Archive for category: The Complete Mahabharata

Note: The Drona Parva is the 7th parva of the Mahabharata. It describes the period of the battle when Drona was the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army.  The Drona Parva consists of 8909 shlokas (verses) divided into 170 sections.

This parva begins with Drona being given the command of the Kaurava army since the previous commander, Bhishma, lay badly wounded on the battlefield.

Drona’s loyalty to the Kauravas had been questioned by Duryodhana ever since the latter came to power. So, in an attempt to please Duryodhana, Drona vowed to capture Yudhishthira.

After this comes the incident of Arjuna’s retreat from the battlefield to pursue the Sansaptakas.

Subsequently, Arjuna overpowered the immensely strong Bhagadatta along with his elephant, Supritika.

While Arjuna was away, his teenage son, Abhimanyu, was slain by Jayadratha as he fought alone and heroically with several Kaurava maharathas in the Chakravyuha.

Angered by his son’s death, Arjuna single-handedly destroyed seven akshauhinis of the Kaurava army. After routing the Kaurava army, Arjuna pursued and slew Jayadratha (by whose hands Abhimanyu was killed).

Then the mighty Bhima and the valiant chariot warrior, Satyaki, entered the Kaurava ranks in search of Arjuna.

Following this, the remaining warriors of the Sansaptakas were also slain.

Several great warriors lost their lives in this parva. They included Alambysha, Srutayus, Jalasansha, Shomadatta, Virata, Drupada, Ghatotkacha, and several others.

Then came of the incident of the slaying of the great teacher and warrior: Drona.

When Ashwattham heard the news about his father’s fall, he became angry beyond measure and discharged an extremely dangerous weapon called the Narayana.

This parva also contains the story of the glorious Rudra in connection with the burning of the three cities.

The Drona parva ends with the arrival of the learned son of Sage Parasara (Vyasa Muni) who enlightened everyone by telling them about the true glory of Arjuna and Krishna.

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Next: A Summary of the Karna Parva

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Credits

The featured image is credited to Ramanarayanadatta astri and is available in the public domain under a creative commons license.

Note: The 5th parva, which is known as the Udyoga Parva, contains Krishna’s efforts to make peace between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. However, the peace efforts were unsuccessful, therefore this parva also contains details of the battle preparations.

The Udyoga Parva is made up of 6698 shlokas (verses) divided into 186 sections.

Following is an outline of the events that are described in the Udyoga Parva.

The Udyoga Parva begins with the incident of Duryodhana and Arjuna approaching Krishna for help at the same time. Upon being given two options, Arjuna selected Sri Krishna as a counselor who would not participate in the battle, while Duryodhana selected Krishna’s army of one akshauhini.

Next in this parva, we see that Salya, the king of Madra, had decided to support the Pandavas. However, Duryodhana intercepted Salya when he was on his way to the Pandavas camp. Duryodhana pleased the monarch with lavish gifts, respect,  and hospitality, and won King Salya over to his side.

The incident of the Pandavas sending their purohit (priest) with a message for the Kauravas is also described in this parva.

The Pandavas’ purohit narrated a story of Indra’s victory to the Kauravas. After hearing the story, King Dhritarashtra also decided to send his purohit with a message to the Pandavas, however, ultimately, he sent Sanjaya with a message of peace. 

Also described in this parva, is Dhritarashtra’s anxiety and sleeplessness after hearing several things about the Pandavas, their friends, Krishna, and others.

It was on this occasion that Vidura addressed King Dhritarashtra with words full of spiritual philosophy and wisdom. The contents of Vidura’s speech are popularly known as Vidura Niti.

Meanwhile, Sanjaya returned from the Pandavas’ camp the next morning and spoke about the true identity of Krishna and Arjuna to Dhritharasthta. At the same time, the illustrious Krishna was also moved by compassion and went to Hastinapura in a final bid to make peace.

Prince Duryodhana, however,  rejected Krishna’s offer of peace. This episode of the Udyoga Parva, mentions several other stories like those of Damvodvava, the story of Matuli’s search for a husband for his daughter, the history of Sage Galava, and finally, the story of the training and discipline of the son of Bidula.

Krishna exhibits his yogic powers to the assembly of kings in the Kaurava court. He also advises Karna to seek peace rather than war.

Despite his efforts, Krishna was not able to bring peace to the situation. Therefore, he returned to Upaplavya to the Pandavas’ camp and narrated all the incidents, that had occurred in Hastinapur, to them. After listening to Krishna, the Pandavas started preparing for war.

Next, we read about troops from both sides marching toward the battlefield.

On the day before the battle, Duryodhana sent a messenger, Uluka, to the Pandavas. The words of this messenger served to further anger the Pandavas.

