Mahabharata

As we know, India is a country with a long history, and its literary works are also incredibly rich.

India's oldest books, and oldest literary works, are the four Vedas along with many related texts. These ancient scriptures date from roughly 3,500 to 2,500 years ago. The era they represent is commonly called the "Vedic period." These books are largely the product of a society evolving from clan-based and primitive communal structures into the early formation and consolidation of a class-based society. That era has long passed, yet these texts are still held by Indians as the most sacred scriptures, even to this day. Naturally, those who do not follow Hinduism do not regard these books as holy, but such people are not the majority in India.

The most recent books among the Vedic scriptures are called the "Upanishads," also known as "Vedanta." The philosophical ideas in these texts later developed and gained significant influence in modern and contemporary India.

After the Vedic period, the most important and influential ancient Indian texts were several epics. These books can be called epics because they take the form of very long poems, with storytelling as their main focus. However, they are not simply narrative poems; in fact, they are significant summaries of ancient cultural traditions, just presented in a literary form. The main works in this category include the *Mahabharata*, the *Ramayana*, and some *Puranas*, among which the most influential is the *Bhagavata Purana*. The *Puranas* were composed later, showing a new tendency toward synthesis, with their core ideas differing from those of the first two epics. Usually, only the first two works are referred to as the two great epics of ancient India. Over the past thousand years, these two epics—especially the *Ramayana*—have been adapted into many modern-language versions. The most popular version of the *Ramayana* among modern Indians is not the original poem in the ancient Indian language (Sanskrit), but new poems written hundreds of years ago by various poets in different Indian languages. In fact, these are new books that use old traditions to suit modern times; only the main story remains from the original ancient texts.

Although the two epics share a similar form, their nature is fundamentally different. The *Rāmāyaṇa* can be described as a biography of the deified hero Rāma, detailing the events of his life. Its central story is relatively straightforward, with fewer characters, making it closer to what we commonly think of as an epic. In ancient India, the original Sanskrit text was even called "the first poem."

The *Mahābhārata*, on the other hand, is far more complex. It not only recounts the rise and fall of many ancient clans, tribes, and kingdoms, but also encompasses every aspect of ancient Indian culture, portraying diverse facets of social life. It contains extensive knowledge, theories, and teachings, and carries a strong political undertone. It is essentially a poetic encyclopedia. Ancient Indians did not call it a poem; they called it "history" (literally meaning "it thus happened").

In modern times, the original *Rāmāyaṇa* has become less popular than later poems written in modern languages. However, the *Mahābhārata* has continued to serve as a source for countless works, with its parts used piecemeal by later authors. Although translations and adaptations in many modern Indian languages exist, no rewritten version has ever managed to replace it. In fact, no one has even attempted such a feat—no one could fully reproduce its entirety. Adaptations merely convey its main story or exploit it to promote their own viewpoints.

The chapter of the original book:

Who is the author of this great epic? Traditional accounts attribute it to the sage Vyasa. This claim is clearly unreliable. Judging by the version of the epic that has come down to us, it could not have been the work of a single author at a single time. Most likely, in very ancient times, an oral epic celebrating a great war was sung and passed down. Later, many ancient legends were incorporated into it. Still later, people used this poem to preserve and disseminate cultural knowledge and the theories or viewpoints needed at that time, so new material was constantly added. As the ages passed, the social foundation and human relationships underwent fundamental changes, and many things that were once unproblematic became incomprehensible or even unacceptable. Consequently, new interpreters used contemporary perspectives to explain these traditional stories, which had become sanctified and unchangeable. Such a lengthy poem clearly could not be sung through in one sitting; it had to be sung in sections and segments, which accounts for the numerous repetitions and contradictions within the text. Today, there are many different recensions of this great Indian epic, each differing from the others. This proves that the original work was a fluid, long-term, collective creation. Even the most ancient parts likely underwent revisions by multiple editors over a prolonged period.