Chapter 1 -Wisdom Through Ages

Learning Outcomes
➢ To have a basic understanding of Puranic repository
➢ To understand the importance of two epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata
➢ To familiarize with Niti-Sastras

1 Puranas
Puranas are one of the major important literary sources of ancient Indian history and culture which
are written in Sanskrit and has a very unique position in the Indian Literature. They are the part of
Indian culture and literature which cannot be separated from India. People considered Puranic rites
much higher than the Vedic Rituals. The major section of the Puranas provides greater insights
into the history with different aspects like philosophy, culture, society, and religion. It is basically
an encyclopedia that provides all the details of the ancient time related to different aspects of the
society. The original meaning of word “Purana” is antediluvian which means old. There are
different derivatives of the word Purana- According to Yaska- a renowned etymologist “An
innovative thing irrespective of being it old is known as Purana”. According to Vayu Purana,
Purana is mentioned as Pura which means a thing which is alone from the ancient time. As per
Padma Purana, Purana is something that desires for the past (by-gone) period. As per Brahmanda
Purana, Purana is derivative that whatever happened has happened in the ancient period". Thus,
all the above derivatives show us that the contents in the puranas was related with the ancient
period.
Purana is also accepted as a branch of learning (vidya) since a long time ago. According to western
scholars Puranas complement to the Vedas, they are related with each other and both are equally
old. According to Ramayana’s Valmiki the major events of the trio-period i.e. the past, present and
future are included in the Puranas. It contains description for everything like religious practices,
yoga, prayers, sacrifices, gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, folk tales,
pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, theology,
philosophy and everyday customs etc. infact some instances are made which supports that Puranas
are the descriptive text of Vedas. Vedas show brief description of events whereas Puranas describe
these events in detail. Both Vedas and Puranas are companion texts of each other. The knowledge
of both the literatures is considered as important.
Puranas is a work of several authors but it was not written in one particular year, we can simply
say that it has been completely written over several centuries and was compiled together for clear
understanding about various aspects. Hence, it is difficult to predict and state the actual year of
establishment and one particular author for the whole work. But still from the available information
in the Puranas, some researchers have made some guesstimates of different Puranas for different
time periods. Some researchers claim that Puranas are the fifth Veda, and like the division of Veda
is done by Vyasa the same way the classification of Puranas is also done by him.

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1.1 The Puranic Repository-Maha-Puranas, Upa-Puranas,
Sthala-Puranas
The Puranic Repository can be broadly divided into three major parts they are Mahapuranas,
Upapuranas and Sthala Puranas. The Mahapuranas can be said as Major Puranas, the Upapuranas
can be said as Minor Puranas and the SthalaPuranas can be said as Regional Puranas.

• Maha-Puranas-
Mahapuranas are said to be the major corpus of Puranas. It is said that traditionally there were
eighteen Maha-puranas. It is believed that Ved Vyasa has compiled all the Maha-Puranas
which is written by many Sages over the centuries. It includes stories, anecdotes concepts,
rules, dialogues basically conversation between a sage and other sages while solving many
issues. The Mahapuranas are basically a description of the three main Hindu gods that are said
to be the trinity lords of Hindu which are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Since all three are
considered to be the important gods, all of these are given major emphasis in any of the Purana.
But the degree of emphasis often varies from Purana to Purana. The Maha-Puranas are
classified according to the texts that give major importance to the trinity gods. The texts that
talk more about the incarnations of Lord Vishnu are regarded as Vishnu Puranas, the texts that
give information about Lord Brahma are said as Brahma Puranas, and the texts that give major
importance to Lord Shiva are said as Shiva Puranas. Further they include other puranas
according to their categorial classification like Bhagvata Puranas, Brahmanda Puranas, Agni
Puranas and many more are all part of Vishnu Puranas, Brahma Puranas and Shiva Puranas
respectively.
• Upa-Puranas-
The Upapuranas are similar to the Mahapuranas but are not as huge as Mahapuranas, they are
smaller in size and consist of large number of compilations that differ from Mahapuranas. The
corpus of Indian literature shows that there are number of Upapuranas but it is generally
claimed in various Hindu texts that there are only eighteen Upapuranas. Though the number
of Upapuranas are constant but the list varies from one source to another. The list of names of
Upapuranas written in different Puranas vary from each other. So, it is difficult to list down all
of them.
• Sthala-Puranas-
The actual meaning of Sthala in Hindi is said to be the site or the place. Sthala Puranas are the
Puranas that describe the origin and history of different temples and pilgrimage sites. Basically,
each Sthala Purana focuses on a specific place mainly a temple. According to the specific
geographical location of the temple the information in the Purana is specifically centered
around the deity of the temple, along with these various other things are mentioned like the
cultural practices, various festivals and customs, and different social practices. There are many
Sthala Puranas and are majorly written in Sanskrit but apart from Sanskrit it is written in
various other languages of India as well.

