Editing Mahabharata (section)

== Textual history and structure ==
[[File:Ganesa writing the Mahabharat.jpeg|thumb|Vyasa narrating the ''Mahābhārata'' to [[Ganesha]] from a 17th century Mewar manuscript.]]

The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage [[Vyasa]], who is also a major figure in the epic.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002" /> Vyasa described it as being an ''[[itihasa]]'' ({{Translation|history}}). He also describes the [[Guru–shishya tradition]], which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times.

The first section of the ''Mahābhārata'' states that it was [[Ganesha]] who wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and the "Critical Edition" does not include Ganesha.<ref>''Mahābhārata'', Vol. 1, Part 2. Critical edition, p. 884.</ref>

The epic employs the [[story within a story]] structure, otherwise known as [[Frame story|frametales]], popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It is first recited at ''[[Taxila|Takshashila]]'' by the sage [[Vaisampayana]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Richard H.|title=The "Bhagavad Gita": A Biography|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=38|isbn=978-1-4008-5197-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQ3rAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Krishnan|first1=Bal|title=Kurukshetra: Political and Cultural History|date=1978|publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation|page=50|isbn=9788170180333|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pUBAAAAMAAJ&q=Vaishampayana+related|access-date=6 November 2020|archive-date=7 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907124233/https://books.google.com/books?id=_pUBAAAAMAAJ&q=Vaishampayana+related|url-status=live}}</ref> a disciple of Vyasa, to the King [[Janamejaya II|Janamejaya]] who was the great-grandson of the [[Pandava]] prince [[Arjuna]]. The story is then recited again by a professional storyteller named [[Ugrashravas|Ugrashrava Sauti]], many years later, to an assemblage of sages performing the 12-year sacrifice for the king Saunaka Kulapati in the [[Naimiṣāraṇya (forest)|Naimisha Forest]].
[[File:Sauti recites the slokas of the Mahabharata.jpg|thumb|Sauti recites the slokas of the ''Mahabharata''.]]
The text was described by some early 20th-century [[Indology|Indologists]] as unstructured and chaotic. [[Hermann Oldenberg]] supposed that the original poem must once have carried an immense "tragic force" but dismissed the full text as a "horrible chaos."<ref>{{cite book|first=Hermann|last=Oldenberg|title=Das Mahabharata: seine Entstehung, sein Inhalt, seine Form|location=Göttingen|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|year=1922|lccn=24000855|oclc=4878979|lang=de}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> [[Moritz Winternitz]] (''Geschichte der indischen Literatur'' 1909) considered that "only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes" could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole.<ref>[http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/07-06/features360.htm "The Mahabharata"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106205614/http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/07-06/features360.htm |date=6 November 2006 }} at ''The Sampradaya Sun''</ref>

=== Accretion and redaction ===
Research on the ''Mahābhārata'' has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present ''Mahabharata'' can be traced back to Vedic times.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FYPOVdzZ2UIC&dq=a+history+of+indian+literature+mahabharata+date&pg=PA452 ''A History of Indian Literature''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406115439/https://books.google.com/books?id=FYPOVdzZ2UIC&dq=a+history+of+indian+literature+mahabharata+date&pg=PA452 |date=6 April 2023 }}, Volume 1 by Maurice Winternitz</ref> The background to the ''Mahābhārata'' suggests the origin of the epic occurs "after the very early [[Vedic period]]" and before "[[Maurya Empire|the first Indian 'empire']] was to rise in the third century B.C." That this is "a date not too far removed from the 8th or 9th century B.C."<ref name="BrockingtonA" /><ref name=vanB73>Buitenen (1973) pp. xxiv–xxv</ref> is likely. The ''Mahabharata'' started as an orally-transmitted tale of the charioteer [[bard]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scroll.in/article/806662/the-mahabharata-how-an-oral-narrative-of-the-bards-became-the-didactic-text-of-the-brahmins|title=The Mahabharata: How an oral narrative of the bards became a text of the Brahmins|first=Ruchika|last=Sharma|website=Scroll.in|date=16 January 2017|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117134753/http://scroll.in/article/806662/the-mahabharata-how-an-oral-narrative-of-the-bards-became-the-didactic-text-of-the-brahmins|url-status=live}}</ref> It is generally agreed that "Unlike the [[Vedas]], which have to be preserved letter-perfect, the epic was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably conform to changes in language and style,"<ref name="vanB73" /> so the earliest 'surviving' components of this dynamic text are believed to be no older than the earliest 'external' references we have to the epic, which include a reference in [[Pāṇini|Panini]]'s 4th century BCE grammar [[Aṣṭādhyāyī|''Ashtadhyayi'']] 4:2:56.<ref name="BrockingtonA" /><ref name="vanB73" /> Vishnu Sukthankar, editor of the first great critical edition of the ''Mahābhārata'', commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid text in an original shape, based on an archetype and a ''[[stemma codicum]]''. What then is possible? Our objective can only be to reconstruct ''the oldest form of the text which it is possible to reach'' based on the manuscript material available."<ref>Sukthankar (1933) "Prolegomena" p. lxxxvi. Emphasis is original.</ref> That manuscript evidence is somewhat late, given its material composition and the climate of India, but it is very extensive.

