1.

Index
2.Introduction

The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two branches of a family -
the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven
into this narrative are several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical
discourses. Krishna-Dwaipayan Vyasa, himself a character in the epic, composed it; as, according to
tradition, he dictated the verses and Ganesha wrote them down. At 100,000 verses, it is the longest epic
poem ever written, generally thought to have been composed in the 4th century BCE or earlier. The events in
the epic play out in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas. It was first narrated by a student of Vyasa
at a snake-sacrifice of the great-grandson of one of the major characters of the story. Including within it
the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata is one of the most important texts of ancient Indian, indeed
world, literature.

3.Authors and Dates

In the Mahabharata, it is mentioned that the original epic written by Ved Vyasa consisted of 8,800 verses and
was named Jaya. Rishi Vaisampayan added more and made it to 24,000 verses which were known as
Bharata. The present form of 100,000 verses was given by sage Lomaharshana. It was published by Vyasa
to mankind only after Pandavas departed on their last journey. The shlokas were immaculately memoized
(Smriti) and recited (Shruti) over thousands of years by sages and their disciples.
Vyasa requested Ganesha to be the writer of the masterpiece the world has ever seen consisting of 88800
stanza which had been already imagined by Vyasa. Ganesha agreed to write but on one condition that “The
pen should never stop at any moment” Vyasa agreed to the terms with just one additional clause
that “You can only write what you can comprehend or cease writing till the time you can comprehend
it” After repeating the word Om! Vyasa started narrating the knowledge which was still unknown to the
mankind.

4. Family Tree
5.Characters

a) Ved Vyas – Author

The author of the longest poetic epic Mahabharata, containing one lakh verses in Sanskrit. Veda Vyasa
was the first and greatest acharya of Sanatan Dharma. He is also seen as an illegitimate son of
Satyavati, second wife of Shantanu. Satyavati asks him to beget children on the widows of Chidrangada
and Vichitravirya. He being ugly, Vichitravirya's widow closes her eyes and gives birth to a blind son,
Dhritrashtra. the widow of Chitrangada turned pale and gave birth to Pandu. The third child, Vidura was
born from a Royal maid. He is responsible for classifying the four Vedas, wrote the 18 Puranas and
recited the great Mahabharata, noted down by Lord Vighneswara. In fact, the Mahabharata is often
called as the fifth Veda (Panchama Veda). The most important and the most glorified section of
Mahabharat is the Srimadth Bhagwad Gita, the lesson recited to Arjuna by Lord Krishna on the
battlefield.
b) Bhishma Pithama
Sentinel of the prosperity of Hastinapur and a great combatant in classic sense, Bhishma Pitamah is the
most potent character of the Mahabharata as well as the finest illustration of ethics and fairness.
Bhishma was son of Shantanu and the river goddess Ganges. His mother Ganges had left Shantanu
after giving birth to Bhishma. The oldest stalwart of the kingdom of Hastinapur; Bhishma Pitamah’s
personal life was full of frustration and solitariness, but for others he was a disciplined spartan and an
embodiment of loyalty and truth. Bhishma Pitamah’s peerless statesmanship and other impeccable
characteristics still inspire his ardent followers across the world. Having given his word of honour to his
step mother, Satyavati, Bhishma remained celibate all through his life.
c) Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra was the King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event.
He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Veda Vyasa. He is one of
the dominating characters of Mahabharta who has a very low self-esteem and believes that his
blindness is a curse, making him unfit to rule. It’s depicted in Mahabharta that Dhritarashtra has a great
envy against his brother Pandu and his paragon advices for the betterment of Kuru dynasty. It was
Dhritrashtra’s emotional blindness and rapacious look towards the throne which made his son
Duryodhana a hot-headed and egocentric human being.
d) Gandhari
A blindfolded mother of a hundred sons, a puppet for her blind husband, and a lady who died every
moment she lived; Gandhari is undisputably the wisest female character of the Mahabharata. Gandhari
is a lady of immense natural power and always favors Dharma. One by one, she witnessed her hundred
sons going down like skittles, but she never left the domain of righteousness and refused her own son
to wish victory into the battlefield. She is the only one who has the courage to curse Lord Krishna in the
end.

