Page 32 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

30  INTRODUCING INDIA

The Great Epics

The two great Sanskrit epic poems, the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata, have had an abiding impact on Indian
culture and philosophy. Over the centuries, their stories
have inspired a great deal of art, music, dance, theatre
and, more recently, popular TV serials. Containing a
fund of wisdom about human behaviour, emotions and
moral dilemmas, the epics continue to guide the daily
lives of millions of Indians. Though known in their oral
form since at least 500 BC, they were only put into Arjuna shot the eye of a fish
writing around the 4th century AD. reflected in water and won the
hand of Draupadi, who married
all five Pandava brothers.
In a game of dice
with the Kauravas,
the Pandavas lost
their kingdom and
Draupadi. She was
saved from the shame
of being disrobed by
the Kauravas when
her sari kept growing
magically to cover her.
The Mahabharata
This epic recounts the rivalry between the five heroic
Pandava brothers – Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul
and Sahadeva – and 100 members of the Kaurava clan,
headed by Duryodhana, and culminates in a great battle.
Several other fables, legends and discourses are woven
into the main story, making the Mahabharata eight times
longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey put together.
Forced into exile after the game of
dice, the Pandavas wandered all over
India for 13 years. In the final year,
Arjuna lived in disguise as a eunuch,
giving dance lessons.
The Bhagavad Gita is a sermon given to Arjuna
by Lord Krishna, who acted as Arjuna’s charioteer,
on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It is a famous
discourse on ethics and morality and contains
the essence of Hindu religion and philosophy.

In the final battle
the Kauravas created
a cobweb-shaped
defensive formation called
the chakravyuha, inside
which Arjuna’s son was
trapped and killed.
However, on the 18th day
of this fierce battle, the
Pandavas, with Krishna’s
divine guidance, finally
emerged victorious and
regained their kingdom,
which they ruled with
Draupadi as their queen.

030-031_EW_India.indd 30 26/04/17 11:42 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Feature template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.3)
Date 18th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm