4. Virata Parva
The Book of Virata · 72 adhyayas
The year of concealment — the Pandavas live disguised in the court of King Virata of Matsya. Yudhishthira as the brahmin Kanka, Bhima as the cook Vallabha, Arjuna as the dance teacher Brihannala, Nakula and Sahadeva tending horses and cattle, and Draupadi as the maid Sairandhri. Bhima kills Kichaka for his advances, and at the end Arjuna alone routs the Kaurava army and reveals himself.
What Happens in Virata Parva
Virata Parva covers the thirteenth year, and its terms are cruel: the Pandavas must live somewhere in the world without being recognised, and if they are found the entire twelve-year exile begins again. They choose the court of King Virata of Matsya and hide in plain sight by taking servants' work.
The disguises are chosen with care and with irony. Yudhishthira becomes Kanka, a brahmin courtier who entertains the king at dice. Bhima becomes Vallabha, a cook. Arjuna, under Urvashi's curse, becomes Brihannala, a eunuch who teaches dance and music to the princess Uttaraa. Nakula and Sahadeva take the horses and the cattle. Draupadi, an empress, becomes Sairandhri, a queen's maid who dresses hair.
The year nearly breaks on Kichaka, the queen's brother and the real power in Matsya, who pursues Sairandhri and is protected by everyone's fear of him. Bhima kills him in the dancing hall at night, and the killing is so plainly the work of one man that it almost gives the family away. Then the Kauravas raid Virata's cattle, the prince Uttara rides out boastfully and loses his nerve at the sight of the enemy, and Brihannala takes the reins, retrieves the Gandiva from the shami tree, and defeats Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kripa and Ashwatthama in a single afternoon. The year is complete. Abhimanyu marries Uttaraa, and the alliance that will fight at Kurukshetra begins to assemble.
Key Episodes
- The disguises taken by the five brothers and Draupadi
- Draupadi as Sairandhri, and the killing of Kichaka
- The cattle raid — the Kauravas stealing Virata's herds
- Arjuna casting off Brihannala's guise to defeat the whole Kaurava army alone
- Prince Uttara fleeing, and Arjuna taking the reins
- The year completed, and the marriage of Abhimanyu and Uttaraa
Who Appears in Virata Parva
- Arjuna as Brihannala
- Dance and music teacher in the women's quarters; casts the guise off to rout the entire Kaurava army alone at the cattle raid.
- Draupadi as Sairandhri
- Queen Sudeshna's hairdresser, and the target of Kichaka's advances.
- Bhima as Vallabha
- Cook and wrestler in Virata's kitchen; kills Kichaka in the dark of the dancing hall.
- Kichaka
- Sudeshna's brother and commander of Matsya's forces, whose pursuit of Sairandhri nearly exposes the Pandavas.
- Uttara
- Virata's young prince, who rides out to meet the Kaurava raid and flees, leaving his charioteer to fight.
- Abhimanyu
- Arjuna and Subhadra's son, married to the princess Uttaraa at the parva's close.
What Virata Parva Teaches
Disguise as reversal
The greatest archer of the age spends a year teaching dance; a man who was emperor amuses a minor king at dice; a queen braids another woman's hair. Virata Parva strips the Pandavas of every external marker of who they are and asks whether anything survives it — and answers that skill and character do, because both are visible again the moment the disguises drop.
Protection that is not given
Kichaka is able to pursue Sairandhri because the king will not restrain him and the queen will not protect her maid. The Mahabharat returns here to the failure it staged in the Sabha: a woman appealing to a court that would rather not hear her.
Courage is not confidence
Uttara rides out certain of himself and collapses when he sees the army. Brihannala, mocked all year, takes the reins. The parva makes the distinction plainly, and gives the year's one great feat to the person everyone in the palace had dismissed.
Virata Parva — Frequently Asked Questions
It covers the Pandavas' thirteenth year of exile, spent in disguise at the court of King Virata of Matsya — the disguises each of them took, Bhima's killing of Kichaka, and Arjuna's defeat of the whole Kaurava army during the cattle raid.
Yudhishthira was Kanka, a brahmin courtier; Bhima was Vallabha, a cook; Arjuna was Brihannala, a dance teacher; Nakula was Granthika, a horse keeper; Sahadeva was Tantripala, a cowherd; and Draupadi was Sairandhri, the queen's maid.
The apsara Urvashi had cursed him to be a eunuch for refusing her advances in Indra's heaven. Indra softened the curse so that it would last a single year of Arjuna's choosing — and Arjuna spent it here, which turned a curse into perfect cover.
Kichaka pursued Draupadi in her disguise as Sairandhri and assaulted her in open court without consequence. Draupadi appealed to Bhima, who arranged to meet Kichaka at night in the dancing hall in her place, and killed him there.
It did not, in the end. The Kauravas raided Matsya partly to force the Pandavas into the open, and Arjuna did fight openly — but by then the thirteenth year had been completed, so the disclosure cost the Pandavas nothing.