Mahabharata Quotes

“The greatest book in the world, the Mahabharata, tells us we all have to live and die by our karmic cycle. Thus works the perfect reward-and-punishment, cause-and-effect, code of the universe. We live out in our present life what we wrote out in our last. But the great moral thriller also orders us to rage against karma and its despotic dictates. It teaches us to subvert it. To change it. It tells us we also write out our next lives as we live out our present.
The Mahabharata is not a work of religious instruction.
It is much greater. It is a work of art.
It understands men will always fall in the shifting chasm between the tug of the moral and the lure of the immoral.
It is in this shifting space of uncertitude that men become men.
Not animals, not gods.
It understands truth is relative. That it is defined by context and motive. It encourages the noblest of men - Yudhishtra, Arjuna, Lord Krishna himself - to lie, so that a greater truth may be served.
It understands the world is powered by desire. And that desire is an unknowable thing. Desire conjures death, destruction, distress.
But also creates love, beauty, art. It is our greatest undoing. And the only reason for all doing.
And doing is life. Doing is karma.
Thus it forgives even those who desire intemperately. It forgives Duryodhana. The man who desires without pause. The man who precipitates the war to end all wars. It grants him paradise and the admiration of the gods. In the desiring and the doing this most reviled of men fulfils the mandate of man.
You must know the world before you are done with it. You must act on desire before you renounce it. There can be no merit in forgoing the not known.
The greatest book in the world rescues volition from religion and gives it back to man.
Religion is the disciplinarian fantasy of a schoolmaster.
The Mahabharata is the joyous song of life of a maestro.
In its tales within tales it takes religion for a spin and skins it inside out. Leaves it puzzling over its own poisoned follicles.
It gives men the chance to be splendid. Doubt-ridden architects of some small part of their lives. Duryodhanas who can win even as they lose.”
― Tarun J. Tejpal, The Alchemy of Desire

“Widespread criticisms of jihad in Islam and the so-called sword verses in the Quran have unearthed for fair-minded Christians difficult questions about Christianity's own traditions of holy war and 'texts of terror.' Like Hinduism's Mahabharata epic, the Bible devotes entire books to war and rumors thereof. Unlike the Quran, however, it contains hardly any rules for how to conduct a just war.”
― Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter

“...leaving no doubt he was the Chosen One. Chosen for what precisely, no one bothered to ask.”
― Gourav Mohanty, Sons of Darkness

“You see, that's the thing with conquerors, they cannot stop conquering, for then they would have to start ruling, and my guess is Jarasandh isn't as good a ruler as he is a conqueror.”
― Gourav Mohanty, Sons of Darkness

“An action carried out through human effort may be well planned, well performed
and properly accomplished, and yet be thwarted by fate. But likewise
a fated action, something not carried out by humans, may be frustrated by
human effort, heir of Bharata, as happens with cold and heat, rain, hunger and
thirst. And a man whose being is constrained by fate may none the less opt to
carry out some different action, and fate does not prevent him from doing so.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“In fact, on a metro ride once, I overheard a conversation between two old men. One of them said, quite confidently, 'Yeh to sab farzi hai bhaisaab. Pehla podcast toh Sanjay aur Dhritarashtra ke beech mein hua tha Mahabharat mein. (This is all fake, sir. The first podcast happened between Sanjay and Dhritarashtra in the Mahabharata.)' This gentleman, I reckon, might one day make a perfect guest on a podcast.”
― Anurag Minus Verma, The Great Indian Brain Rot : Love, Lies and Algorithms in Digital India

“One must accept that one’s life is the result of past karmas and that one has the power to choose one’s
response to every situation.”
― Devdutt Pattanaik, Jaya: 9

“How does one know the true path?’
‘Not through arguments—they never reach a conclusion; not from teachers—
they can only give their opinions; to know the true path one must, in silence and
solitude, reflect on one’s own life.”
― Devdutt Pattanaik, Jaya: 9

“They were participating in a war where father would fight sons, brother would fight brother, uncle would fight nephew, friend would fight friend. This was a war that would mark the end not just of one household but of an entire civilization.”
― Devdutt Pattanaik, Jaya: 9

“Krishna sees her looking at him and Draupadi nods slightly at him and then looks back at the pyres, for she has understood a small, insidious truth. She remembers their precipitous flight from the camp in the middle of the night while her sons and brothers were left behind to be murdered in their sleep. There is no Vrishni pyre at this mass funeral and while all the major clans of the river valleys are laid low, Krishna's clansmen are unscathed. Moreover, the only heir with a claim to the throne of Hastinapur to have survived is the secret that Uttara hides in her frail body. So Krishna's nephew is dead but through his hastily arranged marriage to Uttara, the clan of the Vrishnis finally has a claim to kingship and the eternal kingmakers will at last be rajas.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Song of Draupadi: A Novel

