Book 4 of 18 · The Mahabharata

Virata Parva

विराट पर्व

Virāṭa Parva

The Book of Virata

What is the Virata Parva?

The Virata Parva (विराट पर्व) is the fourth of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata. Its name means “Book of Virata”, and this site tells 27 stories drawn from it.

Virata Parva Summary

The thirteenth year of exile must be passed in disguise, and discovery would restart the whole term. The five brothers and Draupadi enter the court of King Virata of Matsya as a courtier, a cook, a stable hand, a cowherd, a eunuch dance teacher and a queen's maid. When the general Kichaka assaults Draupadi, Bhima kills him in the darkness of the dancing hall, and the Kauravas raid Virata's cattle hoping to smoke the Pandavas out. Arjuna, still dressed as Brihannala, takes up the Gandiva and routs the entire Kaurava army alone, and the year ends with Abhimanyu's marriage to Uttara.

What This Book Is About

  • disguise
  • patience
  • humiliation
  • revelation
  • alliance

Sub-Books (Upaparvas) of the Virata Parva

The Mahabharata divides itself into one hundred upaparvas; 4 of them belong to this book.

  1. Vairata ParvaThe Sojourn at Virata's CourtSub-book 45 of 100
  2. Kichaka-vadha ParvaThe Slaying of KichakaSub-book 46 of 100
  3. Go-harana ParvaThe Cattle RaidSub-book 47 of 100
  4. Vaivahika ParvaThe Wedding at Virata's CourtSub-book 48 of 100

Stories from the Virata Parva

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

  1. The Year of MasksThe Virata Parva shows that even the mightiest must sometimes hide and endure. 20 min
  2. The Year of DisguiseThe Pandavas Hidden at Virata's Court 21 min
  3. The Slaying of KichakaThe Midnight Encounter in the Dance Hall 20 min
  4. The Southern Cattle RaidSusharma Strikes at Matsya
  5. The Northern Cattle RaidBrihannala Turns the Chariot
  6. The Wedding at UpaplavyaAbhimanyu and Uttaraa
  7. What Dhaumya Told Them About KingsThe rules for living inside another man's palace 16 min
  8. The Goddess on the Road to MatsyaA king with nothing left prays walking 17 min
  9. The Hands Marked With CornsA night in the kitchen, and everything she had not said 21 min
  10. The Pyre and the Uprooted TreeA hundred and five kinsmen and one bound woman 17 min
  11. Where a Good King Must Be LivingThe Kuru court tries to find five men by their weather 18 min
  12. The Ten Names of ArjunaA frightened prince demands proof at the burning ground 20 min
  13. The Quarrel Before the CattleAshwatthama tells Duryodhana what his kingdom is made of 21 min
  14. The Day Karna RanThe boast in the dice hall, answered at last 16 min
  15. The Grandsire Under the Golden PalmCelestial weapons, and Indra dropping flowers 16 min
  16. The Sleep Weapon and the Robes for the DollsSix great warriors disarmed, and a promise kept to some girls 17 min
  17. Five Men on the ThronesThe morning the servants stopped pretending 21 min
  18. The Lineage of GandivaBrihannala names five sets of weapons and the six who held the great bow 12 min
  19. Sudeshna of MatsyaThe queen between her brother and her maid
  20. Matsya, the Kingdom of the FishThe realm that hid five kings and a queen
  21. Ballava in the KitchensBhima's year in disguise
  22. Brihannala, the Dancer in the Guarded QuartersArjuna's year in disguise
  23. The Twins in the Stables and the PensNakula and Sahadeva's year in disguise
  24. Kanka, the King Who Dealt the DiceYudhishthira's year in disguise
  25. Sairandhri, the Queen in ServiceDraupadi's year in disguise
  26. The Corpse in the Shami TreeHow the weapons slept for a year
  27. Trigarta, the Land of Three RiversThe kingdom that swore to die fighting Arjuna

Where This Book Sits

The Virata Parva is book 4 of the eighteen parvas. It follows the Vana Parva, the book of the forest. The Udyoga Parva, the book of the effort, comes next.

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