‘The Mahabharata’ as it survives today is among the longest singly poems in Sanskrit. The main action revolves around what has become famous as the contest between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, and is set in the fertile and strategic region around Delhi. Originally it may have been the description of a more localized fued, but it caught the imagination of the bards and in its final form virtually all the clans and peoples known to the bards were said to have participated in the battle. ‘As in all epic poetry, it has layers of meaning enriched by frequent additions. Its composition is traditionally ascribed to Vyasa, who also plays various enigmatic roles in the story, but it is not the work of a single person. It is no longer the story of the feud or the war but has acquired a number of episodes, and a variety of interpolations, such as the Bhagavadgita.
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