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Veda Vyasa's legendary epic on the Bharata race was first recited in public by his disciple Vaishampayana at the behest of the ageless seer Vyasa himself. The racital took place in the noble presence of King Janamejaya, the great grandson of Vyasa, and the many learned sages who had gathered for Janamejaya's sarpa satra (a 12-year long yajna). This volume describes the lineage of the Kuru princes and the adventures of their youth.

When Pandu, father of the Pandavas, dies in the forest, his wife Kunti returns to Hastinapura with their five boys. The great Dronacharya himself trains the young Kuru princes in the art of war. Bheema's feats of strength and Arjuna's skill in weaponry arouse jealousy in the minds of Duryodhana and the other Kuru sons of Dhritrashtra, Pandu's blind brother.

Duryodhana hatches a plot in order to exile the Pandava brothers to the city of Varanavata. Acting on a coded warning given by the astute Vidura, the Pandavas manage to escape from the burning house of shellac.

The five exiled princes begin to live in the guise of mendicants at ekachkrapura. Later, they proceed to Panchala to attend Draupadi's swayamvara. Arjuna, with a spectacularly skilful display of archery, wins Draupadi's hand in marriage. Eventually, however, in order to obey their mother's words , all the five brothers marry Draupadi with due ceremony. The Pandavas are then summoned to Hastinapura and are given half the kingdom.