Mausala Parva
[5][6] One of the 3 shortest episodes within the epic, the Mausala Parva describes the demise of Krishna in the 36th year after the Kurukshetra War had ended, the submersion of Dvaraka under the sea, the death of Balarama by drowning in the sea, Vasudeva's death, and a civil war fought among the Yadava clan that killed many of them.
[7][8] The story of infighting of the Yadavas[8][9][10] becomes the reason why the Pandava brothers renounce their kingdom and begin their walk towards heaven, events recited in the last two books of the Mahabharata.
[12] After the end of the great Kurukshetra War, Gandhari confronted Krishna, a meeting described in the Stri Parva.
In anger and grief over the death of her hundred sons, her brothers, and of other members of her clan, Gandhari cursed Krishna that his Yadava kinsmen [7][9] too would die in a fratricidal strife.
The chapter begins with the announcement at the court of the Pandavas that many Yadava men were killed[7][9] in an internecine war fought with flails made of eraká grass.
The young man playfully pretended to be a woman and claimed that he is pregnant and asks the rishis to predict the gender of the baby.
In a fit of rage, he curses that Samba will give birth to an iron bolt that will destroy his entire clan.
[15][16] Satyaki, inebriated with wine, goes over to Kritavarma, criticizes him for scheming with Ashwatthama and killing the remaining Pandavas' army while they were sleeping (see Sauptika Parva).
While Daruka was gone, Krishna sends Vabhru to protect the ladies of his kingdom from robbers tempted by wealth.
On approaching the supposed prey to capture it, he beheld Krishna rapt in yoga, and touches his feet for being an offender.
Arjuna proceeded by slow marches, causing the Vrishni women to rest in pleasant forests, mountains and by the sides of delightful streams.
Arjuna regarded it all as the work of destiny, while thinking of his non-appearance of celestial weapons, refusal of his bow to obey him; and exhaustion of his shafts.
Sage Vyasa explains that it was the destiny of those warriors, Krishna suffered it too, although he was competent to baffle the curses, Arjuna and his brothers have served the purpose of their lives, those weapons with which he achieved success no longer needs him, and had gone to the place from where they came from.
Two translations from the 19th century, now in public domain, are those by Kisari Mohan Ganguli[3] and Manmatha Nath Dutt.
The entire parva has been "transcreated" and translated in verse by the poet Dr. Purushottama Lal published by Writers Workshop.
The details in Mausala Parva have served as a source for scholarly studies on whether the Mahabharata is entirely fictional, or if it is partly based on an ancient war in India.
The chapters in Mausala Parva that describe Dwarka, its submergence in the Prabhasa sea, and others episodes of the Mahabharata have attracted the attention of scholars.
[20][21] It has led to the hypothesis that if any city named Dwarka existed in ancient India, it is likely to have been in the modern Indian state of Gujarat or Maharashtra.
[25] The objective of the investigations conducted by the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography and the Government of Gujarat was to reconstruct the history of maritime trade, shipbuilding and cultural status of the ancient city of Dwarka.
Excavations done at two sites on the seaward side of Dwarka brought to light submerged settlements, a stone-built jetty of large size and triangular stone anchors with three holes.
In islands of Indonesia, Dutch colonial officials discovered the Epic to consist of only eight books, instead of eighteen.
D. Van Hinloopen Labberton reports the eight parvas as: Adi, Virata, Udyoga, Bhishma, Ashramavasika, Mausala, Prasthdnika and Svargarohana.
