An Exploration into the Historical Actuality of the Mahabharata

Abstract

The wise sage Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, better known as Vyasa or Veda Vyasa wrote the epic Mahabharata, one of the greatest epics in Indian history. Legendary evidence suggests that Lord Ganesha penned the epic while seated in a cave with sage Vyasa. The epic's original length of 8,000 verses was eventually enlarged to the 100,000 verses that is currently available in Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. The Hindu scriptures are classified into two classifications, one being the “Smriti” (comprising of the four Vedas and the Upanishads) and the other being the “Shruti” (comprising of the 18 Puranas and the Itihasa). The word “Itihasa” in Sanskrit means “Thus it was”, which can be translated to that which has happened in the past. The sages at the time wrote history in such a manner that it contains the four Purusharthas of life, which could also mean the four goals of life that are Dharma (righteousness, and moral values), Artha (prosperity, and economic values), Kama (pleasure, love, and psychological values), and Moksha (liberation, spiritual values, self-realization). Due to the integration of the four Purusharthas into the Itihasas, the Itihasas are detailed in a story format to enrich mankind on how one must undertake the way to live one’s life. There are only two texts that come under Itihasa which are Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata depicts the dynastic struggle between two factions of the Kuru dynasty, the one being the Pandavas, and the other being the Kauravas. The Mahabharata concludes with the Kurukshetra War, which resulted in a Pyrrhic victory for Pandavas. Naturally, there has been a debate on the authenticity of the incidents described in the text since the Hindus place the Mahabharata as history. Many disciples transmitted the epic orally from generation to generation as it has spread its influence throughout human culture over many years. Since it had been transmitted orally, there were several opportunities for additions and changes at various points in the process. As a result, the epic volumes with extrapolation have been prepared. This raises the question of whether the epic is based in fact, or rather if it is at all historic. Luckily, positive traces of historical events were discovered during several archaeological investigations conducted near the Mahabharata sites. This research is to bring to light the several facts lined up with the Mahabharata that may be able to prove that the Mahabharata is more than a myth.