Indian mythology. Literary assessment of the Mahabharata Editions and translations of the Mahabharata

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Meaning of the word mahabharata

Mahabharata in the crossword dictionary

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

mahabharata

epic of the peoples of India. It acquired its modern appearance in the middle. 1st thousand. Authorship is attributed to Vyasa. It consists of 18 books, introductory epic tales mainly of a folklore nature ("The Tale of Nala", "The Tale of Savitri"). "Mahabharata" is the source of many plots and images that have been developed in the literature of Asian countries.

Mahabharata

"Mahabharata"(Sanskrit ≈ “The Tale of the Great Bharata”), an epic of the peoples of India. It was formed on the basis of oral tales and legends that existed among the tribes and nationalities of northwestern and northern India. Its origins go back to the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e.: acquired its modern appearance by the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. It is believed that the original legend "M." originated in the Prakrits and was only subsequently expounded in Sanskrit. In the center "M." ≈ a story about the battle of two clans and their allies for dominance over Hastinapura (now Delhi), which is waged on behalf of the legendary author of the epic Vyas, as well as the characters in the story. "M." consists of 18 books, several introductory epic tales, very indirectly related to the main plot, and many tales and legends mainly of a folklore nature: “The Tale of Shakuntala”, “The Tale of Rama”, “The Tale of Matsya”, “The Tale of King Shivi” ", "The Tale of Nala", "The Tale of Savitri", a philosophical poem of later origin "Bhagavad Gita" and others

"M." ≈ a rich source of plots and images that were developed in the national literatures of the peoples of India, Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, which were also reflected in the literatures of Tibet and Mongolia. In each of the national literatures, the plots of “M.” during translation they received their own interpretation in accordance with the era and specific national environment. In Europe "M." became known from the end of the 18th century, when the Bhagavad Gita appeared in English, German and Russian. Complete translations until 1948 existed only in English. In 1950–67, a translation into Russian of three books of “M.”, carried out by V. I. Kalyanov, was published; The most important parts of the epic, translated by B. L. Smirnov, were also published. Significant contribution to the study of "M." made by European scientists F. Bopp, L. Schroeder, H. Lassen, S. Sorensen, G. Bühler and others, as well as Indian scientists who undertook the experience of creating a critical text “M.” (V.S. Sukthankar and others).

Publisher: The Mahabharata. For the first time critically, ed. by V. S, Sukthankar, v. 1≈18, Poona, 1933≈66; in Russian translation ≈ Nal and Damayanti, translation by V. A. Zhukovsky, M., 1958; Mahabharata, book. 1≈2, 4, M. ≈ Leningrad, 1950≈67; Mahabharata, introductory article and notes by B. L. Smirnov, [vol.] 1≈7, Ash., 1955≈63; Mahabharata, or the Legend of the Great Battle of the Descendants of Bharata. Ancient Indian epic. Literary presentation by E. N. Tyomkin and V. G. Erman, M., 1963.

Lit.: Grintser P. A., Mahabharata and Ramayana, M., 1970; Serebryakov I. D., Essays on ancient Indian literature, M. 1971, p. 69≈84; Sukthankar V. S.. On the meaning of the Mahabharata, Bombay, 1957.

I. D. Serebryakov.

Wikipedia

Mahabharata (cartoon)

« Mahabharata" - an animated film adaptation of the ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata" directed by Amaan Khan. The film premiered on December 26, 2013.

Mahabharata

Mahabharata"("The Great Legend of the Descendants of Bharata", named after King Bharata, a descendant of the ancient king Kuru) is an ancient Indian epic. One of the largest literary works in the world, the Mahabharata is a complex but organic complex of epic narratives, short stories, fables, parables, legends, lyric-didactic dialogues, didactic discussions of theological, political, legal nature, cosmogonic myths, genealogies, hymns, Lamentations, united according to the principle of framing typical of large forms of Indian literature, consists of eighteen books and contains more than 75,000 couplets (slokas), which is several times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey taken together. "Mahabharata" is the source of many plots and images that were developed in the literature of the peoples of South and Southeast Asia. In Indian tradition it is considered the "fifth Veda". One of the few works of world literature that claims about itself that it contains everything in the world.

The television series was produced by Swastik Pictures and featured actors like Saurabh Raj Jain (as Krishna), Shaheer Sheikh (as Arjuna), Pooja Sharma (as Draupadi), Aham Sharma (as Karna) and Arav Choudhary (as Bhishma ).

Examples of the use of the word mahabharata in literature.

And this story, which Mahabharata pierces like the golden mountain Meru pierces the Three Worlds, the rings of the Great Shesh and the twenty-eight tiers of hell.

Many people have heard of the Mahabharata, the ancient epic that includes the Bhagavad Gita. Some even read this literary monument as an interesting ancient myth telling about a huge and terrible battle at Kurukshetra, between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. I confess that when I read this voluminous work for the first time, I also did not notice the full depth of the important and accurate knowledge that is indicated in it. I will try to tell very briefly what the Mahabharata is actually about.

I will give brief excerpts from the 6th chapter of “Bhishmaparva” of the Mahabharata, which describe the world around us and the state of affairs before the start of the battle:

Sudarshana Island is round, wheel-shaped, one half is the Fig Tree, the other is the Great Hare. There are great mountains there: Himavan, Nishudha, Nila, Shweta, Shringavan, and between them Mount Meru rises. The Sun, the Wind and the Milk River, flowing from west to east, goes around it from left to right. It is believed that it rises 100 thousand yojanas in height.

Bharata, one of the seven countries lying on the continent of Jambudvipa. The length of this continent is a full 18,600 yojanas. There are 7 mountains there: Malaya (Mercury), Jaladhara (Venus), Raivataka (Mars), Shyama (Jupiter), Durgashaila (Saturn), Kesari (Neptune) - the distance between them in yogins is twice as large as the previous one.

A, the Moon, with a diameter of 11 thousand, at a distance of 365900 yojanas. The sun, with a diameter of 10 thousand yojins, a distance of 305,800 yojins.

This is how Sanjay described the world to King Dhritarashtra. It doesn't seem like anything special. But let's try to figure it out and turn to dictionaries and reference books. From the Sanskrit-Russian dictionary:

GO- 1) Cow, bull 2) Star RA- 1) Light, shine 2) Sun, luminary DVIPA-1) Island 2) double

JASHWA-1) Large 2) Star WIND - Wanderer, hike, traveler KRISHNA - Earthly, dark, black

YOJANA - 139 km = 320,000 hosts (cubits) BHARAT - Hall of KAURAV - Crouching, creeping Now modern data:

The diameter of the Moon is 10.9 thousand km. The diameter of the North Star is approximately 10 times larger than the Sun.

The diameter of the solar system is on average about 2.6 billion km.

Now let's try to compare the facts and draw appropriate conclusions. The Mahabharata talks about the structure of the universe and our solar system. Bharata is planet Earth, and not some Indian country. MAHABHARATA – can be translated as “The Battle of Chertogov”. The island of Sudarshana is a universe, all-seeing, literally. Mount Meru is actually the Polaris star, which is encircled from left to right by the Milky Way. Go-star, Ra-light in this text is read as “star, starlight”, and not a block of stone, rock in the usual sense. The diameter of the Polar Star is 100 thousand, and that of the Sun is 10 thousand yoji. And in some ways the southern part of the star map resembles the outline of a hare. The remaining mountains described by Sajjay are large star constellations. Now the story described in the RigVeda about the liberation of a herd of cows by Indra becomes clearer. We weren't talking about cows, but about star clusters. And he released the Milky Way, not the Ganges River. And in principle, this understanding can only be achieved by knowing what 1 yojin is equal to. Reading this book for the first time, I did not understand how many kilometers it is - one yojin. And I thought that maybe there really are such mountain ranges on our planet. But having learned that the Earth is only 92 yojin in diameter, it immediately became clear that the description was not at all about the mountains and countries of our Earth. The accuracy of the data about the Universe and the sizes of celestial bodies and the distances between them is surprising. The sun has 10,000 yojinas, which is 1.392 million km. The diameter of our system is 18600*139.2=2.59 billion km. And they knew about this more than 5000 years ago!!!

Another surprising conclusion can be drawn by analyzing this text. The Moon and the Sun are a double star!!! The continent of JashvaDvipa, as Sajay calls our solar system, is translated as the Double Star. That is, the Moon is a dark, invisible dwarf 1000 yojin (10%) larger than the Sun. The symmetry and proportions are shocking. The diameters of the Earth and the Sun have a ratio of 1 to 109. The product of the diameters of the Moon (satellite) and the Earth is equal to the diameter of the Sun. The Moon, which is a satellite of the Earth, is exactly 140 times smaller than the Moon, which is an invisible double star. That is, we see a kind of projection of a huge star in the orbit of our planet. I read in one of the Upanishads that the Moon is larger than the Sun and received confirmation of this again.

Let us now turn our attention to the distance between the planets. And indeed, this distance increases approximately 2 times compared to the previous one. Only between Jupiter and Mars this rule does not work. And then the legend that the planet Deya was destroyed becomes very realistic. For 5200 years this planet was in our solar system. And for some reason it seems to me that Mars, Venus and Jupiter were also burned in that interstellar war.

So. The Mahabharata talks about the struggle between the Kauravas and Pandavas for the entire planet Earth. It was a clash of two highly developed civilizations, making interstellar flights and possessing terrible weapons. Kauravas are lizards, reptiles that originally lived on Earth. And the Pandavas (pale, white and pink) are a human race. And the phrase “women are from Venus, men are from Mars” becomes very true. Essentially, people are aliens. There are indications that the battle took place in space, and not on the surface of the planet. And as a result, after the use of nuclear or even more terrible weapons, our Earth was virtually destroyed. Nuclear winter has arrived. The pitiful remnants of humanity survived, having lost all the knowledge and skills of the previous civilization. We have actually turned into such “Robinson Cruises” on an uninhabited planet.

P.S. Krishna Govinda is the Dark Star Wanderer, and not a cow herder (see translation above). And he lived on Saturn. Saturn is the homeland of the Yadavas - “space carriers”.

The World History. Volume 3 Age of Iron Badak Alexander Nikolaevich

Ancient Indian epic. Mahabharata and Ramayana

During the Vedic period, the history of ancient India saw the formation of epic creativity. Epic poems belong to written monuments and are one of the most important and significant sources on the history and culture of ancient India of the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Epic poems were composed and edited over many centuries; they also reflected the phenomena of the Vedic era. The main epic monuments of ancient India include the poems “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana”. These late Vedic works of literature are huge in size, heterogeneous in composition and varied in content.

In both works, truth, fiction and allegory are intertwined. It is believed that the Mahabharata was created by the sage Vyas, and the Ramayana by Valmiki. However, in the form in which these creations have come down to us, they cannot belong to any one author and do not belong to the same century in terms of the time of creation. The modern form of these great epic poems is the result of numerous and continuous additions and changes.

The largest in size is the Mahabharata, it is 8 times larger than the Odyssey and Iliad combined. Due to the richness and diversity of its content, it is called an encyclopedia of ancient Indian life. The Mahabharata contains a wealth of material on economic and social development, government and forms of political organization, rights, customs and culture. Of particular value is information of a cosmological and religious nature, philosophical and ethical content. All this information reflects the process of the emergence of Indian philosophy and religion, the formation of the fundamental features of Hinduism, the cult of the gods Shiva and Vishnu. In general, the Mahabharata reflects the stage of development of ancient Indian society associated with the strengthening of the Kshatriya class and their struggle with the Brahmins for a leading position in society.

The plot of the Mahabharata (the Great War of the Descendants of Bharata) is the struggle for power within the royal Kuru family, which ruled Hastinapur. The Kuru clan was one of the most powerful in Northern India, descended from Bharata, a king from the Lunar dynasty. In this family there were two brothers Dhritarashtra - the eldest and Pandu - the younger. Everyone had a family and children.

The sons of Pandu were called Pandavas (descendants of Pandu), and the sons of Dhritarashtra were called Kauravas, since he was the eldest in the clan and the family surname passed to him.

The ruler was Panda, since due to a physical disability - blindness, Dhritarashtra could not occupy the throne. The panda dies, leaving young heirs. This is taken advantage of by the sons of Dhritarashtra, who wanted to destroy the Pandavas and establish their power. However, certain circumstances do not allow them to do this and the Kauravas were forced to cede part of the kingdom to their cousins.

However, the Kauravas do not give up their idea to deal with the Pandavas and thus deprive them of part of the inheritance. They use various tricks. The Kauravas challenged the Pandavas to a game of dice; at that time these were a kind of duels from which it was not customary to refuse. To sort things out, the Kshatriyas had such peculiar duels, where they measured their strengths, abilities, and determined their position. As a result of several rounds of the game, the Pandavas lost all their wealth and, based on the conditions of the game, their part of the kingdom passed to the Kauravas, and they were forced to go into exile in the forests for thirteen years.

After this period, the Pandavas demanded their share of the kingdom, but Duryodhan, the eldest of the Kauravas, refused them. This led to an internecine war, the fate of which was decided by the famous battle on the Kurukshetra plain. The battle was brutal, bloody and lasted eighteen days. Almost all the Kauravas were killed. Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, became the king of Hastinapura. After some time, the Pandavas renounced worldly life and transferred their power to Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers.

The Mahabharata includes a religious and philosophical treatise - “Gita” or “Bhagavad Gita” (“Song of God”), which was Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna. During the battle on the plain of Kurukshetra, Arjuna did not dare to take up arms against his relatives. The fact is that, according to the ideas of that era, regardless of the reason, the murder of relatives and friends was considered a sin and was subject to the strictest prohibition.

God Krishna gave a commandment, explaining to Arjuna that he is a kshatriya, and the duty of a kshatriya is to fight and kill the enemy, that he is deluded into thinking that in battle he is killing his relatives. The soul is eternal, nothing can kill or destroy it. If you fight and win, you will gain kingdom and happiness; if you die in battle, you will reach heaven. Krishna showed the confused Arjuna the right way to combine his interests with duty, which was contrary to these interests. Krishna then explained to him his divine mission. The Gita deals with many issues that are universal in nature. It is the most popular work of Indian thought and occupies a place of honor in world literature.

Examples of bronze (left) and stone (center and right) sculpture. Harappan culture.

In terms of size and historical data, the Ramayana (The Tale of Rama) is inferior to the Mahabharata, although it is distinguished by a more harmonious composition and better editing.

The plot of the Ramayana is based on the life story of Rama - an ideal son and an ideal ruler. There was a ruler in Ayodhya, Dasharatha, who had four sons from three wives. In old age, he appoints his eldest son Rama, who was superior to his brothers in intelligence, strength, courage, bravery and nobility, as his successor (nowaraja). But his stepmother Kaykein opposed this, she sought to appoint her son Bharat as heir, and Rama left the country for fourteen years in exile. With his wife Sita and younger brother Lakshmana, he retired to the forests. Distressed by this event, Dasharatha dies, Bharata renounced the throne, but agreed to rule the country until Rama returned.

