In the previous episode, we had come to an end of the “Aadhi Parva” by witnessing the burning “Kaandava-Vanam” and how Snake Takshaka and his son escaped it. Along with them, we had also witnessed Mayan escaping out of it as well, and Bhagawan Krishna let him go unscathed because He had other plans to be executed through him. Thus, the ultra-long Aadhi Parva comes to a close and from today, we shall commence the witnessing of the next main “Parva” called “Sabhaa Parva”. This “Sabhaa Parva” mainly talks about how Bhagawan Krishna was born, and how He grew up, and how He is an incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu Himself and all this is being narrated by none other than Bhishmaachaarya himself! Till now, we’ve witnessed the stories of so many people, starting from Shantanu Maharaja to Vichitraveerya to Bhishmaachaarya to Chitraangatha to King Dritiraashtra, to King Paandu to Yudishtra to Duryodhana. All these stories aren’t going to take us anywhere even closer to “Moksha”. However, the “Charithra” of Bhagawan Krishna is the one that is going to serve this purpose, isn’t it? So let us get inside the “Sabhaa Parva” and witness what are the contents in it.
Unlike the previous “Aadhi Parva” which was extremely long, the “Sabhaa Parva” is precise and shorter. There is only one “Upa-Parva” called “Arga-Apiharana-Parva” which is quite long, wherein, Sishupaala (Bhagawan Krishna’s cousin brother) tried to defame Bhagawan Krishna amidst the public courtroom (Raaja-Sabha). To negate Sishupaala’s allegations, Bhishmaachaarya narrates the entire “Krishna-Charithra” in front of the entire “Sabha” so that everyone would get to know it. This is the main content that is present in the “Sabhaa Parva”. Since Bhishmaachaarya is trying to bring out the significance of Bhagawan Krishna in the public “Raaja-Sabha”, this “Parva” obtains the name called “Sabhaa Parva”. Of course, this is not the first time that Bhishmaachaarya is bringing out Bhagawan Krishna’s significance. At the end of the Kurukshetra war, Bhishmaachaarya again does the same thing in the form of “Shri Vishnu Sahasranama”, wherein he elaborates Bhagawan’s significance in much more detail.
Thus, this “Sabhaa Parva” and especially the “Arga-Apiharana-Parva” can be considered as a mini version of the “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana” that we had witnessed earlier. We’ve witnessed in our previous “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana” as to how Sage Shukaachaarya narrates the entire “Krishna-Charitra” in the tenth “Skandha” (Dashama-Skandha), isn’t it? Readers can go back to our previous project and have a glimpse at it for more detail. It is the same “Krishna-Charitra” we’re going to witness in short here. We might wonder thus, “Oh! Why couldn’t Sage Vyaasa dedicate an entire “Parva” which could be as big as the “Aadhi Parva” exclusively for this? Why didn’t he dedicate a lakh slokas for Bhagawan Krishna exclusively?” In fact, after completing the Mahabharatam text, Sage Vyaasa himself was having this doubt within him! Upon having this thought that he has written about so many people in detail, and not about Bhagawan Krishna, he himself felt very sad and frustrated! The frustration was that, he spoke about so many other people, but not about Bhagawan Krishna in detail. It is to overcome this frustration and sorrow, did Sage Vyaasa volunteer himself to narrate and document the “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana”, wherein he dedicated an entire “Skandha” for Bhagawan Krishna and His divine “Leelas”.
Thus for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode, we shall commence the content of the “Sabhaa Parva” in detail. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 