The Mahābhārata (/məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə, ˌmɑːhə-/ mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-;[1][2][3][4] Sanskri

t: महाभारतम्, IAST: Mahābhāratam, pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is one of the two

major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other
being the Rāmāyaṇa.[5] It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War,
a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and
the Pāṇḍavas.

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It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four
"goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in
the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, the story
of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the
story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of
the Rāmāyaṇa, often considered as works in their own right.

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Krishna and Arjuna at Kurukshetra, 18th–19th-century

painting
Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been
many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of
the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd
century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE.[6]
[7]
The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE).[8]
[9]

The title is translated as "Great Bharat (India)", or "the story of the great descendents
of Bharata", or as "The Great Indian Tale".[10][11] The Mahābhārata is the longest epic
poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written".[12][13] Its longest
version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines
(each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. At about 1.8 million words in total,
the Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined,
or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa.[14][15] Within the Indian tradition it is
sometimes called the fifth Veda.[16]
Textual history and structure

Vyasa narrating the Mahābhārata to Ganesha from a 17th

century Mewar manuscript.
The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, who is also a major figure in the
epic.[12] Vyasa described it as being an itihasa (transl. history). He also describes
the Guru–shishya tradition, which traces all great teachers and their students of the
Vedic times.

The first section of the Mahābhārata states that it was Ganesha who wrote down the
text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the
epic and the "Critical Edition" does not include Ganesha.[17]

The epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales,
popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It is first recited
at Takshashila by the sage Vaisampayana,[18][19] a disciple of Vyasa, to the
King Janamejaya who was the great-grandson of the Pandava prince Arjuna. The story
is then recited again by a professional storyteller named Ugrashrava Sauti, many years
later, to an assemblage of sages performing the 12-year sacrifice for the king Saunaka
Kulapati in the Naimisha Forest.
 Sauti recites the slokas of the Mahabharata.
The text was described by some early 20th-century Indologists as unstructured and
chaotic. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the original poem must once have carried
an immense "tragic force" but dismissed the full text as a "horrible chaos."[20] Moritz
Winternitz (Geschichte der indischen Literatur 1909) considered that "only unpoetical
theologists and clumsy scribes" could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an
unordered whole.[21]

Accretion and redaction

Research on the Mahābhārata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating
layers within the text. Some elements of the present Mahabharata can be traced back to
Vedic times.[22] The background to the Mahābhārata suggests the origin of the epic
occurs "after the very early Vedic period" and before "the first Indian 'empire' was to rise
in the third century B.C." That this is "a date not too far removed from the 8th or 9th
century B.C."[7][23] is likely. The Mahabharata started as an orally-transmitted tale of the
charioteer bards.[24] It is generally agreed that "Unlike the Vedas, which have to be
preserved letter-perfect, the epic was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably
conform to changes in language and style,"[23] so the earliest 'surviving' components of
this dynamic text are believed to be no older than the earliest 'external' references we
have to the epic, which include an reference in Panini's 4th century BCE
grammar Ashtadhyayi 4:2:56.[7][23] Vishnu Sukthankar, editor of the first great critical
edition of the Mahābhārata, commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid
text in an original shape, based on an archetype and a stemma codicum. What then is
possible? Our objective can only be to reconstruct the oldest form of the text which it is
possible to reach based on the manuscript material available."[25] That manuscript
evidence is somewhat late, given its material composition and the climate of India, but it
is very extensive.
The Mahābhārata itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses:
the Bhārata proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while
the Ashvalayana Grihyasutra (3.4.4) makes a similar distinction. At least three
redactions of the text are commonly recognized: Jaya (Victory) with 8,800 verses
attributed to Vyasa, the Bharata with 24,000 verses as recited by Vaisampayana, and
finally the Mahābhārata as recited by Ugrashrava Sauti with over 100,000 verses.[26]
[27]
However, some scholars, such as John Brockington, argue
that Jaya and Bharata refer to the same text, and ascribe the theory of Jaya with 8,800
verses to a misreading of a verse in the Adi Parva (1.1.81).[28] The redaction of this large
body of text was carried out after formal principles, emphasizing the numbers 18[29] and
12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the Anushasana
Parva and the Virata Parva from the "Spitzer manuscript".[30] The oldest
surviving Sanskrit text dates to the Kushan Period (200 CE).[31]

