MAHABHARATA

In those days, when there was no printing, interpolation in a recognised classic seemed to correspond to inclusion in the national library.  Divested of these accretions, the Mahabharata is a noble poem possessing in a supreme degree the characteristics of a true epic, great and fateful movement, heroic characters and stately diction.

The characters in the epic move with the vitality of real life. It is difficult to find any where such vivid portraiture on so ample a canvas. Bhishma, the perfect knight: the venerable Drona; the vain but chivalrous Karna: Duryodhana, whose perverse pride is redeemed by great courage in adversity; the highsouled Pandavas, with god-like strength as well as power-of suffering; Draupadi, most unfortunate of queens; Kunti, the worthy mother of heroes; Gandhari, the devoted wife and sadmother of the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra-these are some of the immortal figures on that crowded, but never confused, canvas.

Then there is great Krishna himself, most energetic of men, whose divinityscintillates through a cloud of very human characteris- tics. His high purposefulness pervades the whole epic. One can read even a translation and feel the over whelming power of the incomparable vastness and sublimity of the poem.

The Mahabharata discloses a rich civilisation and a highly evolved society, which though of an older world, strangely resembles the India of our own time, with the same values and ideals. India was divided into a number of independent kingdoms.

Occasionally, one king, more distinguished or ambitious than the rest, would assume the title of emperor, securing the acquie- scence of other royalties, and signalised it by a great sacrificial feast. The adherence was generally voluntary. Theassumption of imperial title conferred no overlordship. The emperor was only first among his peers.

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