The Ashramavasika Parva is the book of Hermitage. It is the 15th of the eighteen books of Mahabharata. It consists of 3 upa parvas and 92 chapters. This Parva describes the years of prosperous rule in Hastinapura under the kingship of Yudhishthira. The detailed summary of the sub-parvas are:
Asramavasa Parva
This Parva describes the kingdom under Yudhishthira and the other Pandava brothers. In spite of the actions of Dhritarashtra in the past, the Pandavas met him regularly, treated him with utmost respect and also followed his orders on matters of governance. Even Kunti treated Gandhari with respect and served her in the possible manners. Gandhari and Dhritarashtra were humbled by the behavior of Pandavas, Kunti and Draupadi. They were happily living in the kingdom. However, Bhima was unhappy with them as they thought poor of him to kill his son disloyally. Bhima treated them very badly and even abused them at times which was overheard by Dhritarashtra and Gandhari. This ill treatment by Bhima towards them made Dhritarashtra distressed. However, Yudhishthira did not have knowledge of Bhima’s behavior otherwise he would have stopped it. Due to the state of Dhritarashtra, he and Gandhari decided to spend the last few years of their life in the forest. He asked Yudhishthira for permission to leave for the forest. Yudhishthira was not willing to allow them to go alone because of their old age. Then sage Vyasa convinced Yudhishthira to give them permission as they wanted to rectify their sins of the past. Yudhishthira arranged for a proper ceremony before they left. Even Kunti joined them and left with them for the forests. Gandhari had tried to convince her, but Kunti stuck to her decision and went with them as even she wanted to spend her last few years in the forests. The Pandavas were very upset about their departure from the kingdom. They were distressed as they missed their mother a lot. The Pandavas were not being able to focus on the affairs of the kingdom.
Putradarshana Parva
As the Pandavas were missing Kunti a lot which distressed them, they went to the hermitage of Vyasa to meet Kunti, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra. To ease the pains of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti, he took them to the Ganges and made them meet their dead sons who were killed in the war. Sage Vyasa even gave the gift to vision so that he could see his sons. This incident is a very popular one in the Mahabharata. However, they wandered on the banks of the Ganges for a night and then disappeared back into the Ganges.
Naradagamana Parva
This Parva describes two years after the Pandavas came back from the forest. One day, sage Narada came to meet Yudhishthira with the news that Kunti, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra died in a forest fire. The forest fire was humungous and they were too weak and old to escape from it as it spread from all the corners. The Pandava brothers became grief stricken and the sorrow they felt was unbearable. Yudhishthira and the other brothers then went to the Ganges and performed last rites for twelve days and returned back to the kingdom.
18 Parvas of Mahabharata
1. Adi Parva (the Beginning)
2. Sabha Parva (the Assembly Hall)
3. Vana Parva also Aranyaka-parva, Aranya-parva (the Forest)
4. Virata Parva (Virata)
5. Udyoga Parva (the Effort)
6. Bhishma Parva (Bhishma)
7. Drona Parva (Drona)
8. Karna Parva (Karna)
9. Shalya Parva (Shalya)
10. Sauptika Parva (the Sleeping Warriors)
11. Stri Parva (the Women)
12. Shanti Parva (Peace)
13. Anushasana Parva (the Instructions)
14. Ashvamedhika Parva (the Horse Sacrifice)
15. Ashramavasika Parva (the Hermitage)
16. Mausala Parva (the Clubs)
17. Mahaprasthanika Parva (the Great Journey)
18. Svargarohana Parva (the Ascent to Heaven)
