the story of the mahabharata briefly

8/18/2019 The Story of the Mahabharata Briefly

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The Story of the Mahabharata Briefly

In some ways, the entire story of the Mahabharata is an explanation of how our world, the worldof the Kali Yuga, came into being, and how things got to be as bad as they are. The Ramayanahas its share of suffering and even betrayal, but nothing to match the relentless hatred andvengeance of the Mahabharata. The culmination of the Mahabharata is the attle of Kuru!shetrawhen two bands of brothers, the "andavas and the Kauravas, the sons of two brothers and thuscousins to one another, fight each other to death, brutally and cruelly, until the entire race isalmost wiped out.

The five sons of "andu, the "andavas, are the heroes of the story. The eldest is KingYudhishthira. #ext is hima, an enormously strong fighter with e$ually enormous appetites.%fter hima is %r&una, the greatest of the warriors and also the companion of Krishna. The lasttwo are twins, #a!ula and 'ahadeva. These five brothers share one wife, (raupadi )she becamethe wife of all five of them by accident, as you will learn*.

The enemies of the "andavas are the Kauravas, who are the sons of "andu+s brother,(hritarashtra. %lthough (hritarashtra is still alive, he cannot manage to restrain his son(uryodhana, who bitterly resents the achievements of his cousins, the "andavas. (uryodhanaarranges for his maternal uncle to challenge Yudhishthira to a game of dice, and Yudhishthiragambles everything away, even himself. The "andavas have to go into exile, but when theyreturn they engage the Kauravas in battle. Krishna fights on the side of the "andavas, and servesas %r&una+s charioteer. The famous 'ong of the -ord, or hagavad /ita, is actually a boo!within the Mahabharata, as the battle of Kuru!shetra begins. 0hen %r&una faces his cousins on

the field of battle, he despairs and sin!s down, unable to fight. The hagavad /ita contains thewords that Krishna spo!e to %r&una at that moment.

The "andavas do win the battle. (uryodhana is !illed, and the Kaurava armies are wiped out.ut it is hardly a happy ending. Yudhishthira becomes !ing, but the world is forever changed by

the battle+s violence. If you are familiar with the Iliad, you might remember how that epic endswith the funeral of the Tro&an hero 1ector, a moment which is utterly blea! and sad. The same istrue for the Mahabharata. There are many truths that are learned in the end, but the victory, suchas it is, comes at a terrible price.

INTRODUCTION

The Mahabharata (composed between 300 BC and 300 AD) has the honor of beinthe !on est epic in wor!d !iterat"re# $00#000 %&!ine stan'as (a!tho" h the mostrecent critica! edition edits this down to abo"t #000)# ma in it ei ht times as!on as *omer+s Iliad and Odyssey to ether# and o,er 3 times as !on as the Bib!e(Chaitan-a ,ii). Accordin to the Narasimhan ,ersion# on!- abo"t /000 !ines re!ateto the main stor- the rest contain additiona! m-ths and teachin s. In other


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words# the Mahabharata resemb!es a !on 1o"rne- with man- side roads anddeto"rs. It is said that 2 hate,er is here is fo"nd e!sewhere. B"t whate,er is nothere is nowhere e!se.4

The name means 2 reat 5stor- of the6 Bharatas.4 Bharata was an ear!- ancestor of

both the 7anda,as and 8a"ra,as who fi ht each other in a reat war# b"t theword is a!so "sed enerica!!- for the Indian race# so the Mahabharata sometimesis referred to as 2the reat stor- of India.4

hese boo!s are currently out of copyright in India as per the Indian 2opyright %ct 3456. "leasechec! copyright law within your country before downloading the boo!s. In case of any issuessend us an email.

