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84-657: In the Tirtha-yatra Parva of the Mahabharata , the devas requested Sage Agastya to drink the ocean where the kalakeyas resided, so that they may be defeated in battle. After the sage had completed this extraordinary feat, the devas assailed their foes, and were able to vanquish them in battle. The survivors of the sect sought refuge in Patala , the netherworld. In the Vana Parva , the kalakeyas, allied with

168-548: A Gandharva and ascend to heaven. Pururavas successfully accomplishes the task and is able to reunite with Urvashi in heaven. In the Vayu Purana , the sage Agastya once arrives in Indra's court and is welcomed by a dance performance of Urvashi. In the performance, Urvashi and Jayanta , the son of Indra, look into each other's eyes in love. The distracted Urvashi misses a beat, and the dance goes haywire. Due to this, Jayanta

252-424: A boy. She gives birth to Rishyashringa, and he is raised by his father. Another tale featuring Urvashi and a mortal prince is found in the Mahabharata . Arjuna , a prince belonging to Chandravamsha and the spiritual son of Indra , comes to heaven to learn under Gandharva Chitrasena . Urvashi becomes attracted to him and reaches Arjuna's residence adorned in beautiful attire. She tells him about her desire, but

336-403: A celestial jar that Brahma had made; Urvashi gets passionate, and tells him that though her body belonged to Mitra, her mind was fixed on him. As a result of her infidelity, Mitra curses Urvashi to become the wife of a mortal man, which eventually causes Mitra's seed to fall from her womb. It is subsequently put into the same jar containing Varuna's seed. In addition to Vashishtha's rebirth, Agastya

420-636: A class of Asuras . They were present at the preaching of the Mahāsamaya Sutta and are spoken of as being of a fearsome shape (D.ii.259; also DA.iii.789.820). They are the very lowest of those beings in the Asura realm. Bodhisattvas are never born among the Kālakañjakas (J.i.44; BuA.224). Sometimes (E.g., J.v.187; PvA.272), when Asuras are mentioned, the Commentaries explain the word as referring to

504-474: A fully fledged maiden. According to the Devi-Bhagavata Purana , the sage-brothers Nara and Narayana perform penance to please the creator god Brahma , but this makes Indra (the king of the devas ) insecure about his throne and he does not want the sages to acquire divine powers. As a result, he creates multiple illusions to break their penance, but all of his tricks fail. Finally, he orders

588-457: A particularly close connection to Vedic ( Brahmana ) literature. The Panchavimsha Brahmana (at 25.15.3) enumerates the officiant priests of a sarpasattra among whom the names Dhritarashtra and Janamejaya, two main figures of the Mahābhārata' s sarpasattra , as well as Takshaka , a snake in the Mahābhārata , occur. The Suparnakhyana , a late Vedic period poem considered to be among

672-515: A pitcher from which Vasishtha and Agastya are born. Similar accounts of this story appear in the Brihaddevata and some Puranic scriptures. In later Hindu texts, unlike the Vedas , Vashishtha is described as a Manasputra (mind-created son) of the god Brahma . After his death from the king Nimi's curse, he takes rebirth through Urvashi and Mitra-Varuna. According to the legend attested in

756-550: A pond and assumes it is not water and falls in. Bhima , Arjuna , the twins and the servants laugh at him. In popular adaptations, this insult is wrongly attributed to Draupadi, even though in the Sanskrit epic, it was the Pandavas (except Yudhishthira) who had insulted Duryodhana. Enraged by the insult, and jealous at seeing the wealth of the Pandavas, Duryodhana decides to host a dice-game on Shakuni's suggestion. This suggestion

840-461: A princess from Gandhara, who blindfolds herself for the rest of her life so that she may feel the pain that her husband feels. Her brother Shakuni is enraged by this and vows to take revenge on the Kuru family. One day, when Pandu is relaxing in the forest, he hears the sound of a wild animal. He shoots an arrow in the direction of the sound. However, the arrow hits the sage Kindama , who was engaged in

924-519: A role in the Mahābhārata , some parts of the epic may have already been known in his day. Another aspect is that Panini determined the accent of mahā-bhārata . However, the Mahābhārata was not recited in Vedic accent . The Greek writer Dio Chrysostom ( c.  40  – c.  120 CE ) reported that Homer 's poetry was being sung even in India. Many scholars have taken this as evidence for

