Stri Parva

                              Stri Parva

The Stri Parva (Sanskrit: स्त्री पर्व), or the "Book of the Women," is the eleventh of eighteen books of the Indian Epic Mahabharata. It has 4 sub-books and 27 chapters.

Sometimes spelled Stree Parva, it describes the grief of women because of the war. The parva recites the grief of men too, such as of Dhritrashtra and the Pandava brothers. The chapters include a treatise by Vidura and Vyasa on passage rites with words of comfort for those who have lost loved ones, as well as the saṃsāra fable of the man and a well.

This Parva (book) has 4 sub-parvas (sub-books or little books) and 27 adhyayas (sections, chapters). The 4 sub-books are:

1. Vishoka parva
2. Stri parva
3. Shraddha parva
4. Jalapradanika parva

Stri Parva recites the trauma and grief of women after the war. It opens with a statement of Dhritrashtra's grief at the death of all his sons and grandsons. Sages Vidura and Vyasa console his grief with a treatise on death and emotional loss. These chapters present the theory of birth-rebirth. Dhristrashtra and Kaurava women then visit the battlefield. The women express their grief from loss and question war - they criticize both sides for unleashing the war and death.

In later chapters of Stree Parva, Pandava brothers and women from Pandava side meet Dhristrashtra. The blind Kaurava king attempts to kill Bhima in retaliation for Duryodhana's death - but fails because of an intervention by Krishna. Dhristrashtra repents. The Pandavas with Krishna and sages thereafter go to see Gandhari, the upset and weeping Kaurava mother who had lost all her sons and grandsons at the war. Sage Vyasa reminds her of the wisdom she taught to her sons, "victory follows righteousness", then counsels that the war was one fought for righteousness. Gandhari replies that she forgives the war, but finds it difficult to forgive actions during the war that were unjust.^[3] She demands to know why the rules of just war were abused, why cruelty (adharma) was practiced during the war. They debate whether the promise of quicker peace justify use of weapons that kill indiscriminately, other war crimes and horrors by one side against the other side. Bhima argues it does. The sages present provide a different perspective.^[1] Gandhari curses Krishna for not doing anything even though he had the power to prevent the slaughter and unjust actions during the war. Krishna accepts her curse, but reminds her that she applauded her sons when they committed wicked deeds before the war and she is questioning justice in and after war, a justice she denied others before the war.

After Gandhari, the Pandava brothers meet Kunti and Draupadi, two women on the side of Pandavas, who express their own grief for the war. They grieve and suggest war is easy to start but war never ends, and its consequences are painfully long. Dhristarashtra asks Yudhishthira as to how many people died and escaped from the 18-day Kurukshetra War on the two sides. Yudhishthira replies 1,660,020,000 human beings died, while 20,165 people abandoned the Kurukshetra war. The two sides together perform passage rites in river Ganges, in the memory of those who gave their lives during the war.

Stri parva includes Vyasa's and Vidura's treatise about death and grief, passage rites in last two Chapters, as well as saṃsāra through the fable of the man, the forest, the bees, the honey, the elephant and a well in Chapters 2 through 7.

Vishoka Parva

This is the 80th of the 100 Upa Parvas situated in the eleventh (Stri Parva) of the 18 Maha Parvas in the Vyasa Mahabharata. This Upa Parva mainly describes Dhritarashtra's grief after hearing the death of his son Duryodhana. Vidura tries to console his brother-king through words of wisdom. Vyasa tells him about the divine secret of Duryodhana being instrumental in the destruction of kings in a war, in order to reduce earth's burden.

This Upa Parva has a total of 194 Shlokas organized into 8 Chapters.  Click to See...

Stree Parva

This is the 81st of the 100 Upa Parvas situated in the eleventh (Stri Parva) of the 18 Maha Parvas in the Vyasa Mahabharata. This Upa Parva mainly describes Gandhari's grief after the war and her curse to Krishna. 

This Upa Parva has a total of 468 Shlokas organized into 10 Chapters.  Click to See...

Shraaddha Parva

This is the 82nd of the 100 Upa Parvas situated in the eleventh (Stri Parva) of the 18 Maha Parvas in the Vyasa Mahabharata. This Upa Parva mainly describes the mass cremation of those killed in the Mahabharata war. Yudhishthira, using his power of Anusmriti that he had received from Rishi Lomasha during the pilgrimage, tells Dhritarashtra about the count of people died in the Mahabharata war. 

This Upa Parva has only one Chapter with 44 Shlokas.  Click to See...

Jalapradanika Parva

This is the 83rd of the 100 Upa Parvas situated in the eleventh (Stri Parva) of the 18 Maha Parvas in the Vyasa Mahabharata. This Upa Parva mainly describes the offering of water to the departed souls during which Kunti reveals that Karna was her first born, and Yudhishthira laments over the killing of his elder brother.

This Upa Parva has only one Chapter with 24 Shlokas.  Click to See...

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