During the wanderings of Rama, Ravana, the king of the rakshasas (demons) and the ruler of Lanka (Ceylon), kidnapped Sita. This led to a long war between Rama and Ravana. Ultimately, Ravana was killed, Sita was released, and Rama, whose period of exile had expired, returned with Sita to Ayodhya and assumed the throne. Some in Ayodhya doubted the purity of Sita, Rama expels her, she retires to the cell of Rishi Valmiki, where she gives birth to two boys, Lava and Kusha. Rama later recognizes them as his sons and heirs.

Possessing historical and literary value, the poems “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” became the national treasure of the Indian people, who found moral support and support in them during difficult periods of their history. These poems provide guidance on laws and morals. The moral character of the characters in these works has become an example for many generations of Hindus.

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From the book History of the Ancient East author Lyapustin Boris Sergeevich

Ancient Indian epic The process of settlement of Indo-Aryan tribes throughout Hindustan was finally completed in the Mauryan era. The central events of the ancient Indian epic go back to the late Vedic era. But it was during the Gupta period that the text of the two

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Rama and Ramayana Rama is the hero of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. This classic epic took shape in its completed written form several centuries BC and widely came into use, becoming one of the foundations of Indian culture during the formation of Hinduism at the beginning of our era.

From the book History of Eastern Religions author Vasiliev Leonid Sergeevich

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author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

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From the book Cossacks-Aryans: From Rus' to India [Battle of Kulikovo in the Mahabharata. "Ship of Fools" and the Revolt of the Reformation. Veles's book. New dating of the zodiacs. Ireland author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

2.1.Mahabharata It is believed that “Mahabharata is a grandiose epic of ancient India, which took shape about 2500 years ago. The plot of the epic is the tragic struggle of two related royal dynasties of the Pandavas and Kauravas. On this plot basis a huge number of

2.2. Ramayana Let's move on to the Ramayana. The Encyclopedic Dictionary reports: “The Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic poem in Sanskrit. Attributed to the legendary poet Valmiki. It acquired its modern appearance by the 2nd century. n. e. Dedicated to the exploits of Rama. Source of stories and images of many

3. The famous Aryans, about whom the Mahabharata and Ramayana are told, came to the Hindustan Peninsula from the north. These are the Cossacks-Horde XIV

3.1. “The Tale of Rama” or “Small Ramayana” as part of the “Mahabharata” speaks of the colonization of India by the Aryans. The fact that the “most ancient” Aryans = Yuri = Ardents came to the Hindustan Peninsula from the north is reported by historians themselves. B.L. Smirnov sums up the research on this matter as follows:

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From the book General History of the World's Religions author Karamazov Voldemar Danilovich

“Mahabharata” and “Ramayana” A serious role in the development of the religious doctrine of Hinduism belongs to Indian epic works - the poems “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana”. What initially developed and was passed on as local legends was eventually written down and

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« Mahabharata"(Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, mahābhāratam IAST , “The Great Legend of the Descendants of Bharata”, named after King Bharata, a descendant of the ancient king Kuru) is an ancient Indian epic. One of the largest literary works in the world, the Mahabharata is a complex but organic complex of epic narratives, short stories, fables, parables, legends, lyric-didactic dialogues, didactic discussions of theological, political, legal nature, cosmogonic myths, genealogies, hymns, Lamentations, united according to the principle of framing typical of large forms of Indian literature, consists of eighteen books (parvas) and contains more than 75,000 couplets (slokas), which is several times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey taken together. "Mahabharata" is the source of many plots and images that were developed in the literature of the peoples of South and Southeast Asia. In Indian tradition it is considered the "fifth Veda". One of the few works of world literature that claims about itself that it contains everything in the world.

The authorship of the Mahabharata is attributed to the sage Vyasa, who himself is the protagonist of the legend (the grandfather of the Pandavas and Kauravas). The epic is based on the story of a feud between two groups of cousins - the five Pandavas (sons of King Pandu and Queen Kunti) and the hundred Kauravas (sons of King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari). Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas are distant descendants of an ancient king of the Lunar Dynasty named Kuru, but the legend in most cases applies the family name of the Kauravas to the sons of Dhritarashtra. The feud was initiated by Dhritarashtra's eldest son, the insidious and power-hungry Duryodhana, who in his youth “from greed for domination arose a criminal intention.” The old king Dhritarashtra indulges the heir, despite the condemnation of the divine sages, advisers and senior relatives. As a result, the feud flares up and, after many years, culminates in a bloody eighteen-day battle on the sacred field of Kurukshetra. The dynastic conflict is given a special drama by the participation of the most powerful knight - the unrecognized elder brother of the Pandavas, Karna - in the battle on the side of the Kauravas.

The war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas has a mythological background: according to the plan of the gods, the Danava demons incarnated in the Kauravas should be exterminated in Kurukshetra. It was precisely in order to provoke the dynastic conflict necessary for the outbreak of enmity that Duryodhana was created by Shiva as a gift to the Danavas. Moreover, from the sacrificial altar, Draupadi was miraculously born, destined to cause enmity among the Kshatriyas. Karna plays a special role in the plan of the gods: according to the omniscient Vyasa, Surya’s son Karna appeared on earth to sow discord.

The epic narrative occupies the end of book I and books II-XI, and in book I the Pandavas, having inherited half a kingdom, create a huge and prosperous empire; in book II, the Pandavas lose the kingdom to the Kauravas in a ritual dice game and retire to a thirteen-year exile (books III and IV), V book is entirely devoted to unsuccessful attempts to resolve the conflict through diplomacy, books VI-X are devoted to the description of the battle, and in book XI there is a mourning of the fallen heroes. Before the battle, the middle of the Pandava brothers Arjuna (and their most powerful warrior) refuses to participate in the murder of his relatives, but Krishna, who became his charioteer, resolves the hero’s ethical doubts in the famous sermon - “Bhagavad Gita”. The Great Battle of Kurukshetra marks the beginning of Kali Yuga - the fourth and last, worst era of the current cycle of human history.

In the battle, the Pandavas, supported by Krishna, won, but for the sake of victory they repeatedly resorted to insidious tricks (killing their grandfather Bhishma, mentor Drona, their kinsman the righteous Bhurishravas, nephew Ghatotkacha, their brother Karna and cousin Duryodhana). All the Kauravas and their sons fell on the battlefield (except for their half-brother Yuyutsu, who went over to the side of the Pandavas), but the victorious Pandavas also lost all their sons and relatives. After the victory, the elder Pandava king Yudhishthira, repenting of the bloodshed he had committed, wanted to leave the kingdom and retire to the forest to live as a hermit, but under the pressure of the persuasion of the divine sages and relatives (books XII and XIII) to fulfill the duty of the king (rajadharma), he ruled for thirty-six years (books XIV and XV), without ceasing to condemn himself for the extermination of relatives and friends. For the first fifteen years, Yudhishthira rules, paying honors and formally recognizing the supremacy of the old king. Unable to bear the reproaches and hatred of the second of the Pandava brothers, the mighty and indomitable Bhimasena, Dhritarashtra retires to the forest, accompanied by his wife, adviser and mother of the Pandavas, Kunti. For the last twenty years, Yudhisthira has ruled the kingdom on his own. In their declining years, the Pandavas, together with their common wife Draupadi, leave the kingdom and head to the Himalayas; on the way they die and ascend to heaven (books XVII and XVIII). The epic plot itself occupies less than half the volume of the Mahabharata, which may have been supplemented over the centuries with inserted short stories and parables on mythological and religious-philosophical themes (some scientists consider the Bhagavad Gita to be an example of such a late insertion). The Bhagavad Gita is the most famous part of the Mahabharata and an important scripture of Hinduism (especially Vaishnavism), revered by many as one of the Upanishads (Gita Upanishad).

