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Mahabharata and its influence on politics
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ancient indian political thought
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The Sanskrit epic itself is the world’s longest epic poem, at 100,000 couplets or 1.8million words. It is ten times the combined length of the Iliad and Odyssey and
three times the length of the Bible. Structurally, the Mahabharata is a compendium
of ancient Indian mythology, history, political theory, and philosophy, and has
sometimes been described as an ancient encyclopedia of Indian knowledge. The
holy Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, which is considered a summary of the
vast Hindu religious and philosophical literature, is also contained within
the Mahabharata. Historians believe that the epic is based on certain core events
that occurred in 10th to 8th century BCE India, which then grew over time to
become the epic, while on the other hand traditionalist Hindus believe it to be a
true reflection of historical events. In any case, the Mahabharata is considered the
most representative work of the diversity of Indian and Hindu thought in existence.
However, despite its encyclopedic nature, there is an underlying plot and storyline
throughout the entire epic that holds it together. Philosophical and political works
are scattered throughout the epic as dialogues between characters, most of who are
involved in political and military situations. At the risk of oversimplifying an
incredibly complex epic, the Mahabharata is similar to an ancient Indian Game of
Thrones, with numerous factions competing for political power in a variety of
states. The main story of the work is a dynastic struggle for the throne
of Hastinapura (located between modern Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh), the
kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. Two branches of cousins of the Kuru family
struggle for the throne: the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Although the father of the
Kauravas is the elder brother of the father of the Pandavas, he is initially
disqualified from ruling in favor of his younger brother due to being blind. His
eldest son, Duryodhana, claims to be the rightful heir to the Kuru throne on the
basis of being the eldest son of the eldest son even though the eldest
Pandava, Yudhisthira, is older and is considered the legitimate heir apparent.
Eventually, the struggle between the Kauravas and Pandavas culminates in
the great battle of Kurukshetra, in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious.
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