DID MAHABHARATA REALLY HAPPEN?

Did Mahabharata really take place? Photo: storypick.com

By VINAY THAKUR, New Haven CT, USA
Many times I see people arguing about whether some events from some epic books really happened or not, especially from scriptures like Mahabharat, Ramayan, Bible, etc. Normally these arguments are really passionate and heated (because many people really emotional about these things) with both sides trying to make their points furiously very often without any reliable and unbiased evidence.

Many times I find this as a totally unnecessary ordeal, total waste of time unless it's whole purpose is to do a time pass. I often wonder why people waste their time in arguing about stories or incidents mentioned in these books really happened or not? Why does it matter to them? What will they gain or achieve if they prove or disprove that these incidents really happened?

I myself read many of the stories mentioned in these books but I read them like any other book, for me its not at all important whether these stories or incidents are real or not, if they teach me something useful they are relevant to me, I am totally fine even if it's a work of total fiction, if they don't teach me anything useful or relevant then they are like many stories which I don't even bother to read or just read for the sake of entertainment and then forget them over the time, whether they really happened or not is not at all relevant for me. 

History is documented for many reasons, one of them is to have it stored for future generations so that they can get some clue from past incidents and learn relevant lessons which will help them not to repeat the same mistakes again. But many of these scriptures are not studies under the branch of history but they are classified under mythology or theology and that's why I think it's waste of time to discuss whether they are fiction or non-fiction, whether they really happened or not.

I like many characters from these epics, I relate to many of them, for me it's really insignificant whether they really lived in flesh and blood on this planet or not, even if they didn't then also it doesn't reduce my attachment or affection for them even a little bit.

The message what authors of these books wanted to deliver is the most important thing for me, I take whatever I want and whatever is relevant for me (depending on time and need) and leave the rest, I don't get into unnecessary technical details like how did humans flew without airplane, how the bird or snake spoke, how a person became alive again after being killed...etc. for me these all are semi fiction stories written long back by one or set of authors over the long period of time, the main purpose of them was to educate people and entertain them at the same time (so that they remain interested).

Some of them are so old that it's very difficult even to find out who wrote them, but they all have something useful in them that's why people still read them. But when people try to enforce them on entire society as a rule book, there is a problem; there is a conflict and unnecessary tension.

I am against this practice, many these books not matter how good, educating are written thousands of years ago (or at least 100s of years) and many things mentioned in them are no more relevant, rather some of the things are outdated, even many scientific discoveries or papers published in journals many years back are no more relevant anymore, some of them are even proven to be wrong. These books are good educating tools but they are not rule books or science journals which are updated periodically so to follow them or to expect others to follow them blindly is absurd, wrong and totally unreasonable.

So let's not worry or argue about technical details about these books, there might be many technical glitches in them but that should not be the deterrent for anyone to read them. These books are treasures from past, they actually don't belong to any particular religion or sects but belong to all humanity. Linking them to any particular religion or sect limits their use and is gross injustice to their potential.

Story of Mahabharat is one of my all time favorite stories, all characters in this are so human that anyone can relate with them that's the reason I like it more than any other epic. Many stories and characters from them have inspired me during various stages of my life and they still continue to do so, this is why this epic is relevant to me not because it happened in India or because I was born in Hindu family, I equally love some biblical stories or some concepts from Quran. Let's not worry about technical details of these stories, let's try to catch the real essence of them, this will be a great tribute to all those authors and real use of all these books.

Thank you very much for reading this article. I hope you liked this article. I will be glad if you take little time and make a comment about this article. Your comment is highly appreciated.

About the author
Vinay Thakur is a research scientist by profession and a thinker by choice. He lives in New Haven, USA. He has been blogging since 2011. The present article 'Did Mahabharat really happen?' has been taken from his blog 'self-realization'.   
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Location: New Haven, CT, USA

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