Virata Parva
Fourth book of the Mahabharata / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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, China, which includes a table of contents of the Mahabharata, there is no mention of the Virata Parva and Anushasana Parva.[7][8]