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1008-401: A sexual act in the guise of a deer. He curses Pandu that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. Pandu then retires to the forest along with his two wives, and his brother Dhritarashtra rules thereafter, despite his blindness. Pandu's older queen Kunti, however, had been given a boon by Sage Durvasa that she could invoke any god using a special mantra. Kunti uses this boon to ask Dharma ,

1092-538: A significant part in the birth of Vashishtha and Agastya , two of the most revered sages in Hinduism. Urvashi's story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and literature. The poet Kalidasa (fl. 4th -5th century CE) has adapted Urvashi and Pururavas as the main characters in his play Vikramorvashiyam . The Sanskrit name "Urvaśī" is derived from roots— uru and aś . It can have multiple meanings. Indologist Monier Monier-Williams states that

1176-467: A similar distinction. At least three redactions of the text are commonly recognized: Jaya (Victory) with 8,800 verses attributed to Vyasa, the Bharata with 24,000 verses as recited by Vaisampayana , and finally the Mahābhārata as recited by Ugrashrava Sauti with over 100,000 verses. However, some scholars, such as John Brockington, argue that Jaya and Bharata refer to the same text, and ascribe

1260-520: A tunnel. They escape to safety through the tunnel and go into hiding. During this time, Bhima marries a demoness Hidimbi and has a son Ghatotkacha . Back in Hastinapur, the Pandavas and Kunti are presumed dead. Whilst they were in hiding, the Pandavas learn of a swayamvara which is taking place for the hand of the Pāñcāla princess Draupadī . The Pandavas, disguised as Brahmins , come to witness

1344-589: A very short uneventful life and dies. Vichitravirya, the younger son, rules Hastinapura . Meanwhile, the King of Kāśī arranges a swayamvara for his three daughters, neglecting to invite the royal family of Hastinapur. To arrange the marriage of young Vichitravirya, Bhishma attends the swayamvara of the three princesses Amba , Ambika , and Ambalika , uninvited, and proceeds to abduct them. Ambika and Ambalika consent to be married to Vichitravirya. The oldest princess Amba, however, informs Bhishma that she wishes to marry

1428-716: Is also born from the pitcher. The most prominent myth featuring Urvashi is about her marriage to Pururavas , a mortal king who is credited as the founder of Chandravamsha (lit. 'lunar dynasty'), a legendary dynasty in ancient India. The myth is first narrated in the Rigveda , where it is presented in the form of dialogue between them. The Vedic hymn suggest that she has left her husband Pururavas after living for four years with him. The king beseeches her to return, but she harshly refuses, complaining that he made too much love with her. She advises him to do good deeds to ascend to heaven and reunite with her. The context for this scene

1512-629: Is as follows: The historicity of the Kurukshetra War is unclear. Many historians estimate the date of the Kurukshetra war to Iron Age India of the 10th century BCE. The setting of the epic has a historical precedent in Iron Age ( Vedic ) India, where the Kuru kingdom was the center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800 BCE. A dynastic conflict of the period could have been

1596-559: Is based on a story that is the precursor to the Mahābhārata . The Urubhanga , a Sanskrit play written by Bhasa who is believed to have lived before Kalidasa, is based on the slaying of Duryodhana by the splitting of his thighs by Bhima . The copper-plate inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (533–534 CE) from Khoh ( Satna District, Madhya Pradesh ) describes the Mahābhārata as a "collection of 100,000 verses" ( śata-sahasri saṃhitā ). The division into 18 parvas

1680-426: Is born blind. Ambalika turns pale and bloodless upon seeing him, and thus her son Pandu is born pale and unhealthy (the term Pandu may also mean 'jaundiced' ). Due to the physical challenges of the first two children, Satyavati asks Vyasa to try once again. However, Ambika and Ambalika send their maid instead, to Vyasa's room. Vyasa fathers a third son, Vidura , by the maid. He is born healthy and grows up to be one of

1764-486: Is cursed to be born as bamboo, and Urvashi is cursed to take birth on Earth as a woman named Madhavi. Urvashi is said to have caused the birth of the sage Rishyashringa . According to the Mahabharata , Urvashi is traveling on the banks of a river, when rishi Vibhandaka , son of Kashyapa , sees her and becomes aroused by her beauty and has seminal emissions. His seed comes in contact with a doe, who turns out be an apsara cursed to remain in that form till she gives birth to

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1848-587: Is first recited at Takshashila by the sage Vaisampayana , a disciple of Vyasa, to the King Janamejaya who was the great-grandson of the Pandava prince Arjuna . The story is then recited again by a professional storyteller named Ugrashrava Sauti , many years later, to an assemblage of sages performing the 12-year sacrifice for the king Saunaka Kulapati in the Naimisha Forest . The text

1932-461: Is missed in heaven. A group of Gandharvas (celestial musicians), led by Vishvashu, are instructed to bring her back to heaven. One night when Urvashi and Pururavas are busy making love, the Gandharvas abduct Urvashi's pet lambs that were tied to her bed, and hearing their cries, Urvashi rebukes Pururavas for not protecting them. In haste, Pururavas forgets that he is naked, and stands up to chase

2016-652: Is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism , the other being the Rāmāyaṇa . It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War , a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas . It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among

2100-500: Is provided in subsequent texts. Scholars note that while in Rigveda Urvashi is portrayed as being a self-willed and unyielding woman who married Pururavas for her own desire and abandons him after giving birth to their son, the later adaptations mark her for her love for Pururavas and blame the celestial beings for their separation. The Post-Vedic texts attest that Urvashi falls in love with handsome and heroic Pururavas and

2184-415: Is reborn to King Drupada as Shikhandi (or Shikhandini) and causes Bhishma's fall, with the help of Arjuna , in the battle of Kurukshetra. When Vichitravirya dies young without any heirs, Satyavati asks her first son Vyasa , born to her from a previous union with the sage Parashara , to father children with the widows. The eldest, Ambika, shuts her eyes when she sees him, and so her son Dhritarashtra

2268-578: Is right, as well as the converse. The Mahābhārata itself ends with the death of Krishna , and the subsequent end of his dynasty and ascent of the Pandava brothers to heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali Yuga , the fourth and final age of humankind, in which great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and people are heading towards the complete dissolution of right action, morality, and virtue. King Janamejaya's ancestor, Shantanu ,

2352-430: Is translated as "Great Bharat (India)", or "the story of the great descendents of Bharata ", or as " The Great Indian Tale ". The Mahābhārata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as "the longest poem ever written". Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. At about 1.8 million words in total,

2436-669: The Kali Yuga epoch, based on planetary conjunctions, by Aryabhata (6th century). Aryabhata's date of 18 February 3102 BCE for Mahābhārata war has become widespread in Indian tradition. Some sources mark this as the disappearance of Krishna from the Earth. The Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin II , dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3,735 years have elapsed since the Bhārata battle, putting

2520-495: The Puranas . She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. Urvashi has been featured in many mythological events . She emerged out of the thigh of sage Narayana and occupies a special place in the court of Indra , the king of the gods and ruler of svarga . She is famous for her marriage with Pururavas , the first king of the legendary Chandravamsha , whom she later abandoned. She also plays

2604-804: The Rigveda , the oldest known Hindu scripture which was composed around 1900–1200 BCE. The 95th Sukta (section) of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda is dedicated to a conversation between her and her husband, Pururavas . Urvashi remains a prominent figure in later texts. Her myth is retold and expanded in many later Hindu scriptures , like the Shatapatha Brahmana , Brihaddevata , Mahabharata , Ramayana , Harivamsa , Vayu Purana , Vishnu Purana , Matsya Purana , Bhagavata Purana , Devi-Bhagavata Purana , Padma Purana and Skanda Purana . Urvashi has been dramatized and adapted by many poets and authors. Among these,

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2688-566: The Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana , Vashishtha's spirit is consoled by Brahma after his death by telling him that he won't be born again in a womb. So Vashishtha is told to enter the body of Mitra-Varuna . Following their encounter, Varuna approaches Urvashi and expresses his wish to have a union with her. She declines it, nevertheless, as she had already promised Mitra that she would court him. To satisfy his desire, Varuna ejaculates inside

2772-597: The Guru–shishya tradition , which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times. The first section of the Mahābhārata states that it was Ganesha who wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and the "Critical Edition" does not include Ganesha. The epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales , popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It

