History
of Mahabharat :
Both Ramayan and Mahabharat are mentioned as
Ithihas (translated as history but more precisely means creative
rendering of historical narratives) and not as Puran (generally
interpreted as mythology, but more correctly referring to creative
narratives of events older than the narrator). Ved Vyas traditionally
considered to have written the Puran and Mahabharat. He clearly
distinguishes the two by calling the latter an Itihas, which
in Sanskrit means history [ithi – it; has – happened
so].
The
word ‘Itihas’ is a conjunct that can be broken down
as
iti+ha+s meaning thus+verily+it was / so+indeed+it was/ this
is how it was then
Itihas thus refers to history and is also a
very accurate word. Other words often listed as synonyms for
itihaasa are also used in other contexts. Examples – caritra
can be used in other contexts (eg. character) and Vrutant usually
reporting one incident. However, there is no other meaning for
itihas. It is used only in one context, that of history. On
the other hand, Puran, although understood as mythology, actually
refers to ‘an event of the past, an ancient legend or
old traditional history’. Every Puran would speak high
of the personality central to the theme whereas itihas has no
such compulsions. It would speak of things as they were.
Ramayan
and Mahabharat :
In Ramayan, ayan means journey. Examples: dakshi
yan – Southern journey; uttara yan – Northern journey;
Rama yan – Rams journey. The word ayan also implies some
kind of returning path, as Ram goes and returns. These are a
form of conjunct words where the first word is a genitive form,
so Ramayan actually translates to Ramasya ayanah.
Mahabharat refers to ‘narration relating
to Bharat’, ‘great history/legend of the descendants
of Bharat’ and ‘great tale of Bharat dynasty’.
Mahabharat composed by Ved Vyas was originally called Jaya (mentioned
in the first verse).
Narayanam namaskritya - Having bowed to Narayan
Naram chaiva narottamam - Arjuna–naram
and krishna–narottam
Devim
sarasvatim caiva - and to Devi Sarasvati
Tato jayam udirayet - Utter the word jaya /
recite the text called jaya
It is narrated by Ved Vyas's disciple sage Vaisampayan
to King Janamejay, the great-grandson of Arjun. The story is
then recited again by the professional storyteller Ugrasrav
to an assemblage of sages in the forest of Naimisharanyam. All
these are mentioned in the Mahabharat. Parallel sources such
as the Brahman texts also give list of kings mentioned in Mahabharat.
Notwithstanding the general understanding and interpretation,
Ramayan and Mahabharat are traditionally considered historical
texts.
Composer
of Mahabharat :
The name of Ved Vyas, the composer of Mahabharat,
is Badarayan (the one from Badari). He comes in the lineage
of Brahma, Sage Vasisht, Sage Shakti and Sage Parashar. He was
the great-grandson of Sage Vasisht (he therefore was also called
Vasisht, i.e. belonging to the family of Sage Vasisht), grandson
of Sage Shakti and son of Sage Parashar. He was also called
Dwaipayana since he was born in a Dweep (island). He was referred
as Krishna Dwaipayana because of his dark skin (Krishna means
black). He is, however, generally known as Vyas because of his
monumental work in organizing the Vedas, which till then existed
as one, into four parts. Vyas, in Sanskrit literally means to
arrange, to compile. Encyclopedia Britannica mentions of Vyas
as having lived near the banks of river Saraswati.
Mahabharat
:
Mahabharat has 18 parts, 98 chapters, 2352 divisions
and 96,635 shloks. It is said that Vyas originally wrote 60,00,000,
i.e. 60 lakhs shloks. What has come down to us is about 1 lakh
shloks only. Vyas taught Mahabharat to Suka, his son and some
of his disciples, one of whom was Vaisampayan. When Janamejay
(great grandson of Arjun) conducted a yajna, Vaisampayan narrated
the Mahabharat as told by Vyas. Ugrasrav (son of Romaharshan,
a disciple of Vyas) known as Sut (referring to a professional
storyteller) was also present at that time. He went to ‘Naimisharanya’
where there was a gathering of rishis (one of them was Saunak)
and there he told them the epic. It is mentioned that this is
the place where Mahabharat was first told in public and the
version that has come down to us.
Details
of Kurukshetra war :
Army
strength and its divisions :
Ved Vyas gives extensive details of the army.
Eighteen Akshouhinis took part in the war, 11 on the side of
the Kauravs and 7 on the side of Pandavs. Table 1 outlines the
makeup of one Akshouhini.
An Akshauhini is defined as a battle formation
consisting of 21,870 chariots (Sanskrit ratha); 21,870 elephants;
65,610 cavalry and 109,350 infantry as per the Mahabharata (Adi
Parva 2.15-23).
