2023-02-19 11:53:56 by ambuda-bot
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THE MESSAGE OF THE MAHABHARATA
BY DR. V. RAGHAVAN, M.A., Ph.D.
HE Mahabharata of Sage Vyasa is
TH comparable only to the Ramayana
of sage Valmiki in its hold over the millions
of Hindus, a hold which the Titan of Time
has failed to render less strong. Dharma-
putra is still the inspiring example of all
who have made truthfulness and righteousness
the only motive force of their action; Karna
is still the greatest object of comparison
for the munificent; Arjuna, the Nara, is
still loved as the ideal man. And which
Hindu is there, whom the faith does not
sustain that in his hour of trial, when
everybody has forsaken him, the Lord who
saved Draupadi will come to his rescue?
While the Ramayana is cherished as the
first among the Kavyas, the Mahabharata is
revered as the fifth Veda, and its author, the
Rishi Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, is looked
upon as no other than God Narayana
himself; for, the verse adds, who else can
be the author of the great Bharata? The
Epic is great in every sense. Besides being
the epic poem narrating the story of the
house of the Kurus, it is, so to say, the
cultural encyclopaedia of the Hindus. The
80
BY DR. V. RAGHAVAN, M.A., Ph.D.
HE Mahabharata of Sage Vyasa is
TH comparable only to the Ramayana
of sage Valmiki in its hold over the millions
of Hindus, a hold which the Titan of Time
has failed to render less strong. Dharma-
putra is still the inspiring example of all
who have made truthfulness and righteousness
the only motive force of their action; Karna
is still the greatest object of comparison
for the munificent; Arjuna, the Nara, is
still loved as the ideal man. And which
Hindu is there, whom the faith does not
sustain that in his hour of trial, when
everybody has forsaken him, the Lord who
saved Draupadi will come to his rescue?
While the Ramayana is cherished as the
first among the Kavyas, the Mahabharata is
revered as the fifth Veda, and its author, the
Rishi Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, is looked
upon as no other than God Narayana
himself; for, the verse adds, who else can
be the author of the great Bharata? The
Epic is great in every sense. Besides being
the epic poem narrating the story of the
house of the Kurus, it is, so to say, the
cultural encyclopaedia of the Hindus. The
80