e) Shakuni
Brother of the queen Gandhari and a proficient king-maker, he is one the most clever and hated
character in Mahabharata.He . is considered as the great-grandfather of all gamblers throughout the
existence of planet earth. He was the person who poisoned the mind of his explosive nephew
Duryodhan and fueled-up the destructive war of Mahabharata with the Kauravs with no sign of mercy.
He utilizes his exemplary skills at gambling to destroy his enemies by physically, mentally and
emotionally torturing them. He is thus responsible for laying the foundation stone for the destructive war
of.
f) Kunti
Wife of Pandu. She gives Pandu three sons, Yudhishthra from Dharma, Bhima from Vayu and Arjuna
from Indra. Her great penance to Lord Sun gives her an unacknowledged son, Karna before her
marriage. She is seen as a great mother as when the Pandavas are sent to exile, she also goes with
them. She also gave her boons to Madri, who bore Nakula and Sahadeva twins from the physicians to
the gods, Ashwini Kumar twins.
g) Pandu
Pandu was an excellent archer. He became the commander of King Dhritarashtra's army and also ruled
the kingdom for him. Pandu conquered the territories of Dasarnas, Kashi, Anga, Vango, Kalinga,
Magadha etc. and thus re-established their superiority over all the kings. Pandu suddenly became
strongly attracted to Madri. Because of the curse, he died after attempting to touch her, and Madri, out
of repentance and grief, burned herself alive on her husband's funeral pyre.
h) Madari
Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu. She, alongside Kunti,
faithfully accompanied Pandu in his hermetical retreat following his abdication as the king of
Hastinapura. Both Kunti and Madri were directly affected by the curse on Pandu because they were
denied the opportunity to bear Pandu's children. However, a boon was given to Kunti which enabled her
to bear Yudishtira, Bhima, and Arjuna. This boon was passed on to Madri, who then bore twins from
Ashwins named Nakula and Sahadeva. Madri apparently made a misuse of the boon. The boon was to
be used only with a single God (the word God being used loosely) at a time and Madri invoked the
presence of twin Gods (the Ashwin twins). Hence Kunti took the boon back from Madri.
i) Karna
Karna is the illegitimate kid of Kunti. He is the central character in Mahabharata, the unsung hero, the
invincible warrior despite of being an ill-fated prince ever since his birth.. He chooses the side of the
Kauravas even after Kunti tries to persuade him to take the side of the Pandavas. But Throughout the
epic he justified his never-say-die attitude and courageously confronted all the odds of his
destiny. His character in Mahabharata has an everlasting fame because he teaches how can one
present himself better than the destiny and accomplish everything with shatterproof determination.
j) Yudhishtra
Yudhisthira is a terribly troubled yet harmless-soul character of the worming epic Mahabharata. The
eldest of the Pandava brothers. Also known as “Dharmaraj”, Yudhisthira has a great attachment with
morality, truth, commitment and righteousness. His innocent and non-aggressive traits are indeed eye-
catching, but it is a matter of fact that he can’t take even the slightest political decision by his own
because he lacks the decision-making prowess and is tremendously addicted to the consultations
offered by Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima. He is recommended as the wisest of the brothers but, He
gambled like a slack and cheerfully-irresponsible player, and lost his entire kingdom as well as Draupadi
to the Kauravas; yet he enjoys our respectfulness.
k) Bhima
He was the strongest character in Mahabharata and champion in Mace fighting. Bheema was entitled to
slay all 100 Kaurava brothers . Bheema was so strong that even Indra could not defeat him in battle.
Bheema's half body was of vajra as boon given by Lord Shiva and Parvati to him . During childhood
when Duryodhana threw Bheema into the river of poisonous snakes by giving me poison cheatingly ,
Lord Vasuki saved Bheema and gave him elixir which gave Bheema strength of 10000 elephants .
During Mahabharatha war it was only Bheem who didnt bowed to Vaishnava Astra which was released
by Karna. Bheema achieved many feats; he killed Bakasura, Keechak, Jarasandh, Hidimb, Kirmira.
l) Arjun
Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata epic. He was born to Kunti and and
king Pandu with the energy of Indra, the leader of the gods. At a very young age he got acclaim for his
sincerity and skill in archery. He is the most adored disciple of Guru Dronacharya. Along with
Yudhishtira, he is on the side of ‘Dharma’, morality and righteousness. The name Arjuna means "one of
pure deeds." He is said to be an incarnation of the ancient sage Nara. One of the greatest archers of his
generation, Arjuna is described as very handsome and popular with the ladies. He was instrumental in
winning Draupadi in a contest for himself and his brothers as their joint wife. He also married Subhadra
the sister of Krishna and Balarama and kept his friendship with them for ever. Lord Krishna became his
mentor and guide for the rest of his life.
m) Subhadra
Subhadra is an important character in the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic. She is the half-sister of Krishna,
wife of Arjuna (third of the Pandava brothers), and mother of Abhimanyu. Subhadra is the only daughter
of Vasudeva, born to him by his wife Rohini Devi. She is born after Krishna rescues thier father,
Vasudeva, from prison and is thus much younger than both her brothers. Subhadra therefore grows up
in comfort as the princess, and escapes the travails that haunted her family before her birth.
 n) Abhimanyu
He was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, sister of Krishna. He played an important role in Chakravyuha.
He learnt the art of breaking into the Chakravyuha when he was in Subhadra's womb. It was then
Krishna was narrating the art of breaking into Chakravyuha to Subhadra. But he did not know how to
destroy the formation once he was inside, as Subhadra fell asleep while listening to the story and he
could learn only half of the technique. That's why he got trapped and died in the Chakravyuh.

o) Nakul
One of the Pandavas, Nakul was supposedly the most handsome in the entire Kuru lineage. He was the
son of Madri, Pandu's second wife. Nakul was a warrior like his brothers, though he might not be
remembered for it. He and Bheem led the Pandavas on the first day of battle. He defeated Dushasan
too the same day. He also assisted Arjun in taking Bhishma down.

p) Sehdev
Same goes for the youngest Pandava, the other son of Madri. He was also quite easily forgotten.
Sahdev was an expert in astrology. He was sought by Krishna to tell him the opportune time to start the
war. But Sahdev was an honest man, so he disclosed the time to the Kauravas as well. Among other
warriors, Sahdev slayed Shakuni on the eighteenth day of war. He also killed Shakuni's son Uluka. He
is also known to have conquered several southern kingdoms of Indraprastha.
q) Draupadi
Draupadi is the most important female character in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. According to the epic,
she is the daughter of Drupada, King of Panchala. Draupadi is considered as one of
the Panchakanyas or Five Virgins. Draupadi is described in the Mahabharata as a very beautiful woman
of that time. King Drupada of Panchala had been defeated by the Pandava prince Arjuna on behalf
of Drona, who subsequently took half his kingdom. To gain revenge on Drona, he performed
a yajña called Putrakameshti yajna to obtain a means of blessing him. From the sacrificial fire, Draupadi
emerged as a beautiful dark-skinned young woman after her sibling Dhrishtadyumna.[6] When she
emerged from the fire, a heavenly voice said that she would bring about the destruction of the Kuru line.
r) Duryodhana
Duryodhana is the eldest of the Kaurava clan and a massively strong leader, a magnificent warrior and
an epitome of friendship, but in Mahabharata, he stands at one side of a gulf which is
seemingly unbridgeable between the parameters of good and evil. Indeed, Duryodhana belongs to the
evil side of the gulf, holding the traits of greed and jealousy to a specific magnitude, but here one must
remember that Duryodhana is known for his hospitality, bigheartedness and benevolence. And these
traits are enough to mark him as a real ‘Kshatriya’. Moreover, he can’t be labelled with the “bad boy”
term in the case when Draupadi was disrobed, because in the game of dice, Pandavas were also to
blame.
s) Lord Krishna
In the Mahabharata, Krishna is described as the son of Vasudev and Devaki. Given his parentage, he
was also sometimes known as Vasudeva Krishna. Apart from being the most lovable of all Gods in
India, Lord Krishna can also be seen as the biggest political reformer from the Mahabharata who can
easily beat even the modern-day diplomats man-to-man. No one can describe Lord Krishna in words;
he excels in everything. But if one keeps his Godly image out and brings him at par to the level of any
 other human, Krishna remains the coolest and wittiest character ever. In the Mahabharata, Krishna
goes around doing his deeds in a manner justifying his birth as an avatar and fulfilling the promises he
made in upholding righteousness.
t) Guru Dronacharya
The royal guru to Pandavas and Kauravas and a ferocious warrior of tremendous combating skills, he was
the 3rd incarnation of Brahma and was royal preceptor to the Kauravas and Pandavas; an avatar
of Brihaspati. Guru Dronacharya is a significant character of Mahabharata. Committed to protect the realm
of Hastinapur, Guru Dronacharya supported the Kauravas and remained firm like an inexorable hero in the
battle of Kurukshetra where casualties went beyond the human imagination and corpses got piled up,
becoming the food for the birds.

6.Values Learnt
We might have made rapid advances in science & technology but we have not yet matched our ancestors.
They had a very fertile imagination, so if we want to innovate, let the imagination run far and wide. We still
have a lot to achieve. Example: Sanjay's vision, Weapons and so many things.

Infighting among family members should always be avoided.

Not caring for a child is bad. If you cannot look after or raise him/her, there is always an option to abort or
better just use contraception. It might come back to haunt you and your family. Who can forget Karna.

