The purport of the mahAbhArata

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The mahAbhArata is one of the greatest epics in the world. At the beginning

of the work the author, sage VyAsa, claims with confidence: " What is here

may also be found elsewhere, but what is not here will not be found anywhere

else " .

 

The mahAbhArata is full of accounts of battles in which kinsmen kill one

another and of many deceitful practices indulged in by them. Because of all

this a belief has grown that if this book is read in a home it will lead to

strife within the family. That there is no basis for any such fear is

evident from what Anandavardhana, one of the greatest names in Sanskrit

poetics, says about this epic in his work on poetics known as DhvanyAloka.

This is what he says:--

 

" In the mahAbhArata, which combines both the elements of instruction and

poetry in one, it will be seen that its conclusion in a note of despair

consequent on the miserable deaths of VRshNis as well as pANDavas, as

constructed by the great sage, reveals his primary intention of preaching

the moral of renunciation through his work and throws light upon the fact

that he intended final emancipation as the foremost of human values and

Peace as the most predominant sentiment in the whole work. The description

of the exploits of the pANDavas is meant to produce a sense of renunciation;

renunciation, in its turn, is the very basic instrument of final

emancipation; and final emancipation has itself been shown in the

Bhagavadgita and other works to be a sure means towards the attainment of

the Supreme Reality. In the Introductory chapter the sage says:--

 

'Herein, forsooth, will be glorified

 

Lord Vasudeva too, the Eternal'.

 

Hence we are justified in saying that the purport implied by the sage

by the above sentence in the Introductory chapter is the perishable nature

of everything with the single exception of the supreme Lord and that the

mahAbhArata as a whole is intended by him to convey the highest human value,

namely, final emancipation, when the work is regarded as a scripture, and to

delineate the sentiment of Quietude (shAnta rasa)—whose nature is of

heightened tranquility and happiness at the cessation of desire--- as the

predominant sentiment in the work when it is regarded as a poem " .

 

Thus the real purport of this epic is to convey the means to liberation. In

fact this is the purport of all our epics and purANas and not only of the

upanishads. Without knowing this, some people look down upon the purANas as

meant only for illiterate villagers and uneducated old women. They do not

realize that from the point of view of real knowledge, para vidya, the most

brilliant scientist or economist or scholar in any field is as ignorant as

the illiterate villager, if not more. Sri Sankara addresses people as

'mUDha' in his Bhaja govindam. This word does not mean 'fool' or 'one

deficient in intelligence'. It is derived from the verbal root 'muh' which

means 'to be deluded'. Every one who looks upon the world as a reality is

deluded from the point of view of advaita, however intelligent and however

brilliant he may be in his chosen field. That is why Sri Sankara addresses

every one as 'mUDha'. Only the enlightened is not a mUDha in this sense.

 

S.N.Sastri

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " S.N. Sastri " <sn.sastri wrote:

>

> The mahAbhArata is one of the greatest epics in the world. At the

beginning

> of the work the author, sage VyAsa, claims with confidence: " What

is here

> may also be found elsewhere, but what is not here will not be found

anywhere

> else " .

 

Sri Shastriji, thanks for this topic. My childhood introduction to

this epic came from Amar Chitra katha, Rajaji's english book and on

hearing it from elders. Recently I read Cho's tamil work (my reading

in Tamil is not fast/good but his writing was simple and the interest

was there.) More recently, I read Kamala Subramaniam's English

translation multiple times; would recommend this or Rajaji's version

to English speakers new to this epic.

 

The stories and characters are so intensely human, one feels that the

central outline was real history, perhaps glamourized with epic

flavour. It is also stunning to see how the kshatriyas adhered to the

sense of honour, etc.; that almost seems surreal but one is caught

with the spirit of dharma pervading the epic. For me, the concept of

Dharma is central; its importance is stressed throughout even as the

human dilemma in adhering to dharma is highlighted throughout.

 

Duruyodana knew right from wrong and yet was propelled to wrong.

Karna knew death was certain by fighting for his friend; yet he had

to do only that. There are so many chilling incidents in the war,

like the abhimanya killing, bhoorisvaras killing by Satyaki, the

lying to Drona in the war-middle and his execution by his disciple

Dhrishtadyumna, and before the war, the episodes of Draupadi's

torment with the five brothers/husbands silently watching ! Like

Rama's acceptance of Dasaratha's boon and its consequence, Bheema

inspite of all frustration never broke his elder brother's decisions.

The whole epic is a mind-boggling lesson.

 

You have raised the more subtle point that even while the human side

of dharma,etc is stressed, the epic's real intent is to guide through

such to the ultimate goal of moksha. This is something one (like

myself) can easily forget and worth remembering.

 

Hope others share their views on the epic as well.

 

thollmelukaalkizhu

 

>

> The mahAbhArata is full of accounts of battles in which kinsmen

kill one

> another and of many deceitful practices indulged in by them.

Because of all

> this a belief has grown that if this book is read in a home it will

lead to

> strife within the family. That there is no basis for any such fear

is

> evident from what Anandavardhana, one of the greatest names in

Sanskrit

> poetics, says about this epic in his work on poetics known as

DhvanyAloka.

> This is what he says:--

>

> " In the mahAbhArata, which combines both the elements of

instruction and

> poetry in one, it will be seen that its conclusion in a note of

despair

> consequent on the miserable deaths of VRshNis as well as pANDavas,

as

> constructed by the great sage, reveals his primary intention of

preaching

> the moral of renunciation through his work and throws light upon

the fact

> that he intended final emancipation as the foremost of human values

and

> Peace as the most predominant sentiment in the whole work. The

description

> of the exploits of the pANDavas is meant to produce a sense of

renunciation;

> renunciation, in its turn, is the very basic instrument of final

> emancipation; and final emancipation has itself been shown in the

> Bhagavadgita and other works to be a sure means towards the

attainment of

> the Supreme Reality. In the Introductory chapter the sage says:--

>

> 'Herein, forsooth, will be glorified

>

> Lord Vasudeva too, the Eternal'.

>

> Hence we are justified in saying that the purport implied by

the sage

> by the above sentence in the Introductory chapter is the perishable

nature

> of everything with the single exception of the supreme Lord and

that the

> mahAbhArata as a whole is intended by him to convey the highest

human value,

> namely, final emancipation, when the work is regarded as a

scripture, and to

> delineate the sentiment of Quietude (shAnta rasa)—whose nature is of

> heightened tranquility and happiness at the cessation of desire---

as the

> predominant sentiment in the work when it is regarded as a poem " .

>

> Thus the real purport of this epic is to convey the means to

liberation. In

> fact this is the purport of all our epics and purANas and not only

of the

> upanishads. Without knowing this, some people look down upon the

purANas as

> meant only for illiterate villagers and uneducated old women. They

do not

> realize that from the point of view of real knowledge, para vidya,

the most

> brilliant scientist or economist or scholar in any field is as

ignorant as

> the illiterate villager, if not more. Sri Sankara addresses people

as

> 'mUDha' in his Bhaja govindam. This word does not mean 'fool'

or 'one

> deficient in intelligence'. It is derived from the verbal

root 'muh' which

> means 'to be deluded'. Every one who looks upon the world as a

reality is

> deluded from the point of view of advaita, however intelligent and

however

> brilliant he may be in his chosen field. That is why Sri Sankara

addresses

> every one as 'mUDha'. Only the enlightened is not a mUDha in this

sense.

>

> S.N.Sastri

>

>

>