ABSTRACT
The Sarala Mahabharata by Sudramuni Sarala Das is the longest Epic Narrative in the world and remains the first semi-classical text in Odia. The Epic Narrative in the Sarala Mahabharata is an oral history of medieval Odia-speaking region in Eastern India which provides the dynamics of native traditions and socio-cultural symmetries of medieval Odisha. The beginning of the pan-Indian Bhakti movement has been seen as a critical evolution of the Indian renaissance whose challenges are equally influential in awakening social and cultural orders in medieval Odisha’s history. Mahabharata may not be seen as similar to the existing pan-national narrative of medieval literature; rather it must be seen as a diversion of the existing orders of past and present where caste and class stratifications are analyzed and challenged with demand for transformation in social, cultural, political and spiritual sites. The narrative of the Sarala Mahabharata under its popular and classical lineage may be considered as an exceptional treasure in Indic tradition.
