Karma and dharma play an integral role in the Mahabharata. The story culminates in moksha, believed by Hindus to be the ultimate goal of human beings. In its scope, the Mahabharata is more than simply a story of kings and princes, sages and wisemen, demons and gods its author, Vyasa, says that one of its aims is elucidating the four goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth), dharma (duty) and moksha (liberation). What is not found here, will not be found elsewhere." This quotation rightly sums up Mahabharata, within which one finds myriads of relationships, stories and events. With its philosophical depth and sheer magnitude, a consummate embodiment of the ethos of not only India but of Hinduism and Vedic tradition, the Mahabharata's scope and grandeur is best summarized by one quotation from the beginning of its first parva (section): "What is found here, may be found elsewhere. The events depicted in the Mahabharata are thought to have taken place around the 12th century BC. In its final form, it was completed by the first century, with its central core Bharata (consisting of 24,000 verses) dating back to the 6th century BC, and some parts possibly dating back as far as the 8th century BC. Due to its immense length, its philological study has a long history of attempting to unravel its historical growth and composition layers. Traditionally, the Mahabharata is ascribed to Vyasa. The title may be translated as "Great India", or "the great tale of the Bharata Dynasty", according to the Mahabharata's own testimony extended from a shorter version simply called Bhārata of 24,000 verses The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsas, literally "that which happened", along with the Ramayana and the Purāṇas. It is also of immense religious and philosophical importance in India, in particular for including the Bhagavad Gita, an important text of Hinduism.
Taken together with the Harivamsa, the Mahabharata has a total length of more than 90,000 verses.
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With more than 74,000 verses, plus long prose passages, or some 1.8 million words in total, it is one of the longest epic poems in the world.
The Mahābhārata ( Devanagari: महाभारत), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra