95-670: The Uttamabhadras are an ancient Indian tribe described in the Mahabharata and later inscriptions. The Uttamabhadras lived in the Punjab . Uttamabhadras originally were people of Balkh who had entered India in Vedic times. In Vedic times, they were closely related to Kurus and the Purus . In Kurukshetra war , we also find Madras associated with the Kurus. King Shalya had taken part in
190-516: A Kshatriya born in the Solar dynasty . This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana (2,1,31), Vayu Puran (33,52), Linga Purana (1,47,23), Brahmanda Purana (14,5,62), Agni Purana (107,11–12), Skand Purana (37,57) and Markanday Purana (50,41), all using the designation Bhāratavarṣa . The Vishnu Purana mentions: The Bhagavat Puran mentions (Canto 5, Chapter 4) - "He ( Rishabha ) begot
285-461: A custom among them not to kill or attack [others]. From west of the states Yuezhi and Gaofu, and south until the Western Sea, and east until the state of Panqi, all is the territory of Shendu. Shendu has several hundred separate towns, with a governor, and separate states which can be numbered in the tens, each with its own king. Although there are small differences among them, they all come under
380-690: A hundred sons that were exactly like him... He ( Bharata ) had the best qualities and it was because of him that this land by the people is called Bhāratavarṣa" Bharat Khand (or Bhārat Kṣētra ) is a term used in some of the Hindu texts . In the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharat (200 BCE to 300 CE), a larger region of North India is encompassed by the term Bharat, but much of the Deccan and South India are still excluded. Some other Puranic passages refer to
475-525: A literal meaning of to be maintained (of fire ). The root bhr is cognate with the English verb to bear and Latin ferō . This term also means "one who is engaged in search for knowledge". Barato , the Esperanto name for India, is also a derivation of Bhārata . This realm of Bharat, which has been referred to as Bhāratavarṣa in puranas - after Bharata , the son of Rishabha . He is described to be
570-457: 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
665-494: 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
760-461: 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
855-484: A restrained area of northern India, namely the part of the Ganges west of Magadha . The inscription clearly mentions Bharat was named after Bharata, the son of first Jain tirthankar Rishabhanatha . In middle Persian , probably from the first century CE, the suffix -stān ( Persian : ستان ) was added, indicative of a country or region, forming the name Hindūstān . Thus, Sindh was referred to as Hindustān in
950-468: 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
1045-401: 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 ,
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#17327727486291140-467: 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
1235-520: 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
1330-589: 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
1425-629: 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
1520-559: 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
1615-426: 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
1710-587: 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
1805-652: 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
1900-415: 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
1995-578: 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 ,
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#17327727486292090-430: 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,
2185-669: 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
2280-597: 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
2375-568: The Hou Hanshu compiled by Fan Ye (398–445): The state of Tianzhu: Also named Shendu, it lies several thousand li southeast of Yuezhi . Its customs are the same as those of Yuezhi, and it is low, damp, and very hot. It borders a large river. The inhabitants ride on elephants in warfare; they are weaker than the Yuezhi. They practise the way of Futu (the Buddha ), [and therefore] it has become
2470-699: The Indian subcontinent . Other forms include Juāndú ( 身毒 ), which appears in Sima Qian's Shiji . Another is Tiāndǔ ( 天篤 ), which is used in the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han). Yìntèjiā or Indəkka ( 印特伽 ) comes from the Kuchean Indaka , another transliteration of Hindu . A detailed account of Tianzhu is given in the "Xiyu Zhuan" (Record of the Western Regions) in
2565-715: The Indian subcontinent . In 1949, it was adopted as an official name for the Republic of India by the Constituent Assembly along with "India". "Hindustān" is another common name for the Republic of India and is also derived from the name of the river Sindhu. It gained popularity in India in the 11th century in Islamic literature and became the common name for the northern Indian subcontinent in Indian languages, though it has been in Persian usage since at least
2660-501: The Indus River , via Old Persian Hiñd°u . It is thus cognate with the term India. Some historical definitions prior to 1500 are presented below. वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।" i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharat." वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।" i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of