Karna should be recognized as the central epic hero of the Mahabharata. Karna discovered Krishna's plan about the need for a battle on Kurukshetra to exterminate the kshatriyas and the demons embodied in them. According to Krishna, without Karna's participation the battle would not have taken place. In addition, it is with his death at Kurukshetra that the defeat of the Kauravas becomes inevitable, and also the Dvapara Yuga ends and the Kali Yuga begins, as evidenced by cosmic cataclysms. The legend devotes more space to the description of the death of Karna than to anyone else, including the divine Krishna, and the battle part of the central plot about the enmity of the Pandavas and Kauravas ends with his mourning.

Historical and philosophical basis of the Mahabharata

No material evidence of the authenticity of the events of the Mahabharata has been found.

Problems of the genesis of the Mahabharata

Editorial work on the Mahabharata was generally completed in the first centuries of our era, but no single edition of the poem was created, despite the fact that the creation of the Mahabharata is attributed to one author, the legendary sage and poet Vyasa. There are differences between the northern and southern editions. These differences are manifested in the order of arrangement of individual moments of the tale and in the presence or absence of later insertions. The versions of the main tale - the history of the rivalry between the Pandavas and Kauravas - differ slightly in different editions.

The structure of the poem (the presence in the first book of two largely coinciding catalogs of its content) allows us to distinguish its two main editions. The first can be roughly dated to the 7th century BC. e. (pre-Buddhist era), it included the main plot of the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, starting with Shantanu (the great-grandfather of the main characters), and ending with the death of Krishna and the exodus of the Pandavas. The second edition can be dated to the period of the revival of Brahmanism in the 2nd century BC. e. Then numerous insertions were made into the poem, in particular an independent short version of the Ramayana. The epic acquired its modern form by the 5th century.

Books of the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata consists of 18 parvas (books):

Adiparva(First book. History of the origin of the Bharata family and describes the beginning of enmity between the sons of King Dhritarashtra and their cousins the Pandavas)
Sabhaparva(A book about a meeting. It tells about the unification of the ancient Indian principalities under the leadership of the Pandavas and how they were deprived of their kingdom)
Aranyakaparva(Forest Book. Covers the twelve-year period that the Pandavas spent in the forest)
Virataparva(The book about Virata. Narrates the events that happened to the Pandavas during the thirteenth year of exile)
Udyogaparva(A book about effort. Describes the diplomatic efforts of the Pandavas to avoid war with the Kauravas by all means)
Bhishmaparva(The book about Bhishma. It tells about the first ten (out of eighteen) days of the battle of Kurukshetra)
Dronaparva(The book about Drona. It tells about the battles and duels during five (from the eleventh to the fifteenth) days of the eighteen-day battle of Kurukshetra)
Karnaparva(Book about Karna. It tells about the battles and duels during two (sixteenth and seventeenth) days of the eighteen-day battle on Kurukshetra)
Salyaparva(Book about Shalya. Tells about battles and duels on the last day of the eighteen-day battle on Kurukshetra)
Sauptikaparva(A book about the attack on the sleeping. It tells about the dishonorable extermination of the Pandava army by the son of Drona named Ashwatthaman)
Striparva(Book about wives. Describes the grief of the wives of the dead warriors after Ashwatthaman treacherously destroyed the sleeping army of the Pandavas)
Shantiparva(Book of Peace)
Anushasanaparva(Book of Prescription)
Ashvamedhikaparva(A book about horse sacrifice. It tells about the unification of the ancient Indian principalities under the Pandavas after they defeated the Kauravas)
Ashramavasikaparva(A book about living in the forest. It tells about the departure to the forest abode and the completion of the life path of King Dhritarashtra, wife Gandhari and Kunti)
Mausalaparva(A book about the battle with clubs. It tells about the internecine extermination of the union of related tribes - the Yadavas, Vrishnyas, Andhakas and Kukurs, about the death of Krishna and Baladeva)
Mahaprasthanikaparva(A book about the great exodus. It tells about the last days of the life of the Pandavas and Draupadi, spent in wanderings and ascetic exercises)
Svargarohanikaparva(A book about ascent to heaven. Tells about the posthumous fate of the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas)

There is also a supplement of 16,375 couplets (slokas), Harivamshaparva, narrating the life of Krishna.

Editions and translations of the Mahabharata

Even in the Middle Ages, translations of the Mahabharata were made into all the major languages of India and Southeast Asia.

Work on a critical edition of the poem took place in Pune for 40 years (1927-1966). It contains about 156 thousand lines.

Of the English translations, the most famous is the one made by K. M. Ganguly in 1883-1896. By 2009, Indian poet P. Lal completed a complete English translation of the poem, including all its versions.

An English academic translation is currently underway, begun by J. A. B. Van Beutenen (University of Chicago) in 1975. The following books have been published: I (Van Beutenen, 1980), II and III (Van Beutenen, 1981), IV and V (Van Buitenen, 1978). After the death of Van Butenen, VI (D. Gitomer), XI and I part XII were published (J. Fitzgerald, 2003). Translation in progress: VII (G. Tabb, University of Chicago), VIII (K. Minkowski, Oxford), Part II XII (Brown University), XV-XVIII (W. Doniger, University of Chicago). The translation, like the Russian academic one, is based on the critical edition of the Mahabharata (Pune, 1927-66), but taking into account some options that were not included in the critical edition.

Work on a complete Russian (prose) translation began by V.I. Kalyanov (1908-2001) in Leningrad in 1939, and it continues to this day. Translations of 16 books (I-XI, XIV-XVIII) have been published, work is underway on the remaining two. In addition to the complete translation, there are also numerous partial translations (rather, transcriptions) in poetic form.

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Notes

Literature

In English

Brokington J. The Sanskrit Epics. Leiden-Boston, 1998
Dahlmann J. Das Mahabharata als Epos und Rechtsbuch. Berlin, 1895.
Dahlmann J. Genesis des Mahabharata. Berlin, 1899.
Goldman R.P. Gods, Priests and Warriors. The Bhrgus of the Mahabharata. N.Y., 1977.
Gonzalez-Reimann L. The Mahabharata and the Yugas. N.Y., 2002
Gupta S.P., Ramachandran K.S. Mahābhārata: Myth and Reality. Different views. Delhi, 1976.
Held G. J. The Mahābhārata. An Ethnological Study. London-Amsterdam, 1935.
Hiltebeitel A. The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the Mahābhārata. Ithaca-London, 1976. 2nd ed. N.Y. 1990.
Hopkins E. W. Epic Mythology. Strassburg, 1915.
Hopkins E. W. The Great Epic of India. Its Character and Origin. N.Y. 1901.
Jacobi H. Mahabharata. Inhaltsangabe, Index und Concordanz der Calc. und Bomb. Ausgaben. Bonn, 1903.
Laine J.W. Visiong of God. Narratives of Theophany in the Mahābhārata. Vienna, 1989.
Patil N. B. Folklore in the Mahābhārata. Delhi, 1983.
Sharma R. K. Elements of Poetry in the Mahābhārata. Berkeley-L.A. 1964.
Sorensen S. An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata. Delhi, 1978.
Sukthankar Memorial Edition. Vol. I. Critical Studies in the Mahabharata. Poona, 1944.
Sukthankar V.S. On the Meaning of the Mahābhārata and its Critics. Bombay, 1957.
Sullivan Bruce M. Seer of the Fifth Veda. Krishna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata. Delhi, 1999.
Sutton N. Religious Doctrines in the Mahābhārata. Delhi, 2000.
Tivari J. N. Disposal of the Dead in the Mahābhārata. Varanasi, 1979.
Vaidya C. V. The Mahābhārata: A Criticism. Bombay, 1929.
Yardi M. R. Epilogue of Mahabharata. Pune, 2001.

