Telugu Mahābhārata. Udyōga Parva (The Book of Effort)

The Mahābhārata is an epic poem detailing the Kurukṣetra War and other shorter narratives including the story of Rāmāyaṇa. The work was developed over a long period of time, dating as early as approximately 400 BCE and coming to its final form in Sanskrit around 400 CE. Three famous poets retold the Mahābhārata into Telugu over several centuries. It was initiated by Nannaya in the eleventh century, and completed by Tikkana (thirteenth century) and Errapragda (fourteenth century). The particular edition of the Telugu Mahābhārata represented by this manuscript is a separate endeavor by the poet Koṭikalapūḍi Vīrarāghava. The Mahābhārata contains 18 books (or parvas). This particular manuscript contains the Udyōga parva (The book of Effort), the fifth parva. The Udyōga parva covers the efforts to engender peace among the warring brothers: the Kauravas and the Pandavas. This work was written on a palm-leaf manuscript (dried palm leaves were used as a medium for writing in South Asia). There is a total of 143 palm leaves in the manuscript. Each leaf is roughly 35mm x 430mm and is inscribed on both sides. There are also two holes in each leaf and the leaves are bound together with a cord running through the two holes and the whole manuscript is encased with wooden ends. Rounded scripts (such as Telugu) were used on palm-leaf manuscripts because angular letters split the leaves.