Ugrashravas (also
Ugrasravas,
Sauti,
Suta,
Sri Suta) was the narrator of several
PuranasThe Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography...
, including
MahābhārataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
,
Bhagavata PuranaThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna. The Sanskrit text comprises twelve skandas and 13,216 verses by one count...
,
HarivamsaThe Harivamsha is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 verses, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila to the Mahabharata and traditionally ascribed to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa...
, and
Padma PuranaPadma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts, believed to be composed between 800-1000 C.E. In the first part sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...
, with the narrations typically taking place before the sages gathered in
Naimisha ForestNaimisha Forest was an ancient forest mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. It lay on the banks of the Gomati River . It lay between the Panchala Kingdom and the Kosala Kingdom. The whole narration of Mahabharata took place at Naimisha forests, during a conclave of sages headed by sage Saunaka, who...
. He was the son of Lomaharshana (or Romaharshana), and a disciple of
VyasaVyāsa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions. He is also known as Badarayana. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
, the author of Mahābhārata. Ugrasrava belonged to the
SutaSūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on...
caste, who were typically the bards of Puranic literature.
The entire Mahābhārata epic was structured as a dialog between Ugrasrava Sauti (the narrator) and sage Saunaka (the listener).
Ugrashravas (also
Ugrasravas,
Sauti,
Suta,
Sri Suta) was the narrator of several
PuranasThe Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography...
, including
MahābhārataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
,
Bhagavata PuranaThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna. The Sanskrit text comprises twelve skandas and 13,216 verses by one count...
,
HarivamsaThe Harivamsha is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 verses, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila to the Mahabharata and traditionally ascribed to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa...
, and
Padma PuranaPadma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts, believed to be composed between 800-1000 C.E. In the first part sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...
, with the narrations typically taking place before the sages gathered in
Naimisha ForestNaimisha Forest was an ancient forest mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. It lay on the banks of the Gomati River . It lay between the Panchala Kingdom and the Kosala Kingdom. The whole narration of Mahabharata took place at Naimisha forests, during a conclave of sages headed by sage Saunaka, who...
. He was the son of Lomaharshana (or Romaharshana), and a disciple of
VyasaVyāsa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions. He is also known as Badarayana. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
, the author of Mahābhārata. Ugrasrava belonged to the
SutaSūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on...
caste, who were typically the bards of Puranic literature.
The entire Mahābhārata epic was structured as a dialog between Ugrasrava Sauti (the narrator) and sage Saunaka (the listener). The narration (
Bharata) of the history of Bharata kings by sage
VaisampayanaVaisampayana or Vaiśampayana a character in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. He was a celebrated ancient Indian sage who was the original teacher of the Black Yajur-Veda....
to
KuruThe Kuru kingdom was ruled by the Kuru clan of kings. The Pandavas and Kauravas were Kurus. Other than these Kurus of India, there was another kingdom called Uttara Kurus to the north of Himalayas. The Kuru kingdom of India lay between Saraswati River and river Ganga...
king
JanamejayaEmperor Janamejaya was the son of Maharaja Parikshit and great-grandson of Arjuna the valiant warrior hero of the Mahābhārata epic. He took up the Kuru throne following the death of his father...
was embedded within this narration of Ugrasrava Sauti. Vaisampayana's narration (
Jaya) in turn contains the narration of
Kurukshetra WarThe Kurukshetra War is the war between the Kauravas and Pandavas, which forms an essential component of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata...
by
SanjayaSanjaya is a character from the ancient Indian epic Mahābhārata.In Mahabharata, a story of war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the blind king Dhritarashtra is the father of the principals of the Kaurava side. Sanjaya is Dhritarashtra's advisor and also his charioteer...
, to
KuruThe Kuru kingdom was ruled by the Kuru clan of kings. The Pandavas and Kauravas were Kurus. Other than these Kurus of India, there was another kingdom called Uttara Kurus to the north of Himalayas. The Kuru kingdom of India lay between Saraswati River and river Ganga...
king
DhritarashtraIn the Mahābhārata Dhritarashtra was the son born to Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika. He was fathered by Vyasa. This blind king of Hastinapura was father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari . These children came to be known as the Kauravas...
. Thus
MahābhārataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the . The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
has as a
Story within a storyA story within a story is a literary device or conceit in which one story is told during the action of another story. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
structure.
The Mahābhārata begins by introducing Ugrasrava:
"Ugrasrava, the son of Lomaharshana, surnamed Sauti, well-versed in the PuranasThe Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography...
, bending with humility, one day approached the great sages of rigid vows, sitting at their ease, who had attended the twelve year sacrifice of Saunaka, surnamed Kulapati, in the forest of NaimishaNaimisha Forest was an ancient forest mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. It lay on the banks of the Gomati River . It lay between the Panchala Kingdom and the Kosala Kingdom. The whole narration of Mahabharata took place at Naimisha forests, during a conclave of sages headed by sage Saunaka, who...
." (Mahabharata 1:1)