Stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata

These are the most brilliant collections of mythical stories that India has contributed to the world. These are huge epics, from their extensive length to the enormous breadth of their vision. These are like encyclopedias—a world all on its own. The Mahabharata speaks of epic love and hatred, gods and demons, and gigantic battles. But it does so in speech, gestures, and magic.

The Mahabharata has a narrative structure. Its narration is breathtaking in its poetic and intellectual quality. Its technique of narration is, as mentioned above, that of a story inside another story. The basis of the narration rests on ‘dialogues’ that bring out various viewpoints on a particular situation or problem. Every character in the Mahabharata has their own point of view and ideology, but its beautiful narration transforms it into a text of debate.

The core of the Mahabharata is the feud between princely cousins, the Kauravas, and the Pandavas, who were the descendants of Puru. It led to the 18-day-long, bloody war. The stakes of this gigantic war were great. The whole known land of Bharata was at stake. Every kingdom, from the biggest to the smallest, brought its armies to the Kurukshetra battlefield for either the Kaurava or the Pandava side. This war changed the whole political landscape of India. The author of the Mahabharata is said to be Veda Vyasa, and Lord Ganesha is his scribe. Veda Vyasa was witness to all the events.