Mahabharata
- epic very long classical epic poem the beginnings of which date from about 400 - 200 B.C., but which have been modiefied and supplemented many times
- It consists of 18 major books and contains about 220,000 lines, which is three times the length of the complete King James bible, or seven times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined. Basically it tells the story of the events leading up to and following a great war in North Central India between two groups of cousins, the Pandavas and Korawas, but there are so many diversions and unconnected episodes that it is difficult to follow the main theme unless one reads the entire story.