2755-658: 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
2850-509: 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
2945-612: The Mahabharata war, on behalf of the Kauravas. Madri, the mother of Pandava -putras Nakula and Sahadeva , was a Madra princess . Madri has also been referred to as Bahliki i.e. princess of Bahlika janapada/tribe and king Salya has been referred to as Bahlika-pungava i.e. foremost among the Bahlikas . Epic also refers to king Ashvapati of Madra, the beloved of the Paura Janapadas, who was father of Savitri. King Vyusitashva
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3040-413: 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
3135-427: 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
3230-564: 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
3325-655: The Phagyul , short for Phags yul , meaning the land of aryas i.e. land of noble, holy, enlightened & superior people who are the source of spiritual enlightenment. Tibetan scholar Gendun Chopel explains that Tibetan word gyagar comes from the Indian sanskrit language word vihāra (buddhist monastery), and the ancient Tibetans applied the term Geysar mainly to the northern and central India region from Kuru (modern Haryana ) to Magadha (modern Bihar ). The Epic of King Gesar , which originally developed around 200 BCE or 300 BCE and about 600 CE, describes India as
3420-543: 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
3515-630: 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
3610-521: The " Gyagar: The Kingdom of Buddhist Doctrine ", " Gyagar: The Kingdom of Aru Medicine " ( ayurveda ), " Gyagar: The Kingdom of Pearls " and " Gyagar: The Kingdom of Golden Vases ". The Central Tibetan Administration , often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, asserts "Tibet is inextricably linked to India through geography, history, culture, and spiritually, Tibetans refer to India as ‘Gyagar Phagpay Yul’ or ‘India
3705-672: 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
3800-503: 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. Names for India The Republic of India has two principal official short names, each of which is historically significant: India and Bharat . A third name, Hindustan , is also used commonly when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bhārat", " Hindustān ", or "India" depends on
3895-451: The 17th century onward, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese. Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma )", also a term for the Moon , is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected. The land situated in the east from river Indus is called Indies. In this way Indies is fully interchangeable to India. West Indies was named after India which means India in
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3990-547: The 3rd century CE while its earlier form "Hindush" was used as early as 6th century BCE. The term 'Hindu' was the Old Persian adaption of "Sindhu". "Hindustan" is still commonly used in the subcontinent to refer to the modern day Republic of India by Hindustani speakers. The English term is from Greek Indikē (cf. Megasthenes' work Indica ) or Indía ( Ἰνδία ), via Latin transliteration India . The name derives ultimately from Sanskrit Sindhu , which
4085-427: 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
4180-518: 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
4275-465: 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
4370-736: The Chinese: Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern India. The monk Xuanzang also referred to India as Wǔ Yìn or "Five Inds". The name Tianzhu and its Sino-Xenic cognates were eventually replaced by terms derived from the Middle Chinese borrowing of * yentu from Kuchean, though a very long time elapsed between that term's first use and its becoming the standard modern name for India in East Asian languages. Pronounced Yìndù ( Chinese : 印度 ) in Chinese, it
4465-599: The Indian Subcontinent. However, it also can refer to the whole continent of Asia. Both Gyagar ("White expanse", analogous to the names Gyanak for China and Gyaser for Russia) and Phagyul are Tibetan names for India. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist authors and pilgrims used the ethnogeographic referents Gyagar or Gyagar to the south and Madhyadesa ( central land or holy centre) for India. Since at least 13th century, several influential indigenous Tibetan lamas & authors also started to refer to India as
4560-658: The Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India. Bharat is derived from the name of the Vedic community Bharatas , who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the original community of the Āryāvarta and notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings . The designation Bharat appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārat Gaṇarājya . The name is derived from the ancient Hindu Puranas , which refer to
4655-661: The Indus river as well as "an Indian" are found in Herodotus 's Geography. The loss of the aspirate /h/ was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor . Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of lower Indus basin, to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land. By the time of Alexander , Indía in Koine Greek denoted
