date of mahabharata epic

8/14/2019 Date of Mahabharata Epic

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that the Nishadas and Abhiras might not see her. The Mahabharata also states that

Vasishtha committed suicide by throwing himself into the Sutlej and that the Sutlej

then broke up in a 100 channels (Yash Pal in S.P. Gupta 1995: 175). This myth

seems to be related with the changing of the course of the Sutlej river. Recent

research indicates that the Sutlej flowed into the Ghaggar-Hakra river in ancient

times.

The Mahabharata also records that the Sarasvati joins the sea impetuously (Mbh.

3.88.2).

Balaram, elder brother of Krishna took a journey, starting from Dwaraka, along the

banks of Sarasvati and visited a number of holy places during the wartime. During

his pilgrimage, Balaram visited Vinasana, the place where the Sarasvati disappears

in the desert (Mbh. 3.80.118; 9.36.1; 3.130.4). In Mahabharata 9.53.11, Balaram

visited karapacava (where the Yamuna originates) shortly after visiting Plaska

Prasravana (where the Sarasvati originates).

The Mahabharata also records that the Sarasvati, after having disappeared in the

desert, reappears in some places (e.g. Mbh. 3.80.118).

According to the Mahabharata (3.81.115), Kurukshetra is south of the Sarasvati and

north of the Drishadvati. The Mahabharata also states that the Sarasvati is the first

creation among rivers and that it flows to the ocean (Mbh. Anus’a_sana 134.15).

According to the Mahabharata, Puskara in the Sarasvati river region was during the

Tretayuga period the most sacred site on earth.[14]

Oghavati was another name of river Sarasvati according to Mahabharata 9.38

In sabha parva of mahabharata(2.29.8) it is mentioned that "nakul conquered the

sudra and abhir who lived at the bank of saraswati near sindhu(indus)arena.



2.Geoghraphical analysis:Geoghraphy of dried up channel of saraswati ghaggar

river completely matches with description given above.In the epic all states,river

and mountains are matched with current geography,so it proves that it is not a



imagination of the writter.In Mahaprasthanika Parva of mahabharata (17.1.31)it is

mentioned "Proceeding on, those heroes reached the sea of red waters. Dhananjaya

had not cast off his celestial bow Gandiva",presently it i known as red sea and The

Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia.In

Mahaprasthanika Parva of mahabharata (17.2.2)it is mentioned"Those princes of

restrained souls and devoted to Yoga, proceeding to the north, beheld Himavat, thatvery large mountain.Crossing the Himavat, they beheld a vast desert of sand"it is

probably the vast gobi desert in china.The kingdoms and rivers has shown in epic

india in wikipedia.so the epic deals with a very vast asian geography.In adi parva of

mahabharata(1.90.26) it is mentioned that king matinar performed yagya in Fire

altars at the bank of saraswati river,At Kalibangan fire Vedi (altar)s have been

discovered, similar to those found at Lothal which S.R. Rao thinks could have served

no other purpose than a ritualistic one.none of any river in the world having ancient

city of fire altars along its bank including ganga,yamuna,indus.this shows that

saraswati river was main vedic river in vedic time.in whole mahabharat shiva ling

worship was also famous,phallic symbols resembling the Hindu Siva lingam have

been found in the Harappan remains.so mahabharat can be dated in a period of

1500bc-600bc.



3.Languages&inscriptions analysis:one of the communication or spoken language

during mahabharat time was brahmi<ref>(mahabharat(1.76.12)

in india brahmi as a writting languages was develeoped by 900bc-800bc.The recent

archeological findings at Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu by ASI have indicated that the

Tamil-Brahmi inscription may have dated from as far back as 7th-8th century

BC.there is no where mention of any writting language in mahabharata.sanskrit is

no where mentioned as spoken or writting language in mahabharata.but as a

writting languages ,one special undeciphered(not easly deciphered)writting was

used by vidur and it was sent to yudhister<ref>mahabharata(gita press)

(1.144.20)&(1.146.6).

now oldest manuscript in brahmi belong to period about 300bc and inscription

belong to 800bc.in case of sanskrit oldest surviving manuscript is MS Spitzer, the

oldest surviving Sanskrit philosophical manuscript dated to the first century, thatcontains among other things a list of the books in the Mahabharata. From this

evidence, it is likely that the redaction into 18 books took place in the first century.

An alternative division into 20 parvas appears to have co-existed for some time. The

division into 100 sub-parvas (mentioned in Mbh. 1.2.70) is older, and most parvas

are named after one of their constituent sub-parvas.

the copper-plate inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (533-534) from Khoh

(Satna District, Madhya Pradesh) describes the Mahabharata as a "collection of

100,000 verses" (shatasahasri samhita).•Dion Chrysostom, Greek Sophist writes in

100 CE, that the Indians possess an Iliad of 100,000 verses. Together with its

appendix, the Harivamsha, MB does add up to this total. Thus the MB, of the currentvolume was surely completed by 100 CE.•Panini's grammar (500 BCE, a most

conservative date) knows the Mahabharata. The language of the Epic does not

always follow Paninian constructions, which also suggests that it is prior to

Panini.Panini's grammar (c. 400 BC) knows the Mahabharata. Also, the Epic, in its

long descriptions of the religions of the day, does not mention Buddhism, so we can

be certain that it was substantially complete prior to 400 or 500 BC. The language

of the Epic does not always follow Paninian constructions which also suggests that it

is prior to 500 BC. Many of the characters of the Mahabharata are mentioned in the

Vedic texts that, on account of being considered sacred, have not suffered

interpolations and should thus represent historical persons. Krishna, for example, is

mentioned in the Chhandogya

Upanishad. Other names occurring

elsewhere include Vichitravirya,

Shantanu, Dhritarashtra,

Janamejaya, and Parikshit.The

famous Aihole inscription of

Chalukya King Pulkeshi II says: the

date of mahabharata epic

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