“Like numerous river-currents that rush towards the one ocean, those heroes
of the world of men enter your flaming mouths; like moths that fly ever faster
to destroy themselves in a blazing flame, the worlds hurry ever faster to their
destruction in your mouths. With your flaming jaws you lap up complete
worlds and devour them whole; your terrible splendours fill the entire universe
with fiery energy till it is scorched, O Visnu.”
― Vyasa Dvaipayana, Mahabharata

“मायावी मायया वध्य:
(A deceitful enemy needs to be killed by deceit)
- Sri Krishna to Yudhisthira (Mahabharata-9.31.6)”
― Sri Krishna

“Ahimsa is the highest Dharma.
Ahimsa is the highest self-control.
Ahimsa is the greatest gift.
Ahimsa is the best practice.
Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice.
Ahimsa is the finest strength.
Ahimsa is the greatest friend.
Ahimsa is the greatest happiness.
Ahimsa is the highest truth.
Ahimsa is the greatest teaching.”
― Vyasa, Mahabharata

“As Yudhishtara says to the Yaksha: ‘In this cauldron fashioned from delusion, with the sun as fire and day and night as kindling wood, the months and seasons as the ladle for stirring, Time (or Death) cooks all beings: this is the simple truth.”
― Pavan K. Varma, The Great Hindu Civilisation: Achievement, Neglect, Bias and the Way Forward

“A real education will not teach you to compete; it will teach you to cooperate. It will not teach you to fight and come first. It will teach you to be creative, to be loving, to be blissful, without any comparison with the other..

A real education will not teach you to be the first. It will tell you to enjoy whatsoever you are doing, not for the result but for the act itself.

Just like a painter or a dancer or a musician….

You can paint in two ways. You can paint to compete with other painters; you want to be the greatest painter in the world, you want to be a Picasso or a Van Gogh. Then your painting will be second-rate, because your mind is not interested in painting itself; it is interested in being the first, the greatest painter in the world. You are not going deep into the art of painting. You are not enjoying it, you are only using it as a stepping- stone. You are on an ego trip.

And the problem is: to really be a painter, you have to drop the ego completely. To really be a painter, the ego has to be put aside. Only then can God flow through you.

Only then can he use your hands and your fingers and your brush. Only then something of superb beauty can be born.

It is never BY you but only THROUGH you. Existence flows; you become only a passage. You allow it to happen, that's all; you don't hinder, that's all.

But if you are too interested in the result, the ultimate result - that you have to become famous, that you have to win the Nobel Prize, that you have to be the first painter in the world, that you have to defeat all other painters hitherto - then your interest is not in painting; painting is secondary. And of course, with a secondary interest in painting you can't paint something original; it will be ordinary.

Ego cannot bring anything extraordinary into the world; the extraordinary comes only through egolessness. And so is the case with the musician and the poet and the dancer.

And so is the case with everybody.

In the Gita, Krishna says: Don't think of the result at all. It is a message of tremendous beauty and significance and truth. Don't think of the result at all. Just do what you are doing with your totality. Get lost into it. Lose the doer in the doing. Don't be - let your creative energies flow unhindered.

That's why he said to Arjuna, "Don't escape from the war... because I can see this is just an ego trip, this escape. The way you are talking simply shows that you are calculating: that you are thinking that by escaping from the war you will become a great mahatma.

Rather than surrendering to God, to the whole, you are taking yourself too seriously: as if, if you are not there, there will be no war."

Krishna says to Arjuna, "Listen to me. Just be in a state of let-go. Say to God, 'Use me in whatsoever way you want to use me. Use me! I am available, unconditionally available.'

Then whatsoever happens through you will have a great authenticity about it. It will have intensity, it will have depth. It will have the impact of the eternal on it. It will be signed by God, not by you. And you will rejoice because God has chosen you to be a vehicle.”
― Osho

“The Mahābhārata is not merely an epic of kings and war.
It is the living expression of Sāṅkhya philosophy and the inner science of consciousness.
Every character, every battle, and every dialogue in this timeless scripture encodes a principle of existence — a tattva, revealing the architecture of reality itself. This book deciphers that hidden yogic and philosophical code behind the world’s greatest epic, unveiling how the outer story of kingdoms and conflicts mirrors the inner evolution of the soul.
King Śantanu embodies Puruṣa, pure consciousness; 
Satyavatī personifies Prakṛti, creative nature. 
The Pāṇḍavas symbolize the five Jñānendriyas and five Karmendriyas
The Pāṇḍavas symbolize the five Jñānendriyas (organs of perception) and five Karmendriyas (organs of action)
While The Kauravas represent the five Tanmātras (subtle elements) and five Mahābhūtas (gross elements)
On the subtler yogic plane, 
Yudhiṣṭhira corresponds to the Vijñānamaya Kośa,
Bhīma to the Prāṇamaya, 
Arjuna to the Manomaya, 
Nakula to the Annamaya, and 
Sahadeva to the Ānandamaya. 
Draupadī is revealed as Kuṇḍalinī Śakti, the awakening force of consciousness.