In Russian

Grintser P. A. “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana”. (Series “Mass Historical and Literary Library”). M., Artist. lit. 1970. 96 pp. 8000 copies.
Grintser P. A. Ancient Indian epic. Genesis and typology. (Series “Studies on folklore and mythology of the East”). M., Science (GRVL). 1974. 424 pp. 4800 copies.
Dandekar, R. N. “” in the collection of articles “From the Vedas to Hinduism. Evolving mythology." M., “Oriental Literature” RAS ISBN 5-02-016607-3; 2002
Ibragimov A.R. The image of Karna in the Mahabharata. Research about the tragic hero of the Indian epic. M., C.K. 2009. 248 pp.
Ibragimov A. R. The old king of the Mahabharata. Freedom of choice and fate in the Indian epic. Montreal, AGC. 2016. 464 pp. ISBN 9781533730299.
Neveleva S. L. Mythology of the ancient Indian epic (Pantheon). (Series "Research on folklore and mythology of the East") M., Nauka (GRVL). 1975. 120 pp. 5000 copies.
Neveleva S. L. Questions of the poetics of the ancient Indian epic: Epithet and comparison. Series "Research on folklore and mythology of the East". M., Nauka (GRVL). 1979. 136 pp. 2150 copies.
Neveleva S. L. Mahabharata. Study of ancient Indian epic. M., Science (GRVL). 1991. 232 pp. 2500 copies.

Links

- a site with a complete Russian translation of the books of the Mahabharata for reading online.
on the Epic Power website
translated by B. L. Smirnov
in the library of the Yoga Monastery-Academy “Collection of Secrets”
in the Library of Vedic Literature
in the electronic library of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. (English)
(Russian)

Mahabharata

On Pratsenskaya Mountain, in the very place where he fell with the flagpole in his hands, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky lay, bleeding, and, without knowing it, moaned a quiet, pitiful and childish groan.
By evening he stopped moaning and became completely quiet. He didn't know how long his oblivion lasted. Suddenly he felt alive again and suffering from a burning and tearing pain in his head.
“Where is it, this high sky, which I did not know until now and saw today?” was his first thought. “And I didn’t know this suffering either,” he thought. - Yes, I didn’t know anything until now. But where am I?
He began to listen and heard the sounds of approaching horses and the sounds of voices speaking French. He opened his eyes. Above him was again the same high sky with floating clouds rising even higher, through which a blue infinity could be seen. He did not turn his head and did not see those who, judging by the sound of hooves and voices, drove up to him and stopped.
The horsemen who arrived were Napoleon, accompanied by two adjutants. Bonaparte, driving around the battlefield, gave the last orders to strengthen the batteries firing at the Augesta Dam and examined the dead and wounded remaining on the battlefield.
- De beaux hommes! [Beauties!] - said Napoleon, looking at the killed Russian grenadier, who, with his face buried in the ground and the back of his head blackened, was lying on his stomach, throwing one already numb arm far away.
– Les munitions des pieces de position sont epuisees, sire! [There are no more battery charges, Your Majesty!] - said at that time the adjutant, who arrived from the batteries that were firing at Augest.
“Faites avancer celles de la reserve, [Have it brought from the reserves,”] said Napoleon, and, having driven off a few steps, he stopped over Prince Andrei, who was lying on his back with the flagpole thrown next to him (the banner had already been taken by the French, like a trophy) .
“Voila une belle mort, [This is a beautiful death,”] said Napoleon, looking at Bolkonsky.
Prince Andrei realized that this was said about him, and that Napoleon was saying this. He heard the one who said these words called sire. But he heard these words as if he heard the buzzing of a fly. Not only was he not interested in them, but he did not even notice them, and immediately forgot them. His head was burning; he felt that he was emanating blood, and he saw above him the distant, high and eternal sky. He knew that it was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. He didn’t care at all at that moment, no matter who stood above him, no matter what they said about him; He was only glad that people were standing over him, and he only wished that these people would help him and return him to life, which seemed so beautiful to him, because he understood it so differently now. He mustered all his strength to move and make some sound. He weakly moved his leg and produced a pitying, weak, painful groan.
- A! “He’s alive,” said Napoleon. – Raise this young man, ce jeune homme, and take him to the dressing station!
Having said this, Napoleon rode further towards Marshal Lan, who, taking off his hat, smiling and congratulating him on his victory, drove up to the emperor.
Prince Andrei did not remember anything further: he lost consciousness from the terrible pain that was caused to him by being placed on a stretcher, jolts while moving, and probing the wound at the dressing station. He woke up only at the end of the day, when he was united with other Russian wounded and captured officers and carried to the hospital. During this movement he felt somewhat fresher and could look around and even speak.
The first words he heard when he woke up were the words of the French escort officer, who hurriedly said:
- We must stop here: the emperor will pass by now; it will give him pleasure to see these captive gentlemen.
“There are so many prisoners these days, almost the entire Russian army, that he probably got bored with it,” said another officer.
- Well, however! This one, they say, is the commander of the entire guard of Emperor Alexander,” said the first, pointing to a wounded Russian officer in a white cavalry uniform.
Bolkonsky recognized Prince Repnin, whom he had met in St. Petersburg society. Next to him stood another, 19-year-old boy, also a wounded cavalry officer.
Bonaparte, galloping up, stopped his horse.
-Who is the eldest? - he said when he saw the prisoners.
They named the colonel, Prince Repnin.
– Are you the commander of the cavalry regiment of Emperor Alexander? - asked Napoleon.
“I commanded a squadron,” answered Repnin.
“Your regiment honestly fulfilled its duty,” said Napoleon.
“The praise of a great commander is the best reward for a soldier,” said Repnin.
“I give it to you with pleasure,” said Napoleon. -Who is this young man next to you?
Prince Repnin named Lieutenant Sukhtelen.
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:
– II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came to compete with us when he was young.]
“Youth doesn’t stop you from being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a breaking voice.
“Excellent answer,” said Napoleon. - Young man, you will go far!
Prince Andrei, who, to complete the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in full view of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon apparently remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the same name of the young man - jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was reflected in his memory for the first time.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers carrying him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, so petty seemed to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
And everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with the strict and majestic structure of thought that was caused in him by the weakening of his strength from the bleeding, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into the eyes of Napoleon, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, about the insignificance of life, the meaning of which no one could understand, and about the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one living could understand and explain.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving away, turned to one of the commanders:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; let my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin,” and he, moving his horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon they found, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who put it on again or how, but on his chest, above his uniform, suddenly there was an icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be good,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be good if everything were as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How nice it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom will I say this? Either the power is indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - the great all or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Marya? Nothing, nothing is true, except the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but most important!
The stretcher started moving. With each push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of his father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of the small, insignificant Napoleon and the high sky above all this, formed the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look at the misfortune of others, and doubts and torment began, and only the sky promised peace. By morning, all the dreams mixed up and merged into the chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Doctor Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
“C"est un sujet nerveux et bilieux," said Larrey, "il n"en rechappera pas. [This is a nervous and bilious man, he will not recover.]
Prince Andrey, among other hopelessly wounded, was handed over to the care of the residents.

