Mahabharatha

Mahabharata is one of the two epics (Hindu Itihasa). The sage Vyasa dictated the verses and Lord Ganesha wrote them down with one of his tusks. Karma and Dharma play the main role in the Epic. It consists of 100000 verses and eighteen Parvas. Most of the Parvas are named after their constituent sub-Parvas. The story narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins Pandavas and Kauravas. It ends with the Kurukshetra war. It contains philosophical and devotional material. The main hero of the story is Lord Krishna. He teaches Gita to Arjuna. In Gita Krishna teaches very simple methods to attain Moksha. The famous Vishnu Sahasranama was narrated by Bheeshma the Great grand gather of Kauravas and Pandavas in his death bed after he was defeated by Arjuna on the 10th day of the war. After the death of Krishna the Kali-yuga started. The original name of the book was Jaya. Then it was renamed as Vijaya. The present name Mahabharata was derived from the great king Bharata the son of Shakuntala.