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The Puranic Repository

Mahapuranas Upa-Puranas Sthala-Puranas

Figure 1.1-The Puranic Repository

1.2 Characteristics of the Puranas

There are five main characteristics of Puranas, which are popularly known as the Panca-
Laksanas. A purana includes majorly five topics. These five topics are: -

1. Sarga (creation of the universe),

2. Pratisarga (recreation after destruction of the world),
3. Vaṃsa (the order of generations or dynasties of gods, sages and kings),
4. Manvantara (the periods of Manu)
5. Vamsanucarita (the history of the dynasties)

(1) Sarga:
Sarga means creation of various elements in the world. In all the puranas there should be proper
specification of various creation that took place in the universe. Some scholars say that a purana
should be properly written into different sections breaking it down as chapters while some scholars
say that it is basically about creations in the universe. Different puranas give different knowledges
of various creations. For example, in the Bhagvatapurana there are specific chapters that give
certain knowledge about the creation. It includes various explanations on different Lokas, Vedas
and Puranas. Not only these but it also includes certain descriptions of different creation of various
gods, demons, plants, river and other beings. So, the basic requirement of Puranas is to have the
original modes of creation i.e. how different things and beings are created in the universe.

(2) Pratisarga:
Some scholars say that pratisarga is basically related with the sub-chapters in the Puranas while
others think that it is mostly related with the creation after the dissolution which simply means that
recreation of various things in the universe after dissolution. Basically, it is creation after creation
which is actually the re-creation or the continued creation of the primitive matter. It includes how
the universe got recreated after the dissolution of particular period. All the puranas must include
some or the other kind of information that shows this recreation.

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(3) Vamsa:
The purana should include vamsa in it. Vamsa means the text in the puranas should show the past,
present and future lineage of the kings and gods. It basically shows the Genealogy of the great
ancient sages and the Gods. Each Purana should include vamsa in it and reflect different genealogy
of various types of Soma, Surya Pitrs etc.

(4) Manvantaras:
The puranas should show details about each Manu. It should speak about a time period that shows
different duration, reign and age of manus. For different scholars and from different studies it is
found that manus has different meanings. Manus basically means humans or the names of fourteen
rulers that ruled the Earth or the heads of different dynasties. It is basically studying about different
activities that took place at the time of different rulers, kings or the humans. Each Purana reflects
some or the other anecdotes about humans, kings and rulers.

(5) Vamsanucarita:
The Puranas should give a detailed information through stories, anecdotes or any other information
of the dynasties and their rulers. As different dynasties of kings tried to rule the world over different
time period. Each purana tries to reveal some or the other rulers or sages from different time period.
It is said that the history of different early and later dynasties of kings is traced back to sun and
moon where sun gave rise to the solar dynasties known as the Suryavansham whereas moon gave
rise to the lunar dynasties known as Chandravansham.

Characteristics of
the Puranas

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Creation of the
Universe

Recreation
The History of after
the Dynasties Destruction of
the World

The order of
generations or
The Periods
Dynasties of
of Manu
Gods, Sages
and Kings
Figure 1.2- Key Characteristics of Puranas

2 Itihasas as a source of wisdom

The etymology of the word “Itihasa” shows us some clues or the nature of different work and its
contents. It is a literature that explains all the things happened in the earlier times. The word itihasa
as stated by Panini is made from three components, Iti + ha + asa which means “thus indeed it was
(it has happened thus)” which refers to different events from the past. It is basically a literature
that shows all the different happenings in the past. This means that itihasa is considered to be the
history. But this history is seen through different perspective as it uses vedic cosmology and
metaphysics to interpret. The main purpose of itihasa is to teach the masses the truth regarding the
vedas in user-friendly way. It basically teaches the principles of life with reference to veda.
Different scholars have given different definitions on Itihasa some say that it is the text which
teaches the four goals of life (Purusarthas) which are Dharma, Artha , Kama and Moksa which
basically deals with the historical happenings in the form of stories. Some scholars say that Itihasa
is the text which explains the story of the past. According to Kautilya Itihasa is the history, tales,
stories, Dharmasastras and Arthasastras.
So, Itihasa is not only collection of past events or stories but, it is collection of events that can be
viewed through the lens of four Purusarthas which are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksa. Several
literatures show that Itihasa only means the two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

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2.1 Relating Itihasas with Ramayana and Mahabharata
The two epics Ramayana and Mahabharata has a very unique position in the repository of the
Indian Knowledge System as Itihasa. The texts of these two Epics still hold a significant influence
on the values and ideals of Indian society, even after thousands of years. The storytelling of these
two scriptures is done by the ancient tradition of singing hymns with a musical instrument. It is
said that if an individual wants to know the dos for a successful life, Ramayana should be read and
if someone wants to know the don’ts for a successful life, Mahabharata should be read. As both
these epics provide two different views of life. According to Swami Vivekananda the Ramayana
and the Mahabharata are considered as the two encyclopedias of the ancient Aryan life. Several
poetries, texts on governance, Niti-Sastras and many stories have been inspired by these Itihasa. It
is believed that there is nothing in the Indian Society that is not covered in these two Epics. Rama,
the hero of Ramayana, and Krishna, the hero of Mahabharata are the most revered incarnations of
Indian mythology. And the evidence about the same can be seen from different incidents
throughout the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. As in several Sthala-Puranas there
are some examples like “rocks contain the footprints of Rama”, “the caves where Pandavas stayed
during their Vanvasa”, “the river where Sita used to wash clothes”, “the bridge made by Ram and
his sena” and many more. Apart from this the classical Indian literary works, Indian drama, dance,
movies and many other performances have selected their themes from these two epics.