2856-658: The Kaurava and the Pandava . Although the Kaurava is the senior branch of the family, Duryodhana , the eldest Kaurava, is younger than Yudhishthira , the eldest Pandava. Both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira claim to be first in line to inherit the throne. The struggle culminates in the Kurukshetra War , in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what

2940-509: The Kushan Period (200 CE). According to what one figure says at Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic, beginning with Manu (1.1.27), Astika (1.3, sub-Parva 5), or Vasu (1.57), respectively. These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues. The Vasu version would omit the frame settings and begin with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The astika version would add

3024-413: The Mahābhārata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present Mahabharata can be traced back to Vedic times. The background to the Mahābhārata suggests the origin of the epic occurs "after the very early Vedic period " and before " the first Indian 'empire' was to rise in the third century B.C." That this is "a date not too far removed from

3108-427: The Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa . There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period ( c.  4th century CE ). The title

3192-564: The Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa . Within the Indian tradition it is sometimes called the fifth Veda . The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa , who is also a major figure in the epic. Vyasa described it as being an itihasa ( transl.  history ). He also describes

3276-583: The Puranas , three conditions are mentioned—Pururavas would never appear naked in front of her, he would protect her two pet sheep and she would only consume ghee (clarified butter). According to Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana , the marriage was due to the curse of Mitra, while in the Devi Bhagavata Purana the curse is attributed to Brahma. Urvashi spends many years enjoying amorous sports with Pururavas. Meanwhile, Urvashi's presence

3360-413: The nivatakavachas , waged war on the devas , attacking Devaloka . They were able to inflict a defeat on their enemies. In retaliation, Indra tasked his son, Arjuna , with the mission of destroying the nivatakavachas, accompanied by his own charioteer, Matali . After fulfilling this task, while returning to Devaloka, Arjuna came across a splendid city. Matali told him that the city was called Hiranyapura,

3444-543: The sarpasattra and ashvamedha material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the name Mahābhārata , and identify Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these additions were probably Pancharatrin scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the Huna in the Bhishma Parva however appears to imply that this Parva may have been edited around

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3528-630: The wife of all five brothers . After the wedding, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The Kuru family elders and relatives negotiate and broker a split of the kingdom, with the Pandavas obtaining and demanding only a wild forest inhabited by Takshaka , the king of snakes, and his family. Through hard work, the Pandavas build a new glorious capital for the territory at Indraprastha . Shortly after this, Arjuna elopes with and then marries Krishna's sister, Subhadra . Yudhishthira wishes to establish his position as king; he seeks Krishna's advice. Krishna advises him, and after due preparation and

3612-672: The "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend of Garuda that is included in the Astika Parva , within the Adi Parva of the Mahābhārata . The earliest known references to bhārata and the compound mahābhārata date to the Ashtadhyayi ( sutra 6.2.38) of Panini ( fl. 4th century BCE) and the Ashvalayana Grihyasutra (3.4.4). This may mean that

3696-576: The 13th year, they must remain hidden called as Agyaata Vaasa . If they are discovered by the Kauravas in the 13th year of their exile, then they will be forced into exile for another 12 years. Urvashi Urvashi ( Sanskrit : उर्वशी , IAST : Urvaśī ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the Vedas , the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata , as well as

3780-427: The 4th century. The Adi Parva includes the snake sacrifice ( sarpasattra ) of Janamejaya , explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why despite this, there are still snakes in existence. This sarpasattra material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mahābhārata by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have

3864-518: The 78 CE. This places Yudhishthara (and therefore, the Mahabharata war) around 2448–2449 BCE (2526–78). Some scholars have attempted to identify the "Shaka" calendar era mentioned by Varāhamihira with other eras, but such identifications place Varāhamihira in the first century BCE, which is impossible as he refers to the 5th century astronomer Aryabhata . Kalhana 's Rajatarangini (11th century), apparently relying on Varāhamihira, also states that

3948-414: The 8th or 9th century B.C." is likely. The Mahabharata started as an orally-transmitted tale of the charioteer bards . It is generally agreed that "Unlike the Vedas , which have to be preserved letter-perfect, the epic was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably conform to changes in language and style," so the earliest 'surviving' components of this dynamic text are believed to be no older than