Mahabharata Summary


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harat 7arsh

Two sons, (hritarashthra and "andu, are born to 7ichitravirya, !ing of Kurus. (ritrashtra is theelder, but because he is born blind, he is dis$ualified from becoming !ing and "andu ta!es his

place. (ritrashtra is married to /andhari, who, out of love and respect for her blind husband,willingly !eeps herself blindfolded day and night. 8nce, while hunting in the forest, "andu iscursed by a sage that he will die if he ever became intimate with a woman. 'ince he is childlessat the time, he leaves the !ingdom to his brother and goes into the forest with his wives to

perform penance.

In the forest, Kunti and Madri invo!e varous gods to beget five sons Yudhishthira, hima and%r&una for Kunti, and the twins #a!ula and 'ahadeva for Madri. They are !nown as the"andavas. "andu dies shortly, when the sage+s curse too! effect as "andu and Madri, inflamed by

passion, embrace. Madri burns herself on "andu+s pyre and Kunti returns to 1astinapur, the


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capital of the Kuru clan. 'ince the "andavas are the rightful heirs to the throne of 1astinapur, thisis deeply resented by the sons of (hritarashthra, the Kauravas, especially (uryodhana the eldest.

(uryodhana9s bitterness and hatred boil out when he is &ust a teenager, and he continuously see!sand wishes death upon the "andavas. 1is hatred is nourished by his slippery uncle, 'ha!uni. %n

idea of 'ha!uni9s character can be gathered from his advice to (uryodhana, :(uryodhana, /odgave speech to man not to express himself, but to hide what is in his mind. %ided by 'ha!uni,(uryodhana executes many plots to surreptitiously !ill the "andavas, but than!s to their luc!,capabilities and some outside interventions, they escape unscathed. 'ome of these outsideinterventions came from unusual $uarters. 8ne such was the revival of a poisoned hima by the

#agas or sna!e people, when they give him #avapashana, an elixir made of nine deadly poisonsmixed together in precise combinations. #avapashana is still prepared today among the siddhasand yogis of 'outh India.

0ith hatred and animosity growing between them, the "andavas and Kauravas grow up in1astinapur and learn various martial s!ills from their teacher (rona. Karna, the eldest son of

Kunti who was born to and abandoned by her when she was &ust a teenager, also enters the story.Though an exemplary archer, everyone believes him to be the son of the charioteer who foundthe baby Karna and raised him as his own child. #o one but Kunti !nows the truth and she !eepsit to herself out of shame and fear. In fact, Karna is now the rightful heir to the throne, though noone !nows it except Kunti. Karna is befirended by (uryodhana, who sees his archery s!ills as avaluable counter to %r&una+s archery.

%s the story progresses, the "andavas are forced into hiding in the forest to escape the Kauravas9assassination attempts. (uring their time in the forest, %r&una wins the hand of (raupadi, thechild of (rupada, the powerful !ing of "anchala. (ue to an inadvertant reply from Kunti,(raupadi becomes the common wife of all the "andavas. /uided by Krishna, the divine

incarnate and the "andavas+ cousin, the "andavas slip through the many traps laid by(uryodhana and return to claim one half of the !ingdom. ut Yudhisthara, the eldest "andava,has a wea!ness for gambling, and 'ha!uni, a master of the dice game, tric!s him into gamblingaway his wealth, !ingdom and even (raupadi, whom the Kauravas attempt to dirobe. 'he is onlysaved by Krishna+s /race. In shame for allowing such a thing to happen to a woman+s honor, theelders of the court cancel the entire game and return everything to the "andavas, only to haveYudhishthira lose it all over again;

ereft of their wealth and honor, the five brothers, their wife, and mother, are forced into an exileof twelve years, plus one year incognito )during which they narrowly escape detection*, afterwhich they return to reclaim their half of the !ingdom. 8f course, the Kauravas refuse. Thisinevitably leads to the Kuru!shetra war , the :mother of all battles< where every !ing in the landhad to choose sides. It is &ust before the beginning of the war that Krishna imparts the hagavad/ita to %r&una and gives him the 7ishwaroopa (arshana, a glimpse of the divine.

