An encyclopedia of Sanātana Dharma
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Itihāsa

The Epics of Living Dharma

Itihāsa — literally “thus it happened” — consists of the two great epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, which translate the abstract metaphysical truths of the Vedas into active human conduct and social ethics. Far from mere mythological poems, these are detailed historical chronicles embedded with astronomical alignments, geographical routes and genealogical records.

Epic wide-angle Kurukṣetra battlefield at dawn — two vast armies of chariots and elephants; a single golden chariot with four white horses between the arrays; Kṛṣṇa in dark-blue complexion and golden-yellow silks speaks to a kneeling Arjuna as a shaft of sunlight pierces the clouds.

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The Gītā within the Bhīṣma Parva

The profound philosophical discourse of the Bhagavad Gītā is nested within Chapters 23 to 40 of the Bhīṣma Parva of the Mahābhārata. This placement captures the critical psychological flashpoint where the armies stand assembled on the field of Kurukṣetra and Arjuna experiences an emotional collapse right before combat. The parva is named after the grand patriarch of the Kuru clan, Bhīṣma, who leads the opposing battle array during the first ten days of the conflict.

Dating models for the Kurukṣetra war

This sub-section reconciles competing chronologies for the war, honouring the diversity of indigenous scholarship rather than collapsing it to a single number:

DateModelBasis
3162 BCEVedveer ĀryaInscriptional epoch
3067 BCEB. N. Achar / Manish PanditAstronomical alignments
14 Oct 1793 BCEPositional Astronomy CentreGeological + astronomical parameters

Underwater archaeological photograph of the submerged city of Dvārakā off the coast of Gujarat — cyclopean stone blocks on the seabed with diffused blue-green light.

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Marine archaeology at Dvārakā (S. R. Rao, late 1980s) — tangible witness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's capital.

Physical witness

The section integrates marine archaeological findings such as the late-1980s discovery of the submerged city of Dvārakā off the coast of Gujarat by S. R. Rao, which provides tangible physical evidence for the historical existence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's capital.

Essays on this material

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