Narrative and didactic sections
Topic: Society in Early India: Kinship, Varna-Jati, Women · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"
Meaning
Historians usually divide the Mahabharata into two kinds of material.
- Narrative sections tell the story.
- Didactic sections teach rules about social life, duty and right behaviour.
The division is not strict, because stories can carry lessons too. At its core, the epic was a dramatic story of war between kinsmen. The didactic parts were probably added later, especially by Brahmana editors. Knowing this helps historians separate what the epic narrates from what it prescribes.
Example
The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna's teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield, is a famous didactic section. The dice game and the Kurukshetra war belong to the narrative. Large didactic portions, similar to the Manusmriti, were added c. 200–400 CE.
Don't confuse with
- Normative texts such as the Dharmasutras: these are law codes made entirely of rules. The Mahabharata mixes stories with rules and often shows characters breaking those rules.
Related concepts
- Composition of the Mahabharata
- Sutas
- Vyasa
- Itihasa
- Bhagavad Gita
- Hastinapura
- Draupadi's marriage
- Mahashweta Devi
- Ramayana