This parva describes charioteers of different classes based on their level of skill.

The story of Amba is also recited in this parva.

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Previous: A Summary of the Virata Parva

Next: A Summary of the Bhishma Parva

Note: The Aranyaka Parva (also known as the Vanan Parva) deals with the events that happened while the Pandavas were exiled to the forest after the game of dice. 

This is the 3rd parva of the Mahabharata. It consists of 11664 shlokas (verses) divided into 269 sections.

When the Pandavas left their kingdom to go to the forest, many citizens of their kingdom also followed the wise Yudhishthira. However, having lost all his wealth in the game of dice, he was unable to feed the brahmanas who were following him to the forest. Yudhishthira offers prayers to Surya Dev (the Sun God) upon the instructions of his head priest, Dhaumya, and is gifted with the power to create food and feed the brahmanas.

This parva also contains the incident of Dhritarashtra expelling Vidura. The latter went to the Pandavas, but they advised him to return to Dhritarashtra.

This is followed by the incident of Karna inciting Duryodhana to destroy the Pandavas in the forest. However, Vyasa arrives in Hastinapur and convinces Duryodhan to abandon his wicked plans.

This parva contains the story of Surabhi.

Meanwhile, Maitreya arrived in Hastinapur and suggested a course of action to Dhritarashtra. He also cursed Duryodhana.

Bhima slayed Kirmira in this parva.

After that, the Panchalas and the princes of the Vrishni race found out about Yudhishthira’s plight and went to meet him in the forest. Krishna became intensely angry when he heard about the deceit and was calmed by Arjuna’s words. Draupadi lamented to Krishna about all that had happened and Krishna consoled her and said words to help her regain her composure. Eventually, Krishna returned to Dwarka with Subhadra’s son and Drishtadyumna returned to Panchala with Draupadi’s sons.

After Krishna and Drishtadyumna left, the Pandavas went to the romantic forests of Dwaita. There, Drupadi had a long conversation with Bhima and Yudhishthira. Vyasa Muni also met the Pandavas in the forest and gifted Yudhishthira with the power of Pratismriti (the power of traveling with great speed). After Ved Vyasa left, the Pandavas left Dwaita forest and went to the forest of Kamyaka.

This parva also describes Arjuna’s wanderings in search of weapons. During this time, Arjuna battled with Mahadeva (who was disguised as a hunter) and received the Pashupatastra from Lord Shiva. He also met the lokapalas and received weapons from them. Following this, Arjuna went to the region of Indra.

This parva contains the incident when Yudhishthira cried and lamented upon meeting the great sage, Brihadaswa. The sage narrated the story of Nala and Damyanti to Yudhishthira and also taught him to play dice with skill.

After Sage Brihadaswa left, Rishi Lomasa came from the heavens to meet the Pandavas. He told them about Arjuna’s whereabouts in the regions of Indra and conveyed Arjuna’s message asking the other Pandavas to go on a pilgrimage to various holy places to gain merit.

This parva also contains the story of the pilgrimage of the great sage Narada to the shrine of Putasta.

This parva contains the episode of Indra taking Karna’s protective ear-rings.

The magnificence of Gaya is also described here.

This is followed by two stories related to Rishi Agatsya. The first story is about how he ate the asura Vatapi, and, the second story is about his sexual relationship with Lopamudra due to his desire for a child.

We are also told the story of Rishyasringa who became a brahmachari from a very early age.

This parva contains the story of Parshurama in which he vanquishes Kartavirya and the Haihayas.

The meeting between the Pandavas and the Vrishnis at the sacred place called Prabhasa is also described in this parva.

Next comes the story of Sage Bhrigu’s son, Chyavana, who ensured that the Ashwin twins had a chance to drink the soma juice at King Saryati’s sacrifice. The twins were grateful to Chyavana because the other gods had prevented them from drinking the juice. Consequently, the Ashwins blessed Chayavana with eternal youth.

This parva also describes the stories of King Mandhata and Prince Jantu.

The story of why Indra, Agni, and Dharma examined and tested King Sivi is described next.

Next comes a sacrifice conducted by King Janaka, where there was a dispute between the rishis and Vandi (a great logician and the son of Varuna). Ashtavakra defeats the great Vandi and releases his trapped father from the ocean.

Following this are the stories of Yavakrita and the great Raivya.

After this, the Pandavas go to Gandhamadana and stay in a place called Narayana. Here, Draupadi requests Bhima to bring her a sweet-scented flower. During his journey in search of the flower, Bhima meets Hanuman, has a battle with mighty rakshasas and yakshas, and vanquishes the asura Jata.

After this, the Pandavas meet with the royal sage Vrishaparva and go to the ashram of Arshtishena to live there for some time. Here Draupadi incites Bhima to take revenge against the Kauravas.

