Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa (or "history"). Besides its epic narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, the Mahabharata contains much philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or purusharthas (12.161). The latter are enumerated as dharma (right action), artha (purpose), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation). Among the principal works and stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, an abbreviated version of the Ramayana, and the Rishyasringa, often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahabharata is attributed to Vyasa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The earliest parts of the text are not appreciably older than around 400 BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (ca. 4th c. CE). The title may be translated as "the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty". According to the Mahabharata itself, the tale is extended from a shorter version of 24,000 verses called simply Bhārata. With about one hundred thousand verses, long prose passages, or about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahabharata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Ramayana.

5 Shlok from Mahabharata

जरामृत्यू हि भूतानां खादितारौ वृकाविव । बलिनां दुर्बलानां च ह्रस्वानां महतामपि ॥

jarāmṛtyū hi bhūtānāṃ khāditārau vṛkāviva । balināṃ durbalānāṃ ca hrasvānāṃ mahatāmapi ॥

सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या नास्ति विद्यार्थिनः सुखम्। सुखार्थी वा त्यजेद्विद्यां विद्यार्थी वा त्यजेत्सुखम्॥

sukhārthinaḥ kuto vidyā nāsti vidyārthinaḥ sukham। sukhārthī vā tyajedvidyāṃ vidyārthī vā tyajetsukham॥

उत्थानेनामृतं लब्धमुत्थानेनासुरा हताः। उत्थानेन महेन्द्रेण श्रैष्ठ्यं प्राप्तं दिवीह च॥

utthānenāmṛtaṃ labdhamutthānenāsurā hatāḥ। utthānena mahendreṇa śraiṣṭhyaṃ prāptaṃ divīha ca॥

आकिञ्चन्ये न मोक्षोऽस्ति किञ्चन्ये नास्ति बन्धनम्। किञ्चन्ये चेतरे चैव जन्तुर्ज्ञानेन मुच्यते॥

ākiñcanye na mokṣo’sti kiñcanye nāsti bandhanam। kiñcanye cetare caiva janturjñānena mucyate॥

पुष्पिताः फलवन्तश्च तर्पयन्तीह मानवान् । वृक्षदं पुत्रवत् वृक्षास्तारयन्ति परत्र च ॥

puṣpitāḥ phalavantaśca tarpayantīha mānavān | vṛkṣadaṃ putravat vṛkṣāstārayanti paratra ca ||

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