Mahabharat: Astik Parva
Mahabharat: S01
Astik Parva Janamejaya's Sarpasatra
Mahabharat the book has 18 chapters called 'Parv'. The first parv takes us to the Yagya (sacrificial ceremony) by Raja Janamejaya - grandson of Arjun. At this Yagya, the story of Mahabharat was narrated by Maharshi Vaishampayan to the honorable guests.
This chapter has stories about the karmic sequence of events that ultimately led to the organization of that Yagya.
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Though the stories in this chapter don't deal with the main storyline of Mahabharat, these stories are remarkably amusing! We have made 15 short episodes covering the whole of this plot which sets the background for the subsequent chapters of the epic.
The series is available to watch for free on YouTube. Below is the complete playlist with all its episodes!
Episode Guide
Episode 1 to 4: Two of Sage Kashyap's wives Kadru and Vinata is given a boon each for a son of their choice! What they ask lays the foundation for the remainder of the story.
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Episode 5 to 9: The Story of Garuda (King of Birds, vehicle of Lord Vishnu), and how he had to battle his own allies - the gods of Swargalok
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Episode 10 to 12: The story of Jaratkaru Muni and his marriage with the Princess of the Serpents.
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Episode 13 to 14: The Assassination of King Parikshit - Grandson of Arjun.
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Episode 15: Grand Finale - How all the above stories culminate to the near doom of the Kings of Gods, Indra, and the King of Serpents, Takshak.
Sources
Mahabharat (Set of 11 Volumes) by Dr. R. S. Walimbe
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It is a Marathi translation of Neelkanth's commentary on the epic Mahabharat. It contains the word-by-word translations of each of the 1,00,000 verses from the original Sanskrit epic. It is close to 4,000 pages in length and is academic material for Post Graduate and Ph.D. students.