Mahabharat means – mahaan (great) gaatha (scripture) of Bharat desh (the country of Bharat)
Meaning of each character of Mahabharat is:
Duryodhan: Dur means bad, yo – born of bad yoni (bad thoughts at the time of conception), dhan – leading to bad result. Thus, this evil is bad not only from birth but also from the time of conception.
Dushashan: Dush means bad behavior, shashan means governing – bad governing.
Draupadi: Drau means Drav (to dissolve), padi means to adopt the post (pad). Draupadi took it on her own self to dissolve all the evils.
Paanchali: – means paanch chal vali (the woman with 5 different moves). She was married to 5 men, who had different ways of life.
Krishna: Kri means Kritika, sh means child, na means of everyone. Child of everyone born through Kritika (constellation). Thus, child of everyone born in stars is only “God”. Thus, Krishna is another name of God.
Yudhishthira: Yudh means war, sthir means stable. One who can remain stable even in times of war. Only such an individual can walk on the path of righteousness (dharma).
Bhim: Bhim means balwaan (strong). Someone who is strong in any situation.
Arjun: Ar means scrutinize, jun means to achieve. The one who can scrutinize and achieve his target. Arjun also means sadhak (seeker). A sadhak who can achieve.
Nakula: the one who does not remain of his kul (clan). One who who does not belong to any ancestry. He belongs to all. He merges in all.
Sahadev: Sah means simple, dev means soul. A simple soul.
Thus, these 5 gunas (positive traits) of stability (Yudhishthira), strength (Bhim), target oriented (Arjun), broadness (Nakul), simplicity (Sahadev) make the paandav (paan – leaf, dav means to give). Leaf denoted life of shravak (spiritual practitioner) which is given for upliftment of people. Thus, anyone who wishes to dedicate life for jagat kalyan (welfare of the world) should have these 5 gunas (positive traits).
Bheeshma: Bhee means strength, shma means forgiveness. Someone who has strength and forgiveness.
Dhritrashtra: dhri means vision, t means without and rashtra means nation. Someone who has no vision for the country. Such an individual when becomes a king, leads only to darkness.
Gaandhari: Gaan means song, dhari means to wear. Someone who wears or accepts anything that is told to her.
Kunti: Kun means kul (ancestry), ti means without. She gave birth to Karna out of wedlock. Thus, she is called Kunti.
Dronacharya: Dron means dro (to oppose), acharaya means teacher. A teacher who teaches you to oppose but he himself may not be on right track.
Karna: kar means karya (work), na – not to do. One who does not do the right work.
Kaurav: kau means hundred, rav means raag (rage) and dwesh (malice). We have 100 malices within us which can be defeated by the 5 positive traits of the paandavs.
- These are topics of various aspects of spirituality as told by Para.