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Work #1877

Mahabharata (attributed)

Vyasa (traditional attribution)
c. 400 BCE – 400 CE (composite; core narrative possibly older) · Sanskrit
Epic poetry (approximately 200,000 verses in 18 books) · Hindu epic / Vedic-Brahmanical

What is here is found elsewhere; what is not here is nowhere — the encyclopedic epic of dharma

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Mahabharata (attributed)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Emergent
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Non-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Emergent
Space · Curvature Undefined
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Emergent
Matter · Conservation Non-conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Total
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Emergent
Energy · Conservation Variable
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Emergent
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Mahabharata (attributed)

Cyclical: yugas repeat; the epic occurs at the Dvapara-Kali Yuga transition. Within each cycle, morally significant.

Space

Mahabharata (attributed)

Emergent from Brahman: earthly, celestial, and underworld realms; Krishna's cosmic form contains all spaces.

Matter

Mahabharata (attributed)

Emergent and non-conserved at the cosmic level; within a cycle, war destroys armies and kingdoms.

Observer

Mahabharata (attributed)

Multiple levels: human characters, divine observers (Krishna), and Vyasa within his own narrative.

Energy

Mahabharata (attributed)

Divine energy (shakti, tejas) pervades: celestial weapons, Krishna's cosmic form.

Information

Mahabharata (attributed)

The epic is a supreme act of information conservation: "what is not here is nowhere."

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Mahabharata (attributed)

Dharma as absolute vs. dharma as contextual — righteous action in one framework is transgression in another. The Gita's detachment teaching on a battlefield of maximal violence.