The Message of Mahabharata – The Nation’s Magnum Opus

The importance of the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are discussed in the introduction. The book divided into three parts includes the creation and the history of the created beings in the universe, wisdom and dharma, spiritual values. The main theme of the book is that the Vedic religion of India enunciates nondualistic philosophy.
Sages called our universe, Brahmanda and we live in it. There are 14 worlds and a vertical axis called Meru connects all these world. Part one of the book discusses this theme and also time. The unit of time as measured by earth people is different from the one of divine ones. Our year is like a day for them. Human 360 years is one year for these celestial beings. The epic story of Mahabharata is told in brief but interesting aspects like Karna’s height(14 feet), the severe pain in Duryodhana’s wrist after taking so many gifts from Kings during the Rajasuyayaga, chariots coming from the heavens to pick up the dead soliders during the war and transport them with the help of apsaras to heavens are given. There are detailed descriptions of all the heroes and personalities of the epic. All this is based on careful study of the epic as written in books of north, west, south and east as there are differences in them. For example the incident where Draupadi laughs at Duryodhana because he tries to open closed doors, lifts his clothes thinking that he is crossing a water pool, is not mentioned in some versions of the epic. Discussion on dharma and adharma, tapas, food and sleep, bhakti are dealt in the other parts of the book. The book also teaches the reader, the culture and spirituality of the country, the lessons learnt from religious books, theories of beliefs and explanations of various deep rooted systems and beliefs.