Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.

The Mahabharta is a colossal epic, comprising about one lakh verses. This enormous composition is traditionally attributed to Sage Vyas. However, historians are of the view that the Mahabharta was composed over a period of 1000 years, so it can not be the work of a single author. Large didactic section resembling the manuscript was added during the period between 200C and 400CE. This outburst made Mahabharata an epic consisting of 100,000 verses.

The historian assume that the original story was composed by charioteer bards known as “Sutas”, who generally accompanied Kshatriyas warriors to the battle field and composed poems celebrating their victories and other achievements.

Them from 500 B.C.E. Brahmanas took over the story and began to commit it to writing, this was the time where chiefdoms of the Kurus and Panchalas were gradually becoming kingdoms, the kings of their new kingdoms also wanted there “itihasa” was also included in the Mahabharta, for e.g.; we find that during this time old social values were replaced by new norms and it shows the upheavals that accompanied the establishment of new kingdom.

We notice another phase in the composition of text between 200 BCE and 200 CE this was the period when the worship of “VISHNU” was growing in importance and “KRISHNA”, one of the important figures in the epic was identified with VISHNU.

Subsequently between C.200 and 400 C.E didactic sections resembling the Manusmriti were added to the Mahabharata.

All this shows that Mahabharata could not be the work of a single author.