Editing Mahabharata (section)

== Themes ==
[[File:M 134 Short.png|thumb|The god Krishna acts as a charioteer to Arjuna in the battle of the Bhagavad Gita, a section of the Mahabharata. Taken from an illustrated manuscript scroll, 1795 C.E. held in the [https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/UoE~3~3~210~198024:Mahabharata-Scroll-Section-134?qvq=q:LIMIT%3A%20UoE~3~3;lc:UoE~3~3&mi=253&trs=264 archive collection] at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.]]

=== Just war ===
The ''Mahābhārata'' offers one of the first instances of theorizing about ''[[Dharma-yuddha|dharmayuddha]]'', "[[Just war theory|just war]]", illustrating many of the standards that would be debated later across the world. In the story, one of five brothers asks if the suffering caused by war can ever be justified. A long discussion ensues between the siblings, establishing criteria like ''proportionality'' (chariots cannot attack cavalry, only other chariots; no attacking people in distress), ''just means'' (no poisoned or barbed arrows), ''just cause'' (no attacking out of rage), and fair treatment of captives and the wounded.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Just War in Comparative Perspective|author=Robinson, P.F.|date=2003|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-3587-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwjC1peqwx0C&pg=PA117|page=117|access-date=2 October 2015}}</ref>