Anuśāsana Parva

The Anuśāsana Parva, “the Parva of Instruction”, is the thirteenth book (parva) of the Mahābhārata. It is set at Kurukshetra in the days after the war, while Bhīshma Pitāmaha still lies on his bed of arrows (śara-talpa), waiting for uttarāyaṇa, the northward turn of the sun, to leave his body. Yudhishṭhira, still grieving the destruction of his kin, questions Bhīshma at length. Bhīshma answers with hundreds of teachings on dāna (giving), the duties of varṇa and āśrama, śrāddha and other rites, ahiṃsā (non-violence), strīdharma (the dharma of women) and the fruits of particular vratas (vows). Dozens of ākhyānas (narratives) and upākhyānas (embedded narratives) show each teaching at work.

So much of the parva teaches the practice of giving and the reasons for it that it is also called the Dāna-dharma Parva. It holds two of the best-known stotras of Sanātana Dharma, the Śiva Sahasranāma (chapter 17) and the Vishṇu Sahasranāma (chapter 149), and it ends with the death of Bhīshma himself in the Bhīshma Svargārohaṇa Parva.

Structure and contents

Opening narratives and early teachings (chapters 1–13)

The parva opens with Bhīshma easing Yudhishṭhira’s guilt over the dead of the war through the Gautamī-Vyāla-Mṛtyu-Kāla Saṃvāda, which shows the fruit of karma (karma-phala) as the true cause of all suffering. A run of ākhyānas follows: Sudarśana’s vow of hospitality, the caru-vyatyāsa (exchange of the ritual rice) that led to the birth of Viśvāmitra, the loyal parrot of the Śukendra Saṃvāda, the Daiva-Purushakāra debate between fate and effort, and the narrative of Bhaṅgāsvana. Each shows one side of dharma before the parva turns to its central teachings on Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The Meghavāhana Parvākhyāna and the Śiva Sahasranāma (chapters 14–22)

Kṛshṇa tells how the ṛshi Upamanyu won the direct darśana (sight) of Śiva through a thousand years of tapas, and how Kṛshṇa himself then took the same path and received varas from Śiva and Pārvatī. This frame narrative rises to the recitation of the Śiva Sahasranāma Stotra (chapter 17), the thousand names of Śiva, followed by a chapter in which devotees bear witness to its power. The section closes with the Ashṭāvakra–Uttarā Diś Saṃvāda and the Bahupraśnaka teaching on who is worthy to receive dāna.

Dāna-dharma teachings (chapters 91–148)

Most of the available text is given to the Dāna-dharma Parva proper: the origin of the śrāddha rites, the narratives of the theft of the lotus stalks and of the taking of oaths, the origin of the umbrella and sandals, the fall of Nahusha by Bhṛgu’s śāpa (curse), and a great body of teaching on fasting (upavāsa), giving up meat and ahiṃsā, the wheel of saṃsāra, and the nine linked rahasya (secret) teachings of the Pitṛs, the Devas and Śiva’s attendants. This section also holds the Umā-Maheśvara Saṃvāda, seven chapters in which Śiva teaches Pārvatī the whole of varṇāśrama dharma, vānaprastha and strī-dharma. It leads straight into the Vishṇu Sahasranāma (chapter 149), the thousand names of Vishṇu, with Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s commentary on the meaning of each name.

Final teachings and the death of Bhīshma (chapters 150–168)

The closing chapters include the Pavana-Arjuna Saṃvāda (Vāyu humbling the proud Haihaya king Kārtavīrya Arjuna), the episode of Durvāsa at Kṛshṇa’s court, and the Vaṃśānukīrtanam, a protective recital of the lineages of the devas and of kings that ends with Bhīshma’s own ancestors. The parva then ends with the Bhīshma Svargārohaṇa Parva (chapters 167–168): Bhīshma’s last teachings, his request for leave to die and the granting of it, his departure from the body by yoga, and the lament of Gaṅgā Devī and her consolation.

Chapters

Chapters 1–22

Chapters 91–100

Chapters 101–168

The Anuśāsana Parva proper ends with chapter 166. Chapters 167–168 form the Bhīshma Svargārohaṇa Parva, which closes the whole Anuśāsana Parva.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, chapters 1–22
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, chapters 91–100
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, chapters 101–168