Yudhiṣṭhira, Salvation, and Selfless Action in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata

How does the Sanskrit Mahābhārata act as a religious text? What is the relation between this text’s ideas of salvation and its main character King Yudhiṣṭhira? This book shows that Yudhiṣṭhira serves as a medium for the organization of diverse soteriological ideas. Examining this character’s narrative trajectory of struggles and redemptions, this book shows he is intimately associated with mokṣa (liberation from rebirth). Importantly, Yudhiṣṭhira serves to redefine mokṣa as selfless action performed as part of a person’s inherited duty (svadharma), action done for the sake of dharma alone.