Book 13 of 18 · The Mahabharata

Anushasana Parva

अनुशासन पर्व

Anuśāsana Parva

The Book of the Instructions

What is the Anushasana Parva?

The Anushasana Parva (अनुशासन पर्व) is the thirteenth of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata. Its name means “Book of the Instructions”, and this site tells 72 stories drawn from it.

Anushasana Parva Summary

Bhishma's teaching continues and completes itself, moving from statecraft to the conduct of ordinary life. He speaks on giving and its fruits, on truthfulness, fasting, pilgrimage, the treatment of women, the power of the brahmins, and the working of karma across lifetimes. Tales such as Gautami and the snake, Nriga the lizard king and Bhangasvana the king who became a mother carry the arguments about fate, agency and gender. When the sun turns north Bhishma releases his life at last, and Yudhishthira performs the funeral rites for the grandsire who raised three generations of the family.

What This Book Is About

  • dharma
  • gifts
  • karma
  • instruction
  • death of Bhishma

Sub-Books (Upaparvas) of the Anushasana Parva

The Mahabharata divides itself into one hundred upaparvas; 2 of them belong to this book.

  1. Danadharma ParvaThe dharma of charitable givingSub-book 89 of 100
  2. Bhishmasvargarohana ParvaBhishma's ascent to heavenSub-book 90 of 100

Stories from the Anushasana Parva

72 stories on this site are told inside this book, in canonical reading order.

  1. Narada Questions the ApsaraPanchachuda is made to name the faults of women, and traces them back to their maker 14 min
  2. The Three Born of the FireBhrigu, Angiras and Kavi rise from a libation, and three gods claim them 17 min
  3. Righteousness, the Only FriendBrihaspati comes down from the sky to tell Yudhishthira what follows a man past death 20 min
  4. The Savitri Mantra of SalutationsBhishma gives Yudhishthira the roll of names to be said at dawn 21 min
  5. The Names That Cleanse SinAsked what destroys sin, Bhishma answers with a litany of gods, rivers, mountains, sages and kings 15 min
  6. Upamanyu's PenanceThe boy who refused every god but Shiva, and the god who came disguised as Indra to hear him do it 24 min
  7. Tandi and the Ten Thousand YearsA rishi meditates for a hundred centuries, sees Mahadeva, and hymns him as the end of all five roads 20 min
  8. Bhrigu in Agastya's HairHow an unseen sage cursed the mortal king of heaven into a snake 19 min
  9. The Guest Who LaughedVyasa and Maitreya argue over gift, penance and knowledge at Baranasi 17 min
  10. The Vow of Ten and Two YearsKrishna keeps a twelve year vow on the mountain and a fire walks out of his mouth 19 min
  11. The Three Sages Who Saved the GodsAgastya burns the Danavas, Vashishtha brings down the Sarayu, and Atri becomes the moon and the sun 13 min
  12. The Jackal and the ApeTwo friends meet again in a burning ground and account for their bodies 15 min
  13. The Ten Sins of Body, Speech and MindBhishma answers the plainest question with a list of ten things not to do 16 min
  14. How Vishnu Got the DiscusUpamanyu tells Krishna where Sudarsana came from, and Krishna climbs Himavat to ask Mahadeva for a son 23 min
  15. The Devotees of MahadevaKapila, Valmiki, Gritsamada and others tell Yudhishthira what a lifetime's devotion to Mahadeva bought them. 18 min
  16. What Sends a Man to Heaven or HellBhishma on gifts, the Sraddha, and the two lists of deeds 24 min
  17. The Brahmanas Who Deserve WorshipNarada tells Krishna whom he bows to, and Bhishma tells a king what it costs to forget 24 min
  18. Why Men Cling to WomenYudhishthira asks the question that Panchachuda's answer left standing 13 min
  19. The Five Forms of MarriageBhishma on how a daughter is given, what a dower does not buy, and the honour owed to women 24 min
  20. The Kinds of Sons and Their SharesBhishma divides a dead man's property, names the children of crossed orders, and settles who a son belongs to 24 min
  21. Gifts Under the Lunar MansionsNarada tells Devaki what to give under each star, and the gods ask Brahman for ground to stand on 23 min
  22. The Wrong Man Before YamaA crow-faced messenger seizes the neighbour instead of Sarmin, and Yama sends him home with a rule of life 13 min
  23. The Sraddhas Under the ConstellationsYama's calendar of offerings to the fathers, and the king who won the earth by it 13 min
  24. Flowers, Incense, and LampsThe goddess Earth tells Krishna what a household owes each day, and Shukra tells Bali which flowers belong to which beings 18 min
  25. Rules for a Long LifeBhishma sets out the conduct of an ordinary day, and how brothers should hold together 24 min
  26. The Fourfold Religion of CompassionBhishma on abstaining from meat, and the kings who kept the vow 24 min
  27. The Mysteries of Religion, Part OneThe deities, the Pitris and the Rishis each give up a duty whose reason is secret 24 min
  28. The Mysteries of Religion, Part TwoLomasa, Arundhati, the night-wanderers and the elephants of the quarters give up the last of their secrets 18 min
  29. Whose Food May Be EatenBhishma on the tables a man may sit at, and the expiations for the rest 14 min
  30. Whom One Should WorshipYudhishthira asks whom a man should bow to, and Bhishma answers with the brahmanas 17 min
  31. The Brahmanas and the KapasThe gods lose heaven and earth, and men on the ground win them back 15 min
  32. The Child Who Stopped Indra's ArmA boy on Uma's lap holds the thunderbolt in the air 16 min
  33. The Foundations of RighteousnessBhishma is asked whether the eye or the scripture decides, and answers with three foundations and a long list of small rules 18 min
  34. The Boy Who Questioned DeathNachiketa at the House of Yama 11 min
  35. The Old Woman, the Snake, and DeathGautami and the Truth of Karma 9 min
  36. The King Who Became a LizardNriga's long penance for one careless wrong 9 min
  37. The Guardian of the TrustVipula guards his teacher's wife from Indra, and conceals nothing 9 min
  38. The King Who Became a MotherHaving been both father and mother, he chose a mother's love 10 min
  39. The Price of a SageChyavana caught in the fishermen's net
  40. The Sage Who Shot at the SunHow the umbrella and the sandals came into the world
  41. The Test in the NorthAshtavakra goes for a bride and is stopped by a woman
  42. The Praise That Cost a SageAtri, Gautama, and a quarrel in a sacrificial hall
  43. The Sage Who Drank the SeaUtathya, Bhadra, and the day Varuna came up on foot
  44. The King Who Was Made a BrahmanaVitahavya, the Haihaya, and a word that changed a birth
  45. Why Gold Is the Highest GiftThe metal left behind by fire
  46. Durvasa Tests KrishnaThe wrathful sage who found no anger to curse in all of Dwaraka
  47. The Two Bowls of RiceHow a mother's swap made a brahmana of one line and a warrior of the other 17 min
  48. The Man Who Was Not Allowed InA Sudra's hermitage, a sage's kindness, and two lives turned inside out 18 min
  49. The Cow Born of NectarDaksha's gift, Mahadeva's third eye, and why cattle wear many colours 14 min
  50. Four Faces and a Blue ThroatUma asks her husband to account for himself 19 min
  51. The Wind Answers the Thousand-Armed KingKartavirya boasts, and an invisible voice begins to argue 21 min
  52. The Thousand Names of VishnuVishnu Sahasranama - Bhishma's Last Gift
  53. The Thousand Names of ShivaShiva Sahasranama - Krishna's Own Teaching
  54. The Dharma of GiftsDanadharma - What Giving Actually Is
  55. Destiny and EffortThe Seed and the Field
  56. The Guest at the DoorSudarshana's Vow of Hospitality
  57. Uma Questions ShivaThe Goddess and the Great God on Dharma
  58. Upamanyu and the Ocean of MilkThe Boy Who Cried for Milk
  59. The Gift of CowsWhy the Cow Is the First of Gifts
  60. Where Fortune DwellsLakshmi Among the Cows
  61. Chyavana Tests the KingTwenty-One Days of Stillness
  62. Baka Dalbhya and the King of HeavenThe Long-Lived Sage's Ledger
  63. The Dharma of FastingWhat Hunger Teaches
  64. The Feeding of the FathersHow the Shraddha Began
  65. Matanga's AusterityThe Man Who Asked to Change His Birth
  66. The Merit of the FordsWhy the Waters Wash
  67. The Theft of the Lotus StalksSeven Sages, a King's Gold, and an Oath That Blessed the Thief
  68. The Hand That Rose From the GrassBhishma's own memory of Shantanu's shraddha at the gate of Ganga 16 min
  69. The Man Who Remembered His BirthsA chandala brushing milk from his skin 16 min
  70. The Elephant the Sage Called SonGautama argues his way through every heaven for a stolen calf 20 min
  71. Why Are You Pale and LeanA man-eater asks a question instead of eating 17 min
  72. The Departure of BhishmaThe sun turns north, and the grandsire lets go 17 min

Where This Book Sits

The Anushasana Parva is book 13 of the eighteen parvas. It follows the Shanti Parva, the book of peace. The Ashvamedhika Parva, the book of the horse sacrifice, comes next.

See all eighteen parvas of the MahabharataFollow the epic as a timeline