Anushasana Parva

Anushasana Parva (Sanskrit: अनुशासन पर्व, IAST: Anuśāsanaparva) or the "Book of Instructions", is the thirteenth of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 2 parts and 168 chapters.[1][2] The critical edition has 2 parts and 154 chapters.[3][4] Sometimes this parva is referred to as the "Book of Precepts".[5]

Anushasana Parva continues the theme of Shanti Parva, a discussion of duties of a ruler, the rule of law, instructions on dharma for those close to the leader. The dialogue is between Yudhishthira, Bhishma and other sages. The book debates the duties, behaviors and habits of individuals, with chapters dedicated to men and to women. Various types of marriages are mentioned and their merits compared. The parva also recites many symbolic tales and legends such as the legend of Nachiketa, as well as the death and last rites of Bhishma, the eldest member of the Kuru family.[2][5]

This is a controversial book in the Mahabharata. In the 2nd-century CE Spitzer Manuscript found in Kizil Caves, China, which includes a table of contents of the Mahabharata, there is no mention of the Virata Parva and Anushasana Parva.[6][7] Similarly, the old Mahabharata manuscripts in Sarada script discovered in Kashmir do not include this parva. This has led scholars such as Indologist Dieter Schlingloff to the proposal that the Anushasana Parva was a later interpolation into the epic.[8][6] Others scholars disagree and suggest that the other parva titles as mentioned in the Spitzer Manuscript table of contents may have included most of the chapters now in Anushasana Parva. These and other evidence strongly support the thesis that the epic was expanded and that it evolved in the early centuries of the common era, but such minimalist evidence in old manuscripts must be taken with caution rather than summary dismissal of an entire Parva.[7][9]

  1. ^ Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896) "Anusasana Parva" in The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (12 Volumes). Calcutta
  2. ^ a b Dutt, M.N. (1903) The Mahabharata (Volume 13): Anushasana Parva. Calcutta: Elysium Press
  3. ^ van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1973) The Mahabharata: Book 1: The Book of the Beginning. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p 478
  4. ^ Debroy, B. (2010) The Mahabharata, Volume 1. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India, pp xxiii - xxvi
  5. ^ a b John Murdoch (1898), The Mahabharata - An English Abridgment, Christian Literature Society for India, London, pages 116-120
  6. ^ a b K Preisendanz (2018). Florence Bretelle-Establet; Stéphane Schmitt (eds.). Pieces and Parts in Scientific Texts. Springer. pp. 175–178 with footnotes. ISBN 978-3-319-78467-0.
  7. ^ a b Johannes Bronkhorst (2016). How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas. BRILL. pp. 91–94. ISBN 978-90-04-31551-8.
  8. ^ Schlingloff, Dieter (1969). "The Oldest Extant Parvan-List of the Mahābhārata". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 89 (2): 334–338. doi:10.2307/596517. JSTOR 596517.
  9. ^ John Brockington (2010). "The Spitzer Manuscript and the Mahābhārata". In Eli Franco; Monica Zin (eds.). From Turfan to Ajanta. Lumbini International. pp. 75–86. ISBN 978-9-93755-3025.