A Summary of the Stri Parva
Note: The Stri Parva is the 11th parva of The Mahabharata. It’s the parva where those who lost their loved ones in the war, feel and express intense sorrow.
This parva has 775 shlokas (verses) divided into 27 sections.
The Stri Parva begins with Dhritarashtra of prophetic eye asking to hug Bhima with the intention of crushing him. However his plan was foiled by Krishna who put an iron statue, instead of Bhima, in front of the blind king. Dhritarashtra crushed that statue.
Then Vidura consoled the greatly disturbed king with wise words about the moksha.
After Dhritarashtra felt calmer, he and the ladies of the house went to the battlefield.
What followed was the uncontrollable crying of the ladies who had lost their loved ones in the battle.
On the battlefield, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra were overcome with so much anger that they list their consciousness.
The kshatriya ladies saw the heroes: their sons, brothers, and father’s lying dead on the battlefield. Gandhari was overcome with such immense wrath when she saw her dead sons and grandsons, that Krishna had to step in to pacify her.
Then all the deceased kings were cremated with due rites by Yudhishthira the virtuous.
Then, water was offered to the souls of the deceased princes. At this moment, Kunti revealed that Karna was her son.
Whoever reads this parva is moved to sorrow and tears.
Previous: A Summary of the Sauptika Parva