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  1. #1
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    Mahabharata First Read through Initial thoughts

    Vannakam,

    It has been 1 year and 8 months since I started reading the K.M. Ganguli Unabridged Mahabharata and in that interim I have learned a great deal from it. From the Adi to Svargarohana, I have plowed through all 5818 pages of this important epic. For those who are interested in trying this feat (which as I have shown is far from impossible) I must give some small warnings.

    The work does become tedious in parts. Areas such as the Tirtha-Yatra, the thousand names of vishnu and rudra, the genealogies, the profusion of gifts of kine, sraddhas, even the battles. There is a lot of repetition.

    Digressions are frequent, i'd say of the near 6000 pages, only 3000 are actually devoted to the main plot line of the Pandavas vs. the Kauravas, even during the great battle of Kurukshetra there are frequent digressions.

    Everybody has over 3 different names that are used interchangeably. Arjuna is Phalguna, Dananjaya, Partha, Krishna is also Vasudeva, Janardana etc. This can get confusing at first but one does get used to it.

    In all the translations i've seen, the language is very antiquated (the version I read was in victorian prose) so expect to see some outdated phrasing and words such as Welkin, Kine, Calumniate etc.

    There are regular contradictions. It happens a lot.

    Now that I've gotten my warnings out of the way I can say that this is truly a wonderful and enlightening work. You will learn just about everything you need to know on emancipation, leading a good life and all that other fun stuff. For those who go through with it it will be immensely rewarding.

    I hope this does not sound boast-y at all, I am just extremely happy that I actually read through the entire epic. If anybody wants more in depth discussion on it feel free to message me.

    Also if anybody is reading through it themselves, feel free to post something on here with your thoughts

    Namaste

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    Re: Mahabharata First Read through Initial thoughts

    Namaste Eric,

    Thanks for the review and heads up on what to expect, for the first time readers.

    Congratulations on being persistent enough to go through the whole epic. They say that you have to read them at least three times to really understand the spiritual content of any scriptural book. So, when is the next read going to start?

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 21 February 2012 at 12:42 PM.

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    Re: Mahabharata First Read through Initial thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric11235 View Post
    I can say that this is truly a wonderful and enlightening work. You will learn just about everything you need to know on emancipation, leading a good life and all that other fun stuff. For those who go through with it it will be immensely rewarding.
    i read entire Mahabharata during my middle school years and then some bits and pieces here and there after that. Yes everyone should read at least an abridged version of it (6000 pages is a daunting task to say the least) just as one enjoys reading a thrilling shakespearesque drama. Here is a bit that may be relevant for your consideration.. as you might have have noticed, Shubh gadia or auspicious time is mentioned several times, along with that of surya and chandra grahana (solar/lunar eclipses) making a strong presence, throughout the epic. These celestial events serve a strong testament for the events happening in the epic in real time in the past. That is the argument made by many researchers as a proof of Mahabharata and one of which is cited below. Namaste.

    (source: Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong - rediff.com).
    http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Glimpses_XXIV.htm




    Did KRISHNA exist?

    Most certainly, saysDr Manish Pandit, a nuclear medicine physician who teaches in the UnitedKingdom, proffering astronomical, archaeological, linguistic and oral evidencesto make his case.

    "I used to think of Krishna is a part of Hindumyth and mythology. Imagine my surprise when I came across DrNarhari Achar(a professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US) and his research in 2004 and 2005. He had done thedating of the Mahabharata war using astronomy. I immediately tried tocorroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and I cameto the same conclusions [as him]," Pandit says.

    Which meant, he says, that what is taught in schools aboutIndian history is not correct?

    The GreatWar between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC, the Pune-bornPandit, who did his MBBS from BJ Medical College there, says in his firstdocumentary, Krishna : History orMyth?.

    Pandit's calculations say Krishnawas born in 3112 BC, so must have been 54-55 years old at the time of thebattle of Kurukshetra.

    Pandit, asthe sutradharof the documentary Krishna: History or Myth?, uses four pillars -- archaeology,linguistics, what he calls the living tradition of India and astronomy toarrive at the circumstantial verdict that Krishna was indeed a living being,because Mahabharata and the battle of Kurukshetra indeed happened, andsince Krishna was the pivot of the Armageddon, it is all true.

