The Geography of the Puranas c7.s2.4

c7.s2.4

The Mahābhārata, as we possess it in three recensions,⁵ cannot be designated correctly as an epic poem. It is a gigantic mass of compositions by various authors on various dates extending over several centuries arranged in eighteen books or parvas with a supplement called the Harivaṃśa, which may be reckoned as the nineteenth book. The number of ślokas exceeds 100,000, while the Harivaṃśa contains over 16,000. It is virtually an encyclopædia of knowledge and moral teachings, and in its own words, contains ‘the essence of the four Vedas’.