According to what one figure says at Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic,
beginning with Manu (1.1.27), Astika (1.3, sub-Parva 5), or Vasu (1.57), respectively.
These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame'
settings of dialogues. The Vasu version would omit the frame settings and begin with
the account of the birth of Vyasa. The astika version would add
the sarpasattra and ashvamedha material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the
name Mahābhārata, and identify Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these
additions were probably Pancharatrin scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely
retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the Huna in
the Bhishma Parva however appears to imply that this Parva may have been edited
around the 4th century.[32]

The snake sacrifice of Janamejaya

The Adi Parva includes the snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) of Janamejaya, explaining its
motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and
why despite this, there are still snakes in existence. This sarpasattra material was often
considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mahābhārata by "thematic
attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have a particularly close connection
to Vedic (Brahmana) literature. The Panchavimsha Brahmana (at 25.15.3) enumerates
the officiant priests of a sarpasattra among whom the names Dhritarashtra and
Janamejaya, two main figures of the Mahābhārata's sarpasattra, as well as Takshaka, a
snake in the Mahābhārata, occur.[33]

The Suparnakhyana, a late Vedic period poem considered to be among the "earliest
traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend
of Garuda that is included in the Astika Parva, within the Adi Parva of the Mahābhārata.
[34][35]

Historical references
See also: Bhagavad Gita § Date and text
The earliest known references to bhārata and the compound mahābhārata date to
the Ashtadhyayi (sutra 6.2.38)[36] of Panini (fl. 4th century BCE) and the Ashvalayana
Grihyasutra (3.4.4). This may mean that the core 24,000 verses, known as the Bhārata,
as well as an early version of the extended Mahābhārata, were composed by the 4th
century BCE. However, it is uncertain whether Panini referred to the epic,
as bhārata was also used to describe other things. Albrecht Weber mentions
the Rigvedic tribe of the Bharatas, where a great person might have been designated
as Mahā-Bhārata. However, as Panini also mentions figures that play a role in
the Mahābhārata, some parts of the epic may have already been known in his day.
Another aspect is that Panini determined the accent of mahā-bhārata. However,
the Mahābhārata was not recited in Vedic accent.[37]

The Greek writer Dio Chrysostom (c. 40 – c. 120 CE) reported that Homer's poetry was
being sung even in India.[38] Many scholars have taken this as evidence for the existence
of a Māhabhārata at this date, whose episodes Dio or his sources identify with the story
of the Iliad.[39]

Several stories within the Mahābhārata took on separate identities of their own
in Classical Sanskrit literature. For instance, the Abhijnanashkuntala by the Sanskrit
poet Kalidasa (c. 400 CE), believed to have lived in the era of the Gupta dynasty, is
based on a story that is the precursor to the Mahābhārata. The Urubhanga, a Sanskrit
play written by Bhasa who is believed to have lived before Kalidasa, is based on the
slaying of Duryodhana by the splitting of his thighs by Bhima.[40]

The copper-plate inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (533–534 CE) from Khoh
(Satna District, Madhya Pradesh) describes the Mahābhārata as a "collection of
100,000 verses" (śata-sahasri saṃhitā).[40]

The 18 parvas or books

The division into 18 parvas is as follows:

Parv Title Sub- Contents

a parv
 as

How the Mahābhārata came to be narrated

by Sauti to the assembled rishis at Naimisharanya,
after having been recited at
the sarpasattra of Janamejaya by Vaisampayana at
Adi Parva (The
Takshashila. The history and genealogy of
1 Book of the 1–19
the Bharata and Bhrigu races are recalled, as is the
Beginning)
birth and early life of the Kuru princes (adi means
first). Adi parva describes Pandava's birth,
childhood, education, marriage, struggles due to
conspiracy as well as glorious achievements.

