About the Site
This website offers a deeper look into the worlds longest epic poem known as the Mahabharata. Its focus is on the main story of the epic which is a tale about two branches of family in a fight. Our mission is to inform our society about the importance of the Mahabharata and its significance to Indian literature and culture. This website can be used to better peoples' knowledge of the various stories of the Mahabharata and allow them to form a moral of this famous epic. This website offers various informational online locations that provide plot summaries of the Mahabharata as well as descriptions of its history and origin. This web page presents videos that help to enhance the meaning of the epic and the background of Indian culture.
Brown, Larry A. Mahabharata: the Great Epic of India.
http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.mahabsynop.htm (1/16/13)
Brief Introduction
The story line consists of two feuding families known as the Pandavas and Kauravas. The eldest brother of the Kauravas challenges the eldest Pandava to a gambling match. The match is rigged and the Pandavas lose everything but their freedom and are banished to the forest. The major themes portrayed in this epic are banishment and righteous behavior will eventually be rewarded. In the enchanted forest the brothers learn how to conduct their lives in exile. A reoccurring theme in the Mahabharata is the Hindu belief of Dharma or performing ones duty. A story within the Mahabharata , the Bhagavad-Gita, consists of a conversation between Arjuna ( The eldest Pandava) and Krishna (Arjuna's charioteer), where Arjuna is asking for advice on his tough dilemma of battling his cousins. Arjuna knows that it is his duty to fight but, he also knows that it is wrong to kill his uncles and cousins. Krishna , who is actually a god, tells Arjuna he must fight for the body does not matter and his families souls will live on. The Major theme in this section of the epic is that one must perform nonattached work, having no concerns for the results of their actions. Another major theme is the Hindu belief of re-birth, in which all organisms have an unchangeable soul that will always live on when the bodies die.