The ''Mahābhārata'' itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses: the ''Bhārata'' proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while the ''[[Grhya Sutras|Ashvalayana Grihyasutra]]'' (3.4.4) makes a similar distinction. At least three redactions of the text are commonly recognized: ''Jaya'' (Victory) with 8,800 verses attributed to Vyasa, the ''Bharata'' with 24,000 verses as recited by [[Vaisampayana]], and finally the ''Mahābhārata'' as recited by [[Ugrasrava Sauti|Ugrashrava Sauti]] with over 100,000 verses.<ref>Gupta & Ramachandran (1976), citing ''Mahabharata'', Critical Edition, I, 56, 33</ref><ref>SP Gupta and KS Ramachandran (1976), p.3-4, citing Vaidya (1967), p.11</ref> However, some scholars, such as John Brockington, argue that ''Jaya'' and ''Bharata'' refer to the same text, and ascribe the theory of ''Jaya'' with 8,800 verses to a misreading of a verse in the ''[[Adi Parva]]'' (1.1.81).<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C&pg=PA21|title= The Sanskrit epics, Part 2|volume= 12|first= J. L.|last= Brockington|page= 21|publisher= BRILL|year= 1998|isbn= 978-90-04-10260-6|access-date= 30 May 2020|archive-date= 7 September 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230907124733/https://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C&pg=PA21|url-status= live}}</ref> The [[redaction]] of this large body of text was carried out after formal principles, emphasizing the numbers 18<ref>18 books, 18 chapters of the ''Bhagavadgita'' and the Narayaniya each, corresponding to the 18 days of the battle and the 18 armies (Mbh. 5.152.23)</ref> and 12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the ''[[Anushasana Parva]]'' and the ''[[Virata Parva]]'' from the "[[The Spitzer manuscript|Spitzer manuscript]]".<ref>The Spitzer Manuscript (Beitrage zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens), Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2004. It is one of the oldest Sanskrit manuscripts found on the [[Silk Road]] and part of the estate of Dr. Moritz Spitzer.</ref> The oldest surviving [[Sanskrit]] text dates to the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan Period]] (200 CE).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schlingloff|first=Dieter|year=1969|title=The Oldest Extant Parvan-List of the Mahābhārata|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=89|issue=2|pages=334–338|doi=10.2307/596517|jstor=596517}}</ref>

According to what one figure says at Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic, beginning with ''Manu'' (1.1.27), ''Astika'' (1.3, sub-Parva 5), or ''Vasu'' (1.57), respectively. These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues. The ''Vasu'' version would omit the frame settings and begin with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The ''astika'' version would add the ''sarpasattra'' and ''ashvamedha'' material from Brahmanical literature, introduce the name ''Mahābhārata'', and identify Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these additions were probably [[Pañcaratra|Pancharatrin]] scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the [[Huna (people)|Huna]] in the ''[[Bhishma Parva]]'' however appears to imply that this Parva may have been edited around the 4th century.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-11-21|title=Vyasa, can you hear us now?|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/vyasa-can-you-hear-us-now/|access-date=2020-06-07|website=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=7 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607164708/https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/vyasa-can-you-hear-us-now/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Snakesacrifice.jpg|thumb|The snake sacrifice of Janamejaya]]
The ''Adi Parva'' includes the snake sacrifice (''sarpasattra'') of [[Janamejaya II|Janamejaya]], explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why despite this, there are still snakes in existence. This ''sarpasattra'' material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the ''Mahābhārata'' by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have a particularly close connection to [[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] ([[Brahmana]]) literature. The ''[[Panchavimsha Brahmana]]'' (at 25.15.3) enumerates the officiant priests of a ''sarpasattra'' among whom the names [[Dhritarashtra]] and Janamejaya, two main figures of the ''Mahābhārata'''s ''sarpasattra'', as well as [[Takshaka]], a snake in the ''Mahābhārata'', occur.<ref>J.A.B. van Buitenen, ''Mahābhārata, Volume 1'', p.445, citing W. Caland, ''The Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa'', p.640-2</ref>

