Hinduism Introduction to the Mahabharata and the Ramayana

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The Mahabharata and Ramayana are one of the two biggest epics of Hinduism.

The Mahabharata was written by the saint Vyasa. The Mahabharatha is one of the longest narrative poems in the world. The main aim of saint Vyasa is to include the four goals of life such as Dharma which mean duty; Artha which means wealth, Kama with means pleasure and Moksha which means Liberation. The book Mahabharatha contains more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and more than 1.8 million words in total. Mahabharatha also covers a deep explanation of Hindu philosophy.

The core story of Mahabharata

The core story of Mahabharata is that the two branches of the family struggle with each other for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan.

The elder branch of the family is Pandavas and the younger branch is Kauravas. The struggle for the throne leads them to a great battle of kurukshetra. Lord Krishna’s grace helped them many times to survive. At the end of 18 days of battle, only the Pandavas survive. Moreover, the Mahabharatha war ends with the death of Krishna. After the death of Lord Krishna, a new Hindu age started. That is “KAL YUGA”.
Kal yuga is the fourth and final age of mankind.

The Ramayana is an ancient epic that was written by the saint Valmiki.

The Ramayana consists of 24000 verses. The Ramayana tells about the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya. Seetha is the beloved wife of Rama and the daughter of King Janaka. This story describes the character of Seetha who is womanly purity and virtue. King Dasharatha’s wish, forced by one of his wives Kaikeyi.

As per her wish, she commanded Rama to leave the country for fourteen years. The Ramas brother Laxman also follows them. When the lived in the forest happily, Ravana the King of Lanka saw Seetha on his way and Ravana kidnapped her by using tricks. With the help of Sugreeva, a king who rules Kishkindha and Hanuman one of his belongings helped Rama to go Lanka. Hanuman helped Rama by crossing the great ocean. King Sugreeva helped Rama by sending his army in many directions to search Seetha.

In Lanka, a long battle takes place to make Seetha free.

Rama Killed Ravana using the divine weapon Brahmhastra’. Rama won the battle and returned to his Ayodha with seetha. Rama is named as the prince of Ayodhya.

 

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