The Kurukshetra War , also called the Mahabharata War , is a war Hostile_encounter described in the Indian epic poem `` Mahābhārata '' .

Despite only referring to these eighteen days , the war narrative forms Coming_to_be more than a quarter of the book , suggesting its relative importance within the epic , which overall spans decades of the warring families .

The close race has been described Statement as `` epic '' , while multiple Olympic gold-medallist Steve Redgrave suggested Convincing that the race was the `` greatest we will see Perception_active in our lifetimes '' .