〰 The River

Mahābhārata

महाभारत

Attributed to Veda Vyāsa · Composed and transmitted over centuries

Parvas

Verses

~100,000

Distinction

Longest epic in world literature

The Mahābhārata is not simply a battle epic — it is an encyclopaedia of dharma, a meditation on duty and consequence, and a river that carries every tradition within it. Its 18 Parvas move from origin to exile, war to aftermath, instruction to dissolution.

Source note — verse counts follow BORI Critical Edition, not popular or regional counts. Bhagavad Gita is in Bhīṣma Parva chapters 25–42 (Critical Edition numbering). Author attributed as Veda Vyāsa; not listed as anonymous.

Within Bhīṣma Parva

Bhagavad Gita — Jñāna Chakra

The Gita's 700 verses live inside Parva 6. The Jñāna Chakra explorer gives chapter-level access with Devanagari, IAST, and commentary layers.

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Explore the text

Toggle between the structural parva view and key dharmic figures. Each parva expands to show the central teaching and characters.

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Total verses

83,370

Parvas

Edition

Critical (BORI)

Before the war

The war

After the war