What is the Mahabharata?

An Epic of Nested Storytelling for our Troubled Times

Image from the great war on the plains of Kurukshetra. Wikimedia Commons

So what is the Mahabharata? (Mahabharata translates to ‘Great Bharat’ i.e. India). Most people I speak to in the US have never heard of it. It’s no surprise: it’s rarely mentioned or taught, except in college-level Asian lit/philosophy classes.

A seminal battle between cousins of the same family forms the heart of the epic.

What could be a better tale for our times, when we see what’s happening in the world, from the battles between Russia and Ukraine, the Palestinians and Israel, or indeed, the two political parties in the United States?

The Mahabharata eludes any easy definition: it is the world’s longest poem. It is epic storytelling, filled with tales of princes lusting after power, princesses strong in their own right but who still live at the whim of their fathers or husbands, human beings despondent at their own lives, summoning their courage to continue where fate leads, questioning that very fate which shapes their lives, and praying to the gods for guidance.

Compiled from centuries of oral storytelling, it came to a cohesive form somewhere between the 300 B.C.E. and 300 A.D., according to most scholars.

It is an epic filled with heroes scarred with so many flaws you wonder what in the world ‘hero’ means anymore. At the same time, every villain has a noble quality. And one of the best-known villains, Prince Duryodhana, is said to have gone to heaven after he died.

Prince Duryodhana is at the heart of the script I’ve written and narrated for Dances of India’s 47th Annual dance-theater production, Dreams of the Dark Prince.

If you’re in St. Louis, or live nearby, or even live a ways away and wish to come to our performance, please do! We’re delighted to have Isaiah Di Lorenzo, a local Shakespearan actor, play the main role. See below for more info! And here is our website: DancesofIndiaStLouis.org

And for my readers: I’m thinking of telling stories from the Mahabharata as one of my projects on Substack….hmm….any thoughts?

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