The two epics have different approaches towards the issues faced in life. It also sees the dharma
in propagation. Both epics cover the issues of dharma and one’s duty to follow this dharma along
with fulfilling personal , family and societal duties. But the approach of both epics is different and
this results in answering the questions related to many issues differently. Both the epics together
serve as a manual that provides complete guidelines towards living in the society.

The approach in the Ramayana is very simple and straightforward. It is greatly shown that despite
being personal sufferings the duties are very much clear and the life is led ethically with less ethical
dilemmas. This epic presents an ideal picture for an individual which guides what ought to be done
in the life and hence this can be termed as “Normative Approach” whereas Mahabharata is
described as “Descriptive Approach” as it teaches what the reality of life is. It shows the actual
happenings and the ethical dilemmas faced by different people and what were the consequences
in the long run.
Hence, it is important to say that these two epics are not just stories or a piece of literature work
that everybody should remember rather it is a source of knowledge for people to live their life in
a better way despite of all the hurdles and challenges.

2.2 Ramayana
The name Ramayana is derived from two words Rama and Ayana where Rama is the idol god who
is worshiped and Ayana means the journey. So, Ramayana means the literature which covers the
journey of Lord Rama. Apart from Lord Rama’s journey it also includes many other people who
were part of his journey or had made some contributions. The Ramayana consists of seven books
which are known as the kandas, which are organized into 645 sargas that are the chapters and
23,672 verses. There are many versions of Ramayana and are written in many different languages

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like Avadhi, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Oriya, Kannada etc. Lord Rama’s story and his journey is
known to many people in different parts of the world. The Valmiki- Ramayana is translated into
many languages and apart from these many countries have different texts related to Lord Rama. It
is said that there are around three hundred versions of Ramayana.

The Ramayana has played a significant role not only in cultural transmission of India but also
many other Asian countries. The effect has travelled from India to many countries like Thailand,
Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and many more. Almost all these countries know about the
story of Lord Rama and has content related to it in some or the other form. Lord Rama is
believed to be the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu on Earth. It is said that he was born with
the destiny to defeat adharma, he defeated King Ravana in the form of Adharma. He is known
for his faith in Dharma across all the nations. Apart from Lord Rama’s journey Ramayana
provides knowledge regarding many important aspects of successful living.

There are seven kandas in Ramayana. Each kanda provides knowledge about a particular period
of Rama’s life.
• Bala Kanda
• Ayodhya Kanda
• Aranya Kanda
• Kishkindha Kanda
• Sundara Kanda
• Yuddha Kanda
• Uttara Kanda

1. Bala Kanda
The first book of Ramayana is known as Bala Kanda, the Bala Kanda deals with the origin of Lord
Rama and his brothers, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna. Lord Dasharatha, the King of
Ayodhya had three wives, Kausalya, Kautilya and Sumitra. But still he was childless. He then
performs a fire sacrifice, Putrakameshti yagya. This Yagya later results him with blessings where
he was blessed with four children. Among the four children Rama was born to Kausalya, Bharata
to Kaikeyi, while Lakshmana and Shatrughna were born to Sumitra.

In Bala Kanda, there are detailed accounts of the childhood days of Rama and his siblings. There
are details about how they learn scriptures, the art of combat and warfare. One incident, which is
always highlighted even today is the instance when Rama and Lakshmana destroyed the demons
that were disturbing Vishwamitra in performing sacrificial rites. Vishvamitra himself chose Rama
to fight the demons when he came to Dasharatha’s court for help. Lakshmana followed Rama to
help him. Even in the rest of Ramayana, Lakshmana always followed his brother wherever he
went. Rama was only 16 years of age when he defeated the demons.

The Bala Kanda also has details of Sita’s origin and the story of Rama and Sita’s wedding. Sita, is
said to be a magical gift from God, as she was found in a field by the king, Janaka (the King of
Mithila) in a furrow in the Earth. Rama was married to Sita after passing a test with a condition
from King Janaka where he said that anybody who strung the bow of Lord Shiva would win her.

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Towards the end of Bala Kanda the brothers Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna are
married to Sita, Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakirti respectively.

The important message this kanda provides is that a king-to-be should always know the reality of
life and we can see that Ram explored many things in the duration of fourteen years. We can relate
this with the modern management that a leader should always have a good knowledge of all the
issues and realities in the organisation. This can only be done if he is connecting well with all his
employees from time to time.

