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 3 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

Stories from the Virata Parva

3 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.
  2. The Year of DisguiseThe Pandavas Hidden at Virata's Court
  3. The Slaying of KichakaThe Midnight Encounter in the Dance Hall

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