Kurukṣetra thus becomes the battlefield of the human psyche — the eternal struggle between dharma and adharma, higher virtues and lower impulses. 
Kṛṣṇa stands as Divine Wisdom, the Higher Self guiding Arjuna — the Mind — through the labyrinth of doubt.
The Bhagavad Gītā emerges here as the dialogue between Soul and Spirit — 
when Divine Consciousness speaks directly to the human heart, awakening the seeker to the path of liberation.”
― Srinivas

“The Mahābhārata is not about what happened once upon a time — it is about what is happening within us all the time.”
― Srinivas

“The Mahābhārata is not merely an epic of war and destiny — it is the living expression of Sāṅkhya Philosophy, the science of consciousness”
― Srinivas

“The Mahābhārata the world’s greatest epic — shows how the outer story mirrors the inner evolution of consciousness.”
― Srinivas

“Kurukṣetra, the great battlefield, is not merely a physical plain — it is the field of consciousness, the inner arena where every individual must confront the war between dharma (righteousness) and adharma (ignorance and desire).
The Pāṇḍavas stand for the higher virtues — truth, courage, devotion, self-control, and righteousness —
while the Kauravas embody the lower impulses — greed, anger, pride, jealousy, and attachment.”
― Srinivas

“The Mahābhārata is the grand scripture of the Self — showing that the real battle of Kurukṣetra is within us, and that victory belongs not to the sword, but to the awakening of consciousness itself.”
― Srinivas

“The Mahābhārata is the grand scripture of the Self — showing that the real battle of Kurukṣetra is within us
Kurukṣetra, the great battlefield, is not merely a physical plain — it is the field of consciousness, the inner arena where every individual must confront the war between dharma (righteousness) and adharma (ignorance and desire).”
― Srinivas

“The war of Kurukṣetra is the eternal battlefield within — where light and shadow, wisdom and ignorance, self and desire, constantly confront each other”
― Srinivas

“Whole Mahabharata is Sankhya Philosophy. Every character in the Mahabharata is not just a person but a principle of existence — a tattva of Sankhya Philosophy. This book reveals the hidden yogic and philosophical decoding behind the world’s greatest epic.
King Shantanu is Purusha
Satyavati is Prakriti
Chitrangada is Mahat
Vichitravirya is Ahaṁkāra
Pandu is Sattva Ahaṁkāra
Dhritarashtra is Tamas Ahaṁkāra
Vidura is Rajas Ahaṁkāra
Karna is Manas
 
The Pandavas represent the five Jñānendriyas and five Karmendriyas.
The Kauravas represent the five Tanmātras and five Mahābhūtas.
Yudhishthira is Vijñānamaya Kośa
Bhima is Prāṇamaya Kośa
Arjuna is Manomaya Kośa
Nakula is Annamaya Kośa
Sahadeva is Anandamaya Kośa
Draupadi is Kuṇḍalinī Śakti
“Secrets of Mahabharata” unveils how this timeless epic is not history but a map of human consciousness — a dialogue between Purusha and Prakriti, spirit and matter, self and shadow. It shows how every event, every war, and every victory within the Mahabharata unfolds within you.”
― Srinivas

“Chausar is also a battlefield, dear father. It’s not merely a game. Someone wins while another loses, and no one likes to play to lose.”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni

“Talks pursued under influence of alcohol and rage do not lead to anything good”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni

“This wound will never let you forget your purpose,
Shakuni. Revenge is the only purpose of your life now. Destroy
them and burn down Hastinapur. Use your biggest strength,
the game of chausar, to your advantage. The shells, they listen
to you. Make a fresh pair for yourself using my bones, and the
shells will dance to your tunes, but avenge us for everything…”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni

“If you break down like this, who would hold
all my broken pieces?”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni

“I promise I will
try my best to meet you again but…”
Shakuni was stopped as Arshi locked her lips with his. “Let’s seal
this promise for now,”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni

“God gave man speech
not to express himself but to hide what is on his mind.”
― Sapan Saxena, The Oath of Shakuni