India Reading 2

Summary of the Mahabharata

One day, King Santanu was hunting near the river Yamuna, when he saw a beautiful girl called Satyavati, who belonged to the caste of fisherfolk.  He fell in love with her the moment he saw her.  Santanu went to the girl’s father, who said that he would give his daughter to the king on the condition that her son would succeed to the throne.  But the king already had a son named Devavrata, who was learned and valiant, and well deserving of inheritance.  So the marriage could not be. 

King Santanu returned to his palace saddened, and his love for the tribal girl made him inattentive to his duties.  Noticing his father’s moodiness, Devavrata sought to discover the reason.  The king’s charioteer revealed the story.  So Devavrata approached the girl’s father and demanded that he give his daughter’s hand to the king.  The father was adamant.  He would consent only if a solemn promise were given that Satyavati’s son would succeed to the throne.  Devavrata’s love for his father was so great that he agreed.  He swore that he would never marry and would remain celibate for the rest of his life to ensure that no progeny of his would ever put forward any subsequent claim to the throne.  The gods so admired this sacrifice that they showered Devavrati with flowers and called him ‘Bhishma’ - the terrible. 

King Santanu married Satyavati, and they had two sons.  The elder son, Chitrangada, succeeded to the throne but was slain in battle shortly afterwards.  Vichitravirya, the younger son, succeeded him but died childless, leaving two young widows named Ambika and Ambalika.  The law states that if a man died childless, it was incumbent upon his nearest male relative to father a child of his widow.  Satyavati appealed to Bhishma (Devavrata) to perform this duty, but he had to refuse due to the oath of celibacy he had taken.  On Bhishma’s advice, Satyavati sent for Vyasa - her son by the sage Parasara - who agreed to oblige. 

Satyavati tactfully prepared the widow to receive a visit from her husband’s half-brother one night.   Vyasa lived the life of a hermit, caring nothing of material things, and was wildly unkempt and unattractive in appearance.  Ambika was horrified at the sight of him.  She closed her eyes in disgust, and gave birth to a blind son called Dhritarashtra.  The younger widow Ambalika turned pale with fright as Vyasa approached her. The son she bore was very pale in color.  He was called Pandu. 

When he grew to manhood, Dhritarashtra married the daughter of the king of Gandhara, whose name was Gandhari.  So that she might not experience anything her husband could not, Gandhari covered her eyes with a blindfold for the rest of her life.  She became pregnant, but what was delivered was a piece of formless flesh.  So Satyavati again sent for Vyasa, who cut the flesh into a hundred and one pieces, and placed each piece into an earthen pot.  In due course each piece of flesh became a healthy baby.  Thus, Gandhari had a hundred sons, who were called the Kauravas, the eldest of whom was Duryodhana and the second Dussassana.  There was one daughter called Dussala. 

Pandu had two wives, Kunti and Madri.  Unfortunately, he had the great misfortune to incur the displeasure and resulting curse of a sage who said he would die the moment he touched either one of his wives.  He was sad, because a king must have sons to keep up the line.  Fortunately, Kunti, in her maiden days, had so pleased the sage Durvasa that he had given her a gift in the form of a mantra which she could use five times to summon any of the gods as her lover.  As soon as the sage had left, in her childish innocence and curiosity she had thought of Surya, the sun god.  He appeared immediately and embraced her.  A child was born (instantly - when a god was the lover, birth was instantaneous - no need to wait 9 months!)  Kunti was so startled that she put the infant on a reed mat and let him float down the Ganges.  He later became the warrior Karna, who fought against the Pandavas as a friend of Duryodhana.

 When Pandu was bemoaning his fate, Kunti told him of the boon she had received from Durvasa.  He begged her to use the mantra so that he might have a son.  She summoned the god of death, Yama Dharma, and thus gave birth to Yudishthira (Dharmaputra - son of Dharma). Twice more she used the mantra, first summoning Vayu, the god of the wind, by whom she bore Bhima and later summoning Indra, king of the gods, by whom she bore Arjuna.  One mantra remained, and this she passed on to Pandu’s other wife, Madri, who summoned the Aswini devas, by whom she had twin sons, Nakula and Sahadeva.  The five sons of Pandu were known as the Pandavas. 