The Rishis said, 'We have a desire to know,
O son of Suta, what is implied by the term Akshauhini that hath
been used by thee. Tell us in full what is the number of horse
and foot, chariots and elephants, which compose an Akshauhini
for thou art fully informed.'"
Sauti said, 'One chariot, one elephant, five
foot-soldiers, and three horses form one Patti; three pattis
make one Sena-mukha; three sena-mukhas are called a Gulma; three
gulmas, a Gana; three ganas, a Vahini; three vahinis together
are called a Pritana; three pritanas form a Chamu; three chamus,
one Anikini; and an anikini taken ten times forms, as it is
styled by those who know, an Akshauhini. O ye best of Brahmanas,
arithmeticians have calculated that the number of chariots in
an Akshauhini is twenty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Calculations
:
1 chariot, 1 elephant, five foot-soldiers, and
three horses = 1 patti
3 Pattis = 1 Sena-Mukha (3 chariots, 3 elephants,
15 infantry, 9 horses)
3 Sena-Mukhas = 1 Gulma (9 chariots, 9 elephants,
45 infantry, 27 horses)
3 Gulmas = 1 Gana (27 chariots, 27 elephants,
135 infantry, 81 horses)
3 Ganas = 1 Vahini (81 chariots, 81 elephants,
405 infantry, 243 horses)
3 Vahinis = 1 Pritana (243 chariots, 243 elephants,
1215 infantry, 729 horses)
3 Pritanas = 1 Chamu (729 chariots, 729 elephants,
3645 infantry, 2187 horses)
3 Chamus = 1 Anikini (2187 chariots, 2187 elephants,
10935 infantry, 6561 horses)
10 Anikini = 1 Akshauhini (21,870 chariots,
21,870 elephants, 109,350 infantry, 65,610 horses)
Adi Parva (MBH 2.15-23)
Military
details :
From
Pandav Side :
7 Aksauhini Details of Pandav Army Udyoga Parv
(MBh 5.151)
From
Kaurav Side :
11 Aksauhini Details of Kaurava Army Bhishm
Parv (MBH 6.19)
Total
18 Akshauhini which consists of :
109,350 * 18 = 1,968,300 Infantry Soldiers
65,610 * 18 = 1,180,980 Cavalry Soldiers
21,870 * 2 * 18 = 787,320 Chariots (one driver
one warrior)
21,870 * 2 * 18 = 787,320 Elephants (one driver
one warrior)
Total = 4,723,920
Loss
of Life in the Battle :
Vaishampayan said, "Hearing these words
of Vasudev that were disagreeable to her, Gandhari, with heart
exceedingly agitated by grief, remained silent. The royal sage
Dhritarashtra, however, restraining the grief that arises from
folly, enquired of Yudhishthir the just, saying, ‘If,
O son of Pandu, thou knowest it, tell me the number of those
that have fallen in this battle, as also of those that have
escaped with life!’
"Yudhishthir answered, ‘One billion
660 million and 20,000 men have fallen in this battle. Of the
heroes that have escaped, the number is 240,165.’
Yudhishtira's
figure :
1,660,020,000 Martyrs
240,165 Alive
Total
= 1,660,260,165 participation
Importance
of the number 18 in Bharat Varsh :
The importance of number 18 in Bharat Varsh
has been pointed out by many. The recurrence of number 18 in
Mahabharat is also very interesting. Vyas wrote 18 Puran. Mahabharat
is divided in 18 Parvs (parts). The Gita has 18 chapters. The
Kurukshetra war lasted for 18 days.
The war in Ramayan continued for 18 months and
the war between the Devs and Asurs took 18 years. Bhishma teaches
Yudhishthir 18 different Raj Needhi (dharma) and so on.
Interestingly, the number of Akshouhinis (army
unit) that took part in the Kurukshetra war was also 18.
Even in the composition of one Akshouhini, number
18 seems to play a role. For example, it is interesting that
individual addition of the numbers in each unit adds upto 18
:
21,870 chariots/elephants (2+1+8+7+0=18)
65,610 horses (6+5+6+1=18)
1,09,350 cavalry men (1+0+9+3+5+0=18)
If all these numbers are added (i.e. make up
of one Akshouhini) , i.e. 21870 + 21870 + 65610 + 109350, the
resultant number 2,18,700 also displays the same feature, i.e.
addition of the individual numbers (2+1+8+7+0+0=18) results
in 18.
Warrior
competence :
Rathi – Fights with one charioteer at
a time.
Atirathi – Fights against many soldiers
at the same time
(eg – Krup, Dhurmug, Vivimsathi, Uttamauj
and Uttra).
Maharathi – Fights against 10,000 charioteers
at the same time
(eg – Dhron, Kripacharya, Bowrav, the
five sons of Draupadi, Virat)