At the beginning of 1806, Nikolai Rostov returned on vacation. Denisov was also going home to Voronezh, and Rostov persuaded him to go with him to Moscow and stay in their house. At the penultimate station, having met a comrade, Denisov drank three bottles of wine with him and, approaching Moscow, despite the potholes of the road, he did not wake up, lying at the bottom of the relay sleigh, near Rostov, which, as it approached Moscow, came more and more to impatience.
“Is it soon? Soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cab drivers!” thought Rostov, when they had already signed up for their holidays at the outpost and entered Moscow.
- Denisov, we’ve arrived! Sleeping! - he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond.
“Here is the corner of the intersection where Zakhar the cabman stands; Here he is Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where they bought gingerbread. Soon? Well!
- To which house? - asked the coachman.
- Yes, over there at the end, how can you not see! This is our home,” said Rostov, “after all, this is our home!” Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now.
Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat and did not answer.
“Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the footman in the irradiation room. - After all, this is our fire?
“That’s exactly how daddy’s office is lit up.”
– Haven’t gone to bed yet? A? How do you think? “Don’t forget to get me a new Hungarian at once,” Rostov added, feeling the new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the coachman. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! - Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses away from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh took to the right towards the entrance; Above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with chipped plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh as he walked and ran into the hallway. The house also stood motionless, unwelcoming, as if it did not care about who came to it. There was no one in the hallway. "My God! is everything alright? thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart and immediately starting to run further along the entryway and familiar, crooked steps. The same door handle of the castle, for the uncleanness of which the countess was angry, also opened weakly. One tallow candle was burning in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the traveling footman, the one who was so strong that he could lift the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the edges. He looked at the opened door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly transformed into an enthusiastically frightened one.
- Fathers, lights! Young Count! – he cried out, recognizing the young master. - What is this? My darling! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably to make an announcement, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and fell on the young master’s shoulder.
-Are you healthy? - Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- God bless! All glory to God! We just ate it now! Let me look at you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, took off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into the dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young master, and before he had time to reach the living room, something quickly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, same creature jumped out of another, third door; more hugs, more kisses, more screams, tears of joy. He couldn’t make out where and who dad was, who was Natasha, who was Petya. Everyone was screaming, talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- I didn’t know... Nikolushka... my friend!
- Here he is... ours... My friend, Kolya... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Yes, kiss me!
- Darling... and then me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, hugged him; and people and maids, filling the rooms, muttered and gasped.
Petya hung on his legs. - And then me! - he shouted. Natasha, after she had bent him to her and kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding onto the hem of his Hungarian jacket, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed shrilly.
On all sides there were eyes shining with tears of joy, loving eyes, on all sides there were lips seeking a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held his hand and was all beaming in the blissful gaze fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him without taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waited and looked for someone. The old countess had not come out yet. And then steps were heard at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't be his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, still unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest, sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed it to the cold strings of his Hungarian. Denisov, unnoticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, a friend of your son,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who was looking at him questioningly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- Darling, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, not remembering herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's action. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha’s hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their rapturously loving eyes off him. The brother and sisters argued and grabbed each other's places closer to him, and fought over who should bring him tea, a scarf, a pipe.
Rostov was very happy with the love that was shown to him; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that his present happiness seemed not enough to him, and he kept waiting for something else, and more, and more.
The next morning, the visitors slept from the road until 10 o'clock.
In the previous room there were scattered sabers, bags, tanks, open suitcases, and dirty boots. The cleaned two pairs with spurs had just been placed against the wall. Servants brought washbasins, hot water for shaving, and cleaned dresses. It smelled of tobacco and men.
- Hey, G"ishka, t"ubku! – Vaska Denisov’s hoarse voice shouted. - Rostov, get up!
Rostov, rubbing his drooping eyes, raised his confused head from the hot pillow.
- Why is it late? “It’s late, it’s 10 o’clock,” Natasha’s voice answered, and in the next room the rustling of starched dresses, the whispering and laughter of girls’ voices was heard, and something blue, ribbons, black hair and cheerful faces flashed through the slightly open door. It was Natasha with Sonya and Petya, who came to see if he was up.
- Nikolenka, get up! – Natasha’s voice was heard again at the door.
- Now!
At this time, Petya, in the first room, saw and grabbed the sabers, and experiencing the delight that boys experience at the sight of a warlike older brother, and forgetting that it was indecent for sisters to see undressed men, opened the door.
- Is this your saber? - he shouted. The girls jumped back. Denisov, with frightened eyes, hid his furry legs in a blanket, looking back at his comrade for help. The door let Petya through and closed again. Laughter was heard from behind the door.
“Nikolenka, come out in your dressing gown,” said Natasha’s voice.
- Is this your saber? - Petya asked, - or is it yours? - He addressed the mustachioed, black Denisov with obsequious respect.
Rostov hastily put on his shoes, put on his robe and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and was just about to puff up her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were wearing the same brand new blue dresses - fresh, rosy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him to the sofa, and they began to talk. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could only interest them alone. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they said was funny, but because she was having fun and was unable to contain her joy, which was expressed by laughter.

The Mahabharata is truly the greatest literary work known to mankind. It consists of as many as one hundred thousand couplets (slokas), which brings Hare Krishna devotees to indescribable delight and allows them to almost be proud of this weighty multi-volume book. The Hindu tradition attributes the authorship of the Mahabharata to the sage Vyasa. Serious researchers, including Indian ones, certainly agree that the text could not have been created not only by one author, but even by one generation of authors. In general, when speaking about the origin of the text of this epic, experts often use the term “development” rather than “creation.”

Hermann Oldenberg (1854-1920), a famous German Sanskrit scholar and historian of religion, described attempts to declare the Mahabharata as a single and harmoniously integral work as “monstrous in scientific terms.” What confuses scientists who resort to such harsh expressions?

1. Despite the undoubted artificial unity of the narrative, a huge number of serious inconsistencies are revealed both in the plot and in the description of the characters of the heroes of the epic, inexplicable from the point of view of a single authorship, but easily explainable from the point of view of common sense and logic.

2. The need to serve Krishna as the supreme deity, declared in some places of the epic, comes up against the sharp duality of the character of this character, which confuses not only foreign, but also native Indian readers. There are two types of explanations for this inconsistent duality. The first type is the Hare Krishna “quirks” of the blue god over good and evil, due to his omnipotence, lack of accountability and impunity. And the second type of explanation put forward by serious scientists is a banal inconsistency between various editors of the text of the epic, who pursued different goals when completing it, which, by the way, is not the first and not the last nail driven into the coffin of the version of single authorship.

3. The Mahabharata is considered an encyclopedia of the life of ancient Indian society, which is undoubtedly true. But the characters and behavior of the main characters of the epic very, very often do not correspond, if not directly contradict, the theories of law, duty and ethics included in the text of the epic-dharmashastra in the form of “immutable” laws of dharma. Among the most glaring inconsistencies, one can, for example, mention the depressing fact even for many Indian readers that the Pandavas, glorified in the epic, never won a victory in an honest way. Not even once. In all the fights with their participation, dharmayudha (the rules of fair combat) was brazenly and unceremoniously violated by them. Let us remember how Arjuna “defeated” grandfather Bhishma, hiding behind Shikhandin and knowing full well that Bhishma would never fight against a former woman. Let us remember how Yudhishthira deceived Drona by loudly shouting: “Ashwatthama (Drona’s only son) is dead!” and in a whisper (so as not to break the law and not tell a lie and, at the same time, so that the grief-stricken father would not hear) added the word “elephant”, because in fact it was the animal of the same name that died, and not Drona’s son. Or rather, the elephant did not even die in battle, but was specially killed by Bhima so that there would be “less” lies in the words of his elder brother. And how the defenseless Drona, who lowered his weapon, was not even defeated, but actually executed by Dhrishtadyumna. Let us remember the “victories” of the Pandavas over Karna, over Duryodhana and their other “feats”.

