Mahabharata

 Mahabharata: 

Religion: Hinduism

Definition: Said to be the longest poem in the world with approximately 100,000 verses. Many people own copies of an extract from it called the Bhagavad Gita. The Mahabharata is the story of the great struggle among the descendants of a king named Bharata. The main part of the story concerns a war between the Padavas and the Kauravas. All the major kingdoms are forced to take sides during the battle. Among the supporters of the Pandavas is Krishna, an incarceration or the god Vishnu who is among the most beloved figures in Hinduism. Though Krishna refuses to take up arms, he agrees to serve as a charioteer for the warrior Arjuna, who in later centuries would come to be seen as symbolizing the human soul in quest of salvation. Arjuna becomes distressed at the thought of fighting his own kin and asks Krishna whether it is correct to fight a war in which many lives will be lost. Krishna replies that it is correct to fight for what is right; one must try peaceful means, but if they fail one must fight for righteousness. In the conversation that follows, which unfolds across the 18 chapters of the Gita, Krishna instructs Arjuna on the nature of God and the human soul, and how to reach liberation.



 Significance: One of the holiest books in the Hindu tradition. It teaches loving devotion to Krishna and the importance of selfless action. For centuries, people learned in by heart. In the verses that are still recited at Hindu funerals, Krishna describes the soul as existing beyond the reach of the mind and the sense, unaffected by physical nature. (mila)





 Can be considered a narrative treatise on dharma, clarifying and developing vedic ideas of karma, samsara, and moksha (Krishna tells Arjuna that moksha, escape from samara, is possible in three way: karma yoga (the way of action), jnana yoga (the way of knowledge), and bhakti yoga (the way of devotion)). [Priya]