A Historical account of the Mahabharata(m) war

[ramraghav]

The Mahabharata (m) is a wonderful work of religious literature that teaches us valuable lessons in moral justice and human duty. It is a work that shall remain timeless forever.

While there may be no debate on the nature of its contents, the Mahabharata (m) is perhaps controversial due to the nature of its origin. While some claim that it based on hard facts, some others claim that it is based purely on fiction. The fact that the Mahabharata (m) is essentially a piece of religious literate does not help either side.

This is because religion is essentially about belief - one may choose to believe or not to believe. And until the concept of God has been comprehensively studied and explained, each person will be justified in holding his/her religious beliefs.

Having said that religious literature is unhelpful to prove beyond debate the nature of its own origins, one is left with three options to analyze the said origins: geology, archaelogy and non-religious literature studies. The first two are fairly obvious and speak for themselves.

The third, non-religious literature, is acceptable as a historical account of ancient events simply because it is removed from the realm of belief and is based firmly on factual events that happened prior to or during the narrator’s lifetime. Further, such literature attributes itself to human origins driven by rational human behavior.

Personally, for sometime now, I have been interested in knowing whether the Mahabharata (m) is actually a work of fact, fantasy or a combination of both. I came across this poem in the Purananooru, a literary product of the third Tamil Sangam, in the library archives of the Tamil Virtual University (www.tamilvu.org) The Purananooru, being non-religious in nature, qualifies to be considered as an historical account. The qualifications of Tamil literature in general are strengthened by the fact that its claims have always been verified by geological, marine and archaeological studies wherever they have been conducted.

I present here the poem, along with a (attempted!) translation, and wish to draw your attention to a few references that seem interesting. Please correct me if there are mistakes in the translation.


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Purananooru - 2

Like Land, fertile in its content
Sky that lies high above the Land
Wind that brushes the Sky
Fire that is fed by the Wind
And Water that is opposite to the Fire
You possess the qualities of the five elements
Patience to forgive the mistakes of your foes, if they cross the line the Expanse,
Power and Fury to crush them and Benevolence to grace him if he relents
Your greatness has grown to such extent
Your noble head is held in such esteem that even the ocean will sink
In your land which houses so many cities, Oh ruler of this prosperous nation!
The sky is the limit of your fame
The Five men, sitting on horses with shaking heads, whose
Land was taken by those with the thumbai flower -
The Hundred men, when both were exhausted at the battlefield
You gave them sumptuous food without any limit!
Milk, which turned sour and day which turned night
In contrast to the principles of the four Vedas
Without change (of loyalty) with your trusted people, remain powerful all your life
May you live long, without (military) tremor, piling on your success!
Like wide-eyed deer, and its children,
Of the saints of past who did their duty,
Sleep in the protection of the three-headed lamp
So shall we live in the protection given by You, like the Himalayas and Podhiyam hills

Sung by Mudinagarayar of Muranjiyur, in praise of Cheran Udayan Cheraladhan who provided sumptuous food


Points of interest:
1. There was a war between a group of five people and a group of 100 people
2. This war was caused because the 100 people took away land which rightfully belonged to the five people
3. The magnitude of this war was such that it lasted several days and it flouted the principles of the four Vedas
4. Cheran Udayan Cheraladhan sumptuously fed both the warring armies.
5. This war occurred sometime during the period of the third Tamil Sangam (approx 18th to 2nd centuries BCE).
6. The existence of the four Vedas was known to the Tamil people of the time.
7. The Podhiyam hills (past/present not specified) were comparable in extent and proportions to the Himalayas.

[Idiappam]

Land was taken by those with the thumbai flower -

Who wore the thumbai flower???? Did Duryodhana wear them??

If he did not then - the 5 versus 100 war being the mahabaratha war is just a later assumption!

[viggop]

¿¡«ø §Å¾ ¦¿È¢¾¢Ã¢Â¢Ûõ

So,the word "Veda" has been mentioned in purananuru itself.Purananuru is dated 600BC,the oldest Tamil literature. I thought Vedas were always mentioned as "Nan Marai" by Tamils.So,ancient Tamils have known the sanskrit word "veda" too.Definitely, they must have known its contents and must have mastered it.
Also, the existence of Himalayas so far north in India.Podihai hills is supposed to be the residing place of Agasthiyar muni.
Very Very interesting RamRaghav.

Atleast by Silapadhikaram time(dated 2nd AD) , Mahabharatha has become very famous among Tamilians.

[viggop]

Ramraghav
Please post this in the Mahabharatha thread too.Thanks

[viggop]

Idiappam Sir
What is this thumbai flower? Its current biological name? This flower should be growing throughout India(Both in chera nadu and hastinapuri) for duryodhana to wear it.

[Idiappam]

¿¡«ø §Å¾ ¦¿È¢¾¢Ã¢Â¢Ûõ

So,the word "Veda" has been mentioned in purananuru itself.Purananuru is dated 600BC,the oldest Tamil literature. I thought Vedas were always mentioned as "Nan Marai" by Tamils.So,ancient Tamils have known the sanskrit word "veda" too.Definitely, they must have known its contents and must have mastered it.

Viggop a few point on your posts above.

1. Purananuru is not written by one author! It has 400 songs by many poets spanning a few hundred years. You can't fix its date as 600BC. The authour of this paricular song - Mudinagarayar of Muranjiyur - came someone tell me his date...

2. Nan marai does not and need not refer to the four Sanskritic Vedas. Please note that there were only 3 vedas when Manu smriti was written sometime in 2nd or 3rd Century CE. Manu mentions only three Vedas. (Do you want the verses of Manu?)

3. The words 'naal vedas' appears in Sangam literature, Thirumurais, and Vaimozhi etc. - but none of the Vedas were named - Rig, Saman, Yajur, Atharvan, - in Tamil Literature till the 13th Century - Meikandar!

[Idiappam]

Idiappam Sir
What is this thumbai flower? Its current biological name? This flower should be growing throughout India(Both in chera nadu and hastinapuri) for duryodhana to wear it.

Thumbai, a common weed in the tropics. Labiatae.
Leucas aspera (syn. Leucas zeylanica).

But the thumbai flowers are small, white, less than 10mm, about the size of a rice grain.

I don't know how the people wore that - garlands maybe!

[Badri]

Hmm, this is interesting to find out...does anyone know the Sanskrit/Hindi name for the Thumbai poo?

[Idiappam]

Hmm, this is interesting to find out...does anyone know the Sanskrit/Hindi name for the Thumbai poo?

Hindi: chOtA halkkUsA (chota halkusa)
Sanskrit: drona pushpi

[Badri]

Hmm, this is interesting to find out...does anyone know the Sanskrit/Hindi name for the Thumbai poo?

Hindi: chOtA halkkUsA (chota halkusa)
Sanskrit: drona pushpi

Thanks Idiappam! That is what I ended up finding too! Would it be too too far fetched to make the connection between Drona and Drona Pushpa?

I personally think it is far fetched, unless used as a poetic metaphor by the poet in question