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Who composed the original story of Mahabharata in oral form? Explain any four elements considered by the historians while analyzing the Mahabharata.

Answer:

There is no concrete proof about who was composer of original story of text of the Mahabharta. Historians speculate that the original story was composed by charioteer bards known as sutas who generally accompanied Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating their victories and other achievements. These compositions circulated orally.

The following elements are considered by historians:

(1) Language and content: They looked for what kind of language is used and when was it prevalent. E.g., Mahabharata is written in Prakrit language which was a language of common use.

(2) Search for convergence: Since Mahabharata mentions many forests, palaces and battles, historians look for these evidences. E.g., Kurukshetra war is supposed to happen in present day Kurikshetra and historians do the archaeological digging to ascertain this.

(3) They look for similarity between traditions depicted in Mahabharata and other texts of that time.

(4) Since Mahabharata was composed over a long period, the historians search for original contents and other inscriptional evidences such as inscription of chariot during war at many places.