2. Ayodhya Kanda
Ayodhya Kanda contains the events that led to Lord Rama’s exile in the forests for fourteen years.
Dasharatha, father of Lord Rama decided to pass on the throne to Rama, a decision which was
supported by every member of the kingdom.

A day prior to the grand crowning of Rama, Manthara, a cunning maidservant aroused the jealousy
in Kaikeyi, mother of Bharata. Due to jealousy Kaikeyi claimed that there were two wishes that
were granted to her by Dasharatha long ago. Her first wish was that Rama should be sent to exile
into the forests for fourteen years and should not be handed with the crown of King. And the
second wish was that the throne should be passed to her son, Bharata. Dasharatha, was known as
a king who always did what he had promised so he was in the middle of a complex situation
running in his mind. Rama got to know about the same and thought to lighten Dasharatha’s burden.
Rama accepted the banishment with absolute calm and self-control and was ready for exile of
fourteen years.

Rama was joined by Sita, his wife and Lakshmana, his brother. Even though Rama refused Sita to
join him, the selfless love of Sita could not see her husband going alone in the forests for fourteen
years. So, she decided to go with Rama. Rama also refused Lakshmana to come with him but
Lakshmana also joined him. On the other hand, Bharata who was away, declined to accept the
crown because of his mother’s evil tactics. He requested Rama to return, but Rama, a loyal and
devoted son, chose to carry out his father’s orders, and decided that he will only return when the
tenure of the exile is completed. Bharata, then decided to take Rama’s sandals and placed it on the
throne, where he ruled on behalf of Rama.

This kanda provides knowledge to all the people regarding the different phases in one’s life. Each
and every individual’s life will be like a roller coaster with many ups and downs. And no situation
will arise by giving you any kind of warning, so always be ready for all the situations. As we know
that Rama never said no for anything rather he accepted everything happily. Same way individuals
need to sustain in all situations and never give up.

3. Aranya Kanda
Aranya Kanda has details of the last year of exile of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, in the forests.
The first major incident that took place was regarding the destructions of demons where Khara a

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demon, brother of Surpankha (sister of Ravana) was killed by Rama. Khara organized an attack
against both the brothers, Rama and Lakshmana but could not succeed for the same.

The next event is known as the most popular event in the history of Hindu mythology, where Sita
was captured by Ravana when she crossed the Lakshmana Rekha which was drawn by Lakshmana
for Sita’s protection. The Rekha ensured that nobody would be able to come inside but the exit
was allowed from it. Ravana thought to come in the disguise of a man who wanted help from Sita.
Sita got trapped in Ravana’s plan, and she crossed the Rekha, after which she was forcefully taken
to Lanka by Ravana. Ravana did all this to take revenge of the attack on his sister and his demon
brother. Sita had to stay at Lanka till someone comes and rescues her from there.

This Kanda gives the message that goodness should always be protected from evil forces otherwise
it will not be continued at the same level. No matter what sort of things other individuals are doing
but an individual should make more efforts from his side to do good rather than evil because it is
the goodness that will help an individual to sustain for longer time. The same way in organisation
individuals should focus on doing good for themselves as well as the organisation they are working
for.

4. Kishkindha Kanda
Kishkindha Kanda describes the efforts of Rama and Lakshmana to find Sita who was kidnapped
by Ravana. The primarily focus of the Kanda is on the king of Vanara known as Bali. Rama and
Lakshmana met Hanuman, the greatest devotee to Lord Rama. Rama helped Sugriva, brother of
Bali to regain the kingdom. In return Sugriva helps Rama to find Sita.
Sugriva sends his search armies of Vanaras to all the corners of the Earth. The armies from north,
west and east return to Rama with no answer but the southern army, under the exquisite leadership
of Angad and Lord Hanuman discover from a vulture named Sampati that Sita is taken to Lanka.

This kanda teaches individuals that friendship is very important for everyone. If we have good
friends in our life they will help us in all the difficult times no matter what the challenges are
friends will help to greatly evacuate from the situation. It also helps us to know that in the
organisation as well, we should have great counselors and supporters which will help us to do our
work very easily.

5. Sundara Kanda
The Sundara Kanda focuses more on the efforts of Hanuman to cross the ocean and locate Sita and
help her gain some confidence that she would be sooner rescued by Rama. Basically, it contained
all the detailed adventures of Hanuman, the power and strength he used to fight with demons.

When Hanuman reached Lanka, he destroyed all the trees, the buildings and killed many of
Ravana’s warriors. He also gets captured by Ravana so that he could talk with him and ask him to
leave Sita. However, Ravana did not agree with the same and instead sets Hanuman’s tail on fire.

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Hanuman escaped from there and started jumping from one roof to another, spreading fire in
Ravana’s citadel. Then Hanuman heads back to Kishkindha with all the details.

This kanda beautifully shows the strength of the Sita. Even though she faced many difficulties but
never gave up. The same way individuals will face many problems but should never give up. It
also focuses on Hanuman and his strength. It gives us the message that one can assess strength of
his opponents by using one’s presence of mind. In organisation also opponent’s strategy is to be
known as it will help the organisation to sustain for long time.

6. Yuddha Kanda
The Yuddha Kanda is considered the greatest of all the Kandas as it contains the insights of the
Great Ramayana War between Rama’s army and Ravana’s army. Apart from the war, it also
contains all the descriptions regarding the building of the Ram Setu bridge across the sea. The
bridge was made using the stones, that floated on the water because Lord Rama’s name was
engraved on them. This bridge helped Rama and his army to cross the sea and reach Lanka.

This Kanda also describes about the story of Hanuman carrying an entire Mountain to Lanka, as
he could not identify which herb would be useful to cure Lakshmana, who was seriously injured
with a powerful weapon used at him by Indrajit, Ravana’s son. Eventually the war ended when
Rama killed Ravana, and he crowned Vibhishana on the throne of Lanka.

Also, the great Agni Pareeksha, the test performed by Sita to prove her purity, is discussed in this
Kanda. Sita jumps into the sacrificial fire to prove her integrity. The lord of fire, Agni dev returns
Sita unharmed proving the integrity of her body and soul. At the end of the Yuddha Kanda, Rama’s
exile tenure is completed and he returns to Ayodhya and there he is welcomed with celebrations.

This kanda teaches us that wise counseling is necessary in one’s life as this will help an individual
to take right decisions. Along with this, it also teaches that one should never pollute one’s mind
even though one has unreasonable and unethical desires as this will indeed lead to downfall in
one’s life. In organisations one should never surround or think negatively as this will ultimately
bring downfall in one’s life.

7. Uttara Kanda
The Uttara Kanda, is considered to have stories which are not in a sequence rather they are the
events that are not mentioned in other Kandas. It includes the birth of Lava and Kusa, son of Rama
and Sita. The departure of Rama and Sita from this world. Valmiki composed the Ramayana and
the same was sung by the sons of Rama, Lava and Kusa in the presence of Rama and all the other
people of the Kingdom.

This Kanda teaches that nothing is eternal in one’s life so instead of taking decisions because of
attachments one should go with the flow of life that everything happens at a right time. We cannot
force into things or parts rather we have to be happy with whatever life gives us.

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Sage Valmiki describes both Rama and Ravana with equal greatness but when it comes to
goodness which Ravana was not able to match with Rama. This epic helps one to understand the
difference between greatness and goodness. If one wants to succeed in life one need to have both
greatness and goodness. As greatness without goodness will eventually lead to disastrous life like
life of Ravana. And only goodness without greatness will not help one to cover much ground in
one’s life.
Lord Rama lived as a human being and faced many situations and conflicts in one’s life and that
makes this epic realistic and special. Even though there were many situations of moral and ethical
dilemma but still choosing wisely is what matters the most.

2.3 Mahabharata
Mahabharata is considered as one of the greatest literatures or poems in the world which is
composed by Krsna-Dvaipayana (Veda Vyasa) in 4th century BCE or even much earlier than this.
It is an ancient Indian epic in which the story revolves around the two branches of the family which
were Pandavas and the Kauravas. It is said that Mahabharata was available in two different
versions. The first version of Mahabharata was known as Jaya and it included around 8000 verses.
And the second version was known as Bharata which had about 24000 verses. Later it was
extended up to 100000 verses and named Mahabharata. There are many editions available of
Mahabharata as many people researched a lot to know the real truth. After going through the whole
research, it was concluded that the leading characters and major incidents remained the same no
matter about the year in which the research was conducted.

The story of Mahabharata revolves around the two branches of family, the Pandavas and the
Kauravas. They fought a battle for the throne of Hastinapur known as the Kurukshetra War. This
epic depicts various issues faced by different kings of the Lunar dynasty. Apart from this it includes
text related to various topics like law, geography, religion, philosophy, morality, family
relationship etc.
2.3.1 Introduction to the Mahabharata and some of its Characters
The Mahabharata is one of the few major Sanskrit literature books known worldwide for its
historical presence, awe-inspiring number of stories it encapsulates and the pieces of life lessons
which are weaved in the story via the presence of wide range of personalities displayed by
innumerous characters of the story. Majorly the story revolves around the group of cousins namely
Pandavas and Kauravas. The Pandavas were 5 brothers named after their father Raja Pandu and
Kauravas were 100 brothers representing their lineage from Raja Kuru. Few of the Major
characters include Draupadi (One of the Panch-kanya and wife of Pandavas), Kunti (Mother of
Pandavas), Krishna (Advisor and Well-wisher of Pandavas), Guru Dronacharya (Teacher of
Pandavas and Kauravas), Raja Dhritarashtra (Father Of Kauravas), Rani Gandhari (Mother of
Kauravas), Bhisma (The eldest of Kuru Dynasty present) and many more characters who play the
major roles in developing the story from the upbringing of the Pandavas and Kauravas leading to
the Kurukshetra War where Krishna delivers the knowledge of Bhagwad Gita (Also one of the
major piece of literature in Sanskrit) and the story even touches the consequences and the aftermath
of War on the surviving characters.

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2.3.2 The Unusual Story of the Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas
The Mahabharata has very unusual stories which are not believable if we take it as the literal
meaning of the words. Such is the story of the birth of 100 Kauravas and 1 sister (Dushala),
Gandhari had a boon of being able to give birth to 101 children so while the time of her pregnancy
she gave birth to a lump of flesh. Which was then cut into 101 pieces and put in a pot with clarified
butter, which then gave birth to 100 male babies and a female baby who were later known as
Kauravas in the epic of Mahabharata. Similarly, Kunti Devi had a boon of being able to give birth
to children with divine qualities without engaging in the physical act of reproduction at her own
will. This is how she gave birth to Karna (Son of Sun) who was abandoned. Later she gave birth
to Yudhistir (Son of Dharma), Arjun (Son of Indra), Bheem (Son of Air) and helped Madri (Second
Wife of Raja Pandu) give birth to Nakul and Sahdev (Son of Ashvini Kumar).
If we try to think about this story from a modern point of view, then we might understand the
mention of in vitro fertilization (IVF), asexual reproduction and surrogate pregnancies. These
types of advancements in medical understanding of reproductive processes mentioned in such a
historical book makes our mind wander about the extent of knowledge hidden in these books which
is yet to be understood. These events not only describe the advances in knowledge but also social
dilemma a married woman faces while considering future of their lineage.

2.3.3 Upbringing, Rivalry, and the Tale of Exile

The Pandavas and Kauravas had a different place of birth, one in forest and one in palace
respectively. But when they reached the age of studying all of them were brought together and
were in the same Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya. Despite the efforts from the elders to create a
harmonious relation and ensure the future of the kingdom Hastinapur, there was a hint of rivalry
from the beginning of the interactions between the groups. Despite having the access to same kind
of education and belonging to the same lineage their characteristics differed immensely.
At a later stage in the story there was a particular game of dice between the two group of cousins,
this game was pre-planned and weighted dices were used by the cunningness of the uncle of
Kauravas. This ill-fated game of dice led to 13 years of exile for Pandavas and last year in
incognito. During this time all the rightful rule of kingdom was in Kauravas control also Draupadi
was dishonored in the courtroom in presence of all the courtesans and the elders of the family.
During the time of exile, the Pandavas faced a lot of challenges, formed allies, gained and practiced
unusual feats of strength physically, mentally, and socially in the hardships they faced. They were
on a journey of walking the path of righteousness defined by the term ‘Dharma’ throughout the
epic.
During this time Kauravas gained immense prowess in terms of military strength and material
riches. They even had many allies and very experienced courtesans in various fields who were
loyal to the kingdom of Hastinapur. This unchecked gain of power without correct vision and
virtues led to spoiling their morale conscience further.

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2.3.4 The Events leading up to and the war of Kurukshetra
In the Epic the war and its consequences are well known prior to the actual war and many attempts
to reconcile the rivalry of the two groups and discourse the events leading to the war are mentioned
in the epic. But the rivalry of the groups is not reconciled and is only further escalated.
War becomes inevitable and both the factions with all their allies by their side start the war on the
land of Kurukshetra, this war is continued for 18 days and is carried out containing many deaths
of major characters and innumerable soldiers from both parties. Amidst the war is when the divine
knowledge of Bhagwad Gita is given by Shri Krishna to Arjuna. In the end Pandavas becomes
victorious and the tale depicts the win of Dharma over Adharma. Despite this kind of end to the
war it is to be noted that neither character is shown to be flawless, even after the win the Pandavas
are unsure and seek advice from the courtesans like Bhisma and Vidur from the opposing faction.
The war even showcases the dilemma the person faces in daily life and revels that the path of
righteousness is not necessarily absolute and can differ because of situations.

2.3.5 Aftermath of the war and Reign of Pandavas

The war was very devastating for the Kingdom Hastinapur, only 11 of the major warriors were
alive by the end of the war. Yudhistir was crowned the king of Hastinapur which was in a
devastated state, and he took guidance about ruling the kingdom from Bhisma, who guided him
on the principles of ruling a kingdom. He reigned his rule for 36 years before renouncing the
kingdom and then the Pandavas started their final spiritual journey to the top of Mount Sumeru.
By this time the curse of Gandhari on Krishna’s family, as he was considered capable of stopping
the war, yet he did not take any action to do so had also taken effect and Yadavs had fought with
their own family in the altered state of mind due to engaging in the non-righteous activities. This
is the tragic ending to the story of Mahabharata.

