Incredible Wisdom of Bharat!

Bhārata-Ext

(Draft for review only; this work is in progress and subject to revision.)

Chapter 1: Ugraśravas, the Sūta and son of Lomaharṣaṇa, introduces the Mahābhārata and begins recounting Vaiśampāyana’s narration to King Janamejaya. The section contains several indications of how the 8,800-verse Jaya may have expanded into the nearly 100,000-verse Mahābhārata. It also preserves five distinct tables of contents or summaries: the Gaṇeśa episode, with the eighteen parvas represented as a tree; the 150-verse table of contents; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s lamentation; the list of one hundred parva names; and the summary of the eighteen parvas. These appear to belong to different stages in the text’s development.