Ten Things to Know about the Mahabharata: #7
A scene from the Razmnama, the Persian version of the Mahabharata. The 16th century king Akbar had the epic translated to foster good will between faiths.
7. It’s a national epic. The “bharata” in Mahabharata refers to the first man to conquer and rule a united India, the mythical King Bharata. His story is one of the many prequels to the princes’ adventures in the epic.
Modern Indians sometimes refer to their country as Bharat or Bharata, as in the second line of the national anthem: “Bhārata bhāgya Vidhātā” (“Dispenser of India’s destiny”).
However, the Mahabharata doesn’t seem as popular abroad as another Indian epic, the Ramayana.
The Ramayana, the story of an exiled prince who rescues his kidnapped wife from a demon, spread over the centuries to Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and beyond. (Read the ACP post on the Ramayana here.)
Perhaps the questions the Mahabharata raises about caste are fairly specific to India. The epic is full of clashes between warriors and the priesthood, those who shake heaven and the ones who rule the earth. Princes disguise themselves as priests; priests emerge as weapons coaches with a thirst for revenge. Karna, a powerful warrior, is continually snubbed throughout the epic for being a charioteer’s son — although his heritage is not what it seems.
Then again, the concept of caste — a hereditary system of social class — shouldn’t be any harder for the interested outsider to grasp than, say, bushido, the way of the samurai. Maybe it’s the greater length and the unwieldiness of the plot that make the Mahabharata less portable.
I’d be interested to hear what others think of this question. I’ll have to look into it myself.
In the meantime, on to #6!
Mahabharata, Ten Things to Know: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
