Mahabharat

Mahabharata is one of the two most pious epics of India, the other being Ramayana. Mahabharata consists of 90,000 verses in total. The general conception is that Mahabharata is all about the war between Kauravas and the Pandavs. But this is a false impression. The Mahabharata through the war and other incidents teaches us what the goal of human life should be. It tell us that the ultimate aim of human life is attaining Moksha(salvation), and this can be done only by walking on the path of Dharma. The Mahabharata traces the life of the Pandav princes as they are cheated out of their kingdom by the Kauravs. Their hard life in the forest (vanavas), which is full of many adventures, has been explained in an artistic detail by Ved Vyas. After a long interval of 14 years, the Pandavs return to their Kingdom of Hastinapur and demand what rightfully belonged to them. When the Kauravas, led by Duryodhana, refuse and insult their messenger Shri Krishna, the Pandavs declare war on the Kauravas. Thus takes place the epic battle of Kurukshetra. It is in this battle that Shri Krishna preaches the true way of living life to Arjuna, in the form of the Bhagwad Gita. Thus the Mahabharata is a holy epic that is filled with adventures and yet is able to tell effectively the workings of Dharma and Karma.