    We arealways taught that Krishna is a part of Hindumyth and mythology. And this is exactly what I thought as well. But imagine mysurprise when I came across Dr Narhari Achar (of the Department of Physics atthe University of Memphis, Tennessee, in the US)and his research somewhere in 2004 and 2005. He had done the dating of theMahabharata war using astronomy.

    I immediately triedto corroborate all his research using the regular Planetarium software and Icame to the same conclusions. This meant that what we are taught in schoolsabout Indian history is not correct. I also started wondering about whythis should be so. I think that a mixture of the post-colonial need to conform towestern ideas of Indian civilisation and an inability to stand up firmly tobizarre western ideas are to blame. Also, any attempt at a more impartial lookat Indian history is given a saffron hue.

    I decidedthat I could take this nonsense no more, and decided to make films to showeducated Indians what their true heritage was. The pen is mightierthan the sword is an old phrase but I thought of new one: Film is the new pen.I wanted to present a true idea of Indian history unfettered by perception,which was truly scientific, not just somebody's hypothesis coloured by theirperceptions and prejudices.

    Adocumentary on Rama is forthcoming in the future. But the immediate reason Ideferred that project is the immense cost it would entail. Whereas research on Krishnaand Mahabharata was present and ready to go. Further more, Rama according toIndian thought, existed in the long hoary ancient past of Treta Yuga, wherescience finds it difficult to go.

    There aremore than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Dr Achar usedsimulations of the night sky to arrive at November 22, 3067 BC, as the day theMahabharata war began. He used the references common to Udyoga and BhismaParvan initially, and so Saturn at Rohini, Mars at Jyestha with initiallyonly the two eclipses, Lunar at Kartika and Solar at Jyestha.

    So now, weknow about Balarama's pilgrimage tithis and nakshatras, andbelieve it or not, all that fits the 3067 BC date perfectly. And to top itall, so does the repetition of the three eclipses described at the destructionof Dwarka 36 years later.

    This wouldexplain why so many other researchers tried and failed to find the date of theMahabharata war as it is based on such a unique set of astronomy that itoccurred only once in the last 10,000 years. Not just that, but the fact thatarchaeology, oral and living traditions point to the same. And yes, we cannotseparate the Mahabharata war from Krishna .If one is shown to have happened, then the other must be true as well.

    The Hindu religious empire extended across the whole of theAsian sub-continent to South East Asia, from Afghanistan to Thailand (whereRamayana and Krishna are still shown through dances), Burma, Cambodia (AngkorWat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc), Vietnam, Laos (little Kurukshetra and temples),Malaysia (which was Hindu until recent) up to Java (more temples), Bali (whereHinduism is still the religion) and Indonesia, where Bhima's grandson is saidto have performed a thousand fire rituals at Yogyakarta. Afghanistanwas of course home to both the Yadu race and Shakuni ( Kandaharor Gandhar).It is believed that due to damage anddestruction by the sea, Dwaraka has submerged six times and themodern-day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area. Scientificallyspeaking, we see that 36 years after the war there were the same repetitions ofan eclipse triad as we have shown in the documentary.

    (source: Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong - rediff.com).

    http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Glimpses_XXIV.htm
    Last edited by charitra; 21 February 2012 at 12:49 PM.

  4. Re: Mahabharata First Read through Initial thoughts

    Good information by you all,

    Ramayan and Mahabharat are our Itihas, the historical granthas.

    This book is also a good source of Mahabharat History

    http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_histor...ab_vartak.html
    [CENTER][B][FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=7][COLOR=Yellow] ॐ[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/B]
    [/CENTER]

  5. #5

    Re: Mahabharata First Read through Initial thoughts

    Namaste Charitra,

    Thanks for providing that information, it is very intriguing. Of course us Hindus don't need these historical proofs to believe in what is told in our scriptures, but it is still important for all people to realize at least the historical presence of it all and to stop learning falsehoods through formal education. For that to happen, all of this well-founded historical proof for events in ancient India needs to be accepted by mainstream academia. It shall happen one day but it will take some time as academia is ridden with much bias and supremacist-driven agendas.

    Ramakrishna
    Sanatana Dharma ki Jai!
    Jai Hanuman

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