Identify the correct statements in regards to “Mahabharata”:
(A) Mahabharata has over 10,00,000 verses.
(B) Mahabharata was composed over a period of about 1,000 years (c. 500 BCE onwards).
(C) Some of the stories which Mahabharata contains may have been in circulation even earlier.
(D) The central story of Mahabharata is about two sets of warring cousins.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) Mahabharata has over 10,00,000 verses. Incorrect. In its present form the Mahabharata runs into over 100,000 verses (one lakh), not ten lakh. It is still a colossal epic, one of the richest texts of the subcontinent.
(B) Mahabharata was composed over a period of about 1,000 years (c. 500 BCE onwards). Correct. The text grew over about a thousand years from c. 500 BCE, as new sections were added to it.
(C) Some of the stories which Mahabharata contains may have been in circulation even earlier. Correct. Some of its stories may have been told even before the composition began.
(D) The central story of Mahabharata is about two sets of warring cousins. Correct. The central story is the conflict between two sets of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The text also has sections laying down norms of behaviour for different social groups.
NCERT (2025-26): “Kinship, Caste and Class Early Societies … In focusing on the Mahabharata, a colossal epic running in its present form into over 100,000 verses with depictions of a wide range of social categories and situations, we draw on one of the richest texts of the subcontinent. It was composed over a period of about 1,000 years (c. 500 BCE onwards), and some of the stories it contains may have been in circulation even earlier. The central story is about two sets of warring cousins.…” |