The ''[[Suparṇākhyāna|Suparnakhyana]]'', a late Vedic period poem considered to be among the "earliest traces of epic poetry in India," is an older, shorter precursor to the expanded legend of [[Garuda]] that is included in the ''Astika Parva'', within the ''Adi Parva'' of the ''Mahābhārata''.<ref name="Winternitz1996">{{cite book|author=Moriz Winternitz|title=A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA292|year=1996|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0264-3|pages=291–292|access-date=22 November 2018|archive-date=6 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706210944/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA292|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Vogel1995">{{cite book|author=Jean Philippe Vogel|title=Indian Serpent-lore: Or, The Nāgas in Hindu Legend and Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caskYEbIQDoC&pg=PA53|year=1995|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1071-2|pages=53–54|access-date=22 November 2018|archive-date=6 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706210945/https://books.google.com/books?id=caskYEbIQDoC&pg=PA53|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Historical references ===
{{See also|Bhagavad Gita#Date and text}}
The earliest known references to ''bhārata'' and the [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] ''mahābhārata'' date to the [[Aṣṭādhyāyī|''Ashtadhyayi'']]  ([[sutra]] 6.2.38)<ref>''mahān vrīhyaparāhṇagṛṣṭīṣvāsajābālabhārabhāratahailihilarauravapravṛddheṣu'', [http://sanskritdictionary.com/panini/6-2-38 'Pāṇini Research Tool', Sanskrit Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930033631/http://sanskritdictionary.com/panini/6-2-38 |date=30 September 2021 }}</ref> of [[Pāṇini|Panini]] (''fl.'' 4th century BCE) and the ''[[Grhya Sutras|Ashvalayana Grihyasutra]]'' (3.4.4). This may mean that the core 24,000 verses, known as the ''Bhārata'', as well as an early version of the extended ''Mahābhārata'', were composed by the 4th century BCE. However, it is uncertain whether Panini referred to the epic, as ''bhārata'' was also used to describe other things. [[Albrecht Weber]] mentions the [[Rigveda|Rigvedic]] tribe of the [[Bharatas (tribe)|Bharatas]], where a great person might have been designated as ''Mahā-Bhārata.'' However, as Panini also mentions figures that play a role in the ''Mahābhārata'', some parts of the epic may have already been known in his day. Another aspect is that Panini determined the [[Pitch-accent language|accent]] of ''mahā-bhārata''. However, the ''Mahābhārata'' was not recited in [[Vedic accent]].<ref>[[Johannes Bronkhorst|Bronkhorst, J.]] (2016): ''How the Brahmins Won. From Alexander to the Guptas'', Brill, p. 78-80, 97</ref>

The Greek writer [[Dio Chrysostom]] ({{Circa|40|120 CE}}) reported that [[Homer]]'s poetry was being sung even in India.<ref>Dio Chrysostom, 53.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/53*.html#6 6]-7, trans. H. Lamar Crosby, [[Loeb Classical Library]], 1946, vol. 4, p. 363.</ref> Many scholars have taken this as evidence for the existence of a ''Māhabhārata'' at this date, whose episodes Dio or his sources identify with the story of the ''Iliad''.<ref>[[Christian Lassen]], in his ''Indische Alterthumskunde'', supposed that the reference is ultimate to Dhritarashtra's sorrows, the laments of Gandhari and Draupadi, and the valor of Arjuna and Suyodhana or Karna (cited approvingly in [[Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker|Max Duncker]], ''The History of Antiquity'' (trans. [[Evelyn Abbott]], London 1880), vol. 4, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gIkBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA81 p. 81]). This interpretation is endorsed in such standard references as [[Albrecht Weber]]'s ''History of Indian Literature'' but has sometimes been repeated as fact instead of as interpretation.</ref>