2.3.6 Life Lessons we can learn from the Epic Mahabharata

The Mahabharata serves as a timeless guide for all the human beings to gain virtuous and moral
behaviors which are applicable in various hardships one might face in the life. It highlights the
concepts like Dharma (Righteousness), Karma (Consequences of action good or bad). Roles of
woman as a strong pillar of a society. Need of meaningful friendships and being in good company,
as Arjun had a company of Shri Krishna, he gained benefit of gaining deep knowledge of spiritual
and social behavior while performing duties, whereas Karna while being hailed as the greatest
giver needed to face defeat due to loyalties with Duryodhana who had wrongful intentions.
Complex family dynamics and differences in the personalities of members of the same family are
shown in the epic and the need of being in a harmonious family and how it can affect one’s
individual as well as social well-being is shown in the epic. This epic highlights a lot of events
where the characters are helpless despite of their unearthly prowess’s and the need to accept the
events unfolding in their course of life as they happen and be unaffected by their results in their
words and actions to lead a morally and ethically appropriate life.

3 Difference between Itihasa and Puranas

Itihasa and Puranas are two major literature which are considered as an important source of
knowledge on different topics related to history, culture, beliefs, ideas etc. about the ancient India.

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Despite their similarities, both Itihasa and Purana are different from each other as they have
different content.
Itihasa is derived using three words Iti + ha + asa which means “thus indeed it was (it has happened
thus)” which refers to different events from the past. It is basically a literature that shows all the
different happenings in the past. Whereas the original meaning of word “Purana” is antediluvian
which means old. The major section of the Puranas provides greater insights into the history,
different aspects like philosophy, culture, society, and religion. It is basically an encyclopedia that
provides all the details of the ancient time related to different aspects of the society.
There are two important Itihasa in the Indian history, the two main epics which are Ramayana and
Mahabharata whereas the Puranas consists of three major parts which are Mahapuranas,
Upapuranas and Sthala Puranas.
The Itihasa gives information majorly about the happenings in the past whereas the Puranas
include various texts on wide range of topics about ancient India including creation, rituals, ethics,
religious practices, yoga, prayers, sacrifices, gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages, demigods, folk
tales etc.
The main difference between both the Itihasa and the Purana is regarding their content and tone.
The Itihasa focuses on historical events and characters, while the Purana focuses more on
mythological and cosmological accounts. Itihasa texts are more realistic as they are the true events,
while Purana texts are more symbolic. The tone of Itihasa is metaphorical and similes, while the
tone of Purana is poetic and metaphorical.

4 Role of Niti-Sastras in Wisdom

Nitis are the guidelines which helps an individual to choose the path of Dharma by providing them
right perspectives about life. Niti-Sastras is a branch of philosophy that deals with the moral values.
It plays a very important role to provide good morals and right directions to individuals which
helps in attaining liberation. It also helps individuals to avoid wrong-doings and walk on the paths
of right directions by performing good deeds.
During the ancient period, ancestors identified four aims or goals of human life which are known
as Purusarthas. The four Purusarthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values); Artha (prosperity,
economic values); Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values); and Moksha (liberation, spiritual
values).

• Dharma – It is a framework that helps an individual lead a life which is self-fulfilling. It also
helps an individual to know about the peaceful relations one can attain with other living beings
in the universe. It is basically a guideline about do’s and don’ts an individual should take care
in one’s life to attain the life goals.
• Artha – It focuses on the "means of life". It provides guidelines for activities and resources
that an individual want to perform or use to satisfy one’s goals, needs and wants. Artha focuses
on many aspects that are important in human life like wealth, career, activity to make a living,
financial security and economic prosperity. It is basically satisfying one’s life goals but by
choosing the guidelines of Dharma and not conflicting with it.
• Kama-It comprises desires, wishes, passions, emotions, and pleasure of the senses. In other
words, it is the enjoyment of life, affection, and love. Kama is “love” without violating dharma

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(moral responsibility), Artha (material prosperity) and one’s journey towards Moksha
(spiritual liberation).
• Moksha – It signifies liberation or release of an individual from the limitations of life and a
means to realise one’s true potential and nature. Some scholars believe that moksha refers to
freedom from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, while some other scholars believe that
moksha refers to freedom, self-knowledge, self-realization and liberation in this life.

Niti-Sastras majorly focuses on the first three goals in life the Dharma, Artha and Kama. It is said
that once an individual perfectly manages the first three goals in life, his transition to the fourth
one happens naturally. But human beings are not able to pursue one goal at a time as there are
many conflicts that take place between various goals and one finds it difficult to solve them. To
solve these decision-making dilemmas and to minimise their conflicts, individuals can refer the
guidelines of Niti-Sastras.

There is no specific classification of texts in Niti but from the work available the broad
classification is done into two-Nitya or Samanya-Niti and Raja-Niti.

• The Samanya-Niti focuses on various aspects of an individual. These texts include good
aspects of living and gives guidelines on the code of conduct. It teaches how and individual
should behave and what are the differences between a wise person and other, along with
this it also states regarding good or evil, success and failure, value of learning, self-respect,
moral courage etc.
• The Raja-Niti focuses on the political and administrative tasks along with the do’s and
don’ts for a king. There are many works that showcase the guidelines for the King. One of
these is Arthasastra of Kautilya which is considered as main. Apart from this Pancatantra,
Niti-Sara of Kamandaka which are inspired by Kautilya’s work.

