Mahabharata: The Greatest Lore
Vyas’ Magnus Opus Rewrote History
Lore and Literature are subjective by nature; however, there are objectively certain works which matter more to humanity. William Shakespeare’s work is significantly more important to humanity than Lin Manuel Miranda’s. The Bible and the Qur’an are more important to humanity than the Chronicles of Narnia. This does is not a diminishing or criticism, it is simply a statement about the impact of a work of literature on humanity. However, this does not mean that the technique of writing is to be downplayed. The Tale of Genji, the Ramayana, and the works of Robert Frost all have exquisite writing techniques and have had a tremendous impact on the study of literature itself. Therefore, the impact on humanity and literature are the barometers to measure the greatness of a literary work or lore. Thus, the longest poem ever written, the Mahabharata is the greatest lore and work of literature in human history.
There are temples, shrines, worshipers, and cults dedicated to the Mahabharata. This is a work of fiction. It does not have a fan club, it has a religion. Unlike the Torah or the Guru Grant Sahib, the Mahabharata was never intended to be religious text. It explores philosophy, borrows and creates mythos; however, its intentions are in the same category as the Iliad, or A Game of Thrones. It is there to entertain, while also exploring ideas, and history. It utilizes fact to build a brilliant work of fiction. There was a city called Troy and it was destroyed, similarly there was a battle a succession crisis in an ancient Indian mahajanpada. Despite this, the Mahabharata’s impact was so titanic that it transformed a religion and became completely interwoven within the fabric of Dharmic culture. Imagine if A Game of Thrones were to one day used as a religious text by the Abrahamic culture, that is what happened to the Mahabharata and Dharmic culture. Therefore, by completely changing the oldest continuous civilization on Earth, the Mahabharata’s impact is on the same scale as that of an intentional religious text. The Bhagavad Gita, the cornerstone of Hindu philosophy is just a exchange of dialogue between two characters in the Mahabharata just before the battle of Kurukshetra. Thus, the Mahabharata’s impact was such that an excerpt alone became a magnus opus in its own right. Ultimately, to measure the importance of this work for humanity a prophetically astronomical scale is required.
One million eight hundred thousand words, presented in two hundred thousands individual verses, the longest poem in human history, the technical impact on literature caused by the Mahabharata is comparable to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Even today, sub-plots and excerpts from the Mahabharata are told and retold via a variety of mediums in a variety of culture. There is a story with multiple variations of a monster who requires a daily sacrifice to satisfy its hunger, eventually a hero volunteers himself to be sacrificed and the beast is slain. This story was first told in the Mahabharata, it is just one of many examples of stories told throughout history around the world which originated in the epic. Furthermore, there are movies, animations, comics, soap operas, and theater which retell either the excerpts of lore or the entirety of the Mahabharata. This is an epic with hundred of characters, with each of them having individual lore sometimes spanning several incarnations or generations. The attention to detail of this work is subatomic at times, it is brilliant in every sense of the word. It is these details, and plots within sub-plots which allow so much art to be inspired by the Mahabharata. The literary impact of this work is as tremendous as the evolution of homo sapiens. Yes there were other human species, and there are other intelligent animals, but no one can replicate the impact of the homo sapiens. There are other lore, there are many brilliant literary works, but there is only one Mahabharata.
A warning to any soul who decides to read the Mahabharata, do not get attached to any characters. A Game of Thrones is infamous for killing of characters, the Mahabharata makes it look like a g-rated family film. The earliest scenes in the Mahabharata are of a mother killing her babies as a helpless father watches in agony, over and over again the sufferings searing into him. Yes that is babies not a baby. This is a story in which even the children plot and attempt to kill one another, and the most noble character has a crippling gambling addiction. There are maybe two human characters who have a sort-of-happy ending in the Mahabharata. Characters are kings one day, and homeless the next day. The story also explores marriage, romantic relationships, and its many forms. Additionally, the author Vyas loves making characters suffer. Character killing seems almost merciful when coming from him, because Vyas tortures his characters in every way possible. Ultimately it is a story of the human condition and consequences, perfect heroes do not exist within our species, and it is the imperfection which creates chaos, suffering, and a riveting story. The Mahabharata is the premier example of a great tragedy.
Maha means Great, Bharata means Indian, the Great Indian epic, the Mahabharata truly lives up to its name. It is the Greatest Lore ever written.
