Motif
kinsmen fighting in a civil war
kinsmen_fighting_in_a_civil_war
A motif of the Sacred Combat and Ritual Warfare family, within the sub-family Treachery and Forbidden Kin Combat. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
hindu
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Maha-bharata BOOK VII / UDYOGA / BOOK VIII / BHISHMA-BADHA; lines 3933-4068 confidence: high
Peaceful partition fails; both parties prepare for a vast battle. Duryodhan’s army includes his own division and ten allied kings; Yudhishthir has a smaller force.
The battle is framed as a conflict over the Kuru kingdom, and the battlefield description emphasizes fathers, sons, and brothers fighting or failing to recognize one another.
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