The war lasts eighteen days, each filled with unremitting bloodshed. The Kaurava army has 33a!shaunis or divisions of soldiers and the "andavas have 6, ma!ing a total of 3=. There alsohappen to be 3= chapters in the epic. The first day belongs to the Kauravas, while the second

belongs to the "andavas. The third day falls to the Kauravas again as hishma )7ichitravirya+s

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brother*, the Kaurava commander and the eldest of the Kuru clan slays many "andava soldiers.8n day four, hima slays eight of the Kauravas. %r&una+s son Iravan is !illed on day eight. 8nday nine, Krishna, who had promised not to ta!e up arms and would stay as %r&una+s charioteer,loses his temper with hishma for using powerful divine weapons )astras* against commonsoldiers. 1e ta!es his sudarshan cha!ra to slay hishma, but %r&una pacifies him. The "andavas

plot to remove hishma from the war since his prowess is wrec!ing havoc on the "andava army.hishma is a man of many morals and would never raise a weapon when faced by a woman, sothe "andavas place 'hi!handi as a shield in front of %r&una when he fights hishma on the tenthday.

'hi!handi was a princess %mba in a previous birth and was abducted by hishma along wiht hersisters to marry 7ichitravirya. 1owever, %mba had sworn to marry only !ing 'halya, and so

hishma returns her to 'halya+s !ingdom. 1owever, 'halya loses interest in %mba after herabduction and spurns her. %mba goes weeping to hishma and demands that he ma!e up for hisrash abducion by marrying her. hishma will have nothing of the sort since he has ta!en a vowof celibacy. %mba, distraught and bro!en, ta!es her life, promising to bring death hishma in her

next life. >sing 'hi!handi as a shield, %r&una ta!es hishma down, thus fulfilling'hi!handi?%mba+s vow.

8n the thirteenth day, %bhimanyu, %r&una+s son is !illed unfairly, when he is attac!ed by manywarriors at once, a ploy that is against the rules of conduct in battle. oth sides begin to drop allcodes of conduct from this point and the war turns increasingly ruthless and unscrupulous. 8nday fourteen, %r&una ta!es a vow that he will !ill @ayadratha one of those responsible for%bhimanyu+s death before the sun sets, or ta!e his own life. The Kauravas rally around@ayadratha and prevent %r&una from coming anywhere near him. %s the day ends, Krishnacreates an illusion of sunset by raising a dust storm, deceiving the Kauravas into thin!ing thatthey have managed to protect @ayadratha. 1owever, the sun is still up, and while the Kauravas

are busy re&oicing, %r&una ta!es @ayadratha+s head off. 8n (ay fifteen, (rona decimates the"andava army, and Yudhisthara, the ever truthful, is forced to lie to (rona that %shwathama)(rona+s son* has been !illed. (rona drops his arms in grief and sits in meditation, and(rishtadyumna )(raupadi+s brother and son of (rona+s sworn enemy (rupada* beheads him.


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A brief overview of the MahabharataYudhisthira says: Forgiveness is the gateway to heaven

History of the Mahabharata

The Epic Mahabharata belongs to the group of scriptures called Smriti theremembered word of /od ) see literature *. Shruti )7edas and >panishads* is the groupof scriptures that represent the cosmic sound of /od that people once heard.

If you are loo!ing for an operating system to read or download various documents, try "2 '( a free operating system with ease of use in mind.

To specify a certain date of the Mahabharata events, historians compare various textswith true historical incidents. Thus, they can calculate dates such as when, for

example, Krishna died. %lbeit doubts can be cast on various conclusions of suchapproaches, for 1indus the Krishna+s death starts the new era - Kali Yuga . Thema&ority of scholars, historians and 1indu sages agree on the year 310 B! )@anuaryAB*. TheMahabharata ends with Krishna"s #eath and there is a general consensuson the above date.

