Mahabharata - The Philosophy of Humanity
Mahabharata is the biggest among the world’s epics and it contains 1, 00,000 slokas or versus. It is an all inclusive literature and not a single homogeneous work. All problems in human life and their solutions are contained in it. Mahabharat is the treasure house of the Indian culture, both secular and sacred. It gives an insight into the core of the attainments of the people of India.
For centuries together Mahabharata has been popular not only all over India but in foreign countries also. Making reference to the characters and codes in the epic, the people of Java translated the book into their language before the end of the tenth century. The Americans and the Russians are drawn to this book in the present century.
In the sixth century the whole poem was recited in temples in Cambodia. This book is a Sastra or manual of ethics. It is a social and political philosophy. It deals with Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha the four aims of the human life. Moral, social and religious duties are dharma. Earthly prosperity and wealth is Artha. Pleasures pertaining to mundane life are Kama. Emancipation of the self from the meshes of the world is Moksha.
It extols humanity as the highest manifestation of the destiny. Mahabharata is called the Great War due to two reasons. The magnitude if the human loss compelled the author to call it the Great War. Secondly the participants in the carnage were outstanding personalities. The pick of the society, the men of deep understanding, the persons of sterling character all these were drawn into it. Humanity can escape war, try however much it may. This lesson is taught in this episode. Therefore it is called the Great War.