Incited by Draupadi’s words, Bhima climbs the Kailasha mountain and has a terrible battle with the yakshas.

After that, the Pandavas meet Kubera and subsequently, Arjuna, after the mighty archer had obtained several celestial weapons. 

Soon after that, Arjuna had an encounter with the Nivatakavachas who stayed in Hiranyaparva. He also had encounters with the Paulomas and Kalakeyas. Arjuna won all these battles.

Then Arjuna tried to display the celestial weapons to Yudhishthira but Sage Narada prevented him from doing so.

This parva also contains the story of the Pandavas leaving Gandhamadana and the story of how Bhima was caught in the grip of a mighty serpent. He was eventually released when Yudhishthira was successfully able to answer certain questions.

After this, the Pandavas returned to the Kamyaka forest. Here, they met Krishna once again.

Soon after the Pandavas met Krishna, Sage Markandeya arrived in Kamyaka forest and recited various stories to the Pandavas. Among these were descriptions of Prithu (the son of Vena), Saraswati, Rishi Tarkhya, Matsya, Indradyumna, Dhundhumara, and Angira.

This parva also contains the meeting of Draupadi and Satyabhama.

After this meeting, the Pandavas returned to the romantic Dwaita forest.

Then they participated in a procession to see calves. There, they saw Duryodhana being held captive. Duryodhana was eventually rescued by Arjuna

Then Yudhishthira saw a deer in a dream.

After this, the Pandavas went back to Kamyaka forest.

This parva also contains the stories of Vrihidraunika and Sage Durvasa.

Also contained in this parva is the incident of Draupadi’s kidnapping by Jayadrata, following which Bhima overpowered him and shaved his head.

This parva, describes in detail, how Lord Rama won the battle against Ravana.

The story of Savitri is also narrated in this parva.

Lord Dharma (the god of justice) gave advice to his son, Yudhishthira, toward the end of this parva. 

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The image at the top of this page has been graciously contributed by Ramanarayanadatta astri to the public domain at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21155695

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Table of Contents

Previous: A Summary of the Sabha Parva

Next: A Summary of the Virata Parva

Note: The Adi Parva is the first of the 18 books that make up the Mahabharata. This parva contains 19 sub-parvas which are further divided into a total of 227 chapters. These 227 chapters contain 8884 slokas. What follows is a brief outline of all the 19 sub-parvas.

Anukramanika Parva

This parva begins with the bard, Ugrasrava Sauti, going to the Naimisha Forest to meet the rishis who had assembled at Saunaka Kulapati’s 12-year yagna. The rishis express a desire to hear the composition of Ved Vyasa called Bharata, and thus, the entire story of The Mahabharata is narrated by Ugrasrava Sauti to the rishis.

Sangraha Parva

Sauti explains the meaning of one Akshauhini, to the rishis, in this parva. He also provides various summaries of the Mahabharata.

Paushya Parva

The Paushya parva deals with the greatness of Utanka

Pauloma Parva

We learn about the history of sage Bhrigu and his descendants, in this parva.

Astika Parva

The Astika Parva describes the birth of Garuda and the Nagas (snakes), the churning of the ocean, and the birth of the celestial horse Uchchaihsrava. This parva also contains a description of King Bharata’s dynasty.

Adivansavatara Parva 

This parva contains several stories of Pandava and Kuru princes.

Check out the Amar Chitra Katha illustrated version of the Stories From Mahabharata.

Sambhava Parva

The Sambhava parva describes the birth of several kings and heroes from Bharatavarsha. It also tells us how the sage, Krishna Dwaipayana, was born. Then, it goes on to describe the partial incarnations of various deities, the birth of powerful danavas, yakshas, serpents, gandharvas, birds, and of all other creatures. King Bharata’s life and adventures are also described in this parva. 

The greatness of the Ganga, the births of the Vasus as children of King Shantanu, and their ascension to heaven are also described here. In this parva, we learn about why Bhishma renounced the throne of Hastinapur, his terrible vow, and how he protected Chitrangada and Vichitravirya (the sons of Shantanu and Satyavati). Herein are also contained the stories of the births of Dhritarashtra and Pandu, and also the birth of their children.

Jatugriha Parva

This parva tells us how Duryodhana plotted to burn the Pandavas in a house of lac in the village of Varnavata. We learn about how Vidura, based on a gut feeling about Duryodhana’s dark plan, warned Yudhishthira about the dangers that lay ahead. To ensure that his words were not understood by others who were present at that spot, Vidura spoke with Yudhishthira in the secret mlechchha language. This parva narrates the story of how the Pandavas escaped from the dangerous house of lac, and, how the evil man, Purochan, was burned in that house, instead of the Pandavas.

