Book Description

Besides the four collections of hymns and mantras for meditation and worship, Vedic scriptures include a wealth of commentaries, of which some were written by the same compilers of the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.These elaborations are known as the fifth Veda, and are in forms of narrations and epic poems, containing many practical examples and dialogues between famous personalities, that illustrate the philosophical and theological concepts of the original Vedas.The most famous Itihasas ("historical poems") are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The other collection consists of the Puranas, of which 18 are the most important.The Mahabharata is a monumental work attributed to Vyasa himself, who dictated the text to Ganesha. The protagonists of the story are the five Pandavas (Yudhisthira, Bhimasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva), who were relatives and close associates of Krishna. The Mahabharata starts with the history of their family's origins and lineage, setting the scene for the succession dispute between the Pandavas the sons of Pandu and their cousins the Kauravas, sons of Dhritarastra. The most important feature of this majestic epic poem is the Bhagavad gita, the core of the entire body of Vedic knowledge and wisdom, contained within the Mahabharata text.