The Mahabharata: Volume 3

Though the basic plot is widely known, there is much more to the epic than the dispute between Kouravas and Pandavas that led to the battle in Kurukshetra. It has innumerable sub-plots that accommodate fascinating meanderings and digressions, and it has rarely been translated in full, given its formidable length of 80,000 shlokas or couplets. This magnificent ten-volume unabridged translation of the epic is based on the Critical Edition compiled at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. Volume 3 completes the Vana Parva, the account of the Pandavas' sojourn in the forest. It details the dharma obtained from, and descriptions of, places of pilgrimage. It recounts the stories of Agastya, Rishyashringa, Kartavirya, Sukanya and Chyavana, Mandhata, Jantu, Shibi, Ashtavakra, Yavakrita, Jatasura, and Markandeya. The narrative covers Arjuna's slaying of the Nivatakavacha demons; the Kouravas' defeat at the hands of the gandharvas and their subsequent release by the Pandavas; Droupadi's abduction by Jayadratha and rescue by the Pandavas; and Indra's visit to Karna to rob him of his earrings and armour.