Making good friends is important. But more important is the art of cementing that friendship. Without Karna,
Duryodhana was considerably weaker. Also without friends fighting on both sides, Mahabharata would never
ever take place.

If you play a game, do not play just for the sake of playing. Play to win. Or you might lose a lot. Like
Yudhishthira lost everything in Chaupada.

Always respect women and do not humiliate them. You will be punished ultimately in every case. Like
Draupadi cursed the Kauravas.

Learn household chores like cooking, cleaning and gardening; develop hobbies be it anything like dancing,
caring for animals. These will both keep you occupied and make you independent & your life easy and less
stressful. Like Pandavas worked during the agyatvasa.

If the need arises, fight till your last breath. Do not compromise for what is legally yours. Justice might be
delayed but it would never be denied. Like Pandavas never stopped fighting for what was rightfully theirs.

If the need arises to choose sides, analyse the situation and choose the side which has been wronged. Don't
let go of your righteous nature. Choosing the stronger side is not the best option always. Like Krishna helped
Pandavas when they were wronged.

If you need to lie, do it in a manner which avoids damage to someone. Being cunning and harming someone
are totally different. Avoid lies in daily life. Example being Ashwathama, the elephant or the man.

Even the ultimate bad-ass has to die. So don't try to act smart always coz we are bound to take a wrong
decision. Keep a low profile and avoid manipulating people. Case in point being Lord Krishna.
7.Eight forms of marriage

Prashasta Forms of Marriage

 Rite of Brahmana (Brahma): In this form of marriage, the father of the bride choses a man
learned in the Vedas and known for his good conduct, and gives his daughter in marriage to him after
decking her with jewels and costly garments. This is considered the best type of marriage. It still exists in
modern India, where carefully arranged marriages are the norm. Brahmana is sullied somewhat through the
practice of dowry payments among some groups.
 Rite of the Gods (Daiva): In this form, the daughter is groomed with ornaments and "gifted" to a
priest who duly officiates the wedding ceremony, during which a sacrifice is performed. Even in ancient times,
this form of marriage was considered inferior to Brahmana, and was largely discontinued.
 Rite of the Rishis (Arsha): In this variation, the father gives away his daughter after receiving a
cow and a bull from the bridegroom. This was not considered a form of payment or dowry, however, but a gift
of appreciation. But because it resembled a "sale" of the bride, it was considered an inferior form of marriage
to Brahmana ,and gradually was discontinued.

 Rite of the Prajapati (Prajapatya): Here, the father gives away his daughter after blessing the
couple by reciting the words "May both of you perform together your dharma." The couple is expected to
perform civic and religious duties together, and because these duties are imposed on the couple as a
condition of marriage, Prajapati is considered the least desirable of the four Prashasta forms.

Aprashast Forms of Marriage

 Rite of the Asuras (Demons): In this form of marriage, the bridegroom receives a maiden after
bestowing wealth to the bride and her kinsmen. It is widely regarded as the "selling" of a bride, and was
considered greatly inferior to the four Prashasta forms of marriage. It is no longer practiced among Hindus.
 Rite of the Gandharva: This form of marriage involves the voluntary union of a maiden and her
lover arising out of physical desire and sexual intercourse. Although it resembles western marriage in that it
arises out of the free choice of the couples without the participation of any other family members, it is not in
practice in modern India, although a similar type of marriage commonly known as a "love marriage" does
exist.
 Rite of the Rakshasa: This is the forcible abduction of a maiden from her home after her kinsmen
have been slain or wounded and their houses invaded. This violent, forcible form of marriage thankfully no
longer exists.
 Rite of the Pisaka: In this form, a man uses stealth to seduce a girl who is sleeping or intoxicated
or who is mentally imbalanced or handicapped. It is hard to distinguish such a form of "marriage" from rape,
and thankfully it does not exist in modern India.

8.Gotra of women
One Brahmanical practice, evident from c. 1000 BCE onwards, was to classify people (especially
Brahmanas) in terms of gotras. Each gotra was named after a Vedic seer, and all those who belonged to the
same gotra were regarded as his descendants.

Two rules about gotra were particularly important: women were expected to give up their father’s gotra and
adopt that of their husband on marriage and members of the same gotra could not marry.

