Analytic and Synthetic Approaches in Light of the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata and Harivaṃśa

Abstract

Brodbeck compares two broad approaches in Mahābhārata studies: analytic (which isolates text layers and posits additions) and synthetic (which views the text as an integrated whole). He analyzes how each approach interprets the Mahābhārata and its sister text, the Harivaṃśa. Arguing for the synthetic model, he asserts that unity lies not in historical purity but in theological coherence and the interpretive experience of the reader.