The Mahabharata

Ep. 1: The Storyteller at Naimisha

A bard brings the longest tale ever told to a forest camp. Why did a king want every snake dead?

The story so far

Snakes were falling from the sky into a fire. That is where this story was first told out loud. But I am getting ahead of myself. It begins with a traveller. His name was Ugrashrava, but everyone called him Sauti, the bard's son. He walked into the forest of Naimisha, where a circle of sages sat around a twelve-year sacrifice ...