Background on The Mahabharata
| Shiva-Parvati-Ganesha | Krishna
| Peter Brook's Film Version | Online Texts |
INTRODUCTION
As in the Greek epics--the Iliad
and the Odyssey, the Mahabharata takes us back to a heroic age, where
men and women walk and talk with gods and goddesses, where rivers and other natural
features function as both divine or semi-divine beings, where women mate with gods and
give birth to demi-gods. It's an age of adventure: deeds of strength and courage are
both fearful and awesome, and everything seems to be larger than life and full of wonder.
The Mahabharata, in its original
Sanskrit probably the longest epic ever composed, embodies much of the essence of Indian
culture. Said to be written down by the god of writing and beginnings, Ganesha (the
elephant-headed god), the Mahabharata is a fascinating story of a feud between
two parts of a single Indian ruling family (the Bharata). The epic features a
gambling contest in which one set of cousins is tricked out of their kingdom, and the
story culminates in a vast, cataclysmic battle. All is told in a heroic and moral
context.
The battle represents a real battle between
the warring cousins as well as a cosmic moral confrontation. This central part of
the epic (the sacred text is called the Bhagavad-Gita) is foundational to the
thinking and actions of men of peace like the great Mahatma Gandhi whose revolution of
nonviolence brought independence to India in 1947 and a new era of consciousness to the
world. And yet it is the dialogue between a warrior and a deity (Krishna) in
which the divine figure argues for going to war!
Krishna teaches
the warrior that the ultimate battle is not about land and riches and worldly power.
The ultimate battle, waged on cosmic ground, is about the human spirit. Shrinking
from one's moral duty, refusal to act even when it is most difficult to act, and
egotistical attachment to one's actions--these human weaknesses pose the greatest dangers
to survival of the individual and the species.
The Ultimate
Weapon is summoned, a weapon that if used will destroy the world. Join us
to discover how a hero prevents the destruction of the world and the human spirit.
Now that India has nuclear power, what new hero will arise to prevent its use? Join
us for the day to consider how the ancient Indian past serves as prologue for all of us in
the year 2003. top
Background on
the Mahabharata
| Shiva-Parvati-Ganesha | Krishna
| Peter Brook's Film Version | Online Texts |
|
