic book version!!!

 

Still, an important distinction in my mind is that Bhagavad Gita is not "complementary" to the Mahabharat, it is the very *HEART* of Mahabharat.

 

My only suggestion in making a presentation of the Mahabharat is to paint it in realistic strokes. Make the personalities accessible and believable. Avoid painting them in broad strokes as caricatures of themselves. They may have all been mahajanas and maharatis, but they were also living beings like any of us.

[theist]

 

Well, theist, you have *me* at a disadvantage. I think the only Mahabharat I've read was the Amar Chitra Katha comic book version!!!

 

Still, an important distinction in my mind is that Bhagavad Gita is not "complementary" to the Mahabharat, it is the very *HEART* of Mahabharat.

 

My only suggestion in making a presentation of the Mahabharat is to paint it in realistic strokes. Make the personalities accessible and believable. Avoid painting them in broad strokes as caricatures of themselves. They may have all been mahajanas and maharatis, but they were also living beings like any of us.

 

"Comic book version" LOL! Murali I love your light heartness. A real down home bhakta...when you aren't picking on me for being a crumb snatcher @ the NYSE that is.

 

Great point on the Gita. I forget that all the time and tend to see them as two separate works.

 

You may want to pick up Subramaniam's translation of the Mahabharata. I like her writing style a lot. Clear and crisp which makes for a read that is hard to put down.

[Murali_Mohan_das]

 

"Comic book version" LOL! Murali I love your light heartness. A real down home bhakta...when you aren't picking on me for being a crumb snatcher @ the NYSE that is.

That's amazing that you mention that (sad episode of poor behavior on my part)!!

 

When I saw this on that other thread, I was thinking about teasing you:

 

To really guage Prabhupada's impact we would need to follow all the souls touched over their next so many lifetimes.

I thought about saying, "Ah, so you're only a day-trader in the material sense. For your *spiritual* investments, you're a long-term investor"

 

Please accept my obeisances, Prabhu! You are very kind and merciful to a wretch like me.

[theist]

 

I thought about saying, "Ah, so you're only a day-trader in the material sense. For your *spiritual* investments, you're a long-term investor"

 

 

Another good one.

[suchandra]

 

Another good one.

When did Lord Krishna leave this planet and this Kali-yuga started?

February 20, 3102 B.C.

When did the war of Kuruksetra started, October 16, 3138 B.C.

10. Mahabharata Era

http://www.hknet.org.nz/aryaninvasion-page.htm

The Mahabharata has exercised a continuous and pervasive influence on the Indian mind for millennia. The Mahabharat, originally written by Sage Ved Vyas in Sanskrut, has been translated and adapted into numerous languages and a variety of expressions and interpretations have been derived from it. Dating back to "remote antiquity", it is still a living force in the life of the Indian masses. European scholars have maintained that the events described in the ancient Sanskrut texts are imaginary and subsequently, the Mahabharata derives to be a fictitious tale of a war fought between two rivalries. The dating of the Mahabharata has been a topic of research for the past several years. Various dates have been estimated referring to astronomical recordings, lineagial references, archaeological findings and other evidences. Encoding of the astronomical recordings in the text, the only way to provide time precision upto a day, or even less, have been performed by numerous mathematicians in the past. From the Vishnu Puraan (4:24:108,113) it is known that the Kali Age started with the death of Shree Krishna of the Mahabharata Age, the time for which is precisely known to be 2:27':30", February 20, 3102 B.C.

From internal evidences from the Mahabharata text, the coronation of Yudhisthira can be determined to be 36 years before Kali Yuga, i.e., 3138 B.C. There are other pointers in the epic text itself that lead to the same date (Udyog Parva: 142-18). One scholar, Dr. Shriram Sathe, has evaluated the opinions of numerous experts on the dating of the Mahabharat, a majority of whom appear to concur with the 3100 B.C. dateline and therefore this time frame can be safely accepted. Among others, one scholar Dr. Patnaik has done commendable work in this regard. He has calculated the date of the starting of the Mahabharata War to be October 16, 3138 B.C. from textual references available in the epic text. However, many others have calculated dates many years before 3100 B.C. Dr. P.V. Vartak from Pune, Bharat (India) has shown, in his book "Swayambhu" that the Great War to have initiated on 16th October 5561 B.C.

Greek records, like the ancestral links of Megasthenes to Shree Krishna, also provide some corroborating evidence to the 3100 B.C. date. Archaeologists have been successful in excavating Dwaraka, an important city during the Mahabharata era and Krishna's abode, which is said to have submerged into the sea around 2500 B.C. Mahabharat therefore precedes this date, and 3100 B.C. seems quite correct.

The remote antiquity of the Great War leads to a paucity or unavailability of archaeological records. However, archaeological evidence (Dwaraka, River Saraswati), inscriptions found at various places (Aihole, Belgaum, Nidhanpur), Greek records (Megasthenes), etc. provide interesting clues to the dateline of the Mahabharat. On one of the excavations obtained from the Egyptian Pyramid, dated to 3000 B.C, is found engraved a verse from the Bhagavad Geeta "vasanvsi jeernani yatha vihaya, navani ghrunnati naro parani" (Nava Bharat Times, 18-4-67). A tablet found in the Mohenjodaro sites depicts Lord Krishna and is dated to be 2600 B.C (Mackay's report, Part 1).

This finding confirms two things: Mahabharata must have definitely occurred before that date, and that the people of the Saraswati-Sindhu culture knew of Lord Krishna. Also, according to B.B. Lal, horse bones, vestiges of the Ashwamedh, have been discovered at Hastinapur. There is further stratigraphical evidence at Hastinapur showing the flood level at the times of Nichakshu, sixth in line from Parikshit which has been mentioned in the Puranas. Thus calculating backwards, the date of Yudhisthira/Mahabharata can be determined.

The dating of the Mahabharata is also significant in fixing the dates of the Vedantic (Upanishadic) texts, the famous Bhagavad Geeta and the Brahma Sutras. It is known that the end of the Vedic school of thought was marked by the composition of the Vedanta by Sage Ved Vyas, the illustrious author of the Mahabharata text (Rajgopalachari, "Indian Philosophy"). The basis of yogic school of thought, the Sankhya Yoga, has been mentioned by Lord Krishna in the famous Bhagavad Geeta discourse. This philosophy of Sankhya and other five schools of thought, definitely preceded the Upanishadic alias Vedantic expositions. All these schools known to have been inspired by the Vedic teachings, and were extant much prior to 3100 B.C.

The Brahma Sutras, which propound the essence of the Vedantic thought, were also composed by the illustrious Ved Vyas during the Mahabharata Era. Some Samhitas (eg.Taitiriya) and Brahmanas (eg. Taitiriya) also fall into the same period of ancient history (Vartak, "Swayambhu"). Many other Brahmanas (eg. Shatpath), Samhitas (eg.Sushrut), Shreemad Bhagwat etc. were 'composed' after the Mahabharata War. The chronological span of Indian history finishes its ancient epoch with the Mahabharata War and 5000 years have elapsed subsequently into the "new" age. Since the age of the Mahabharata War is now quite correctly known, it may very well serve as a convincing benchmark to relate and date other and related events in Indian history.