Yudhishthira eventually enters the
divine realm.
The complete epic is more complex
than this summary. One of the features
of the epic is that it contains many unre-
lated tales, for which the main story acts
as a frame. Aside from being a tale of a
dysfunctional family, the Mahabharata
also contains a great deal of cultural wis-
dom, making the names of characters
symbolic even today. A televised serial of
the text, which ran for more than a year
in 1989–90, was wildly popular through-
out India. It is also interesting to note
that many traditional Indian families
will not keep a copy of the text in the
house, since it is believed that to do this
will foster discord in the family.Mahabhashya
(“Great commentary”) A commentary
on the Ashtadhyayiof Panini, written
by Patanjali, the grammarian, in the
second century B.C.E. Panini’s text gives a
complete and accurate description of all
the forms of the Sanskritlanguage and
set the standard for the language afterMahabhashya