4750-834: The Naqsh-e-Rustam inscription of Sassanid emperor Shapur I in c. 262 CE. Emperor Babur of the Mughal Empire said, "On the East, the South, and the West it is bounded by the Great Ocean." Hind was notably adapted in the Arabic language as the definitive form Al-Hind ( الهند ) for India, for example, in the 11th-century Tarikh Al-Hind ('History of India'). It occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in
4845-466: 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
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#17327727486294940-399: 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
5035-416: The Sanskrit Sindhu via Persian Hindu and is used since ancient times in China and its peripheries. Its Sino-Xenic reading is Tenjiku in Japanese, Cheonchuk ( 천축 ) in Korean , and Thiên Trúc in Vietnamese . Devout Buddhists in the Sinosphere traditionally used this term and its related forms to designate India as their "heavenly centre", referring to the sacred origins of Buddhism in
5130-548: 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
5225-442: 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
5320-548: 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
5415-406: The context and language of conversation. The name "India" is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu ( Indus River ) and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus (5th century BCE). The term appeared in Old English by the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century. "Bhārat" gained popularity in India during the nineteenth century. It is the shortened form of
5510-443: 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
5605-458: The country. Such a change would need a constitutional amendment, meaning two-thirds of the vote in each of the two houses of parliament, and an official notice to the UN, advising how to write the name in the UN's six official languages . The earliest recorded use of Bhārata-varṣa ( lit. ' Bharat mainland ' ) in a geographical sense is in the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela (first century BCE), where it applies only to
5700-404: 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
5795-430: 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
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#17327727486295890-406: 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
5985-430: 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 orders for another dice game. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 12 years, and in
6080-411: 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
6175-406: 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
6270-406: 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,
6365-399: 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
6460-489: The general name of Shendu, and at this time all are subject to Yuezhi. Yuezhi have killed their kings and established a general in order to rule over their people. The land produces elephants, rhinoceros, tortoise shell, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. It communicates to the west with Da Qin and (so) has the exotica of Da Qin. Tianzhu was also referred to as Wǔtiānzhú ( 五天竺 , literally "Five Indias"), because there were five geographical regions in India known to
6555-429: 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
6650-405: 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
6745-438: 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
6840-429: 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
6935-408: 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
7030-473: The land of Aryas.’" Dalai Lama reveres India as the guru with Tibet as its chela (shishya or disciple) and "refers to himself the ‘Son of India’ and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi . He continues to advocate the revival of India's ancient wisdom based on the Nalanda tradition." Tiānzhú ( Chinese : 天竺 originally pronounced * qʰl'iːn tuɡ ) is one of several Chinese transliterations of
7125-500: The land that comprises India as Bhāratavarṣa and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣa s or continents. For example, the Vayu Purana says " he who conquers the whole of Bhāratavarṣa is celebrated as a samrāṭa (Vayu Puran 45, 86)." The Sanskrit word Bhārata is a vrddhi derivation of Bharata , which was originally an epithet of Agni . The term is a verbal noun of the Sanskrit root bhr-, "to bear/to carry", with
7220-939: The name Indo by then. India is nowadays also called Indo ( 인도 ) in Korean, and Ấn Độ in Vietnamese . Similar to Hindu and Sindhu, the term Yin was used in classical Chinese much like the English Ind . Hodu ( Hebrew : הֹדּוּ Hodû ) is the Biblical Hebrew name for India mentioned in the Book of Esther part of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament . In Esther, 1:1 and 8:9, Ahasuerus had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Ethiopia . The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu , "great river", i.e.,
