Mahabharata - Ādi Parva (महाभारत - आदि पर्व)
- by Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa
(Filtered based on Project Victory findings.)
  • Chapter 1: Preface: Overview of the Bhārata, Layered Meanings, and Expansion
  • Chapter 2: Uttanka and Janamejaya; the Bhṛgu–Āstīka narratives; the churning of the ocean, Kadrū–Vinatā wager, and birth of Garuḍa.
  • Chapter 3: Garuḍa seeks amṛta to free Vinatā, defeats its divine guardians, becomes Viṣṇu’s vehicle, befriends Indra, and secures his mother’s release.
  • Chapter 4: Śeṣa and Vāsuki confront the serpent curse; Parīkṣit is killed by Takṣaka, Janamejaya begins the snake sacrifice, and Āstīka stops it.
  • Chapter 5: Vyāsa arrives at Janamejaya’s serpent sacrifice, and Vaiśampāyana begins narrating the Jaya with its table of contents.
  • Chapter 6: Uparicara Vasu, Girikā and Adrikā; Satyavatī and the birth of Dvaipāyana.
  • Chapter 7: Divine and demonic descents, creation genealogies, and their births among the principal Mahābhārata figures.
  • Chapter 8: Śakuntalā’s birth from Viśvāmitra and Menakā; her Gandharva marriage with Duḥṣanta, Bharata’s birth and recognition, and the rise of the Bhārata lineage.
  • Chapter 9: Kaca and Devayānī; Yayāti’s unions with Devayānī and Śarmiṣṭhā, birth of his five sons, exchange of youth with Pūru, and Yayāti’s fall and return to heaven.
  • Chapter 10: Janamejaya asks for the lineage of Pūru, and Vaiśampāyana traces successive rulers through Bharata, Bhumanyu, Ajamīḍha, Saṃvaraṇa and Kuru to Pratīpa and Śantanu. The chapter also contains supplementary genealogical variants and increasingly expansive accounts of royal sacrifices, prosperity and gifts.
  • Chapter 11: Mahābhiṣa and Gaṅgā; the Vasus’ curse, Gaṅgā’s pact with Pratīpa and marriage to Śantanu, and the birth, preservation and return of Gāṅgeya.
  • Chapter 12: Śantanu seeks Satyavatī; Devavrata secures the marriage by renouncing the throne and progeny, and becomes Bhīṣma.
  • Chapter 13: Śantanu’s sons; Citrāṅgada’s death, Vicitravīrya’s accession, Bhīṣma’s seizure of the Kāśī princesses, Ambā’s release, and Vicitravīrya’s death.
  • Chapter 14: Satyavatī summons Vyāsa to preserve the Kuru line; Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura are born.
  • Chapter 15: Pāṇḍu becomes king; Gāndhārī marries Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Kuntī and Mādrī marry Pāṇḍu.
  • Chapter 16: Pāṇḍu’s conquests, forest retreat, and curse by Kindama.
  • Chapter 17: Pāṇḍu renounces worldly life after Kindama’s curse and withdraws with Kuntī and Mādrī to Śataśṛṅga.
  • Chapter 18: Pāṇḍu seeks heirs; Kuntī bears Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna, while Mādrī bears Nakula and Sahadeva by invoking deities.
  • Chapter 19: Gāndhārī’s hard mass is divided by Vyāsa into 101 embryos; jealousy underlies both Gāndhārī’s anguish and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s dynastic anxiety.
  • Chapter 20: Pāṇḍu’s death and Mādrī’s following him; Kuntī and the Pāṇḍavas return to Hastināpura, funeral rites are performed, and Satyavatī retires to the forest with Ambikā and Ambālikā.
  • Chapter 21: Duryodhana reveals his wicked disposition and desire to seize the kingdom by plotting Bhīma’s death; Yudhiṣṭhira takes control under Vidura’s guidance.
  • Chapter 22: Kṛpa and Droṇa as martial instructors; Droṇa’s arrival in Hastināpura, Arjuna’s emergence as his foremost pupil, Ekalavya’s deprivation, and the Brahmaśiras weapon.
  • Chapter 23: The princes’ martial exhibition; Bhīma and Duryodhana’s prowess, Arjuna’s acclaimed skill, Karṇa’s challenge, and his alliance with Duryodhana.
  • Chapter 24: Droṇa’s guru-dakṣiṇā; Yudhiṣṭhira’s strategy, Drupada’s capture by the Pāṇḍavas, and Droṇa’s division of Pañcāla.
  • Chapter 25: Duryodhana and Dhṛtarāṣṭra conspire to remove the Pāṇḍavas; the plot at Vāraṇāvata is set in motion to burn them alive.
  • Chapter 26: The Pāṇḍavas secretly escape after burning the lac house and are believed dead. Dhṛtarāṣṭra publicly mourns while Vidura conceals the truth.
  • Chapter 27: The Pāṇḍavas’ Flight into the Forest and Bhīma’s Encounter with Hiḍimba
  • Chapter 28: Bhīma’s Marriage to Hiḍimbā, the Birth of Ghaṭotkaca, and Vyāsa’s Guidance to the Pāṇḍavas
  • Chapter 29: Kuntī’s Decision to Send Bhīma Against Baka to Save Their Brahmin Host