Although the poem "Mahabharata" mentions that the author of the epic is Vyasa (Guangbo Rishi), but judging from the huge length of the work, it is difficult to say that it was written by one person in one period. . Guangbo Immortal may be a founding poet among many poets and singers. It is difficult to confirm the actual person in history. It is estimated that he is a legendary figure.
The central content of "Mahabharata" is the internal struggle between the cousins ??of the descendants of Mahabharata. The work uses a flashback technique, first asking the singer to sing the content of the original poem, inserting "The Origin of the Snake Sacrifice" as a wedge in the middle, and then officially begins. The basic plot of the story is roughly as follows: There are a pair of brothers among the descendants of Bharata. The elder brother is called Dhrita, who is blind and has a hundred sons, and his clan name is Kuru; After the death of Dhritarashtra and Pandu's father, Pandu succeeded to the throne, but died soon after and was succeeded by his brother Dhritarashtra as king. Later, Pandu's eldest son Jianzhan grew up, and he should inherit the throne, but Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhrita, attempted to seize the throne. Thus, the internal disputes among the Bharata tribe began. First, Duryodhana attempted to set fire to the five Pandu sons and their mother. Because someone had tipped them off in advance, the Pandu family was able to escape. During the period when they came to live among the people, the five sons of Pandu got married, had a different wife, Princess Black, and had their own allies. They overcame various difficulties, set fire to wastelands, opened up territories, and expanded their power. Under these circumstances, Duryodhana had no choice but to agree to divide the kingdom and let the Pandavas become kings in the desolate western region. Seeing that the Pandavas were getting stronger, Duryodhana plotted again and sent people to gamble with Jian Zhan using fake dice. After Jian Zhan lost everything, the five brothers and their wives became slaves and were exiled in the forest for twelve years. He had to hide incognito for three years, and if he was discovered, he would be exiled again for twelve years. After the thirteen years of exile, the five Pandavas insisted on reclaiming their territory. At a military meeting held by the allies, they decided to send Krishna as an envoy to negotiate with Duryodhana. However, Duryodhana insisted on having his own way, causing the peace talks to break down. As a result, both sides contacted their allies and launched a terrible and devastating battle in the ancient name "Kulu Fields" (near today's Delhi). Many nearby kings also participated in the battle between the two sides. After eighteen days of bloody battles, The five sons of the Pandavas prevailed. Later, Dhritarashtra's eldest son also died, and Pandu's eldest son succeeded to the throne. In the end, Pandu's five sons climbed to the snow-capped mountains to practice Taoism. Four of them died first, and only the eldest son reached heaven.
Currently, our country only has poetic and prose story summaries translated from English. From these two books, we can roughly understand the outline of the war between the Kurusu and Pandava tribes, and we still have a complete picture of the epic. Lack of understanding. Judging only from the author's attitude towards the main event of the Great War, we can think that the great epic, to a certain extent, correctly expounded the ancient Indian people's views on war, that is, before the war breaks out, the war should be stopped and every effort should be made to win the war. Peace. However, if the enemy insists on provoking a war, we must fight to the end with "fearless determination." Starting from this basic point of view, the epic enthusiastically praises the heroic struggle of the Pandavas and other majestic mountains and rivers, severely condemns the criminal behavior of Duryodhana and others for occupying other countries' territories and waging war wantonly, and tells people through vivid facts: Like Duryodhana Such a tyrant ultimately meets a tragic end, and it is entirely his own fault. If you gain the right, you will get many help, but if you lose the right, you will get few. The battle of justice will be won, and the enemy of injustice will be defeated. This is an eternal truth.
Through the description of the war, the great epic also expressed the ancient Indian people's strong desire to love peace and end unjust wars. The author felt extremely sad about the losses caused by the war between kinship, and accused it of being a "terrible", "damn" and "useless" war. At the same time, the author also calls on people to resolutely stop this kind of war in which "relatives kill relatives" through scenes of women going to the "sad and tragic" battlefield after the war and crying for their loved ones. In short, the main content of the great epic is about political struggle, and the work truly reflects the disputes in the ancient Indian kingdoms