Maya Danava erects the palace and court (sabha),

at Indraprastha. The Sabha Parva narrates the
Sabha
glorious Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice performed
Parva (The Book 20–
2 with the help of his brothers and Yudhisthira's rule
of the Assembly 28
in Shakraprastha/Indraprastha as well as the
Hall)
humiliation and deceit caused by conspiracy along
with their own action.

Vana
Parva also Arany
The twelve years of exile in the forest (aranya). The
aka 29–
3 entire Parva describes their struggle and
Parva, Aranya 44
consolidation of strength.
Parva (The Book
of the Forest)

The year spent incognito at the court of Virata. A

single warrior (Arjuna) defeated the entire Kuru
Virata Parva (The 45– army
4
Book of Virata) 48 including Karna, Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama,
etc. and recovered the cattle of the Virata kingdom.
[41]

Udyoga Preparations for war and efforts to bring about

49–
5 Parva (The Book peace between the Kaurava and the Pandava sides
59
of the Effort) which eventually fail (udyoga means effort or work).

6 Bhishma 60– The first part of the great battle, with Bhishma as
Parva (The Book 64 commander for the Kaurava and his fall on the bed
of Bhishma) of arrows. The most important aspect of Bhishma
Parva is the Bhagavad Gita narrated
by Krishna to Arjuna. (Includes the Bhagavad
 Gita in chapters 25–42.)[42][43]

The battle continues, with Drona as commander.

Drona Parva (The 65– This is the major book of the war. Most of the great
7
Book of Drona) 72 warriors on both sides are dead by the end of this
book.

Karna Parva (The The continuation of the battle with Karna as

8 73
Book of Karna) commander of the Kaurava forces.

The last day of the battle, with Shalya as

commander. Also told in detail, is the pilgrimage of
Shalya
74– Balarama to the fords of the river Saraswati and the
9 Parva (The Book
77 mace fight between Bhima and Duryodhana which
of Shalya)
ends the war, since Bhima kills Duryodhana by
smashing him on the thighs with a mace.

Sauptika Ashwatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma kill the

Parva (The Book 78– remaining Pandava army in their sleep. Only seven
10
of the Sleeping 80 warriors remain on the Pandava side and three on
Warriors) the Kaurava side.

Gandhari and the women (stri) of the Kauravas and

Stri Parva (The
81– Pandavas lament the dead and Gandhari
11 Book of the
85 cursing Krishna for the massive destruction and the
Women)
extermination of the Kaurava.

The crowning of Yudhishthira as king of

Shanti Hastinapura, and instructions from Bhishma for the
86–
12 Parva (The Book newly anointed king on society, economics, and
88
of Peace) politics. This is the longest book of
the Mahabharata.

Anushasana The final instructions (anushasana) from Bhishma.

Parva (The Book 89– This Parba contains the last day of Bhishma and
13
of the 90 his advice and wisdom to the upcoming
Instructions) emperor Yudhishthira.

Ashvamedhika The royal ceremony of the Ashvamedha (Horse

Parva (The Book 91– sacrifice) conducted by Yudhishthira. The world
14
of the Horse 92 conquest by Arjuna. Anugita is told by Krishna to
Sacrifice)[44] Arjuna.

15 Ashramavasika 93– The eventual deaths of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari,

 and Kunti in a forest fire when they are living in a
Parva (The Book hermitage in the Himalayas. Vidura predeceases
95
of the Hermitage) them and Sanjaya on Dhritarashtra's bidding goes
to live in the higher Himalayas.

The materialization of Gandhari's curse, i.e., the

Mausala
infighting between the Yadavas with maces
16 Parva (The Book 96
(mausala) and the eventual destruction of the
of the Clubs)
Yadavas.

Mahaprasthanika The great journey of Yudhishthira, his brothers, and

Parva (The Book his wife Draupadi across the whole country and
17 97
of the Great finally their ascent of the great Himalayas where
Journey) each Pandava falls except for Yudhishthira.

