Textual History
Major CharactersMajor Characters
The StoryThe Story
History and FictionHistory and Fiction
A Sacred TextA Sacred Text
Influence on LiteratureInfluence on Literature
Other Cultural InfluencesOther Cultural Influences
ConclusionConclusion
Textual History
Textual History
The Mahabharata, “the story of the great battle of the Bharatas” (Winternitz 1981, 297) with its 100,000 slokas or couplets and long prose passages, is an Indian epic, venerated as a holy text by Hindus in particular. The longest poem ever written in any language, and termed “an entire literature” (Winternitz 1981, 296), the Mahabharata or the “Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty” (Doniger) was probably composed/compiled by the revered seer or Maharshi Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa or Veda Vyasa.
The
Mahabharata,…
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Citation: Kar Barua, Sudeshna. "Mahabharata". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 November 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23235, accessed 12 December 2024.]