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The god Krishna acts as a charioteer to Arjuna in the battle of the Bhagavad Gita, a section of the Mahabharata. Taken from an illustrated manuscript scroll, 1795 C.E. held in the archive collection at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. |
Just war |
The Mahābhārata offers one of the first instances of theorizing about dharmayuddha, "just war", illustrating many of the standards that would be debated later across the world. In the story, one of five brothers asks if the suffering caused by war can ever be justified. A long discussion ensues between the siblings, es... |
Translations, versions and derivative works |
Translations |
Bhishma on his death-bed of arrows with the Pandavas and Krishna. Folio from the Razmnama (1761–1763), Persian translation of the Mahabharata, commissioned by Mughal emperor Akbar. The Pandavas are dressed in Persian armour and robes |
The first Bengali translations of the Mahabharata emerged in the 16th century. It is disputed whether Kavindra Parameshwar of Hooghly (based in Chittagong during his writing) or Sri Sanjay of Sylhet was the first to translate it into Bengali. |
A Persian translation of Mahabharata, titled Razmnameh, was produced at Akbar's orders, by Faizi and ʽAbd al-Qadir Badayuni in the 18th century.[74] |
The first complete English translation was the Victorian prose version by Kisari Mohan Ganguli,[75] published between 1883 and 1896 (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers) and by M. N. Dutt (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers). Most critics consider the translation by Ganguli to be faithful to the original text. The complete tex... |
An early poetry translation by Romesh Chunder Dutt and published in 1898 condenses the main themes of the Mahābhārata into English verse.[78] A later poetic "transcreation" (author's description) of the full epic into English, done by the poet P. Lal, is complete, and in 2005 began being published by Writers Workshop, ... |
A project to translate the full epic into English prose, translated by various hands, began to appear in 2005 from the Clay Sanskrit Library, published by New York University Press. The translation is based not on the Critical Edition but on the version known to the commentator Nīlakaṇṭha. Currently available are 15 vo... |
Indian Vedic Scholar Shripad Damodar Satwalekar translated the Critical Edition of Mahabharata into Hindi[81] which was assigned to him by the Government of India. After his death, the task was taken up by Shrutisheel Sharma.[82][83][note 1] |
Indian economist Bibek Debroy also wrote an unabridged English translation in ten volumes. Volume 1: Adi Parva was published in March 2010, and the last two volumes were published in December 2014. Abhinav Agarwal referred to Debroy's translation as "thoroughly enjoyable and impressively scholarly".[80] In a review of ... |
Another English prose translation of the full epic, based on the Critical Edition, is in progress, published by University of Chicago Press. It was initiated by Indologist J. A. B. van Buitenen (books 1–5) and, following a 20-year hiatus caused by the death of van Buitenen is being continued by several scholars. James ... |
Many condensed versions, abridgments and novelistic prose retellings of the complete epic have been published in English, including works by Ramesh Menon, William Buck, R. K. Narayan, C. Rajagopalachari, Kamala Subramaniam, K. M. Munshi, Krishna Dharma Dasa, Purnaprajna Dasa, Romesh C. Dutt, Bharadvaja Sarma, John D. S... |
Critical Edition |
Between 1919 and 1966, scholars at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, compared the various manuscripts of the epic from India and abroad and produced the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata, on 13,000 pages in 19 volumes, over the span of 47 years, followed by the Harivamsha in another two volumes and si... |
Regional versions |
Many regional versions of the work developed over time, mostly differing only in minor details, or with verses or subsidiary stories being added. These include the Tamil street theatre, terukkuttu and kattaikkuttu, the plays of which use themes from the Tamil language versions of Mahābhārata, focusing on Draupadi.[88] |
The Pandavas and Krishna in an act of the Javanese wayang wong performance |
Outside the Indian subcontinent, in Indonesia, a version was developed in ancient Java as Kakawin Bhāratayuddha in the 11th century under the patronage of King Dharmawangsa (990–1016)[89] and later it spread to the neighboring island of Bali, which remains a Hindu majority island today. It has become the fertile source... |
A Kawi version of the Mahabharata, of which eight of the eighteen parvas survive, is found on the Indonesian island of Bali. It has been translated into English by Dr. I. Gusti Putu Phalgunadi.[90] |
Derivative literature |
Bhasa, the 2nd- or 3rd-century CE Sanskrit playwright, wrote two plays on episodes in the Marabharata, Urubhanga (Broken Thigh), about the fight between Duryodhana and Bhima, while Madhyamavyayoga (The Middle One) set around Bhima and his son, Ghatotkacha. The first important play of 20th century was Andha Yug (The Bli... |
Amar Chitra Katha published a 1,260-page comic book version of the Mahabharata.[94] |
In film and television |
Krishna as portrayed in Yakshagana from Karnataka which is based largely on stories of Mahabharata |
In Indian cinema, several film versions of the epic have been made, dating back to 1920. The Mahābhārata was also reinterpreted by Shyam Benegal in Kalyug.[95] Prakash Jha directed 2010 film Raajneeti was partially inspired by the Mahabharata.[96] A 2013 animated adaptation holds the record for India's most expensive a... |
In 1988, B. R. Chopra created a television series named Mahabharat. It was directed by Ravi Chopra,[98] and was televised on India's national television (Doordarshan). The same year as Mahabharat was being shown on Doordarshan, that same company's other television show, Bharat Ek Khoj, also directed by Shyam Benegal, s... |
A Zee TV television series aired from 26 October 2001 to 26 July 2002 and starred Siraj Mustafa Khan as Krishna and Suneel Mattoo as Yudhishthira.[100][101][102] |
Uncompleted projects on the Mahābhārata include one by Rajkumar Santoshi,[103] and a theatrical adaptation planned by Satyajit Ray.[104] |
In folk culture |
Every year in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, villagers perform the Pandav Lila, a ritual re-enactment of episodes from the Mahabharata through dancing, singing, and recitation. The lila is a cultural highlight of the year and is usually performed between November and February. Folk instruments of the region, dhol, ... |
Jain version |
Further information: Salakapurusa |
Depiction of wedding procession of Neminatha. The enclosure shows the animals that are to be slaughtered for food for weddings. Overcome with Compassion for animals, Neminatha refused to marry and renounced his kingdom to become a Shramana |
Jain versions of Mahābhārata can be found in the various Jain texts like Harivamsapurana (the story of Harivamsa) Trisastisalakapurusa Caritra (Hagiography of 63 Illustrious persons), Pandavacharitra (lives of Pandavas) and Pandavapurana (stories of Pandavas).[106] From the earlier canonical literature, Antakrddaaśāh (... |
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different Yogic[114] and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life.[115] In ... |
It has also inspired several works of modern Hindi literature, such as Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's Rashmirathi, which is a rendition of Mahabharata centered around Karna and his conflicts. It was written in 1952, and won the prestigious Jnanpith Award in 1972. |
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