Mahābhārata

The Mahābhārata is one of the two great Sanskrit itihāsas (histories) of Bhārata. It was composed by Maharshi Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, and Vaiśampāyana told it to King Janamejaya at his sarpa-satra (the snake yajña).

The Mahābhārata covers a vast field. It holds the full history of the Kuru dynasty, from the origins of the line through the Kurukshetra War and what came after it. Around this history it gives long teachings on dharma, cosmology, philosophy, theology and sacred narrative. The Mahābhārata calls itself the fifth Veda. It says that whatever is here is found elsewhere, but what is not here is found nowhere.

Composition and transmission

Vyāsa first composed the Mahābhārata in one lakh verses (one hundred thousand ślokas). He taught it first to his son Śuka, and then to his disciples. At Janamejaya’s sarpa-satra at Takshaśilā, Vaiśampāyana recited the whole work at Vyāsa’s command. Later the sūta Ugraśrava, the son of Lomaharshaṇa, told it again to the ṛshis gathered at Naimishāraṇya. This telling at Naimishāraṇya is the outer frame of the text as it has come down.

Vyāsa’s first title for the work was “Jaya” (Victory). It became “Bhārata” when it grew to twenty-four thousand verses, and “Mahābhārata” in its full form of one lakh verses. It is also called Pañcamo Veda (the fifth Veda).

The eighteen parvas

The Mahābhārata has eighteen great parvas (books), with the Harivaṃśa as a supplement:

1. Ādi Parva: the origins. The lineage, the births and early lives of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas, and the frame narrative of the Mahābhārata.
2. Sabhā Parva: the assembly hall. Nārada’s instructions, Jarāsandha Vadha, the digvijayas (conquests of the directions) of the Pāṇḍavas, the Rājasūya Yajña, Śiśupāla Vadha and the game of dice.
3. Āraṇyaka Parva: the forest exile of the Pāṇḍavas, the tīrtha-yātrā (journey to the tīrthas) and the Yaksha-praśna (the questions of the yaksha).
4. Virāṭa Parva: the year spent unrecognised at Virāṭa’s court.
5. Udyoga Parva: the preparations for war and Kṛshṇa’s peace mission.
6. Bhīshma Parva: Bhīshma’s command, the Bhagavad Gītā and Bhīshma’s fall.
7. Droṇa Parva: Droṇa’s command, Abhimanyu’s death and Jayadratha Vadha.
8. Karṇa Parva: Karṇa’s command and Karṇa Vadha.
9. Śalya Parva: Śalya’s command and Duryodhana’s death.
10. Sauptika Parva: the night slaughter by Aśvatthāmā.
11. Strī Parva: the lament of the women.
12. Śānti Parva: Bhīshma’s long teachings on dharma from his bed of arrows.
13. Anuśāsana Parva: Bhīshma’s further instructions, on dāna (giving) and dharma.
14. Āśvamedhika Parva: the Aśvamedha Yajña of Yudhishṭhira.
15. Āśramavāsika Parva: Dhṛtarāshṭra’s retirement to the forest.
16. Mausala Parva: the destruction of the Yādavas.
17. Mahāprasthānika Parva: the final journey of the Pāṇḍavas.
18. Svargārohaṇa Parva: Yudhishṭhira’s ascent to svarga.

Supplement: the Harivaṃśa, the history of the Vṛshṇi clan, with the narratives of Kṛshṇa’s birth and childhood.

The central narrative

The Mahābhārata tells of the great war between two branches of the Kuru dynasty: the five Pāṇḍavas, sons of Pāṇḍu, and the hundred Kauravas, sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra. Beneath the conflict of the dynasty lies the purpose of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s avatāra. Śrī Kṛshṇa descends to restore dharma, to relieve the earth of its burden of adharmic kshatriyas, and to guide the age toward its appointed close.

Sabhā Parva

The second parva tells how Maya Dānava built the Maya Sabhā (assembly hall) for Yudhishṭhira at Indraprastha. The devarshi Nārada visits and tests the king with full questions on rāja-dharma (the dharma of kings). He then describes the sabhās (assembly halls) of the devas: those of Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, Indra and Brahmā. His real aim is to make Yudhishṭhira aware of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s plan to end the kshatriyas.

Kṛshṇa then proposes the conquest of Jarāsandha as the first step to the Rājasūya yajña. Jarāsandha Vadha follows: Bhīma kills Jarāsandha in single combat at Girivraja. The Pāṇḍavas make their digvijaya in the four directions, and Yudhishṭhira performs the Rājasūya. At the agra-pūjā (the first honour), Bhīshma names Kṛshṇa for the first honour. Śiśupāla objects, and this leads to his moksha at Kṛshṇa’s hands. The parva closes with the fateful game of dice.

Vana Parva (Āraṇyaka Parva)

The third parva, the Vana Parva or Āraṇyaka Parva, is the Book of the Forest. It is the longest of the eighteen parvas and covers the twelve-year forest exile of the Pāṇḍavas. It opens with the Pāṇḍavas leaving Hāstinapura with their priest Dhaumya and a large company of brāhmaṇas. The early chapters set up how the exile is supported: the Akshayapātra (the never-empty vessel) given by Sūrya, the Surabhi Upākhyāna told by Vyāsa to Dhṛtarāshṭra, and Maitreya’s śāpa (curse) on Duryodhana.

The Kirmīra Vadha (chapter 11) tells of the Pāṇḍavas’ arrival at Kāmyakavana: Bhīma kills the rākshasa Kirmīra, the brother of Baka and Hiḍimba. Kṛshṇa tells the Saubhavadha Upākhyāna (chapters 14–16): the destruction of Śālva and the Saubha vimāna (flying city). A well-known dialogue between Draupadī and Yudhishṭhira on kshamā (forbearance) and pratāpa (might) (chapter 13) sets out rāja-dharma in a time of great injustice.

The Kairāta Parva, a sub-parva (chapters 37–41), tells of Arjuna’s tapas on the Himālaya, his great battle with Bhagavān Śiva in the form of a Kirāta hunter, the Mahādeva Stava, the gift of the Pāśupatāstra, and the coming of the four lokapālas (guardians of the directions), who give him further divine weapons.

The Indralokābhigamana Parva, a sub-parva (chapters 42–50), follows Arjuna’s five years in Indraloka: Mātali’s chariot, the journey through the sky, the Urvaśī episode in which Indra turns her śāpa into a vara (a boon), Lomaśa’s message to Yudhishṭhira, and the destruction of the Nivātakavacas.

The Vana Parva also holds some of the longest upākhyānas (narratives told within the main narrative) of the Mahābhārata. Among them are the Mudgala Upākhyāna on the limits of svarga, the Ashṭāvakra Upākhyāna and the Naciketopākhyāna. It also has long tīrtha-māhātmya sections (on the glory of the tīrthas), told during the Pāṇḍavas’ tīrtha-yātrā under Lomaśa’s guidance.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, the eighteen parvas and the Harivaṃśa supplement
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva (Āraṇyaka Parva), chapters 11, 13 and 14–16; Kairāta Parva, chapters 37–41; Indralokābhigamana Parva, chapters 42–50