Svargarohana
Parva (The Book Yudhishthira's final test and the return of the
18 98
of the Ascent to Pandavas to the spiritual world (svarga).
Heaven)

Harivamsa Parva
This is an addendum to the 18 books, and covers
(The Book of the 99–
khila those parts of the life of Krishna which is not
Genealogy of 100
covered in the 18 parvas of the Mahabharata.
Hari)

Historical context
The historicity of the Kurukshetra War is unclear. Many historians estimate the date of
the Kurukshetra war to Iron Age India of the 10th century BCE.[45] The setting of the epic
has a historical precedent in Iron Age (Vedic) India, where the Kuru kingdom was the
center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800 BCE.[46] A dynastic conflict of the
period could have been the inspiration for the Jaya, the foundation on which
the Mahābhārata corpus was built, with a climactic battle, eventually coming to be
viewed as an epochal event.

Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahābhārata narrative.
The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. Of the first kind, there is the direct
statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between the birth of Parikshit (Arjuna's
grandson) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda (400–329 BCE), which would yield
an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle.[47] However, this would imply
improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies.[48] Of the
second kind is analysis of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of
Adhisimakrishna (Parikshit's great-grandson) and Mahapadma Nanda. Pargiter
accordingly estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and,
assuming 18 years for the average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850
BCE for Adhisimakrishna, and thus approximately 950 BCE for the Bharata battle.[49]
 Map of some Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites.
B. B. Lal used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average
reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE, and correlated this with archaeological evidence
from Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW
artifacts and places mentioned in the epic.[50] John Keay suggests "their core narratives
seem to relate to events from a period prior to all but the Rig Veda." [51]

Attempts to date the events using methods of archaeoastronomy have produced,

depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimates
ranging from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BCE.[52] The late 4th-millennium date
has a precedent in the calculation of the Kali Yuga epoch, based on planetary
conjunctions, by Aryabhata (6th century). Aryabhata's date of 18 February 3102 BCE
for Mahābhārata war has become widespread in Indian tradition. Some sources mark
this as the disappearance of Krishna from the Earth.[53] The Aihole inscription
of Pulakeshin II, dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3,735 years have elapsed
since the Bhārata battle, putting the date of Mahābhārata war at 3137BCE.[54][55]

Another traditional school of astronomers and historians, represented by Vrddha

Garga, Varāhamihira and Kalhana, place the Bharata war 653 years after the Kali
Yuga epoch, corresponding to 2449 BCE.[56] According to Varāhamihira's Bṛhat
Saṃhitā (6th century), Yudhishthara lived 2,526 years before the beginning of
the Shaka era, which begins in the 78 CE. This places Yudhishthara (and therefore, the
Mahabharata war) around 2448–2449 BCE (2526–78). Some scholars have attempted
to identify the "Shaka" calendar era mentioned by Varāhamihira with other eras, but
such identifications place Varāhamihira in the first century BCE, which is impossible as
he refers to the 5th century astronomer Aryabhata. Kalhana's Rajatarangini (11th
century), apparently relying on Varāhamihira, also states that the Pandavas flourished
653 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga; Kalhana adds that people who believe
that the Bharata war was fought at the end of the Dvapara Yuga are foolish.[57]

Synopsis
 Ganesha writes the Mahabharata upon Vyasa's dictation.
See also: List of characters in the Mahabharata
The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura,
the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that
participate in the struggle are the Kaurava and the Pandava. Although the Kaurava is
the senior branch of the family, Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, is younger
than Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava. Both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira claim to be
first in line to inherit the throne.

The struggle culminates in the Kurukshetra War, in which the Pandavas are ultimately
victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of
family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what is right, as well as the converse.

The Mahābhārata itself ends with the death of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his
dynasty and ascent of the Pandava brothers to heaven. It also marks the beginning of
the Hindu age of Kali Yuga, the fourth and final age of humankind, in which great values
and noble ideas have crumbled, and people are heading towards the complete
dissolution of right action, morality, and virtue.

The older generations

 Shantanu falls in love with Satyavati, the fisherwoman.
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma.
King Janamejaya's ancestor, Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura, had a short-lived
marriage with the goddess Ganga and had a son, Devavrata (later to be
called Bhishma, a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Many years later,
when King Shantanu goes hunting, he sees Satyavati, the daughter of the chief of
fishermen, and asks her father for her hand. Her father refuses to consent to the
marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati the king upon
his death. To resolve his father's dilemma, Devavrata agrees to relinquish his right to
the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honoring the
promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's
promise.

Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. Upon Shantanu's
death, Chitrangada becomes king. He lives a very short uneventful life and dies.
Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules Hastinapura. Meanwhile, the King of Kāśī arranges
a swayamvara for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of
Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the
swayamvara of the three princesses Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, uninvited, and
proceeds to abduct them. Ambika and Ambalika consent to be married to Vichitravirya.

The oldest princess Amba, however, informs Bhishma that she wishes to marry the king
of Shalva whom Bhishma defeated at their swayamvara. Bhishma lets her leave to
marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting at his
humiliation at the hands of Bhishma. Amba then returns to marry Bhishma but he
refuses due to his vow of celibacy. Amba becomes enraged and becomes Bhishma's
bitter enemy, holding him responsible for her plight. She vows to kill him in her next life.
Later she is reborn to King Drupada as Shikhandi (or Shikhandini) and causes
Bhishma's fall, with the help of Arjuna, in the battle of Kurukshetra.
The Pandava and Kaurava princes

Draupadi with her five husbands – the Pandavas. The central

figure is Yudhishthira; the two on the bottom are Bhima and Arjuna. Nakula and Sahadeva, the
twins, are standing. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma, c. 1900.
When Vichitravirya dies young without any heirs, Satyavati asks her first son Vyasa,
born to her from a previous union with the sage Parashara, to father children with the
widows. The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and so her
son Dhritarashtra is born blind. Ambalika turns pale and bloodless upon seeing him, and
thus her son Pandu is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean
'jaundiced'[58]). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks
Vyasa to try once again. However, Ambika and Ambalika send their maid instead, to
Vyasa's room. Vyasa fathers a third son, Vidura, by the maid. He is born healthy and
grows up to be one of the wisest figures in the Mahabharata. He serves as Prime
Minister (Mahamantri or Mahatma) to King Pandu and King Dhritarashtra.

When the princes grow up, Dhritarashtra is about to be crowned king by Bhishma when
Vidura intervenes and uses his knowledge of politics to assert that a blind person
cannot be king. This is because a blind man cannot control and protect his subjects.
The throne is then given to Pandu because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu marries
twice, to Kunti and Madri. Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari, a princess from Gandhara,
who blindfolds herself for the rest of her life so that she may feel the pain that her
husband feels. Her brother Shakuni is enraged by this and vows to take revenge on the
Kuru family. One day, when Pandu is relaxing in the forest, he hears the sound of a wild
animal. He shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound. However, the arrow hits the
sage Kindama, who was engaged in a sexual act in the guise of a deer. He curses
Pandu that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest
along with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his
blindness.
Pandu's older queen Kunti, however, had been given a boon by Sage Durvasa that she
could invoke any god using a special mantra. Kunti uses this boon to ask Dharma, the
god of justice, Vayu, the god of the wind, and Indra, the lord of the heavens for sons.
She gives birth to three sons, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, through these gods.
Kunti shares her mantra with the younger queen Madri, who bears the
twins Nakula and Sahadeva through the Ashwini twins. However, Pandu and Madri
indulge in lovemaking, and Pandu dies. Madri commits suicide out of remorse. Kunti
raises the five brothers, who are from then on usually referred to as
the Pandava brothers.

Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons, and one daughter—Duhsala—through Gandhari,

[59]
all born after the birth of Yudhishthira. These are the Kaurava brothers, the eldest
being Duryodhana, and the second Dushasana. Other Kaurava brothers
include Vikarna and Sukarna. The rivalry and enmity between them and the Pandava
brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the Kurukshetra war.

Lakshagraha (the house of lac)

After the deaths of their mother (Madri) and father (Pandu), the Pandavas and their
mother Kunti return to the palace of Hastinapur. Yudhishthira is made Crown Prince by
Dhritarashtra, under considerable pressure from his courtiers.