7315-468: The name Tenjiku , which was heavily associated with the image of India as a land of Buddhism , was not completely displaced until the early 20th century: scholars such as Soyen Shaku and Seki Seisetsu [ ja ] who travelled to India for pilgrimages to Buddhist historical sites, continued to use the name Tenjiku to emphasise the religious aspect of their travels, though most of their contemporaries (even fellow Buddhist pilgrims) adopted
7410-481: 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
7505-753: The phrase Jai Hind ( Hindi : जय हिन्द ) or in Hind Mahāsāgar ( हिन्द महासागर ), the Standard Hindi name for the Indian Ocean . Both the names were current in Persian and Arabic , and from that into northern Indian languages, from the 11th century Islamic conquests : the rulers in the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centered around Delhi , "Hindustan". In contemporary Persian and Hindi - Urdu ,
7600-463: 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
7695-669: The rainy season by the Malayas, and those Malayas fled at the mere roar (of my approaching) as it were, and were all made prisoners of the Uttamabhadra warriors. 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] )
7790-785: The region beyond the Indus. Alexander's companions were aware of at least India up to the Ganges delta ( Gangaridai ). Later, Megasthenes included in India the southern peninsula as well. Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century CE). India was known in Old English language and was used in King Alfred 's translation of Paulus Orosius . In Middle English , the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde , which entered Early Modern English as " Indie ". The name "India" then came back to English usage from
7885-513: The same Bhārata people, who are described as the descendants of Dushyanta 's son Bharata in the Mahabharata . The use of Bharat often has political overtones, appealing to a certain cultural conception of India. In 2023, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Bharat name in connection with a G20 gathering, which caused speculation on a name-change for
7980-522: The term "Bhāratavarṣa" which is extensively used in the literature of the native religions . "Bhāratavarṣa" is derived from the name of the Vedic tribe of Bharatas who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the principal peoples of Aryavarta (Land of the Aryans). At first the name Bhāratavarṣa referred only to the western part of the Gangetic Valley , but was later more broadly applied to
8075-648: The term Hindustan has recently come to mean the Republic of India. The same is the case with Arabic, where al-Hind is the name for the Republic of India . "Hindustan", as the term Hindu itself, entered the English language in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the term as used in English referred to the Subcontinent. "Hindustan" was in use simultaneously with "India" during the British era . Jambudvīpa ( Sanskrit : जम्बुद्वीप , romanized : Jambu-dvīpa , lit. 'berry island')
8170-588: 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
8265-471: 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
8360-644: The western hemisphere. Indonesia 's former name is Dutch East Indies which means India in southeast Asia. East Indies is a former Dutch colony . Bharat is another name of India, as set down in Article 1 of the Constitution, adopted in 1950, which states in English: "India, that is Bharat,..." Bharat, which was predominantly used in Hindi, was adopted as a self-ascribed alternative name by some people of
8455-535: 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 ,
8550-709: Was a descendant of Puru, a famous king of Rigvedic times. Circa 120 CE, the Uttamabhadras are mentioned as allies of the Western Satraps in repulsing an attack by the Malavas , whom they crushed. The claim appears in an inscription at the Nashik Caves , made by the Nahapana 's viceroy Ushavadata : ...And by order of the lord I went to release the chief of the Uttamabhadras, who had been besieged for
8645-460: 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
8740-453: 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
8835-404: Was first used by the seventh-century monk and traveler Xuanzang . In Japanese for example, the name Indo ( インド , 印度 , or occasionally 印土 ) had been found occasionally in 18th and early 19th-century works, such as Arai Hakuseki 's Sairan Igen (1713) and Yamamura Saisuke [ ja ] 's Indoshi ( 印度志 , a translation of a work by Johann Hübner ). However, the use of
8930-523: Was the name of the Indus River as well as the lower Indus basin (modern Sindh , in Pakistan). The Old Persian equivalent of Síndhu was Hindu . Darius I conquered Sindh in about 516 BCE, upon which the Persian equivalent Hinduš was used for the province at the lower Indus basin. Scylax of Caryanda who explored the Indus river for the Persian emperor probably took over the Persian name and passed it into Greek. The terms Indos for
9025-517: Was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before the term Bhārat became widespread. It might be an indirect reference to the Insular India . The derivative Jambu Dwipa was the historical term for India in many Southeast Asian countries before the introduction of the English word "India". This alternate name is still used occasionally in Thailand, Malaysia, Java and Bali to describe
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