There are some texts like Mahabharata’s Santi-Parva, Vidura-Niti that consider both the
materials, Samanya-Niti and Raja- Niti in it.

Quick Revision

• Puranas are one of the major important literary sources of ancient Indian history and culture
which are written in Sanskrit and has a very unique position in the Indian Literature.
• The major section of the Puranas provides greater insights into the history different aspects
like philosophy, culture, society, and religion. It is an encyclopedia that provides all the
details of the ancient time related to different aspects of the society.
• The Puranic Repository can be broadly divided into three major parts they are
Mahapuranas, Upapuranas and Sthala Puranas.
• Mahapuranas are said to be the major corpus of Puranas. It includes stories, anecdotes
concepts, rules, dialogues basically conversation between a sage and other sages while
solving many issues.
• The actual meaning of Sthala in Hindi is said to be the site or the place. Sthala Puranas are
the Puranas that describe the origin and history of different temples and pilgrimage sites.
• The five main characteristics of Puranas, which are popularly known as the Panca-
Laksanas. They are Sarga (creation of the universe), Pratisarga (recreation after destruction

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of the world), Vaṃsa (the order of generations or dynasties of gods, sages and kings),
Manvantara (the periods of Manu), and Vamsanucarita (the history of the dynasties).
• Sarga means creation of various elements in the world. the basic requirement of Puranas is
to have the original modes of creation i.e. how different things and beings are created in
the universe.
• Pratisarga is mostly related with the creation after the dissolution which simply means that
recreation of various things in the universe after dissolution.
• Vamsa means the text in the puranas should show the past, present and future lineage of
the kings and gods.
• Manvantara means a time period that shows different duration, reign and age of manus. It
includes knowing about different activities that took place at the time of different rulers,
kings or the humans.
• Vamsanucarita means the Puranas should give a detailed information through stories,
anecdotes or any other information of the dynasties and their rulers. As different dynasties
of kings tried to rule the world over different time period.
• The word itihasa as stated by Panini is made from three components, Iti + ha + asa which
means “thus indeed it was (it has happened thus)” which refers to different events from the
past. It is basically a literature that shows all the different happenings in the past.
• The name Ramayana is derived from two words Rama and Ayana where Rama is the idol
god who is worshiped and Ayana means the journey. Ramayana means the literature which
covers the journey of Lord Rama. Apart from Lord Rama’s journey it also includes many
other people who were part of his journey or had made some contributions.
• There are seven kandas in Ramayana. Each kanda provides knowledge about a particular
period of Rama’s life-Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda,
Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda, Uttara Kanda.
• The first book of Ramayana is known as Bala Kanda, the Bala Kanda deals with the origin
of Lord Rama and his brothers, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna.
• Ayodhya Kanda contains the events that led to Lord Rama’s exile in the forests for fourteen
years.
• Aranya Kanda has details of the last year of exile of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, in the
forests.
• Kishkindha Kanda describes the efforts of Rama and Lakshmana to find Sita who was
kidnapped by Ravana.
• The Sundara Kanda focuses more on the efforts of Hanuman to cross the ocean and locate
Sita and help her gain some confidence that she would be sooner rescued by Rama.
• The Yuddha Kanda is considered the greatest of all the Kandas as it contains the insights
of the Great Ramayana War between Rama’s army and Ravana’s army.
• The Uttara Kanda, is considered to have stories which are not in a sequence rather they are
the events that are not mentioned in other Kandas. It includes the birth of Lava and Kusa,
son of Rama and Sita.
• The four Purusarthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values); Artha (prosperity,
economic values); Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values); and Moksha (liberation,
spiritual values).
• The Samanya-Niti focuses on various aspects of an individual. These texts include good
aspects of living and gives guidelines on the code of conduct.

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• The Raja-Niti focuses on the political and administrative tasks along with the do’s and
don’ts for a king.

Short Questions

1. What are Puranas?

2. Name the three parts of Puranic Repository.
3. What are Mahapuranas?
4. What are Sthala Puranas?
5. What are Panca-Laksanas? List down all the Panca-Laksanas.
6. What is Sarga?
7. What is Pratisarga?
8. What are Vamsanucarita?
9. List down the Characteristics of the Puranas
10. What is Itihasa?
11. What is Ramayana?
12. What is Mahabharata?
13. Why is Ramayana said to be Normative Approach?
14. Why is Mahabharata said to be Descriptive Approach?
15. List down the seven kandas in Ramayana.
16. State any one difference between Puranas and Itihasa?
17. List down the four Purusarthas.
18. What is Niti-Sastra?
19. What is Samanya-Niti?
20. What is Raja-Niti?

Long Questions

1. Write a short note on Puranas.

2. Explain the characteristics of Puranas.
3. Write a short note on Ramayana.
4. Write a short note on Mahabharata.
5. Differentiate between Puranas and Itihasas.
6. Explain the role of Niti-Sastras in wisdom.
7. Explain the seven Kandas of Ramayana.

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