Several stories within the ''Mahābhārata'' took on separate identities of their own in [[Classical Sanskrit literature]]. For instance, the [[Abhijñānaśākuntalam|''Abhijnanashakuntala'']] by the Sanskrit poet [[Kalidasa]] ({{Circa|400 CE}}), believed to have lived in the era of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] dynasty, is based on a story that is the precursor to the ''Mahābhārata''. The ''[[Urubhanga]]'', a Sanskrit play written by [[Bhāsa|Bhasa]] who is believed to have lived before Kalidasa, is based on the slaying of Duryodhana by the splitting of his thighs by [[Bhima]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Ghadyalpatil|first=Abhiram|date=2016-10-10|title=Maharashtra builds up a case for providing quotas to Marathas|url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/q71WZs7MNRESfXzM7UEnKI/Maharashtra-builds-up-case-for-providing-quotas-to-Marathas.html|access-date=2020-06-07|website=Livemint|language=en|archive-date=7 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607165207/https://www.livemint.com/Politics/q71WZs7MNRESfXzM7UEnKI/Maharashtra-builds-up-case-for-providing-quotas-to-Marathas.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The copper-plate inscription of the [[Maharaja]] Sharvanatha (533–534 CE) from Khoh ([[Satna]] District, [[Madhya Pradesh]]) describes the ''Mahābhārata'' as a "collection of 100,000 verses" (''śata-sahasri saṃhitā'').<ref name=":0" />

=== The 18 parvas or books ===
The division into 18 parvas is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parva
!Title
!Sub-parvas
!Contents
|-
|1
|''[[Adi Parva]]'' ''(The Book of the Beginning)''
|1–19
|How the ''Mahābhārata'' came to be narrated by [[Ugrasrava Sauti|Sauti]] to the assembled [[rishi]]s at [[Naimisharanya]], after having been recited at the ''sarpasattra'' of [[Janamejaya II|Janamejaya]] by [[Vaisampayana]] at [[Taxila|Takshashila]]. The history and genealogy of the [[Bhāratas|Bharata]] and [[Bhrigu]] races are recalled, as is the birth and early life of the [[Kuru kingdom|Kuru]] [[List of characters in the Mahabharata|princes]] (''adi'' means first). Adi parva describes [[Pandava|Pandavas]]' birth, childhood, education, marriage, struggles due to conspiracy as well as glorious achievements.
|-
|2
|''[[Sabha Parva]]'' (The Book of the Assembly Hall)
|20–28
|[[Mayasura|Maya Danava]] erects the [[Mayasabha|palace and court]] (''sabha'') at [[Indraprastha]]. The Sabha Parva narrates the glorious [[Yudhisthira]]'s Rajasuya sacrifice performed with the help of his brothers and Yudhisthira's rule in Shakraprastha/[[Indraprastha]] as well as the humiliation and deceit caused by conspiracy along with their own action.
|-
|3
|''[[Vana Parva]]'' ''also'' ''Aranyaka Parva'', ''Aranya Parva'' (The Book of the Forest)
|29–44
|The twelve years of exile in the forest (''aranya''). The entire Parva describes their struggle and consolidation of strength.
|-
|4
|''[[Virata Parva]]'' (The Book of Virata)
|45–48
|The year spent incognito at the court of [[Virata]]. A single warrior ([[Arjuna]]) defeated the entire Kuru army including [[Karna]], [[Bhishma]], [[Drona]], [[Ashwatthama]], etc. and recovered the cattle of the [[Virata]] kingdom.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04026.htm SECTION XXVI (Go-harana Parva)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130220420/https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04026.htm |date=30 November 2021 }} ''sacred-texts.com''.</ref>
|-
|5
| ''[[Udyoga Parva]]'' (The Book of the Effort)
|49–59
|Preparations for war and efforts to bring about peace between the Kaurava and the Pandava sides which eventually fail (''udyoga'' means effort or work).
|-
|6
| ''[[Bhishma Parva]]'' (The Book of Bhishma)
| 60–64
|The first part of the great battle, with [[Bhishma]] as commander for the Kaurava and his fall on the bed of arrows. The most important aspect of Bhishma Parva is the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' narrated by [[Krishna]] to [[Arjuna]]. (Includes the ''Bhagavad Gita'' in chapters 25–42.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06025.htm |title=The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section XXV (''Bhagavad Gita'' Chapter I) |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=3 August 2012 |archive-date=21 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521235153/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06025.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06042.htm |title=The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section XLII (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter XVIII) |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=3 August 2012 |archive-date=21 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521231917/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06042.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|7
| ''[[Drona Parva]]'' (The Book of Drona)
|65–72
|The battle continues, with [[Drona]] as commander. This is the major book of the war. Most of the great warriors on both sides are dead by the end of this book.
|-
|8
| ''[[Karna Parva]]'' (The Book of Karna)
|73
|The continuation of the battle with [[Karna]] as commander of the [[Kaurava]] forces.
|-
|9
|''[[Shalya Parva]]'' (The Book of Shalya)
|74–77
|The last day of the battle, with [[Shalya]] as commander. Also told in detail, is the pilgrimage of Balarama to the fords of the river Saraswati and the mace fight between Bhima and Duryodhana which ends the war, since Bhima kills Duryodhana by smashing him on the thighs with a mace.
|-
|10
| ''[[Sauptika Parva]]'' (The Book of the Sleeping Warriors)
|78–80
|[[Ashwatthama]], Kripa and Kritavarma kill the remaining Pandava army in their sleep. Only seven warriors remain on the Pandava side and three on the Kaurava side.
|-
|11
| ''[[Stri Parva]]'' (The Book of the Women)
|81–85
|[[Gandhari (Mahabharata)|Gandhari]] and the women (''stri'') of the Kauravas and Pandavas lament the dead and Gandhari cursing [[Krishna]] for the massive destruction and the extermination of the Kaurava.
|-
|12
| ''[[Shanti Parva]]'' (The Book of Peace)
|86–88
|The crowning of [[Yudhishthira]] as king of Hastinapura, and instructions from [[Bhishma]] for the newly anointed king on society, economics, and politics. This is the longest book of the ''Mahabharata''. 
|-
|13
| ''[[Anushasana Parva]]'' (The Book of the Instructions)
|89–90
|The final instructions (''anushasana'') from [[Bhishma]]. This Parba contains the last day of Bhishma and his advice and wisdom to the upcoming emperor [[Yudhishthira]].
|-
|14
| ''[[Ashvamedhika Parva]]'' (The Book of the Horse Sacrifice)<ref>The ''Ashvamedhika-parva'' is also preserved in a separate version, the  ''Jaimini-Bharata'' (''Jaiminiya-Ashvamedha'') where the frame dialogue is replaced, the narration being attributed to [[Jaimini]], another disciple of Vyasa. . It describes how Arjuna alone conquered the whole earth once again.  This version contains far more devotional material (related to Krishna) than the standard epic and probably dates to the 12th century. It has some regional versions, the most popular being the [[Kannada language|Kannada]] one by Devapurada Annama Lakshmisha (16th century).[http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/07-06/features360.htm The Mahabharata] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106205614/http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/07-06/features360.htm |date=6 November 2006 }}
{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}</ref>
|91–92
|The royal ceremony of the [[Ashvamedha]] (Horse sacrifice) conducted by Yudhishthira. The world conquest by Arjuna. Anugita is told by Krishna to Arjuna.
|-
|15
| ''[[Ashramavasika Parva]]'' (The Book of the Hermitage)
|93–95
|The eventual deaths of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti in a forest fire when they are living in a hermitage in the Himalayas. Vidura predeceases them and Sanjaya on Dhritarashtra's bidding goes to live in the higher Himalayas.
|-
|16
| ''[[Mausala Parva]]'' (The Book of the Clubs)
|96
|The materialization of Gandhari's curse, i.e., the infighting between the [[Yadu|Yadavas]] with maces (''mausala'') and the eventual destruction of the Yadavas.
|-
|17
| ''[[Mahaprasthanika Parva]]'' (The Book of the Great Journey)
|97
|The great journey of Yudhishthira, his brothers, and his wife [[Draupadi]] across the whole country and finally their ascent of the great Himalayas where each Pandava falls except for Yudhishthira.
|-
|18
| ''[[Svargarohana Parva]]'' (The Book of the Ascent to Heaven)
|98
| Yudhishthira's final test and the return of the Pandavas to the spiritual world (''[[svarga]]'').
|-
|''khila''
|''[[Harivamsa]] Parva'' (The Book of the Genealogy of Hari)
|99–100
|This is an addendum to the 18 books, and covers those parts of the life of Krishna which is not covered in the 18 parvas of the ''Mahabharata''.
|}