Ancient epic in poetic form, by sage Vyasa, describes the conflict between the Pandava brothers and their cousins, the 100 Kaurava brothers. It contains the Bhagavad Gita, the metaphysical teaching of Krishna to Arjuna. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

Sage Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata, also known as ‘Jaya Kavya’. The characters like Bhishma,Bhima,Arjuna,Vidura,Dharmaraja, Draupadi and Kunti are resplendent stars moving around Krishna, the centre of their life. The epic Mahabharata removes the darkness of ignorance, selfishness and narrow mindedness and the timidity arising out of loneliness from the minds of people. Hence, the title of the World Teacher given to Vyasa is very appropriate and meaningful. (Beacons of Divine Wisdom Part 2, p. 66)

Pandavas and their opposite numbers, Kauravas, are waging war even today in the subtle form! In this war, the evil qualities are the Kauravas. The good qualities,Satya,Dharma,Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa are the five Pandava brothers. They are disputants for the kingship of the selfsame heart; they are in everyone as Ajnani and Sujnani, the unwise personality and the wise personality. The Universe’s blind ruler is Dhritarashtra; the wise Pandu is the father of all good qualities.

Millions of soldiers and chariots are all there in man. The million feelings and thoughts and impressions are the soldiers and subjects. The Indriyas are the regiments; the five senses are the chariots. In everyone’s heart there is this perpetual war being fought between good and evil, between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Lord Krishna is the Witness, known as Atma. He is the Sarathi of the Chariot of the Jiva.

The basis for all these subtle manifestations, these men, chariots, Pandavas and Kauravas is this Asthinapura, the city of bones, this body. This skeleton is Hastinapuram! Both have nine gates. There both the Pandavas and the Kauravas were born; they played and were trained there; they grew up together there. So also in this same Asthinapura all the qualities, good and bad, are born and grow; they develop and subside; they watch and hate each other all in the same Body. Are not warring rulers in this body also Ajnani and Sujnani, the unwise personality and the wise personality? When both bad qualities and good qualities become one and man becomes quality-less, then alone can man have Shanti and then the war will end.

Kings develop the spirit of war because they have confidence in their subjects. The subjects encourage the rulers to unleash the hounds of war. Delusions are the subjects who push the individual in the battle.

When there is a paucity of such subjects, war too will not be waged. So divest yourself of such subjects as delusions, illusions, feelings of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ and then you can be at peace, enjoying undisturbed Shanti. Strive to be free from even this delusion,Vyamoha. (San Vah, pp. 89-90)

The Mahabharata is an ideal text for people who are peace lovers. The ‘leelas’ and the stories that we learn from the Bhagavatam are not as important as the lessons and morals that we learn from Mahabharata. So long as we are human beings, and have to live as human beings, we cannot understand and follow the actions of divinity. We have to accept and follow the actions done by God as a human being. (SSB 1976, p. 50)

The ideals that have been demonstrated to us in the Mahabharata and the close relationship, that becomes evident from the sacred text, between the Pandavas and Krishna, and the lessons from such a relationship, must be understood by us and put into practice in our daily lives. Mahabharata is not an ordinary text. In fact, it has come to be known as the fifth Veda. Every individual character in the Mahabharata has got some powers, which are attributed to God. They are not people who are born like other ordinary people. As they are not just ordinary people every act that they perform is an exemplary act. They are individuals with superhuman powers and so whatever they did should be taken as an ideal act. (SSB 1976, p. 52)

Mahabharata battle took place 3138 years before the advent of christ. The war in which Bhishma took part was for nine days and the period for which he was on a bed of arrows was 58 days. (SSB 1976, p. 57)

Krishna is the Paramatma and has taken the five Pandavas as the five elemental substances, which are the basis of creation, and Draupadi as the Jiva, and has created the text of Mahabharata for us. (SSB 1976, p. 68)

Vinayaka is the embodiment of intelligence. When Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata, he prayed to Vinayaka for help. Vinayaka agreed to act as scribe on one condition. While dictating his verses, Vyasa should not pause at any stage. As Vyasa was reeiting the verses, Ganesha was inscribing them on the palm-leaf at great speed. There was a race between the two as to how fast Vyasa could dictate the stanzas and how quick Ganapati could inscribe them. When Mahabharata was complete, it ran into 100 crores of verses. It was a colossal compendium of all knowledge and ranked as the fifth Veda. It contained countless subtle truths. Human beings, the Devas and the Asuras, all the three groups desired to have a share in the sacred work and prayed to Vyasa. When the 100 crore of verses were divided equally among the three claimants, one stanza or thirty two syllabes remained. After distributing to each of the three, two syllables remained. How were they to be distributed? Ganapati said these two syllables should be given to the world in the names of Hari,Rama, Krishna, Sai – all the two letter names of the Lord. (SSS Vol.21, p. 100)

The Purva Mimamsa deals with the Pravritti marga (outward path) and Uttara Mimamsa with Nivritti marga (inward path). Purva Mimamsa deals with the karnam (cause) and the Uttara Mimamsa, with karyam (effect), which is Jnanam. In Mahabharata, both the margas (paths) are fully explained. So, it is called the Fifth Veda. It is vedasara (Essence of Vedas itself. (NNSG Vol.9, p. 16)

Suppose, you find a snake in front of you while walking on a road. You think it is poisonous. Who is relatively more poisonous? Is not man more poisonous when all his thoughts, words and deeds are full of poison? In fact, man is more dangerous than the snake. Whatever is seen may not correspond to reality. You have to enquire deeply to know the truth. The Mahabharata is full of these teachings. He is a true human being who understands the teachings of the Mahabharata and puts them into practice. The sacred teachings of this epic are a great contribution of Bharat to mankind. With your limited understanding, you have no right to pass judgement on anything. True wisdom lies in accepting everything as good and following the path of truth. (SSS Vol.37, p. 126)