The Mahabharata is a great source to study the Kinfolk values of ancient times, as per the following reasons.
- Families are usually parts of larger networks of people defined as relatives, or to use a more technical term, kinfolk.
- People belonging to the same family shared food, resources, work, and live together and performed rituals together.
- While familial ties are often regarded as “natural” and based on blood, they are defined in many ways. For instance, some societies regard cousins as being blood relations, whereas others do not.
- the Mahabharata is a story about the Kingship. It describes a feud over land and power between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, who belonged to a single ruling family, that of the Kurus, a lineage dominating one of the Jana padas. Ultimately, the conflict ended in a battle, in which the Pandavas emerged victorious. After that, patrilineal succession was proclaimed.
- The central story of the Mahabharata reinforced the idea that it was valuable. Under patriliny, sons could claim the resources including the throne in the case of kings of their fathers when the latter died. In Mahabharata both Kauravas and Pandavas believed that they were the real successors to the throne.
- Draupadi’s wedding with the five Pandavas was the most challenging episode, it indicated polyandry among the elite during that period.
