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Mahabharata

c. 400 BCE–400 CE · 5th century BCE

The Mahabharata is one of the two great Sanskrit epics of ancient India, traditionally attributed to the sage Vyasa and composed over several centuries between roughly 400 BCE and 400 CE. Its central story is the war at Kurukshetra between the Pandava and Kaurava branches of the Kuru dynasty. With about 100,000 verses it is among the longest poems ever written, and it contains the Bhagavad Gita.

Mahabharata
Image: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 4 profiles

Kingdom of MagadhaFoundationBengal SultanateImpactHinduismOrigins, Texts, SummarySanskritLiterature

Mentioned in 12 state histories

Kuru KingdomPanchalaGonanda dynastyChediKingdom of KalingaMatsyaKuninda KingdomArjunayanasKangra StateBengal SultanateGajapati KingdomMatsya Union

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mahabharata. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mahabharata
MLA
“Mahabharata.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mahabharata. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Mahabharata.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mahabharata.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mahabharata’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mahabharata (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