Shakuni, Duryodhana, and Dushasana plot to get rid of the Pandavas. Shakuni calls the
architect Purochana to build a palace out of flammable materials like lac and ghee. He
then arranges for the Pandavas and the Queen Mother Kunti to stay there, intending to
set it alight. However, the Pandavas are warned by their wise uncle, Vidura, who sends
them a miner to dig a tunnel. They escape to safety through the tunnel and go into
hiding. During this time, Bhima marries a demoness Hidimbi and has a
son Ghatotkacha. Back in Hastinapur, the Pandavas and Kunti are presumed dead.[60]

Marriage to Draupadi
 Arjuna piercing the eye of the fish as depicted
in Chennakeshava Temple, Belur built by Hoysala Empire
Whilst they were in hiding, the Pandavas learn of a swayamvara which is taking place
for the hand of the Pāñcāla princess Draupadī. The Pandavas, disguised as Brahmins,
come to witness the event. Meanwhile, Krishna, who has already befriended Draupadi,
tells her to look out for Arjuna (though now believed to be dead). The task was to string
a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which was the eye of a moving
artificial fish, while looking at its reflection in oil below. In popular versions, after all the
princes fail, many being unable to lift the bow, Karna proceeds to the attempt but is
interrupted by Draupadi who refuses to marry a suta (this has been excised from the
Critical Edition of Mahabharata[61][62] as later interpolation[63]). After this, the swayamvara is
opened to the Brahmins leading Arjuna to win the contest and marry Draupadi. The
Pandavas return home and inform their meditating mother that Arjuna has won a
competition and to look at what they have brought back. Without looking, Kunti asks
them to share whatever Arjuna has won amongst themselves, thinking it to be alms.
Thus, Draupadi ends up being the wife of all five brothers.

Indraprastha
After the wedding, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The Kuru
family elders and relatives negotiate and broker a split of the kingdom, with the
Pandavas obtaining and demanding only a wild forest inhabited by Takshaka, the king
of snakes, and his family. Through hard work, the Pandavas build a new glorious capital
for the territory at Indraprastha.

Shortly after this, Arjuna elopes with and then marries Krishna's sister, Subhadra.
Yudhishthira wishes to establish his position as king; he seeks Krishna's advice. Krishna
advises him, and after due preparation and the elimination of some opposition,
Yudhishthira carries out the rājasūya yagna ceremony; he is thus recognized as pre-
eminent among kings.
The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by Maya the Danava.[64] They invite
their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana walks round the palace, and
mistakes a glossy floor for water, and will not step in. After being told of his error, he
then sees a pond and assumes it is not water and falls in. Bhima, Arjuna, the twins and
the servants laugh at him.[65] In popular adaptations, this insult is wrongly attributed to
Draupadi, even though in the Sanskrit epic, it was the Pandavas (except Yudhishthira)
who had insulted Duryodhana. Enraged by the insult, and jealous at seeing the wealth
of the Pandavas, Duryodhana decides to host a dice-game on Shakuni's suggestion.
This suggestion was accepted by Yudhisthira despite the rest of the Pandavas advising
him not to play.

The dice game

Draupadi humiliated
Shakuni, Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishthira
with loaded dice. In the dice game, Yudhishthira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom.
Yudhishthira then gambles his brothers, himself, and finally his wife into servitude. The
jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe
Draupadi in front of the entire court, but Draupadi's disrobe is prevented by Krishna,
who miraculously make her dress endless, therefore it couldn't be removed.

Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, and the other elders are aghast at the situation, but
Duryodhana is adamant that there is no place for two crown princes in Hastinapura.
Against his wishes Dhritarashtra calls for another dice game. The Pandavas are
required to go into exile for 12 years, and in the 13th year, they must remain hidden
called as Agyaata Vaasa. If they are discovered by the Kauravas in the 13th year of
their exile, then they will be forced into exile for another 12 years.

Exile and return

The Pandavas spend thirteen years in exile; many adventures occur during this time.
The Pandavas acquire many divine weapons, given by gods, during this period. They
also prepare alliances for a possible future conflict. They spend their final year in
disguise in the court of the king Virata, and they are discovered just after the end of the
year.

At the end of their exile, they try to negotiate a return to Indraprastha with Krishna as
their emissary. However, this negotiation fails, because Duryodhana objected that they
were discovered in the 13th year of their exile and the return of their kingdom was not
agreed upon. Then the Pandavas fought the Kauravas, claiming their rights over
Indraprastha.

A scene from the Mahabharata war, Angkor Wat: A black

stone relief depicting several men wearing a crown and a dhoti, fighting with spears, swords, and
bows. A chariot with half the horse out of the frame is seen in the middle.
The battle at Kurukshetra
Main article: Kurukshetra War

A map of India depicting various regions during the

Mahabharata period
The two sides summon vast armies to their help and line up at Kurukshetra for a war.
The kingdoms of Panchala, Dwaraka,
Kasi, Kekaya, Magadha, Matsya, Chedi, Pandyas, Telinga, the Yadus of Mathura, and
some other clans like the Parama Kambojas were allied with the Pandavas. The allies
of the Kauravas included the kings of Pragjyotisha, Anga, Kekaya, Sindhudesa
(including Sindhus, Sauviras and Sivis), Mahishmati, Avanti in
Madhyadesa, Madra, Gandhara, Bahlika people, Kambojas, and many others. Before
war is declared, Balarama expresses his unhappiness at the developing conflict and
leaves to go on pilgrimage; he does not take part in the battle. Krishna participates in a
non-combatant role, as charioteer (Sarathy) for Arjuna and offers Narayani
Sena consisting of Abhira gopas to the Kauravas to fight on their side.[66][67]

Before the battle, Arjuna, noticing that the opposing army includes his cousins and
relatives, including his grandfather Bhishma and his teacher Drona, has grave doubts
about the fight. He falls into despair and refuses to fight. At this time, Krishna reminds
him of his duty as a Kshatriya to fight for a righteous cause in the famous Bhagavad
Gita section of the epic.

Though initially adhering to chivalrous notions of warfare, both sides soon adopt
dishonorable tactics. At the end of the 18-day battle, only the
Pandavas, Satyaki, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Kritavarma, Yuyutsu and Krishna survive.
Yudhisthira becomes king of Hastinapur. All warriors who died in the Kurukshetra war
go to swarga.

The end of the Pandavas

Gandhari, blindfolded, supporting Dhrtarashtra and following

Kunti when Dhritarashtra became old and infirm and retired to the forest. A miniature painting
from a 16th-century manuscript of part of the Razmnama, a Persian translation of
the Mahabharata
After "seeing" the carnage, Gandhari, who had lost all her sons, curses Krishna to be a
witness to a similar annihilation of his family, for though divine and capable of stopping
the war, he had not done so. Krishna accepts the curse, which bears fruit 36 years later.

The Pandavas, who had ruled their kingdom meanwhile, decide to renounce everything.
Clad in skins and rags they retire to the Himalaya and climb towards heaven in their
bodily form. A stray dog travels with them. One by one the brothers and Draupadi fall on
their way. As each one stumbles, Yudhishthira gives the rest the reason for their fall
(Draupadi was partial to Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were vain and proud of their
looks, and Bhima and Arjuna were proud of their strength and archery skills,
respectively). Only the virtuous Yudhishthira, who had tried everything to prevent the
carnage, and the dog remain. The dog reveals himself to be the god Yama (also known
as Yama Dharmaraja) and then takes him to the underworld where he sees his siblings
and wife. After explaining the nature of the test, Yama takes Yudhishthira back to
heaven and explains that it was necessary to expose him to the underworld because
(Rajyante narakam dhruvam) any ruler has to visit the underworld at least once. Yama
then assures him that his siblings and wife would join him in heaven after they had been
exposed to the underworld for measures of time according to their vices.

Arjuna's grandson Parikshit rules after them and dies bitten by a snake. His furious son,
Janamejaya, decides to perform a snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) to destroy the snakes. It
is at this sacrifice that the tale of his ancestors is narrated to him.

The reunion
The Mahābhārata mentions that Karna, the Pandavas, Draupadi and Dhritarashtra's
sons eventually ascended to svarga and "attained the state of the gods", and banded
together – "serene and free from anger".[68]