The earliest !nown historical recor#s about this valuable boo! made $anini , anIndian 'ans!rit grammarian from the Cth century 2 . 0estern scholars often #eform Indian history and screw it up to 000 years B! only. % typical example is astatement from Encyclope#ia Britannica )ADD5 (eluxe Edition* where it is saidFThe traditional date for the war that is the central event of the Mahabharata is

1302 BC but !ost historians "refer a later date . 1owever, no source is given andno reference to how 1indus perceive the concept of Brahma ages )(vapara Yuga,Kali Yuga, etc.* is presented. %s we can see above, the distortion is too undisguised.

#ot a preference , of course, but only an in-#epth stu#y supporte# with %cite#&arguments can claim that a particular #ate is correct or not . The Mahabharata also unveils some important historical events that archeologists can document in a

number of excavations the age of which goes bac! to the time before 'th centuryB!( These excavations have illustrations of the Mahabharata events on them.

%s a written document, the Mahabharata had developed gradually and it wassupplemented later. If we accept the general opinion of Hindus (date of Krishna'sdeath), its story must have happened before the year 31 ! "#$

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%n the Indonesian island &ava there is a version of the ahabharata that developed territoriallyindependently from the Indian subcontinent #a$awin Bharatayuddha is an ancient poeticalrendering of the Mahabharata $

Krishna and Arjuna are not only cousins

)asu#e*a ) Krishna's father * and Kunti )mother of the andavas * were brother andsister. %r&una later married Krishna"s sister Subhar#a , so he was also Krishna+s

brother in law.

The story

The authorship of the epic is traditionally ascribed to )yasa , who is also one of the mostimportant characters of the boo!. The first section of the Mahabharata introduces a few things

and characters such as +anesha who, at the )yasa"s re,uest - writes down the epicuninterruptedly in one time interval while )yasa !eeps dictating it.

%lthough there are several other things written in the beginning of the boo!, the main plot startsevolving around the story of King Shantanu )King of 1astinapura*. Shantanu met /anga, wasenthralled by her beauty, they started living together and she gave him children. ut +anga , inorder to protect her children+s souls from the curse once 7ashishta had imposed upon them )theirchildren were actually eight 7asus being cursed by 7ashishta*, decided to !ill them. >ponagreeing with 'hantanu to become his partner she lays down a condition that he would never as!

her anything.

0hen after birth of their eighth chil# /anga goes to the river to throw herlittle innocent boy into it, 'hantanu is sodepressed that he bursts out in anger andas!s /anga why she !eeps !illing alltheir children. 1owever, upon brea!inghis promise not to as! any $uestions/anga decides to leave, but the Kingreceives a promise that his last son will

come bac! one day.

/anga !eeps her promise and after sometime she comes bac! and returns her eighth son e*a*rata . 0hen e*a*rata grows into ahandsome prince, 'hantanu meets Satya*ati and falls in love with her. ut their marriage isalmost impossible, as Satya*ati"s father as!s the King that it must be his daughter+s children not anyone else in the world who would once inherit the throne .


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King 'hantanu is unable to agree. 1ad he agreed, (evavrata would have lost his legitimate rightto become the successor of the throne. ut (evavrata decides to help the Gates+ steerage by an.ath that will constrain him to eternal celibacy . %s soon as he ta!es the .ath before the'atyavati+s father, he becomes a new man with a new name Bhishma(

Shantanu and Satya*ati have two children !hitranga#a and )ichitra*irya . ut the childrendo not live a long life and 'hantanu falls ill and dies too. 'atyavati is confronted with !ingless/astinapura there is no successor of the throne. Bhishma refuses it because of his oath. 'hetherefore as!s )yasa a saint and her firstborn son, to help her. 7ichitravirya was married to

mbi a and mbali a . 'atyavati as!ed 7yasa to procreate a successor for the throne. 7yasa,although reluctant, after some time agrees and goes to mbi a first )first 7ichitravirya+s wife*,

but she gets so scared by seeing his dirty ascetic body that she, while they ma!e love, !eeps hereyes closed in anguish. -ater she gives birth to hritarashtra , who is unfortunately blin# .'atyavati therefore as!s 7yasa to help her again. #ow it is the mbali a"s turn , the second

7ichitravirya+s wife, but she, after seeing 7yasa, gets so scared that she looses all color and becomes pale. 'he gives birth to $an#u who is also pale.

