A little over five thousand years ago, at the end of the Dvāpara age, a great battle took place in Kurukṣetra (northern India) in which millions of heroic warriors, led by the most powerful Kṣatriya kings in the world, laid down their lives. Just before the battle began, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, who had assumed the role of the charioteer of the Bharata hero Arjuna, instructed his friend and disciple in the knowledge of the Self and the knowledge of God, explained by great sages in various Vedic scriptures. The battle itself, how it came about and what happened afterwards is narrated by Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in his work Mahābhārata comprising over one hundred thousand double verses.

The Mahābhārata is divided into 18 books or sections: (1) Ādi-parvan, (2) Sabhā-parvan, (3) Āraṇyaka-parvan, (4) Virāṭa-parvan, (5) Udyoga-parvan, (6) Bhīṣma-parvan, (7) Droṇa-parvan, (8) Karṇa-parvan, (9) Śalya-parvan, (10) Sauptika-parvan, (11) Strī-parvan, (12) Śānti-parvan, (13) Anuśāsana-parvan, (14) Aśvamedhika-parvan, (15) Āśramavasika-parvan, (16) Mausala-parvan, (17) Mahāprasthānika-parvan and (18) Svargārohaṇa-parvan. In a philosophical-spiritual sense, it is "deep as the ocean"; the Bhagavad-Gītā alone, comprising only 700 verses and consisting of chapters 25-42 of the Bhīṣma-parvan, is unfathomable. One can study it again and again and will gain new knowledge each time. The wisdom of the Mahābhārata can hardly be conveyed in all its depth in the form of a paperback or television play or cinema movie of that story of the five sons of King Pāṇḍu commonly known as the Mahābhārata.

We hear in the Mahābhārata about the great heroes of the Bharata dynasty, the Pāṇḍavas, the five sons of King Pāṇḍu. The righteous and just Yudhiṣṭira, Pāṇḍu's eldest son, became his heir to the throne and ruler over the world. But he could not reign for long, for he was deprived of his rule by his envious cousins, the Kauravas, led by Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, through cunning and trickery, and had to live in exile for thirteen years with his brothers and their common consort Draupadi. The Mahābhārata tells how the sons of their uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and their allies repeatedly caused them trouble; how they fought for the just cause and with Śrī Kṛṣṇa's help finally got rid of all enemies and then ruled the world in a perfect manner. At that time, Hastināpura was the capital of the civilised world. Hastināpura ("the city of elephants") was located approximately where New Delhi is today. There were many kingdoms at that time, but the kings were tributary to one ruler, namely Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭira, the eldest son of King Pāṇḍu. Yudhiṣṭira was a rājarṣi, a saint in the role of a ruler over the earth.

We go on to hear of the devas, the great demigods, and other beings on other planets; of yogis and ascetics who lived in magnificent forests and by the banks of sacred rivers, and who, by the power of their asceticism, were able to curse or bless someone and possessed other mystical powers. The Mahābhārata tells of the holy kings of the past, of their valour and heroism; of the dynasty in which King Pāṇḍu appeared; of Ṛṣis (holy seers); of Apsaras (celestial society girls) who could beguile any man with their beauty, grace, song and dance; and of beautiful princesses for whose favour many strong kings courted and for whom many a man had to lay down his life.

In the Mahābhārata, the picture is drawn of a past culture that was entirely focused on the eternal values of the Vedas. And we meet the imperishable Kṛṣṇa, Lord of the Worlds and the origin and goal of all Vedic scriptures. He appeared from his eternal kingdom on earth to deliver it from the burden of countless powerful, godless kings, to protect the righteous and to reintroduce the principles of eternal religion (sanātana-dharma). Only a few great souls were granted, through their purity, to see through the veil of his māyā and recognise him as the great ruler behind the world stage and the adorable Lord of every individual.

The history of the world from the beginning of creation to the annihilation of the universe is contained in the Mahābhārata. Since eternity, universes have been created and destroyed again and again. What is the purpose of all this? What is the plan behind it? The Vedas teach us that it is not possible to unravel the mysteries of life through mental speculation because we are imperfect. We have imperfect senses, an imperfect mind; we are subject to delusion; we commit mistakes, and we have a tendency to cheat. Therefore, it is necessary to receive knowledge from higher sources. Modern man, especially the scientists, rely only on their imperfect senses and on their artificial instruments of sensory perception (such as microscopes, telescopes, etc.) in the acquisition of knowledge with their limited minds and limited vision of things.

In the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, Athāto brahma-jijñāsā – "now that you have attained the human form of life, it is time to strive for knowledge of the Absolute Truth". How this knowledge can be attained, what it consists of and whatever else there is to know about this world and its laws is contained in the Vedas. The Mahābhārata is called the fifth Veda and is the most easily comprehensible scripture containing such knowledge. Therefore, the Mahābhārata is especially meant for the people of this age who are very advanced in material knowledge but find spiritual knowledge difficult to comprehend. And to the less intelligent people who are very attached to material existence, the Mahābhārata shows many methods of developing economically without harming oneself and others and destroying the habitat, of fulfilling one's material desires in a righteous way, and even of being elevated after death to heavenly planets where the standard of enjoyment is greater and the life span longer than on earth.

Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the greatest writer of all time, whose intelligence is immeasurable and who is said to know past, present and future, composed the Vedānta-sūtra, the Mahābhārata and other Vedic scriptures, and lastly the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Sanskrit to spread the fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and His pure devotees, and with the ultimate intention of liberating the fallen souls, who are always wandering from one body to another in the cycle of births in the material world and suffering endlessly, and elevating them to the plane of pure blissful existence beyond the dualities of this world.