What is the Mahabharata?
The Mahabharata is the longest of the Sanskrit epics, traditionally composed by the sage Vyasa and written down, the story says, by Ganesha. At its centre is the struggle between two branches of one royal family, the five Pandava brothers and their hundred Kaurava cousins, which ends in the great war at Kurukshetra. Around it are hundreds of other stories and long teachings on dharma. The Bhagavad Gita is part of it, spoken by Krishna to Arjuna just before the battle. The epic says of itself that what is not in it is found nowhere else. Families know it through its stories. This page follows the Sanskrit epic as K. M. Ganguli translated it into English (1883–96).
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed.
Reading with a child? Stories for children: Ganesha Writes the Mahabharata (ages 3-6), Draupadi's Pot That Never Ran Out (ages 3-6).
What the schools say
The epic's own account
The Mahabharata describes itself. Its opening tells that Vyasa composed it in his mind and called on Ganesha to write it as he spoke, and that the version told among people runs to a hundred thousand verses. Early in the first book it says that whatever is said about dharma, wealth, pleasure and liberation may be found elsewhere, but what is not in it is found nowhere. It calls itself a history (itihasa). Scholars see the episode of Ganesha as the scribe as a later addition, and the critical edition of the epic leaves it out; the version families know keeps it.
Sources for this reading
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Adi Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (Adi Parva, Section I (pp. 4–6), and the close of Section LXII in the Project Gutenberg numbering; summarised, not quoted)
- Kisari Mohan Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata (Calcutta, 1883–1896), Project Gutenberg transcription, vol. 1. Ganguli died 1908: public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed. Summarised, not quoted. (Adi Parva, Sections I and LXII)
- Wikipedia, “Mahabharata” (revision 1378502504, read October 15, 2026): the first section says that Ganesha wrote the text down at Vyasa's dictation, “but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and the ‘Critical Edition’ does not include Ganesha”. Background; cited, not copied.
The Gita within the epic
The Bhagavad Gita stands in the Bhishma Parva, the sixth book. On the battlefield Arjuna loses heart at the thought of fighting his own family and teachers, and Krishna, his charioteer, answers him. The Vedanta schools treat the Gita as one of their three foundations, so a small part of the epic became one of the most studied texts of all.
Sources for this reading
- Bhagavad Gita
- Learn page “What are the Hindu holy books?”, Vedanta reading on the three foundations, with its sources.
Dharma in hard cases
Much of the epic is about doing right when right is hard to see. When Draupadi asks a question of law in the assembly, Bhishma answers that dharma is subtle. In the Yaksha's questions, Yudhishthira says that argument settles nothing and the scriptures differ, so the path is the one the great have walked. After the war, Bhishma on his bed of arrows teaches Yudhishthira at length on dharma, kingship and liberation.
Sources for this reading
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Sabha Parva and Vana Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (Sabha Parva, section LXVI, and Vana Parva, the Yaksha's questions (section CCCXI in the Gutenberg numbering); summarised)
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Bhishma Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1887) (Bhishma-vadha Parva, sections CXX–CXXIII (pp. 444–452), Bhishma's fall and the bed of arrows; summarised)
- Kisari Mohan Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata, Project Gutenberg transcription, vol. 3, Santi Parva: Bhishma answers Yudhishthira in the Rajadharmanusasana (duties of kings), Apaddharmanusasana (duties in distress) and Mokshadharma (liberation) Parvas. Ganguli died 1908: public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed. Summarised, not quoted. (Santi Parva, the three sub-parvas named)
- Learn page “What does dharma mean?”, Itihasa reading.
The fifth Veda
The Chandogya Upanishad lists the four Vedas and then, “as the fifth”, epic and ancient lore (itihasa and purana), and the Mahabharata calls itself an itihasa. Families meet it through its stories: Ekalavya, Savitri and Satyavan, Bhishma waiting for the sun, Arjuna's question.
Sources for this reading
- Chandogya Upanishad 7.1.2, in F. Max Müller (tr.), The Upanishads, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879). Müller died 1900: public domain. The words “as the fifth” are quoted verbatim; the rest is summarised. (VII Prapathaka, 1 Khanda, 2 (pp. 109–110))
- Children's stories in this library: ekalavya-and-drona, savitri-and-satyavan, bhishma-waits-for-the-sun, arjunas-question, arjuna-sees-the-universal-form, ganesha-writes-the-mahabharata.
Sources
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Adi Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (Adi Parva, Section I: a hundred thousand verses among men)
- R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki, Project Gutenberg transcription, appendix, quoting Gorresio: the Ramayana is a poem “of about fifty thousand verses”. Griffith died 1906: public domain. Cited for the comparison of length only. (Appendix, Gorresio on allegory)
- Bhagavad Gita, 1.1
More questions
Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 16, 2026.