4032-768: The Kālakañjakas. Beings born into this state suffer from excessive thirst, which they are unable to quench even by immersing themselves in the Ganges. (For a story of one of them see VibhA.5). The Kājakañjakas resemble the pretas in shape, sex-life, diet and length of life, and they intermarry with them (Kvu.360). Mahabharata Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Mahābhārata ( / m ə ˌ h ɑː ˈ b ɑːr ə t ə , ˌ m ɑː h ə -/ mə- HAH - BAR -ə-tə, MAH -hə- ; Sanskrit : महाभारतम् , IAST : Mahābhāratam , pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm] )

4116-466: The Pandava brothers, from their youth and into manhood, leads to the Kurukshetra war. After the deaths of their mother (Madri) and father (Pandu), the Pandavas and their mother Kunti return to the palace of Hastinapur. Yudhishthira is made Crown Prince by Dhritarashtra, under considerable pressure from his courtiers. Dhritarashtra wanted his son Duryodhana to become king and lets his ambition get in

4200-570: The Pandavas flourished 653 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga; Kalhana adds that people who believe that the Bharata war was fought at the end of the Dvapara Yuga are foolish. The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura , the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are

4284-618: The apsaras of his court, including Rambha , Menaka , and Tilottama , to go to Nara-Narayana and distract them through seduction. Accompanied by the god of love, Kama , and his consort, Rati , the apsaras go to Nara-Narayana, and start to dance seductively in front of them. However, the sages remain unaffected by this and decide to break the pride of the apsaras. Narayana slaps his thigh, from which Urvashi emerges. Her beauty leaves Indra's apsaras matchless, and they become ashamed of their evil act. Nara and Narayana assure Indra that they would not take his throne, and gift Urvashi to him. She occupied

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4368-671: The attempt but is interrupted by Draupadi who refuses to marry a suta (this has been excised from the Critical Edition of Mahabharata as later interpolation ). After this, the swayamvara is opened to the Brahmins leading Arjuna to win the contest and marry Draupadi. The Pandavas return home and inform their meditating mother that Arjuna has won a competition and to look at what they have brought back. Without looking, Kunti asks them to share whatever Arjuna has won amongst themselves, thinking it to be alms . Thus, Draupadi ends up being

4452-442: The average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850  BCE for Adhisimakrishna, and thus approximately 950  BCE for the Bharata battle. B. B. Lal used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE, and correlated this with archaeological evidence from Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in

4536-603: The birth of Parikshit (Arjuna's grandson) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda (400–329 BCE), which would yield an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle. However, this would imply improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies. Of the second kind is analysis of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of Adhisimakrishna ( Parikshit 's great-grandson) and Mahapadma Nanda . Pargiter accordingly estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and, assuming 18 years for

4620-602: The core 24,000 verses, known as the Bhārata , as well as an early version of the extended Mahābhārata , were composed by the 4th century BCE. However, it is uncertain whether Panini referred to the epic, as bhārata was also used to describe other things. Albrecht Weber mentions the Rigvedic tribe of the Bharatas , where a great person might have been designated as Mahā-Bhārata. However, as Panini also mentions figures that play

4704-539: The danavas within mounted a powerful defence, boasting skilled warriors and numerous chariots that manouvered artfully against him. Arjuna employed the astra of Shiva against them, which gave rise to various monstrous, multiple-headed beasts that finally devoured the male inhabitants of the city, and the survivors were slain by the prince's barrage of arrows. In Pali they are called the Kālakañjakas . Referred to as "terrible-faced", these beings are considered to be

4788-511: The date of Mahābhārata war at 3137BCE. Another traditional school of astronomers and historians, represented by Vrddha Garga , Varāhamihira and Kalhana , place the Bharata war 653 years after the Kali Yuga epoch, corresponding to 2449 BCE. According to Varāhamihira's Bṛhat Saṃhitā (6th century), Yudhishthara lived 2,526 years before the beginning of the Shaka era , which begins in

4872-482: The earliest 'external' references we have to the epic, which include an reference in Panini 's 4th century BCE grammar Ashtadhyayi 4:2:56. Vishnu Sukthankar, editor of the first great critical edition of the Mahābhārata , commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid text in an original shape, based on an archetype and a stemma codicum . What then is possible? Our objective can only be to reconstruct

4956-458: The elimination of some opposition, Yudhishthira carries out the rājasūya yagna ceremony; he is thus recognized as pre-eminent among kings. The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by Maya the Danava . They invite their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana walks round the palace, and mistakes a glossy floor for water, and will not step in. After being told of his error, he then sees

