The Mahabharata
The Five Pandava Brothers
The stars of the Mahabharata are the five Pandava brothers: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Naklua and Sahadeva -- depicted here (minus Arjuna) on a tirthayatra or pilgrimage with their common wife Draupadi.
Contemporary Expressions
The Mahabharata is alive today and continues to shift in meaning and significance through film, television, online, comics and graphic novels and video games (above: screen shot from Legend of Abhimanyu, ACY Entertainment Ltd)
RELS 3113
The Mahabharata: India's Great Epic of Strife and Salvation
Winter 2022
Prof. Christopher Austin
Thurs. 1435-1725
Barring perhaps the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or "Great [Epic] of India" is the most widely known and retold narrative in all South Asian tradition, and is one of the most important literary works of human civilization. The Sanskrit Mahabharata (completed perhaps 3rd century CE) is enormous, complex, endlessly fascinating, and has remained for 2000 years the principal venue for the Hindu tradition's reflection on the dark and elusive dimensions of war, violence, civil and divine law, human destiny and freedom. This course will lead students into the world of India's great epic, and provide them with the tools for mastering the narrative and its many characters and themes. But we will also come to understand that the Mahabharata is not just an ancient text -- it is rather a varied, living, and ever-changing cultural institution of South Asia that to this day has provided a vocabulary for reflecting on the darker aspects of human experience.
PREREQUISITES: A 2000-level RELS course or permission of the instructor, Dr. Christopher R. Austin.