Mahabharta Book 1 Adi Parva (The Book of the Beginning) is a book about how the Mahabharata came to be narrated by Sauti

Ugrasrava Sauti

Ugrashravas was the narrator of several Puranas, including Mahābhārata, Bhagavata Purana, Harivamsa, and Padma Purana, with the narrations typically taking place before the sages gathered in Naimisha Forest...

 to the assembled rishi

Rishi

Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...

s at Naimisharanya. The recital of the Mahabharata at the Sarpasatra of Janamejaya by Vaishampayana at . The history of the Bharata race is told in detail and the parvan also traces history of the Bhrigu race. The birth and early life of the Kuru princes.

Sub-parvas

Altogether the Adi Parva consists of the first 19 upa-parvans (sub-parvans, out of 100 in total). The names of the sub-parvans belonging to the Adi Parva are listed below:

1. Anukramanika Parva

2. Paushya Parva

3. Pauloma Parva

4. Astika Parva

5. Adivansavatarana Parva

6. Sambhava Parva

7. Jatugriha-daha Parva

8. Hidimba-vadha Parva

9. Baka-vadha Parva

10. Chaitraratha Parva

11. Swayamvara Parva

12. Vaivahika Parva

13. Viduragamana Parva

14. Rajya-labha Parva

15. Arjuna-vanavasa Parva

16. Subhadra-harana Parva

17. Harana-harika Parva

18. Khandava-daha Parva

External links

• Translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
  Kisari Mohan Ganguli
  Kisari Mohan Ganguli was an Indian translator, who is most known for the first complete English translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata published as The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose between 1883 to 1896 by Pratap Chandra Roy , a Calcutta bookseller,...
  
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• "A work of epic proportions" - India Tribune
• "The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa First Book Adi Parva" - Google Books
• "Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Purāṇas, Volume 1" - Google Books