The Vana Parva, also known as the "Book of the Forest", is the third of eighteen parvas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Vana Parva traditionally has 21 parts and 324 chapters. The critical edition of Vana Parva is the longest of the 18 books in the epic, containing 16 parts and 299 chapters. The parva is a chronicle of the twelve-year journey of the Pandavas in a forest, where they learn life lessons and build character. Vana Parva contains discourses on virtues and ethics; myths of Arjuna, Yudhishthara, and Bhima; and the tales of "Nahusha the Snake and Yudhishthira" and "Ushinara and the Hawk". It also includes the love stories of "Nala and Damayanti" and "Savitri and Satyavan".

Structure and chapters

This book traditionally has 21 sub-parvas (parts) and 324 chapters. The following are the sub-parvas:

English translations

Several translations of the Sanskrit book Vana Parva in English are available. Two translations from 19th century, now in public domain, are by Kisari Mohan Ganguli and Manmatha Nath Dutt. The translations vary with each translator's interpretations. Compare: The original Sanskrit: "क्षमा धर्मः क्षमा यज्ञः क्षमा वेदाः क्षमा श्रुतम"

• यस ताम एवं विजानाति स सर्वं क्षन्तुम अर्हति Kisari Mohan Ganguli's translation: "Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas, forgiveness is the Shruti. He that knoweth this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness is Brahma; forgiveness is truth; forgiveness is stored ascetic merit; forgiveness protecteth the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together." and Manmatha Nath Dutt's translation: "Forgiveness is virtue, forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas, forgiveness is Sruti, he who knows all this is capable of forgiving all. Forgiveness is Brahma, forgiveness is truth, forgiveness is accumulated and future (ascetic) merit, forgiveness is the devout penance, forgiveness is purity, and by forgiveness is the universe sustained." J. A. B. van Buitenen completed an annotated edition of Vana Parva, based on the critically edited and least corrupted version of Mahabharata known in 1975. In 2011, Debroy notes that the updated critical edition of Vana Parva, with spurious and corrupted text removed, has 16 parts, 299 adhyayas (chapters) and 10,239 shlokas (verses). Debroy published a translated version of a critical edition of Vana Parva in Volume 2 and 3 of his series. Clay Sanskrit Library has published a 15 volume set of the Mahabharata which includes a translation of Vana Parva by William Johnson. This translation is modern and uses an old manuscript of the epic. The translation does not remove verses and chapters now widely believed to be spurious. The entire parva has been "transcreated" and translated in verse by the poet Dr. Purushottama Lal published by Writers Workshop.

Inspiration for later works

The Kirata sub-parva of Aranya Parva has inspired several major poems and expanded works, such as the Kirātārjunīya by Bhāravi.