महाभारत mahābhārat

Hindi is also shown in Latin characters, using an adapted form of ISO 15919 transliteration.

How to read the transliteration

This site uses transliteration based on ISO 15919, with a few adaptations to make reading easier: h is added after c, ś and ṣ, and i after the vowel r̥. These adaptations bring it closer to the Hunterian system used in India while retaining the distinctive marks of ISO 15919.

Adaptations used on this site
ISO 15919	On this site
c	ch
ś	śh
ṣ	ṣh
r̥	r̥i

A few reading pointers:

ā, ī, ū: the line above the letter indicates a long vowel.
ṭ, ḍ, ṇ: the dot below distinguishes retroflex consonants from t, d, n.
A tilde above a vowel indicates nasalisation.

sa · n. · m.

Earlier definition

Definition

The great war of the Bharatas or descendants of Bharat.
The great narrative of the war of the Bharatas (name of the great epic poem — ascribed to Vyasa — describing the acts, rivalries, and contests of the Kurus and Pāṇḍus, two great collateral branches of the house of Bhārat, so called from Bharat its founder).

Usual translation

Mahabharata

Origin of the definition

भारत bhārat (sanskrit)

The ancient name of India (so called because it was the patrimony of Bharat, son of Dushyant, who is said to have been the first monarch of all India)

mahā-bhārat, s.m. The great war of the Bharatas or descendants of Bharat; the great narrative of the war of the Bharatas (name of the great epic poem — ascribed to Vyasa — describing the acts, rivalries, and contests of the Kurus and Pāṇḍus, two great collateral branches of the house of Bhārat, so called from Bharat its founder).

महान्, महा mahān, mahā (sanskrit)

(prefix) Great, illustrious.
Mighty, strong, big, large, ample, excessive, grievous.
Very, extremely, very much.