Importance Of Mahabharata

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The Mahabharata is called Itihasa. The other Itihasa is the Ramayana.

इतिहासपुराणाभ्यां वेदं समुपबृंहयेत्

The principles of the Vedas are very difficult to understand. They should be expounded and understood with the help of the Itihasas and Puranas.

निर्णयः सर्वशास्त्राणां भारतं परिकीर्तितम्
The final answer to the shastras is the Bharata. The shastra mentioned in the Bharata is final. The principles of dharma mentioned in the Bharata are final. And the author of the Bharata is none other than Sri Hari himself.

यथा स भगवान् व्यासः साक्षान्नारायणः प्रभुः
The Vishnu Purana says: कृष्णद्वैपायनं व्यासं विद्धि नारायणं प्रभुम्, कोह्यन्यो भुवि मैत्रेय महाभारतकृद्भवेत् — Know Vyasa to be Narayana himself. Who else can create something as astounding as the Mahabharata?

Once, Vyasa Maharshi told the Devas to weigh the shastras. They placed the Mahabharata on one side of the balance and all the other shastras and scriptures on the other side. The Mahabharata stood heavier.

भारतं सर्ववेदाश्च तुलामारोपिताः पुरा, देवैर्ब्रह्मादिभिः सर्वैरृषिभिश्च समन्वितैः, व्यासस्यैवाऽज्ञया तत्र त्वत्यरिच्यत भारतम्
It is because the Mahabharata stood heavier than all other scriptures that it is called the Bharata, and because of its greatness, it is called the Mahabharata.

महत्वाद्भारवत्वाच्च महाभारतमुच्यते
The importance of the Bharata is that the principles of dharma and adharma—righteousness and unrighteousness—are not only declared as in the Smritis and Dharma-sutras but are also established with real-life examples in the Mahabharata.

निर्णयः सर्वशास्त्राणां सदृष्टान्तो हि भारते, मतिं मन्थानमाविध्य येनासौ श्रुतिसागरात्, प्रकाशं जनितो लोके महाभारतचन्द्रमाः
Just as the Devas and Asuras churned the milky ocean and the moon emerged, similarly, when Vyasa churned the ocean of Shrutis—the ocean of Vedas, the ocean of knowledge—the Mahabharata emerged like a moon spreading its light across the world.

A scholar who knows all four Vedas along with their six angas, such as Shiksha, Niruktam, and the Upanishads, cannot be called an acclaimed scholar if he doesn’t know the Mahabharata.

यदिहास्ति तदन्यत्र, यन्नेहास्ति न तत्क्वचित्
Whatever is found in the Mahabharata can also be found elsewhere, but if something is not in the Mahabharata, it will not be found anywhere else.

And how did Sage Vyasa get to know all of this? The Bharata is huge; the incidents narrated and the principles elaborated here are vast. What were Vyasa's resources?

We know Vyasa is Maha Vishnu himself. भारतस्येतिहासस्य धर्मॆणान्वीक्ष्य तां गतिम्, प्रविश्य योगं ज्ञानेन सोऽपश्यत् सर्वमन्ततः — Sitting in a cave at the base of the Himalayas in a state of yoga, he saw all these events within himself. He didn’t read them from somewhere or hear them from someone. Like a movie, he saw everything within himself, scene by scene, with the power of yoga.

Everything is explained here, including all incidents of the past, what we today call history. These are all explained in the Bharata. There are two types of explanations—concise and elaborate. Whatever should be explained concisely with only essentials is done so, and wherever details are required, they are explained in full.

तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण व्यस्य वेदं सनातनम्, इतिहासमिमं चक्रे पुण्यं सत्यवतीसुतः
The Mahabharata is an expansion of the Vedas, and Sage Vyasa accomplished this task through his tapas and brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is not always celibacy; it has other meanings as well. Brahma is mantra, and brahmacharya also means the path of mantras, relying on the power of mantras.

What is the meaning of the term Itihasa? इतिहासः – इतिह आस्ते अस्मिन् — 'Itiha' means Paaramparyopadesha, which refers to the guidance present in this text about how to live a fruitful, worthwhile, complete, and righteous life. It shows what is right and wrong through examples.

By observing how others have lived, clarity emerges on how to live; hence it is called Itihasa. Both the Bharata and the Ramayana teach how to live. धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाणां उपदेशसमन्वितम्, पूर्ववृत्तकथायुक्तं प्रचक्षते — They offer guidance on all four Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha, along with incidents of the past. They are not fiction; they are real incidents.

The term 'Katha' does not necessarily mean 'story' or 'imagination' as in English. In Sanskrit, 'Katha' also means 'vartha,' 'vakyam.' The word 'Katha' can create a misconception that it refers to a myth or someone's imagination. In Sanskrit, it is not so. Here, they denote historical events, incidents from the past, which is why Itihasa is often equated with history.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi