Book 3 of 18 · The Mahabharata

Vana Parva

वन पर्व

Vana Parva

The Book of the Forest

What is the Vana Parva?

The Vana Parva (वन पर्व) is the third of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata. Its name means “Book of the Forest”, and this site tells 42 stories drawn from it.

Vana Parva Summary

The longest span of the exile, twelve years spent in the forests of the Kamyaka, the Dvaita woods and the Himalayan slopes. Arjuna climbs to Indra's heaven and to Shiva himself to win celestial weapons, Bhima meets Hanuman on a mountain path, and Yudhishthira answers the questions of a yaksha at a poisoned lake to bring his brothers back to life. Sages who visit the exiles fill the book with the epic's greatest inset tales - Nala and Damayanti, Savitri and Yama, Rama's war for Sita, the churning legends and the pilgrimage stories of the sacred fords. It is the Mahabharata's treasury of teaching stories, and the forge in which the Pandavas are remade for war.

What This Book Is About

  • exile
  • austerity
  • pilgrimage
  • inset tales
  • endurance

Stories from the Vana Parva

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

  1. Adventures in the ForestTwelve Years of Pandava Exile 30 min
  2. Thirteen Years of FireThe exile teaches that suffering, accepted with dignity and used as a forge, transforms weakness into strength. 27 min
  3. The Ghosha YatraDuryodhana Goes to Mock the Exiles and Is Saved by Them 21 min
  4. Draupadi's Trials in ExileThe Sari, the Sage, and a Question to a Queen 24 min
  5. The Divine ArsenalArjuna's Ascent to Indraloka 19 min
  6. The Meeting of BrothersThe Lesson in Humility 19 min
  7. Krishna and the Flying CityThe Fall of Saubha 7 min
  8. Draupadi and SatyabhamaThe Secret That Is No Secret 5 min
  9. Nala and DamayantiThe King Who Lost Everything at Dice and Won It Back 24 min
  10. Savitri and the Lord of DeathThe Wife Who Argued Yama Into Defeat 28 min
  11. The Story of RamaThe Tale Markandeya Told in the Forest 16 min
  12. The Wife Turned to StoneAhalya, Gautama, and the Touch of Rama 9 min
  13. The Child Who Leapt for the SunThe Birth and Boons of Hanuman 9 min
  14. The Sage Who Drank the OceanAgastya, Lopamudra, and the Demon Vatapi 13 min
  15. The Warrior With the AxeParashurama, Jamadagni, and the Long Vengeance 11 min
  16. The Descent of the RiverBhagiratha and the Sons of Sagara 11 min
  17. The Sage Whose Blood Was SapShiva humbles Mankanaka's pride with a touch of his thumb 9 min
  18. The Sage and the PrincessChyavana, Sukanya, and the Ashvins 11 min
  19. The Knowledge Not EarnedYavakri and the Handfuls of Sand 9 min
  20. The Price of a Hundred SonsA king who would not let his priest suffer alone 10 min
  21. The Slayer of the Sand-DemonKuvalashva and the Demon Dhundhu 8 min
  22. The King Born of a KingMandhata, Whom Indra Suckled 8 min
  23. The Hawk and the DoveKing Shibi's Sacrifice 10 min
  24. The Hermit Who Brought the RainRishyasringa and the Drought of Anga 12 min
  25. The Boy Bound for SacrificeFreed from the stake by prayer and a sage's compassion 9 min
  26. The King Who Hung Between WorldsTrishanku and the New Heaven 10 min
  27. The Birth of the War-GodSkanda and the Slaying of Taraka 10 min
  28. The Birth of the Wind-GodsDiti, Indra, and the Maruts 8 min
  29. The Sun's Wife and the ShadowSurya, Sanjna, and the Forging of the Weapons 9 min
  30. The Fish and the FloodManu and the Great Deluge 9 min
  31. The Child on the Cosmic WatersMarkandeya's Vision of the World's End 11 min
  32. The Sage Who Defeated DeathMarkandeya, Shiva, and the Conquest of Death 9 min
  33. The King Who Was ForgottenA search among the oldest beings for one who remembers 9 min
  34. The Chaste Wife and the Three GodsAnasuya and the Test of the Trimurti 9 min
  35. The Righteous ButcherThe Wisdom of the Vyadha 13 min
  36. The Sage of Eight BendsAshtavakra and the Court of Janaka 13 min
  37. The Gleaner Who Refused HeavenMudgala and the Test of Durvasa 10 min
  38. The Elephant and the CrocodileGajendra's Surrender 9 min
  39. The Boy Who Became the Pole StarDhruva's Penance 12 min
  40. The Abduction of DraupadiJayadratha's Crime and the Five Tufts of Shame 19 min
  41. The Python's QuestionsThe Curse of Nahusha 12 min
  42. The Questions of the YakshaThe Test of the Lake of Death 18 min

Where This Book Sits

The Vana Parva is book 3 of the eighteen parvas. It follows the Sabha Parva, the book of the assembly hall. The Virata Parva, the book of virata, comes next.

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