n. A Sanskrit epic principally concerning the dynastic struggle and civil war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the kingdom of Kurukshetra about the 9th century BC, and containing the text of the Bhagavad-Gita, numerous subplots, and interpolations on theology, morals, and statecraft. [Sanskrit Mahābhāratam, great (telling) of the Bharatas : mahā-, great; see meg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Bhāratam, of the Bharatas, descendants of the legendary Indian king Bharata.] |
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