Although Dhritarashtra was disqualified from ruling because he was born blind, he was called to do so when his brother Pandu died.  At that time the Kauravas and the Pandavas were young men, and Dhritarashtra had them all trained together under the great guru Drona, a famous Brahmin warrior.  Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, was malicious, crafty and ambitious.  His brothers were equally scheming.  Dharmaputra, the eldest of the Pandavas, was virtuous and wise.  Bhima was mighty and unrivaled in sheer strength.  Arjuna was brave, generous and kind-hearted, and was unrivaled in archery.  Nakula and Sahadeva were spirited and amiable, but they did not occupy such prominent positions as their elder brothers. 

From the very beginning there was rivalry between the princes which turned into bitter hatred on the part of the Kauravas when Dhritarashtra nominated Dharmaputra, the eldest Pandava, as his heir apparent.  The jealousy of the Kauravas was so great that they finally persuaded Dhritarashtra to agree to Duryodhana’a plan to sent the Pandavas away to Varanavata.  There Duryodhana plotted to destroy his cousins by setting fire to the palace that had been built for them. 

Purochana, who received the Pandavas at Varanavata and conducted them to the palace, was a secret agent of Duryodhana.  But Vidura, a wise and pious man in Duryodhana’s court, knew of the plot.  He sent a messenger to Dharmaputra to warn him of the danger and tell him about an underground passage in the palace, by which the Pandavas could escape.  The good brothers slipped out through the passage and into the forest.  After their escape Bhima set fire to the palace, destroying Purochana.  Duryodhana thought that the Pandavas had been killed. 

In the forest, the demon Hidimba was killed by Bhima.  The demon’s sister, Hidimbi, fell in love with Bhima.   She turned herself into a beautiful maiden and approached him.   Bhima spurned her, but Vyasa appeared and asked him to accept her until a son was born to her.  Hidimbi bore a son called Ghatolkacha, and then departed with him.  After this, the Pandavas went to the village of Ekachaktra, where they lived for some time in the disguise of Brahmins.  During their stay in Ekachaktra, Bhima killed the wicked ogre Baka rakshasa, who had been tormenting the villagers. 

While in Ekachaktra, the Pandavas heard that Drupada, the king of the Panchala country, had proclaimed a Swayamvara.  This is a custom adopted by the warrior Kshatriyas of ancient India, whereby a girl selected her husband from amongst those men present.  For the Swayamvara, a feat of valor usually had to be performed.  The person who performed most courageously won the girl’s hand in marriage.  Draupada’s beautiful, gracious and devout daughter Draupadi would select her husband from among the princely suitors at the Swayamvara. 

Still disguised as Brahmins, the Pandavas went to the palace of Panchala, where all the kings and princes were assembled.  King Drupada wished to find only the most valiant man for his daughter.  Believing that Arjuna (the great archer) had perished in the palace fire with the other Pandavas, King Drupada, proclaimed that his daughter’s hand would go to the prince who could hit a revolving target with his arrow.  In all the lands, Arjuna alone could accomplish this great feat.  When all the Kshatriya princes had tried and failed, Arjuna came forward and requested that he might be given a chance.  At first King Drupada did not take Arjuna seriously, as he appeared to be a Brahmin.  Finally he was allowed to try.  Arjuna effortlessly hit the target.  There was an uproar amongst the princes, who attacked the Brahmins.  Arjuna fought them, but in so doing he revealed his identity.  Draupadi was enraptured, and her father Drupada was delighted that his daughter would wed the valiant Arjuna. 

In those days, Brahmins lived by taking alms from householders.  When Arjuna returned to his mother in the village of Ekachaktra, he told her that he had made a great acquisition.  Thinking he meant the alms he had received, Kunti told him that he would have to share his acquisition among the five brothers.  As a mother’s word was inviolable law, Draupadi thus became the common wife of the five Pandava brothers.  The brothers agreed between themselves that each year Draupadi would consort with one of them only.

