This is the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Hindi supplementary reader for Class VII, बाल महाभारत कथा (Bal Mahabharat Katha). It is a Hindi medium (हिन्दी माध्यम) book — the complete content, all chapters and all exercises are written in Hindi in the Devanagari script. It is prescribed for CBSE schools and for state boards that follow the NCERT curriculum. Bal Mahabharat Katha retells the Mahabharata in continuous, simple Hindi prose for readers of about twelve. It runs the full narrative in short chapters — the birth of the Kauravas and Pandavas, Dronacharya and the training of the princes, the lakshagriha, Draupadi's swayamvar, the division of the kingdom, the game of dice, the years of exile and the year in disguise, the failed peace mission, and the eighteen days of the war and its aftermath. The telling is straight and the chapters are short, but the story is not simplified into a children's fable — the difficult parts, including Karna's position, Bhishma's vow and Yudhishthira's defeat at dice, are told as they are. The book is doing something specific at this stage. It asks a Class 7 student to read a very long narrative from beginning to end and hold hundreds of pages of plot and dozens of characters in mind — a different skill from reading the short chapters of a main reader, and the one that carries over into every longer text later. It also gives the student a story that Hindi literature, idiom and everyday reference constantly assume as known; the names and episodes turn up in the prescribed texts of higher classes without explanation. Bal Mahabharat Katha is prescribed alongside वसंत भाग 2 and दूर्वा भाग 2 for the Class 7 Hindi course. Questions from the supplementary reader are set in the school paper, so the book is best read as written rather than in summary. The text is illustrated and each chapter carries exercise questions on the events and characters. Key Features: Hindi medium book — complete content written in Hindi (Devanagari script) Published by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) बाल महाभारत कथा — कक्षा 7 के लिए हिंदी की पूरक पाठ्यपुस्तक (Bal Mahabharat Katha, Hindi Supplementary Reader for Class VII) Prescribed for CBSE schools and state boards following the NCERT curriculum The Mahabharata retold in simple, continuous Hindi prose for young readers Covers the full narrative from भीष्म की प्रतिज्ञा to the end of the war and after Includes द्रोणाचार्य, लाक्षागृह, द्रौपदी स्वयंवर, इंद्रप्रस्थ, जुए में हार Includes वनवास, अज्ञातवास, कृष्ण का शांति-प्रस्ताव, भीष्म एवं द्रोण का वध, कर्ण का अंत Short chapters written to be read straight through Told without simplifying the difficult episodes into fable Builds reading stamina for long narrative at Class 7 level Gives students the names and episodes later Hindi texts assume as known Illustrated, with chapter-end exercise questions on events and characters Read alongside वसंत भाग 2 and दूर्वा भाग 2 for the complete Class 7 Hindi course Questions from the supplementary reader are set in the Class 7 Hindi examination Standard NCERT text — the base book before any guide or question bank यह पुस्तक राष्ट्रीय शैक्षिक अनुसंधान और प्रशिक्षण परिषद (NCERT) द्वारा कक्षा 7 के लिए निर्धारित हिंदी की पूरक पाठ्यपुस्तक बाल महाभारत कथा है। ध्यान दें: यह पुस्तक पूर्णतः हिन्दी भाषा एवं देवनागरी लिपि में है। इसमें महाभारत की कथा सरल एवं प्रवाहमयी गद्य में छोटे-छोटे अध्यायों में प्रस्तुत की गई है — भीष्म की प्रतिज्ञा, कौरव-पांडवों का जन्म, द्रोणाचार्य एवं शिक्षा, लाक्षागृह, द्रौपदी स्वयंवर, इंद्रप्रस्थ, जुए में हार, वनवास एवं अज्ञातवास, कृष्ण का शांति-प्रस्ताव तथा अठारह दिन का युद्ध और उसके बाद। कठिन प्रसंगों को बाल-कथा बनाकर सरल नहीं किया गया, अपितु जैसे हैं वैसे ही कहा गया है। इस स्तर पर पूरक पुस्तक का उद्देश्य यह है कि विद्यार्थी एक लंबी कथा को आरंभ से अंत तक पढ़कर उसका सूत्र एवं पात्र-क्रम स्मरण रख सके। महाभारत के प्रसंग, पात्र एवं मुहावरे आगे की कक्षाओं के हिंदी साहित्य में बिना व्याख्या के आते हैं, अतः इस पुस्तक का पठन आगे की समझ का आधार बनता है। प्रत्येक अध्याय के अंत में अभ्यास प्रश्न दिए गए हैं। सम्पूर्ण कक्षा 7 हिंदी पाठ्यक्रम हेतु यह पुस्तक वसंत भाग 2 एवं दूर्वा भाग 2 के साथ पढ़ी जाती है।