Virata Parva, also known as the “Book of Virata”, is the fourth of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata.[1] Virata Parva traditionally has 4 parts and 72 chapters.[2][3] The critical edition of Virata Parva has 4 parts and 67 chapters.[4][5]
It discusses the 13th year of exile which the Pandavas must spend incognito to avoid another 12 years of exile in the forest. They do so in the court of Virata.[2] They assume a variety of identities. Yudhishthira assumes the identity of game entertainer to the king and calls himself Kanka, Bhima of a cook Ballava,[6] Arjuna teaches dance and music as eunuch Brihannala and dresses as a woman, Nakula tends horses as Granthika, Sahadeva herds cows as Tantipala, and Draupadi in the name of Malini went as Sairandhri to queen Shudeshna.[1]
This is a controversial book in the Mahabharata. In the 2nd-century CE Spitzer Manuscript found in Kizil Caves, which includes a table of contents of the Mahabharata, there is no mention of the Virata Parva and Anushasana Parva.[7][8]
- ^ a b van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1978) The Mahabharata: Book 4: The Book of the Virata; Book 5: The Book of the Effort. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press
- ^ a b Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896) "Virata Parva" in The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (12 Volumes). Calcutta
- ^ Dutt, M.N. (1896) The Mahabharata (Volume 4): Virata Parva. Calcutta: Elysium Press
- ^ van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1973) The Mahabharata: Book 1: The Book of the Beginning. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p 476
- ^ Debroy, B. (2010) The Mahabharata, Volume 1. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India, pp xxiii - xxvi
- ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 75.
- ^ Bronkhorst, Johannes (2016). How the Brahmins won: from Alexander to the Guptas. Handbook of oriental studies. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-31519-8.
- ^ Bretelle-Establet, Florence; Schmitt, Stéphane (2018). Pieces and parts in scientific texts. Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter. Cham: Springer international publishing Imprint : Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-78467-0.