5040-489: The entire court, but Draupadi's disrobe is prevented by Krishna, who miraculously make her dress endless, therefore it couldn't be removed. Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, and the other elders are aghast at the situation, but Duryodhana is adamant that there is no place for two crown princes in Hastinapura. Against his wishes Dhritarashtra calls for another dice game. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 12 years, and in

5124-467: The epic. John Keay suggests "their core narratives seem to relate to events from a period prior to all but the Rig Veda." Attempts to date the events using methods of archaeoastronomy have produced, depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimates ranging from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BCE. The late 4th-millennium date has a precedent in the calculation of

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5208-406: The event. Meanwhile, Krishna, who has already befriended Draupadi, tells her to look out for Arjuna (though now believed to be dead). The task was to string a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which was the eye of a moving artificial fish, while looking at its reflection in oil below. In popular versions, after all the princes fail, many being unable to lift the bow, Karna proceeds to

5292-643: The existence of a Māhabhārata at this date, whose episodes Dio or his sources identify with the story of the Iliad . Several stories within the Mahābhārata took on separate identities of their own in Classical Sanskrit literature . For instance, the Abhijnanashkuntala by the renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa ( c.  400 CE ), believed to have lived in the era of the Gupta dynasty,

5376-399: The five brothers, who are from then on usually referred to as the Pandava brothers. Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons, and one daughter— Duhsala —through Gandhari , all born after the birth of Yudhishthira. These are the Kaurava brothers, the eldest being Duryodhana , and the second Dushasana . Other Kaurava brothers include Vikarna and Sukarna. The rivalry and enmity between them and

5460-483: The god of justice, Vayu , the god of the wind, and Indra , the lord of the heavens for sons. She gives birth to three sons, Yudhishthira , Bhima , and Arjuna , through these gods. Kunti shares her mantra with the younger queen Madri , who bears the twins Nakula and Sahadeva through the Ashwini twins. However, Pandu and Madri indulge in lovemaking, and Pandu dies. Madri commits suicide out of remorse. Kunti raises

5544-444: The golden city, and had been created by Brahma as a result of a boon. The boon had been sought by two asura women named Puloma and Kala, who wished that their sons, the paulomas and the kalakeyas, would be invincible against the devas, the nagas, and the rakshasas. However, they had sought no protection against the human beings. Matali urged Arjuna to destroy them, as they were the enemies of Indra as well. Arjuna attacked Hiranyapura, and

5628-455: The inspiration for the Jaya , the foundation on which the Mahābhārata corpus was built, with a climactic battle, eventually coming to be viewed as an epochal event. Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahābhārata narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. Of the first kind, there is the direct statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between

5712-438: The king of Hastinapura , had a short-lived marriage with the goddess Ganga and had a son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma , a great warrior), who becomes the heir apparent. Many years later, when King Shantanu goes hunting, he sees Satyavati , the daughter of the chief of fishermen, and asks her father for her hand. Her father refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati

5796-429: The king of Shalva whom Bhishma defeated at their swayamvara. Bhishma lets her leave to marry the king of Shalva, but Shalva refuses to marry her, still smarting at his humiliation at the hands of Bhishma. Amba then returns to marry Bhishma but he refuses due to his vow of celibacy. Amba becomes enraged and becomes Bhishma's bitter enemy, holding him responsible for her plight. She vows to kill him in her next life. Later she

5880-408: The king upon his death. To resolve his father's dilemma, Devavrata agrees to relinquish his right to the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honoring the promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise. Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya . Upon Shantanu's death, Chitrangada becomes king. He lives

5964-471: The latter also reciprocates his feelings for her. After Urvashi is cursed to descend on the Earth and become the wife of a mortal, she marries Pururavas on some conditions, with the most important being that he would never appear naked before her apart from during coitus. In the Shatapatha Brahmana , Urvashi lays down two conditions that Pururavas would make love with her regularly, but only when she consented, and he would never appear naked in front of her. In

6048-453: The latter jilts her advances, considering her to be an ancestor of his, as well as a mother, because of her past marriage to Pururavas. Urvashi tries to convince him to accept her by telling that Apsaras are free and unconfined in their choice, and they can sport with any man they wish. Arjuna still refuses and an enraged Urvashi curses him to be destitute of his manhood and to be scorned as a eunuch for one year. Indra later pacifies Arjuna that