"andu becomes King , but one day he ma!es a big mista!e and shoots a sage Kin#ama while he)Kindama* ma!es love with his spouse in the woods, being transformed to animals. %s aconse$uence of this, the mating deer couple was seriously hurt and they transformed themselves

bac! to human form. The male part, Kin#ama , after being shot by the "andu+s deadly arrow, getsso angry that his inescapable curse mutilates all "andu+s future life the *er#ict is Fif $an#ue*er se2ually associates with a woman he falls right away into the han#s of #eath . %fter thecurse "andu renounces the material world and hritarashtra , his stepbrother, becomes King of

/astinapura .

"andu had two wives Ma#ri and Kunti . 8ne day he cannot defend himself against Madri+sse2ual appeal , which ma!es him so desirous that the Kindama+s curse straightens out itsawaiting han#s of #eath .

The Pandavas

Kunti wants to fulfill her maternal expectations, but she has no man. 'he recollects the momentwhen her first son Karna was conceived from an arcane mantra one sage had given her once.Surya the 'un /od appeared to her then. Thus, Kunti remembers her secret mantra and gives

birth to three sons )other two come from Madri*, which are referred to as the $an#a*as .

Yu#histhira"s father was Yama HBhima"s father was )ayu , r4una"s father was 5n#ra . Then itwas Ma#ri who gave birth to two other sons the twins , whose fathers were shwins )divinetwins*. Madri+s sons are 6a ula and Saha#e*a . These all are the fi*e $an#a*as .

The Kauravas

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$an#u and hritarashtra are stepbrothers and their descendants the "andavas and Kauravas,later fight for the throne of /astinapura . hritarashtra had a son uryo#hana , who wasvery evil. %lthough the Mahabharata says that (hritarashtra had one hundred sons, when thestory unfolds in reference to the Kauravas, the epic pays most attention predominantly to

uryo#hana Karna +an#hari )(hritarashtra+s wife* Sha uni %+an#hari"s brother& and afew other persons on the Kaura*a"s part(

The Kaura*as also have support from important royal advisors and teachers such as rona )asuperb teacher of martial arts* Kripa )a chief priest of the !ingdom* shwattama )(rona+sson* Bhishma and )i#ura )the third son whom 7yasa had conceived with a maiden he later

became the chief minister in the (hritarashtra+s !ingdom* (

Con icts between the Pandavas and Kauravas

The generally accepted rule on the basis of which a successor of the throne was appointed had

been historically based mostly on the hereditary principle )father first born son*. 0henSatya*ati had decided that the /astinapura +s crown would glow on the 7yasa+s offshoots , shehad not expected that (hritarashtra+s and "andu+s sons would be in conflict. Yu#histhira wasolder than uryo#hana and after (hritarashtra+s death the legitimate successor of the thronewould be Yudhisthira. Gor uryo#hana , the King (hritarashtra+s first born son, this was a big

pain and he therefore strived every effort to contrive all unthin!able intrigues and plots with aimto !ill the "andavas.

Exile and War

y inviting the "andavas to play a dice game , uryo#hana misuses their !ind heartedness. Thegame turns up to be a fiendish decoy where with assistance of the treacherous and double facedSha uni the $an#a*as lose everything including themselves. They have a wife raupa#i , andwhen the Kaura*as ordered that she must come before them and loo! upon her humiliatedhusbands, the Kauravas then han!er after seeing her undressed. ut a miracle happens and herdress unwinds as if being made of endless cloth strips. raupa#i then spea s lou# to

hritarashtra an# as s #i# Yu#histhira put her at sta e before or after he became asla*e7 %n emotional and impressive (raupadi+s self defending long monologue ma!eseverybody still for a long time until suddenly, under the pressure of raupa#i"s honesty an#well-argue# wor#s , King hritarashtra ma es the result of the game *oi# .

