Book review
The Mahabharata, the longest epic poem in the world, consists of about 100,000 slokas or Sanskrit verses. The author, it is said, is Veda Vyasa and Lord Ganesha his scribe. Veda Vyasa was witness to all the events and wanted to have them all written down in the Mahabharata, for posterity. He approached Lord Ganesha who agreed to take down the verses on condition that Veda Vyasa dictated the story without a pause. Veda Vyasa agreed provided Lord Ganesha grasped the meaning of what was dictated before writing it down. Lord Ganesha was willing and that is how the Mahabharata came to be written. Subsequently, over the centuries, the original poem grew in size when many a popular story found its way into the text.A major portion of the Mahabharata consists of independent stories, like the stories of Nala and Damayanti, Savitri, Shakuntala, Kacha and Devayani. These are woven into the main story of the feud and final war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, cousins as well as rivals. The Kauravas are ultimately annihilated in the war.The Mahabharata’s greatest contribution is the Bhagwad Gita. When Arjuna faces his cousins, arrayed before him for a fight, he becomes sad. He does not want to kill them for a paltry kingdom. Krishna, his charioteer reprimands him and tells him that being a Kshatriya it is his duty to fight. In eighteen long chapters he expounds his philosophy and convinces Arjuna; and in the process has given us one of the most valid scriptures of all times.