The composition of the Mahabharata took place over a period of about how many years?
1) 100 years
2) 500 years
3) 1,000 years
4) 2,000 years

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

3

By focusing our attention on the Mahabharata, an immense epic comprising over 100,000 verses that vividly portrays a wide array of social categories and situations, we gain access to one of the most abundant texts in the subcontinent. This epic evolved over approximately 1,000 years, starting around 500 BCE, and some of its stories may have even circulated earlier than that. At its core, the Mahabharata narrates the epic tale of two sets of warring cousins. Within its expansive narrative, there are sections that prescribe behavioral norms for diverse social groups. Although the principal characters occasionally adhere to these norms, they don't always do so. Therefore, we must delve into the significance of both conforming to and deviating from these prescribed norms.