(uryodhana gets so angry that he invites the "andavas to play a second game where e2ile is atsta!e either the $an#a*as or Kaura*as spen# 1 years in e2ile . The "andavas lose again andgo to exile.

%fter 1 years )with one more year of anonymity 3B years all together, which was the(uryodhana+s condition*, they come bac! and the war between the two family clans is imminent.


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(uryodhana refuses to accept their successful concealment during the anonymity year8 bothfamily clans communicate via messengers only. Krishna becomes one of them, too, and withintention to stop the war he demands only five villages for the "andavas. (uryodhana refusesthis offer too.

ivine Wea!ons

5n the Mahabharata #i*ine weapons are use# an# here is a brief o*er*iew of them9

• Agneyastra is the "re wea!on# which belon$s to God Agni # %aster ofa%es& Drona and Arjuna used it&

• Brahmastra is the Brahma's weapon & 't is the most sinister weapon andfew trustworthy scholars su$$ested that it could have the !ower of ato%icdestructiveness &

•

Gandiva is a %iraculous bow God Agni $ave to Arjuna&• Kaumodaki is the Lord Vishnu's invincible celestial %ace&

• arayanastra is the %issile wea!on of Lord Vishnu &

• !ashupatastra is the Lord "hiva's wea!on# one of the %ost destructiveones&

• Vajra is the wea!on (thunderbolt) of #ndra # a co%bination of sword# %aceand s!ear&

• Vimana (also *i%an# *ih%ana# *iwan) is the "anskrit term for a $yingma%hine and it has several occurrences in the Mahabharata& 't is translatedwith words such as + celestial car + or + celestial vehicle + and an exa%!le fro%the Mahabharata ( ,an$uli En$lish translation ) is- + The gods also, with theirspouses, respectfully invited thereto, came on their celestial cars and seatedthereon shone like blazing res &+

• Vishnu's %hakra &"udarsana dis%us is a shar! s!innin$ disc ( a verydan$erous wea!on&

Conclusion

The Epic Mahabharata is the boo! about two family clans the $an#a*as and the Kaura*as ,where Krishna is depicted as the a*atar of +o# )ishnu and who appears in 1is true form to%r&una in a dialogue on the battlefield &ust a few moments before the war ta!es place. This

probably the most precious historical dialogue in the Mahabharata is referred to asBhaga*a#gita %or Bhaga*a# +ita& , where Krishna shines light on many %r&una+s doubts in hisindecisiveness about going to war. Gor example, %r&una as!s, 1ow can I fight with people

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whom I respect ut Krishna answers that going away without responding to such humiliationwould result in historical records referring to the "andavas as cowards . %part from many otherthings, Krishna gives to %r&una also answers to many religious $uestions including those aboutlife after death and the immortality of soul.

:inally the $an#a*as win .

)op *+ ,hara%ters of Mahabharata

i$vijaya .in$h

To!/a!s Editor

•

•

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0ith downright magnitude and superfluous philosophical depth, Mahabharata is a mega sagawhich comprises the essence of war, politics, religion, parenting, ethics and *harma $ This grand

epic is all about the friction between two collateral branches of the Kuru clan to overpower thethrone of 1astinapur. You9ll become tongue tied after witnessing the vivid records of

fundamental philosophers, mighty warriors, cryptical thin!ers, sages and devoted wives of thisheroic tale. 0e9re counting down top 10 characters of Mahabharata with cognition of +ato

*harma ato &ayah )where there is righteousness, there shall be victory*. May these charactersinspire you;

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*+- .udhisthira/

Yudhisthira is a terribly troubled yet harmless-soul character of the worming epic

Mahabharata. %lso !nown as :(harmara&


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gamblers throughout the existence of planet earth. 1e is the person who poisoned the mind of hisexplosive nephew (uryodhan and fueled up the destructive war of Mahabharata, thus becomingthe cause of the destruction of the Kauravas.

