Maha barada biography definition

Major Indian epic

This article is about the Sanskrit epic. For other uses, see Mahabharata (disambiguation).

The Mahābhārata (mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-;^[1][2][3][4]Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, IAST: Mahābhāratam, pronounced[mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa.^[5] It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.

It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and a