The inexperienced reader is even more amazed by the fact that all dishonest acts are committed by them not only with the connivance, but also with the advice and instigation of their friend and mentor Krishna.

4. The nature of the narrative does not explain how the supposed single author can write either as a great poet, or as an ordinary graphomaniac, or as a sage, or as a rural commoner, or as a brilliant artist, or as a boring pedant-accountant.

5. In various places in the text of the Mahabharata, mutually exclusive systems of religion and philosophy are justified and defended.

6. In the text of the Mahabharata itself (1.1.50-61) there is a mention of the fact that it was told on three different occasions and therefore had three different beginnings and three different versions.

The foundations for the critical study of the text of the Mahabharata and the explanation of the above absurdities and glaring inconsistencies were laid by Christian Lassen (1800-1876), a Norwegian Indologist who put forward and substantiated the theory of addition and successive revisions, which is fully confirmed by the texts and monuments of the ancient Indian literary tradition. Lassen began by explaining the reference in the Ashvalayana Grhyasutra (which he dates to the 4th century BC) of two texts called the Bharata and the Mahabharata, which existed in parallel for some time. Then the existence in an even earlier period of the first edition of the Bharata, known as the epic poem Jaya, was discovered.

Many scientists have analyzed Vedic sources that allegedly provided material for the epic. The most famous and serious researchers were, perhaps, A. Weber and A. Ludwig. Their attempts to find the Vedic roots of the origin of the Mahabharata ended in failure. No one could find such roots. But, thanks to their works, the content of the epic was analyzed in detail into two levels - historical and mythical.

The next giant who seriously advanced and deepened the critical study of the text of the epic was E. W. Hopkins, who worked at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. He identified four stages in the evolution of the Mahabharata text:

1. the period of existence of several oral ballads about the Bharatas;

2. the period of introduction of the Pandavas characters and the formation of a single text of Bharata

3. the period of introducing didactic interpolations into the text;

4. period of later additions.

Thanks to the work of many hundreds of scientists, the following picture emerges:

In the early stages of the development of Indian literature, two traditions existed in parallel: the tradition of suts (secular storytellers-singers at royal courts and in public meetings) and the tradition of mantras (mythological-ritualistic formulas and reasoning). Both of them were initially characterized by the “fluidity” of texts, but the tradition of mantras, for a number of reasons, “frozen” in written texts much earlier than the tradition of sut.

Most of the Sut tradition, due to its “unfixed nature,” was simply lost. A sort of scissors of contradictions arose. The tradition of mantras, having been fixed, lost its dynamism and ability to respond to the changing life of society, froze and became a thing of the past, gradually losing its relevance, but the texts themselves have survived to this day. The Sut tradition, on the contrary, retained its dynamism longer and was able to respond to new conditions, but “paid” for this with the loss of huge arrays of oral texts and the absorption of a huge array of elements of non-Vedic proto-Indian cultures.

In addition, we must remember that the tradition of mantras was originally a tradition of a narrow circle of people, and the tradition of sutas always belonged to the people, or rather peoples.

Another important point. The two traditions never conflicted with each other; moreover, the sut tradition was “recognized” as the mantra tradition, due to the fact that the mantra tradition itself mentions the existence of the so-called puranas and itihasas, for which they began to pass off texts written by everyone knows when. By the way, a number of scientists, relying on references in the mantra tradition, were engaged in a serious search for the texts of the Puranas and Itihasas, comparable in antiquity with the texts of the mantra tradition. No one achieved success. That is, no one doubts the parallel existence of texts from both traditions, but those monuments that we have today as texts of the sut tradition (puranas and itihas) were recorded relatively recently. With all the above consequences.

Let's move on. The literature of the mantra tradition was recorded quite quickly due to the fact that it had a single semantic core - religious and priestly content. And one of the main reasons for the lack of textual fixation of the literature of the Sut tradition is considered to be precisely the absence of such a semantic core that could unite around itself all the diversity of its elements. When a suitable plot appeared, then the fixation began.

The famous “Battle of the Ten Kings” became such a core, during which the Bharata clan (which arrived in India later than other Aryan clans) gained power over other principalities and kingdoms (both Aryan and indigenous aborigines) and for a long time, as they say, ruled. Around the 13th-12th centuries BC, a minor “family” feud rocked the political establishment of much of North India. Some Pandavas announced their claims to part of the kingdom of Hastinapura. Due to the high position of the Bharata clan, the feud quickly became a national disaster. Not as large-scale as the overexcited poets of that era describe, but still. During the eighteen days of the battle at Kurukshetra, the entire flower of the North Indian youth actually died.

When the dust settled and peace came, poems telling about different events and written by different poets of the warring sides began to form a single text, “pulling in” earlier stories. The interpretation of events, the appearance of the characters and the assessment of their actions have changed repeatedly. The main three narrative arrays that merged into a single story were bheda (quarrel), rajyavinasha (loss of the kingdom) and jaya (victory). The resulting poem, under the general title “Jaya,” was the first text of the sut tradition and at the same time the core of the future Mahabharata. The presence of the core greatly facilitated the further crystallization of epic material and the addition of a huge number of heterogeneous elements of the “fluid” tradition of the day. Many ancient tales, especially those glorifying the deeds of the Bharata clan, were included in the Jaya and related to the main narrative. This is how the epic “Bharata” was formed.

Now a little about the historical period against which the formation of the epic took place. This was an extremely complex and interesting period of the so-called “interregnum” (V-II centuries BC), which followed the disruption of the continuity of the Vedic (Brahmanical) way of life and thought caused by the teachings of the Upanishads (VII-V centuries BC. ), who gave:

firstly, to the emergence of unorthodox systems of thought (the teachings of Buddha (566-486 BC), Mahavira (540-468 BC), Ajita Kesakambali (VI-V centuries BC) and less significant teachers of the lokayata);

secondly, to the development of a movement for the revival of the Vedic way of life, as a reaction to the spread of unorthodox teachings and contrasting them with orthodox (i.e., not denying the authority of the Vedas) philosophical systems;

thirdly, to the development of new ideals of statehood, demonstrated by the “Arthashastra” of Kautilya (Chanakya) that appeared in the 4th century BC (370-283 BC);

fourthly, to the powerful growth of folk religion based on the customs and ideas of the aborigines of India.

In short, it was not easy for everyone. The revivalists of Vedism could not free themselves from the spell of sophisticated ritualism and a cruel social order and, therefore, could not find the support of the broad masses. On the other hand, the Vedic wing strongly resisted the brutal “folk” cults. The new unorthodox teachings, even as they lost their influence, remained a cause of serious concern. And then a seemingly popular religious movement appears, which proclaims (albeit nominally and superficially) adherence to the Vedas. This was what we needed.

The spread of this miracle of Indian thought began with the Vrishni and Satvat tribes. Later it covered the Abhiras, Yadavas and Gopals. All these tribes lived in the territory of Central and Western India. The main teacher and leader of the new religious movement was Krishna - the tribal hero of each of these tribes, and, moreover, a little, and sometimes a lot, different from the other Krishnas, who, as usual, turned into tribal gods.

Krishnaism put forward a new religious platform consisting of four points:

a) The purpose of a person’s spiritual life. In contrast to the Upanishads, which declare as such atma-jnana (knowledge of the “I”), and declare that the only reality is Brahman (the universal universal soul), with which, thanks to true knowledge, the soul must merge, shaking off illusory individuality (this teaching led to a massive exodus of the intellectual elite from the active social life of Indian society), Krishnaism proclaimed that one of the goals of a person’s true spiritual life is loka-sangraha (participation in the establishment of a stable and cohesive society). The new teaching very timely reoriented the spiritual life of the people towards social problems that are acute in any society of any era. And this point led to an explosive growth in the popularity of Krishnaism among the people.

b) Renunciation. Again, in defiance of the Upanishads, which affirm sannyasa as the highest level of spiritual life (complete renunciation of worldly life and going beyond even the varna ashram, i.e. complete desocialization of the adept), Krishnaism developed a new doctrine of karma yoga (responsible performance of one’s social duties, without compromising your spiritual life). Krishnaism managed to formulate in a language understandable to the majority of Indians (and not just the intellectual elite) a compromise between the metaphysical ideal of individual liberation (moksha) and the ethical (albeit without any basis) ideal of social responsibility. Action (of any kind) ceased to be condemned in the minds of Hindus as an obstacle to individual liberation. Krishnaism hangs the role of a possible obstacle on this path on the personal attitude of the person performing the action towards his action. It became possible to do at least something without becoming an asshole. And this was another serious and certainly positive breakthrough in Krishnaism.

c) Religious practice. In contrast to the Brahmanical ritualism of sacrifice, which ceased to be a practice of the masses and could not become such again, despite any efforts of the “revivors of Brahmanism,” Krishnaism put forward a cult of bhakti that was understandable and extremely democratic for its era. This was the first and only Indian religious teaching to this day that decided to declare (albeit with a lot of reservations) at least some kind of spiritual brotherhood of people. However, the idea of sacrifice was not completely rejected by Krishnaism, but was interpreted in the direction of social ethics, along with the ideas of moksha and sannyasa.

d) Synthesis of religion and philosophy. Hare Krishnaism, which quickly became popular, deliberately did not focus the attention of its supporters and opponents on the differences in various new systems of thought, old systems of ritualism and spiritualism based on the Vedas and Brahmanas and its own teachings. He tried to identify similarities in all systems and emphasize the commonality of their main goal - awareness of the highest reality. And in this he also succeeded.

Thus, skillfully using its own advantages and the weaknesses of its opponents, Krishnaism rose on the religious horizon of India, replacing atma-jnana with loka-sangraha, sannyas with karma-yoga, ritualism with the cult of bhakti, and the dogmatism of withering Brahmanism with a philosophical and religious synthesis.

At the time of this Hare Krishna rise, the process of transformation and expansion of the historical poem of Jaya into the epic of Bharata was almost complete. The first monument to the Sut tradition captured the imagination of the broad masses of the Indian people. Supporters of Krishnaism, being smart people, began to actively use the popular epic to spread their new religious teaching. The epic did not quite meet these goals and, naturally, was subjected to Hare Krishna editing.

The first significant “trace” of the Hare Krishna edition identified by experts is the artificial rapprochement of the Pandavas and Krishna, which was absent in the early stages of the development of the epic. Krishna turned into a relative of the Pandavas, their friend, mentor and philosopher at the same time. The Pandavas began to realize the divinity of Krishna.

Then, all the necessary plots were “pulled up” to express the idea that all the achievements of the heroes of the epic were achieved thanks to Krishna. Krishna was supposed to become and became the central figure of the entire epic - the axis around which all the characters and events of the play revolve. The epic began to grow again with explanations and justifications for the divinity of the main character. A number of legends were changed for these purposes, and another number of legends were introduced into the epic for the first time. The work was done extensively and skillfully, but it was done, like any fake, not immaculately. Changes in context, the creation of new contexts to introduce the necessary details and fragments into the text can almost always be identified by modern researchers and have been identified by them.

Paying tribute to the ingenuity of the ancient Krishna editors, their artistic taste and literary talent, the modern scientific community certainly agrees that the image of Krishna is completely alien to the epic in its early edition.

The cornerstone, so to speak, of the Krishna “superstructure” in Bharat should be recognized as the Bhagavad Gita - the quintessence of the religious, ethical (in Indian ethical, of course) and metaphysical teachings of Krishna. She changed the entire character of the epic.

So, the epic “Bharata” was the result of the process of expansion of the historical poem “Jaya” and then its Hare Krishna reworking. At this stage the epic still bore a distinct Kshatriya imprint. The heroes of the epic were mainly kshatriya warriors, a large amount of epic and legendary material was added, which told mainly about kshatriya warriors, even the religious teachings for the dissemination of which the text of the epic was supposed to be used were borrowed from non-Brahmanical sources.

The next stage in the formation of the epic was the stage of “Brahmanization” of the epic against the background of the simultaneous interpenetration of two teachings (decrepit, mutating Brahmanism and young Krishnaism), growing from completely different roots. What united them and made them cooperate? The common enemy is the spread of unorthodox systems of thought, strengthened during the interregnum due to the destructive influence of the teachings of the Upanishads. After the victory over openly anti-Brahmanical teachings and the displacement or, at worst, the localization of unorthodox religions, the struggle should logically have unfolded between Brahmanism and Krishnaism, but it did not unfold.

Smart representatives of Brahmanism realized that, despite the fact that the very emergence of Krishnaism, like other heterodox systems, was undoubtedly a popular reaction to Brahmanism, yet Krishnaism, unlike other heterodoxies, was not openly anti-Brahmanism and the possibility of reaching a compromise with it existed. And the supporters of Brahmanism tried to Brahmanize the folk religion of Krishnaism as much as possible. The result of these attempts was not only the Brahmanization of Krishnaism, but also the emergence and rapid development of other branches of Hinduism.

The Brahmanization of Krishnaism began with the Brahmanization of the epic “Bharata,” which by that time was already perceived as a truly Hare Krishna literary monument. These Brahmanical “layers” are most easily identified in the text of the epic, due to the fact that they differ sharply from the main text in their content, dedicated to Brahmanical culture and scholarship. These inserts, as a rule, are extremely extensive and crammed into the text anywhere, both out of place and, as they say, “not sewn on a mare’s tail.” Thus, the epic contained entire treatises on the religion and philosophy of Brahmanism (often contradicting earlier Hare Krishna inserts), Brahman law, ethics, cosmology, mysticism, social and political theories, etc. There were also new legends with a clearly Brahmanistic coloring for the content of the epic. A number of old legends were again subjected to revision in order to depict the heroes of the epic as defenders of the faith and culture of Brahmanism.

The text of the poem suffered greatly from these latest interventions. Unlike the Hare Krishna editors, who had an excellent command of words and possessed unconditional literary talent, the editors who carried out the Brahmanization of “Bharata” worked, as they say, with an axe, without much ceremony with the narrative outline and without burdening themselves with artistic delights.

As a result of the Brahmanization of the text of the epic, the image of Krishna (which had already absorbed the features of several different Krishnas) underwent even more significant changes, becoming essentially syncretic, turning into an avatar of Vishnu and “intermixing” with the Brahman of the Upanishads.

And finally, elements of Brahmanic dharma and threads were superimposed on the epic-historical elements of the Sut tradition and the religious-ethical elements of Krishnaism. This is how the Mahabharata was born.

Finally, I can say that researchers of the Mahabharata text have not only identified all the “traces” of Brahmanic intervention in the text of the epic, but also named individual Brahman dynasties that carried out certain text applications in the motley collage of the ancient Indian monument.