Unfortunately, the Pandavas had to spend many months hiding their identities. Apart from the events in Adi Parva, the Pandavas spend the entire Virata Parva in disguise. Check out what the Pandavas did in Hiding during the last year of exile in this illustrated Amar Chitra Katha graphic novel.

Hibimba Parva

In this parva, we read about the Pandavas journey through a dangerous forest where they met Hidimba who fell in love with Bhima. We learn about the anger of her demonic brother and how Bhima slayed him. Hidimba and Bhima get married in this parva and Hidimba gives birth to their son, Ghatotkacha.

Vaka-vadha Parva

This parva describes the meeting of the Pandavas with Vyasa after escaping from the house of lac. He advises them to stay in disguise in the city of Ekachakra at a brahmana’s house. Also contained is the story of how Bhima slays the asura Vaka. Later, we also learn about the extra-ordinary births of King Drupada’s children: Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna;

Chitraratha Parva

In this parva, the Pandavas go to Panchala, upon the advice of Ved Vyasa. On the way to Panchala, Arjuna had to battle with a gandharva, called Angaparva. Arjuna won the battle and, because the gandharva was impressed with Arjuna’s skills and bravery, they became friends. The gandharva tells the stories of Tapati, Vasishtha, and Aurva to Arjuna.

Swayamvara Parva

The Swayamvara Parva describes the journey of the Pandavas (who were disguised as brahmanas) to Panchala. In Panchala, Arjuna successfully pierced the mark set by Drupada and Princess Draupadi garlanded him in front of all the kings. A fight erupted in the swayamvara hall between Arjuna and Bhima on one side and several other kings, led by Karna, on the other. When Krishna and Balarama saw the valor of those two disguised men, Krishna immediately recognized them as Bhima and Arjuna. Finally, we learn about King Drupada’s dejection when he finds out that his daughter, Draupadi, will be marrying five husbands.

Throughout the Mahabharata, we see many great episodes with Arjuna. Why not read three short stories with Arjuna as the hero? Here’s a collection of Tales of Arjuna by Amar Chitra Katha.

Vaivahika Parva

This parva contains the wonderful story of the five Indras, who were born as the Pandavas and were divinely ordained to marry the celestial Goddess, incarnated as Draupadi.

Viduragamana Parva

In this parva, Vidura arrives at King Drupada’s palace. The Pandavas leave Panchala for Hastinapura with the blessings of Drupada and Krishna. There is an attempt to reconcile the differences between the Pandavas and their Kaurava cousins. Eventually, the Pandavas are given half the kingdom (the region of Khandavaprastha). Their capital city, Indraprastha, is also constructed in this parva.

Rajya-labha Parva

This parva contains sage Narada’s advice to the Pandavas regarding their marriage. Also narrated here are the stories of Sunda and Upasunda.

Arjuna-vananasa Parva

This parva describes Arjuna’s exile to the forest because he broke the vow by having seen Yudhishthira and Draupadi seated together. During the exile, Arjuna meets Ulupi, the daughter of a naga (serpent). Arjuna also visited several sacred places, and, in one such place, he saved five maidens who had been turned into alligators by the curse of a brahmana. The parva ends with the meeting of Krishna and Arjuna at the holy place called Prabhasa.

Subhadra-harana Parva

This parva deals with the story of how Arjuna fell in love with Subhadra and carried her away, in a special chariot, on the counsel of her brother Krishna. 

Harana-harana Parva

In this parva, we see that the warriors of the Vrishni clan were angered when they found out that Subhadra had been abducted by Arjuna. However, eventually, the warriors calm down and agree to Arjuna and Subhadra’s wedding. Also mentioned in this parva is the birth of Subhadra and Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, as well as the five children of Draupadi.

Krishna and Arjuna share a wonderful friendship. Krishna liked and trusted Arjuna so much that he happily advised him to carry away Subhadra and marry her! Krishna had always helped Arjuna and the Pandavas. Read Krishna’s Bhagavad Gita Upadesha to Arjuna from the illustrated Amar Chiatra Katha copy.

Khandava-daha Parva

This parva begins with the pleasure trip of Krishna and Arjuna to the banks of the Jamuna. There, they met Agni who sought their help to devour the Khandava forest. They helped Agni, and, in gratitude, Agni presented Arjuna with the bow called Gandiva. Agni also presented the discus – Sudarshan Chakra – to Krishna.

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Credits: The featured image was created originally by Ramanarayanadatta astri and is available in the public domain at https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21154315

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Table of Contents

Previous: A Listing With a Brief Outline of all the Parvas of the Mahabharata

Next: A Summary of the Sabha Parva