)img source- indianet.one$com *

1- Dhritarashtra/

(hritrashtra is one of the dominating characters of Mahabharta who has a very low self esteem

and believes that his blindness is a curse, ma!ing him unfit to rule. It9s depicted in Mahabhartathat (hritarashtra has a great envy against his brother "andu and his paragon advices for the betterment of Kuru dynasty. It was (hritrashtra9s emotional blindness and rapacious loo!towards the throne which made his son (uryodhana a hot headed and egocentric human being.


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)img source- ut/arshspea/$blogspot$in *

2- Gandhari/

% blindfolded mother of a hundred sons, a puppet for her blind husband, and a lady who diedevery moment she livedH /andhari is undisputably the wisest female character of theMahabharata. /andhari is a lady of immense natural power and always favors (harma. 8ne byone, she witnessed her hundred sons going down li!e s!ittles, but she never left the domain ofrighteousness and refused her own son to wish victory into the battlefield.

)img source- /amyabology$com *


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3- Drona%harya/

The royal guru to "andavas and Kauravas and a ferocious warrior of tremendous combating

s!ills, +uru ronacharya is a significant character of Mahabharata . 2ommitted to protectthe realm of 1astinapur, /uru (ronacharya supported the Kauravas and remained firm li!ean inexorable hero in the battle of Kuru!shetra where casualties went beyond the humanimagination and corpses got piled up, becoming the food for the birds.

)img source- columbia$edu *


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4- Duryodhana/

(uryodhana is a massively strong leader, a magnificent warrior and an epitome of friendship, butin Mahabharata, he stands at one side of a gulf which is seemingly unbridgeable between the

parameters of good and evil. Indeed, (uryodhana belongs to the evil side of the gulf, holding thetraits of greed and &ealousy to a specific magnitude, but here one must remember that

uryo#hana is !nown for his hospitality, bigheartedness and benevolence. %nd these traits areenough to mar! him as a real JKshatriya9. Moreover, he can9t be labelled with the :bad boy<term in the case when (raupadi was disrobed, because in the game of dice, "andavas were alsoto blame.

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5- Arjun/

% gallant warrior and a s!illed archer, best !nown for stringing numbers of arrows in a fractionof second and that with deadly accuracy, r4un is a "andava prince as well as the most adorabledisciple of /uru (rona. Enlightened with the cognition of selfless action, the character of %r&unin Mahabharata teaches what you should do while confronting an abominable moral crisis.(iverting our minds from the sensual pleasures of the world, he instructs that rather thancelebrating the good fortune or crying over the bad, you have to be always &oyful as it is the veryfoundation for daily living.

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6- Krishna/

%part from being the most lovable of all /ods in India, ;or# Krishna can also be seen as the biggest political reformer from the Mahabharata who can easily beat even the modern daydiplomats man to man. #o one can describe -ord Krishna in wordsH he excels in everything. utif one !eeps his /odly image out and brings him at par to the level of any other human, Krishnaremains the coolest and wittiest character ever. In the Mahabharata, Krishna goes around doinghis deeds in a manner &ustifying his birth as an avatar and fulfilling the promises he made inupholding righteousness.

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7- Karna/

Karna the central character and one of the unsung heroes of the Mahabharata is an invinciblewarrior despite of being an ill fated prince ever since his birth. Throughout the epic he &ustifiedhis never say die attitude and courageously confronted all the odds of his destiny. 1is characterin Mahabharata has an everlasting fame because he teaches how can one present himself betterthan the destiny and accomplish everything with shatterproof determination.

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*- Bhishma !itamah/

'entinel of the prosperity of 1astinapur and a great combatant in classic sense, Bhishma

$itamah is the most potent character of the Mahabharata as well as the finest illustration ofethics and fairness. The oldest stalwart of the !ingdom of 1astinapurH hishma "itamah9s

personal life was full of frustration and solitariness, but for others he was a disciplined spartanand an embodiment of loyalty and truth. hishma "itamah9s peerless statesmanship and otherimpeccable characteristics still inspire his ardent followers across the world.

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the story of the mahabharata briefly

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