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The Mahabharata, the classic portrayal of the epic battle between the two powerful clans, Pandavas and Kauravas culminating in a great war which raged for 18 days and changed the balance of power in the loosely connected kingdoms that made up ancient India, is supposed to have been written around 3000 BC, though this is contested by modern historians.1 It is a treatise which contains material rich philosophical, metaphysical and spiritual content which showcases the evolved thinking that the people of ancient India were capable of.2 It is the largest Sanskrit epic and contains more than 100,000 slokas (couplets). Johnson had discussed the relevance of Mahabharata to world civilization along with that of holy books like the Bible and the Quran, as well as classics like works of Shakespeare, Homer, etc.3 The celebrated dissertation on life, The Bhagavad Gita, is also a part of the Mahabharata.
There is a strong school of thought which holds that the Mahabharatha was not written by a single author but by a group of people over a period of time. The most accepted name is that of Sage Vyasa, also referred to as Krishna-Dwaipayana, who also appears as a character in the epic.4 It is quite possible that it is a compilation done by multiple authors who kept adding to the original text.5 It contains the fascinating bouquet of human emotions in all its splendor, variety, and ferociousness. It is much, much more than the story of a battle. The epic itself says that what is not here, is not anywhere else.
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