The Mahabharata as it stands today is a mythological Epic. The characters and events are not real but myths.
However, that does not mean that the entire work is mere fabric of imagination or that there is no truth to it. Most mythological tales do have their roots in real stories. The Mahabharata is the world's oldest epic. It dates so far back in history that it is difficult to ascertain the accurate origins. Most likely as in with many myths it probably started out with historical narratives. Back in the day court historians would embellish tales to create heroes and villains. As time passes embellishments get more fantastical, sometimes two or more narratives get meshed together. A lot of the Mahabharata is factual like the historic places, the kingdoms and geographies. As Genie said many places have been found.
Mahabharata is somewhat similar to Iliad and Odysseus. Homer's works are fantastical tales with Gods, heroes, unreal creatures like sirens etc. However, the world knows that the Trojan war did take place. The ruins of Troy have been found. The war has been written of in many histories. Since the Mahabharata is significantly older, it is harder to discover the histories. Even Troy was not found till 1992 or something.
Another thing to note is that even something mundane can be written in a fantastical manner. "Our enemies have tamed the sky. They soar high on massive winged dragons, breathing fire, unfurling a furious scourge of fire and brimstone on the land below. They descended in stealth in the dark of the night and by the crack of dawn, all that is left is black dust of civilization razed to the ground. Nothing can stop the wrath of these beasts. The dragons would soon spell doom and bring our mighty empire crashing down to its knees". That is just a hyper-imaginative version of the firebombing of Dresden in WWII.
The Mahabharata as it stands today is a mythological Epic. The characters and events are not real but myths.
However, that does not mean that the entire work is mere fabric of imagination or that there is no truth to it. Most mythological tales do have their roots in real stories. The Mahabharata is the world's oldest epic. It dates so far back in history that it is difficult to ascertain the accurate origins. Most likely as in with many myths it probably started out with historical narratives. Back in the day court historians would embellish tales to create heroes and villains. As time passes embellishments get more fantastical, sometimes two or more narratives get meshed together. A lot of the Mahabharata is factual like the historic places, the kingdoms and geographies. As Genie said many places have been found.
Mahabharata is somewhat similar to Iliad and Odysseus. Homer's works are fantastical tales with Gods, heroes, unreal creatures like sirens etc. However, the world knows that the Trojan war did take place. The ruins of Troy have been found. The war has been written of in many histories. Since the Mahabharata is significantly older, it is harder to discover the histories. Even Troy was not found till 1992 or something.
Another thing to note is that even something mundane can be written in a fantastical manner. "Our enemies have tamed the sky. They soar high on massive winged dragons, breathing fire, unfurling a furious scourge of fire and brimstone on the land below. They descended in stealth in the dark of the night and by the crack of dawn, all that is left is black dust of civilization razed to the ground. Nothing can stop the wrath of these beasts. The dragons would soon spell doom and bring our mighty empire crashing down to its knees". That is just a hyper-imaginative version of the firebombing of Dresden in WWII.