6132-486: The most popular one is the play Vikramorvashiyam by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa , who probably lived in 4th - 5th century Gupta Period . The drama depicts the love of Urvashi and Pururavas, but the plot is very different from that told in the scriptures. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) has also written a poem about Urvashi. In Hindu mythology, Urvashi sprang from the divine-sage Narayana 's thigh as

6216-404: The name means 'widely pervasive' and he suggests that in its first appearances in Vedic texts Urvashi was a personification of dawn. According to the scripture Devi Bhagavata Purana , the apsara is known as Urvashi because she is born from the uru —'thigh'—of the divine-sage Narayana . Some scholars believe that the name has a non-Aryan origin. Urvashi is the apsara to be specially named in

6300-432: The oldest form of the text which it is possible to reach based on the manuscript material available." That manuscript evidence is somewhat late, given its material composition and the climate of India, but it is very extensive. The Mahābhārata itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses: the Bhārata proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while the Ashvalayana Grihyasutra (3.4.4) makes

6384-491: The place of pride in Indra ’s court. Urvashi plays a significant role in the birth of the sages — Vasishtha and Agastya —due to which she is sometimes referred to as their mother. The legend is narrated in many scriptures. In the Rigveda , the gods Varuna and Mitra once perform a yajna (fire-sacrifice), when Urvashi arrives in front of them. After seeing her, they become sexually aroused and ejaculate their semen into

6468-463: The principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita , the story of Damayanti , the story of Shakuntala , the story of Pururava and Urvashi , the story of Savitri and Satyavan , the story of Kacha and Devayani , the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the Rāmāyaṇa , often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of

6552-426: The same place the next year so that they could spend that night together. Urvashi would return once every year to him and bore six sons— Ayus , Shrutayus, Satyayus, Raya, Vijaya, and Jaya. The Adi Parva of Mahabharata mentions different names of these six sons - Ayus, Dhimat, Amavasu and Dhridhayus, Vanayus, and Satayus. Following their birth, Urvashi suggests Pururavas to perform penance to transform himself into

6636-436: The sheep. The Gandharvas then illuminate the place with a bolt of lightning, leading to Urvashi seeing Pururavas naked. Pururavas manages to bring back the sheep but Urvashi vanishes. Grief-sickened, he searches for her across the country and finds her disguised as a swan in a lake. He supplicates her to return but she refuses. Seeing his sorrow, Urvashi reveals that she is pregnant with their child and instructs him to return to

6720-588: The theory of Jaya with 8,800 verses to a misreading of a verse in the Adi Parva (1.1.81). The redaction of this large body of text was carried out after formal principles, emphasizing the numbers 18 and 12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the Anushasana Parva and the Virata Parva from the " Spitzer manuscript ". The oldest surviving Sanskrit text dates to

6804-471: The way of preserving justice. Shakuni, Duryodhana, and Dushasana plot to get rid of the Pandavas. Shakuni calls the architect Purochana to build a palace out of flammable materials like lac and ghee. He then arranges for the Pandavas and the Queen Mother Kunti to stay there, intending to set it alight. However, the Pandavas are warned by their wise uncle, Vidura , who sends them a miner to dig

6888-535: The wisest figures in the Mahabharata . He serves as Prime Minister (Mahamantri or Mahatma) to King Pandu and King Dhritarashtra. When the princes grow up, Dhritarashtra is about to be crowned king by Bhishma when Vidura intervenes and uses his knowledge of politics to assert that a blind person cannot be king. This is because a blind man cannot control and protect his subjects. The throne is then given to Pandu because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu marries twice, to Kunti and Madri . Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari ,

6972-460: Was accepted by Yudhisthira despite the rest of the Pandavas advising him not to play. Shakuni , Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishthira with loaded dice. In the dice game, Yudhishthira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom. Yudhishthira then gambles his brothers, himself, and finally his wife into servitude. The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of

7056-453: Was described by some early 20th-century Indologists as unstructured and chaotic. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the original poem must once have carried an immense "tragic force" but dismissed the full text as a "horrible chaos." Moritz Winternitz ( Geschichte der indischen Literatur 1909) considered that "only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes" could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole. Research on

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