Mahabharata; TLDR

If you are a young Indian who does not know much about the Mahabharata, there’s a good chance the odd relative has smirked at your un-indianness, or rolled their eyes at your lack of knowledge. The super short version below is enough to truthfully, and indignantly, say “Of course, I know the Mahabharata”, before you escape from said relative. 

If you are not a young Indian who does not know much about the Mahabharata, and don’t really want to, but want to make a point with random strangers on the Internet, then too, you are in the right place.

If you are just testing the waters before committing to reading the rest, think of this as your free preview. But as you well know, bulleted lists kill a good story.

• In the Kuru kingdom were two sets of warring cousins – Kauravas (100 bad guys) and Pandavas (5 good guys). Both sides wanted to rule, duh.
• The Kauravas tricked the Pandavas (though to be honest, the Pandavas were a little thick that one time) and got them exiled for 14 years.
• Stuff happened
• Then the Pandavas came back and fought the Kauravas, and won.
• Practically nobody lived happily ever after.

Other gossipy tidbits you should know

• All five Pandavas were married to the same woman – Draupadi
• It’s one of the longest epics ever – nearly a 100,000 verses (depending on the version you’re looking at)
• It’s an endless source of inspiration to story tellers and movie makers
• Krishna, the god, gives the Pandavas a great deal of moral and philosophical advice which is one section of the Mahabharata, called the Bhagawad Gita. Contrary to what you might have heard, the Bhagawad Gita, is not really the “holy book” of the Hindus.(There simply isn’t, and can’t be, one book that’s canon or the gold standard for Hinduism; you’ll just have to wrap your head around that one.)

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