Although Mahabharat has been analyzed and commented on by numerous scholars from around the world, most people from Bharat (India) would think of the TV serial Mahabharat by B.R. Chopda brought Mahabharat to the masses.
Most people’s knowledge of Mahabharat is limited by what was shown in that TV serial. However, for a curious mind, that should be the starting point to the exploration of such an epic from the ancient and glorious history of Bharat. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, the repository of knowledge that was bestowed upon Arjun for all of us is just a part of the set of events captured within the timeline of Mahabharat.
When we think about Mahabharat, people think of the battle of Kurukshetra and the set of events that lead to that battle. But Mahabharat is so much more than that. The best way to know Mahabharat is to read it and learn about the glorious history of Bharat captured in it.
To keep this post focused about Samrat Yudhishthir, I want to mention that the impression I got (and many people will agree with me) about Yudhishthir Maharaj after watching B.R. Chopda’s Mahabharat or reading about stories/commentaries by scholars was not very positive of even impressive. The impression we get is that though he always tried to follow Dharma and never lied, he was a weak/soft person whose only strength was that he had brothers like Arjun and Bheem who were mighty warriors.
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Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to the Vedic concepts of India, there was never any formal education system that teaches the glorious history of Indian civilization. Therefore every historical aspect of Ramayana and Mahabharat was pretty much absent from my life as it is absent today from the lives of most people