A History of Indian Literature v1.c9.s2.6

v1.c9.s2.6

In the course of centuries, however, an enormous mass of the most diverse poetry has collected *around this nucleus*. First numerous legends whose connection with the old heroic poem is more or less casual, legends referring to the early history of the heroes, or giving reports of all kinds of adventures of these men, without having any reference whatever to the great battle, were added to the poem. Then, too, fragments of other heroic legends and cycles of legends, which refer to various famous kings and heroes of primeval times, found their way into the poem, even though they had nothing at all to do with the song of the great Kuru battle. How much of this old bard poetry already belonged to the original poem as secondary tales (*episodes*) and how much was only added later, will probably never be determined. We have reason to believe that in ancient times many of these episodes were recited by the minstrels as independent poems.¹ In any case, our Mahābhārata is not only the heroic poem of the battle of the Bhāratas, but at the same time also a *repertory of the whole of the old bard poetry*.