One way to find out whether this was commonly followed is to consider the names of men and women, which
were sometimes derived from gotra names. These names are available for powerful ruling lineages such as
the Satavahanas who ruled over parts of western India and the Deccan (c. second century BCE-second
century CE). Several of their inscriptions have been recovered, which allow historians to trace family ties,
including marriages.
Beyond Birth Resources and Status
We have seen that slaves, landless agricultural labourers, hunters, fisherfolk, pastoralists, peasants, village headmen,
craftspersons, merchants and kings emerged as social actors in different parts of the subcontinent. Their social
positions were often shaped by their access to economic resources. Here we will examine the social implications of
access to resources in certain specific situations.

a) Gendered access to property

During the course of the long-drawn rivalry between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Duryodhana invited
Yudhisthira to a game of dice. The latter, who was deceived by his rival, staked his gold, elephants, chariots,
slaves, army, treasury, kingdom, the property of his subjects, his brothers and finally himself and lost all.
Then he staked their common wife Draupadi and lost her too. Issues of ownership, foregrounded in stories
such as this one also figure in the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras.
According to the Manusmriti, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst sons after the death of
the parents, with a special share for the eldest.
Women could not claim a share of these resources. However, women were allowed to retain the gifts they
received on the occasion of their marriage as stridhana (literally, a woman’s wealth). This could be inherited
by their children, without the husband having any claim on it. At the same time, the Manusmriti warned
women against hoarding family property, or even their own valuables, without the husband’s permission.
However, cumulative evidence – both epigraphic and textual – suggests that while upper-class women may
have had access to resources, land, cattle and money were generally controlled by men. In other words,
social differences between men and women were sharpened because of the differences in access to
resources.
b) Varna and access to property
According to the Brahmanical texts, another criterion (apart from gender) for regulating access to wealth was
varna. As we saw earlier, the only “occupation” prescribed for Shudras was servitude, while a variety of
occupations were listed for men of the first three varnas. If these provisions were actually implemented, the
wealthiest men would have been the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas. That this corresponded to some extent
with social realities is evident from descriptions of priests and kings in other textual traditions. Kings are
almost invariably depicted as wealthy; priests are also generally shown to be rich, though there are
occasional depictions of the poor Brahmana.

At another level, even as the Brahmanical view of society was codified in the Dharmasutras and
Dharmashastras, other traditions developed critiques of the varna order. Some of the best-known of these
were developed within early Buddhism. The Buddhists recognised that there were differences in society, but
did not regard these as natural or inflexible. They also rejected the idea of claims to status on the basis of
birth.

9.A Dynamic Text

The growth of the Mahabharata did not stop with the Sanskrit version. Over the centuries, versions of the epic were
written in a variety of languages through an ongoing process of dialogue between peoples, communities, and those
who wrote the texts. Several stories that originated in specific regions or circulated amongst certain people found their
way into the epic. At the same time, the central story of the epic was often retold in different ways. And episodes were
depicted in sculpture and painting. They also provided themes for a wide range of performing arts – plays, dance and
other kinds of narrations.

10. Conclusion
The Mahabharata is the greatest and longest epic of India. Mahabharata is revered as the Fifth Veda by Hindus. With
more than 74,000 verses, plus long prose passages it is one of the longest epic poems in the world. It is the source of
 many importance Hindu Scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu Sahasranāma, Shiva Sahasranāma etc. t contains
eighteen Parvas or sections viz., Adi Parva, Sabha Parva, Vana Parva, Virata Parva, Udyoga Parva, Bhishma Parva,
Drona Parva, Karna Parva, Shalya Parva, Sauptika Parva, Stree Parva, Shanti Parva, Anushasana Parva, Asvamedha
Parva, Ashramavasika Parva, Mausala Parva, Mahaprasthanika Parva and Swargarohanika Parva. Each Parva
contains many sub-Parvas or subsections.
This wonderful book was composed by Sri Vyasa (Krishna Dvaipayana) who was the grandfather of the heroes of the
epic. He taught this epic to his son Suka and his disciples Vaisampayana and others. King Janamejaya, son of
Parikshit, the grandson of the heroes of the epic, performed a great sacrifice. The epic was recited by Vaisampayana
to Janamejaya at the command of Vyasa. Later on, Suta recited the Mahabharata as was done by Vaisampayana to
Janamejaya, to Saunaka and others, during a sacrifice performed by Saunaka in Naimisaranya, which is near Sitapur
in Uttar Pradesh.

11. Bibliography
https://www.quora.com/Who-wrote-the-Mahabharata
http://creative.sulekha.com/short-story-of-maharshi-veda-vyasa-blogprint_44126_blog
https://www.gradesaver.com/mahabharata/study-guide/character-list
http://www.cbseguess.com/education/india_facts/mahabharata.php
https://krishnabhumi.in/blog/krishna-in-the-mahabharata/
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-important-life-lessons-from-Mahabharata
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-eight-types-of-marriage-in-hinduism
https://topyaps.com/top-10-characters-of-mahabharata/
https://www.mahabharataonline.com/stories/mahabharata_character.php?id=56