Mahabharata

The Mahabharata can roughly be said to be composed in three stages: Jaya#, Bharata# and Mahabharata#.

However, teasing these three stages apart is not possible now, since we do not have written manuscripts dating far back enough.

#The Parvans of the Mahabharata
- This page is a cross-index of all the Parvans in the #Mahabharata for easy discovery. It lists the 18 Parvans in order, for the reader to explore notes as per their convenience.
#Characters in the Mahabharata
- The #Mahabharata is full of a diverse cast of characters. This page lists all the ones we’ve met in the lecture series, for easy cross-indexing and discovery.
#Commentaries on the Mahabharata
- This page is a cross-index of all the important commentaries on the #Mahabharata.

Welcome to the 18 Parvans of the Mahabharata
- The 18 Parvans of the Mahabharata is an introductory course conducted by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute to teach the #Mahabharata to a wider audience. This is the first time that BORI is conducting such a series, and the response has been overwhelming!
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Lecture 1: The Making of the Critical Edition
- In this lecture, we will talk about the making of #The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata We will cover the need for the project, the history of the project and also a little bit about other editions and stories based on the #Mahabharata.
- The start to any discussion on the #Mahabharata should happen after quoting the following prayer:
- Pratap Chandra Roy, the Bengali scholar who brought out a Mahabharata edition at the end of the 19th century had this to say about the #Mahabharata:
- Broadly, we can identify three versions of the #Mahabharata:
- Recension: A careful study of all the different manuscripts in a particular group. The two major recensions of the #Mahabharata are the northern recension and the southern recension.
- This step does not work for the #Mahabharata because in the case of the Mahabharata even the oldest manuscripts are adifferent versions.
The Opening Ceremony
- Observations on the #Mahabharata:
Bibek Debroy
- Bibek Debroy is the only person to have translated the Critical Edition of the #Mahabharata and the Hari Vamsha into English. He is in process of translating all the Mahapuranas as well.
Lecture 2: The Mahakavya of the Mahabharata
- I will not talk about #The three stages of the Mahabharata. The differences in the three stages are not discernible, what we have is the complete Mahabharata.
Bharatabhavadipa
- The Bharatabhavadipa is a commentary on the #Mahabharata written by #Neelakantha Chaturdhara. Many modern translations of the Mahabharata use this commentary as a guide to understand the events and their interpretation.
The 18 Parvans of the Mahabharata
- The 18 Parvans of the Mahabharata is an introductory course conducted by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute to teach the #Mahabharata to a wider audience. This is the first time that BORI is conducting such a series, and the response has been overwhelming!