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Ancient India
 Mahabharata

Mahabharata
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.14

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    BHEESH-ma, DROE-na, Mahabharata, PAAN-doo, persuasion, set-up, wager, curse, valid, altogether, behalf, tragedy, thirteenth, flat-out, undiscovered, devious
     content words:    When Draupadi

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Mahabharata
By Vickie Chao 		  
1     Mahabharata (pronounced "ma-haa-BHAAR-a-ta") is the world's longest poem. Altogether, it has 18 sections and 220,000 lines! This great piece of work is from India. It tells the story of a royal family's struggle over power. The story goes like this:
 
2     A long, long time ago, there was a kingdom in India called Bharata ("BHAR-a-ta"). The king of Bharata had two sons, Dhritarashtra ("dhri-ta-RAASH-tra") and Pandu ("PAAN-doo"). Dhritarashtra was the eldest of the two. He was supposed to be the next king. But because he was blind, he could not take the throne. His brother became the next king.
 
3     Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari ("gaan-DHAAR-ee"). The couple had one hundred sons in all! Collectively, their offspring were called the Kauravas.
 
4     Pandu had two wives, Kunti and Madri. Kunti bore him three sons, and Madri two. Together, the five sons were called the Pandavas.
 
5     One day while hunting, Pandu killed a sage's wife by accident. The sage was very angry. He placed a curse on Pandu and killed him. Pandu's death shattered his second wife, Madri. She killed herself and left her two sons to the care of Kunti. Kunti took the five boys back to Bharata. Now with everybody together, the new king (Dhritarashtra) asked his uncle, Bhishma ("BHEESH-ma"), to supervise the upbringing of the princes. Bhishma then hired Drona ("DROE-na") as the boys' tutor. Drona was a good teacher. He taught the kids the art of archery. He taught them how to fight.

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
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