Now that the existence of the Pandavas had become known, Dhritarashtra recalled them to his court and divided his kingdom between his own sons, the Kauravas, and the Pandavas.  To his own sons (the Kauravas) he gave the city of Hastinapura, and to the Pandavas he gave a place called Indraprasta on the Yamuna River.  This is believed to be near the present site of Delhi.  The Pandavas built a new city and a marvelous palace that had floors as clear as water.  The Pandavas invited the Kauravas to see their new palace, but the visit was a disaster.  When Duryodhana and Dussassana were being shown around, they thought that there was water where there was none, raising their garments to avoid getting wet.  In another place they mistook a pool for a crystal floor and fell into it.  These antics made Bhima and Draupadi laugh aloud, but Dharmaputra warned them of the consequences.  The Kauravas returned home, insulted and very jealous of the Pandavas.  They determined to plot again for the destruction of the Pandavas.

 Matters were made worse when Dharmaputra announced his intention of performing the Rajasuya sacrifice, thus claiming himself as sovereign.  Having obtained the assistance of Krishna, the incarnation on earth of the god Vishnu, Bhima set out to defeat the arrogant and wicked king Jarasandha, who had established himself over the heads of the other kings and was a serious challenge to Dharmaputra.  In a duel, Bhima killed Jarasandha. 

At the august Rajasuya assembly, to which all celebrated kings had been invited, Dharmaputra paid homage to Krishna.  This angered Sisupala, the king of Chedi, so much that he protested violently.  He recounted all the alleged misdeeds of Krishna, thereby arousing the anger of Arjuna, who challenged Sisupala to a duel.  Before the adversaries drew their weapons, Krishna intervened.  He assumed his Viswarupa (cosmic form of Vishnu), drew his divine weapon Sudarsana, and cut off Sisupala’s head.  That settled the argument!  Then the rites of the Rajasuya were properly completed.

 The performance of the Dharmaputra’s Rajasuya exacerbated the hatred and enmity of the Kauravas.  At the suggestion of their father Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas came to Hastinapura.  There Duryodhana invited Dharmaputra to play dice with their wicked uncle Sakuni.  Since the Pandavas could not be beaten in a straight fight, Sakuni would cheat them at dice, thus tricking them into forfeiting their wealth and their kingdom. 

Dharmaputra accepted the invitation to play dice with Sakuni because it would have been unchivalrous for him, a Kshatriya king, to refuse a challenge.  He lost each round of the game and everything he staked - his army, his wealth, and his kingdom. The more he lost, the more he staked.  Eventually, he wagered his four brothers, himself, and Draupadi, loosing them all in the rigged game.   Duryodhana then retaliated for the insults experienced at the Pandavas’ palace by ordering Dussassana to fetch Draupadi and make her sweep the floor of the court like a common servant.  Dussassana, in his exuberance, dragged her in by her hair and tried to disrobe her in full view of everyone.  Draupadi prayed fervently to Krishna, and miraculously her sari cloth became endless.  Dussassana, exhausted by the attempt to unwind it from her, collapsed.  Draupadi, in her distress and humiliation, cursed the Kauravas and vowed that her hair would remain disheveled until Dussassana had been killed by Bhima, who would rip him open and drink his blood. 

Dhritarashtra begged Draupadi to stop cursing, and in order to pacify her he agreed to free the Pandavas.  But Duryodhana, who feared what might happen if the Pandavas were at liberty, made a last challenge, again to be decided by a game of dice.  Whoever lost was to be exiled in the forest for twelve years, after which they would have to spend a further year in disguise.  If during the year of disguise they were discovered, they would return to the forest for another twelve years of exile.  Dharmaputra accepted the new challenge, and again he lost.  So the Pandavas were exiled.

 During their exile in the forest, the Pandavas suffered great hardship, but they enjoyed the friendship of Krishna.  Dharmaputra was told by Draupadi that she could not feed the large number of Brahmins who had followed them to the forest.  He took the advice of his guru, sage Khaumya, and prayed to Surya, the sun god, who gave him a wonderful cooking pot (the akshaya-patra) which would always create just enough food for those present.  Draupadi would eat from the pot last of all, and there would then be no more food for the day. 

Duryodhana, having heard of this acquisition through his spies, requested sage Durvasa to visit Dharmaputra one afternoon when the pot would be empty and remain so for the rest of the day.  Duryodhana thought that the Pandavas would be unable to feed the short-tempered sage, and would thereby incur his displeasure.  When Durvasa and his entourage entered the forest, Draupadi prayed to Krishna.  The god appeared, saying that he was terribly hungry and must have something to eat.  Draupadi explained that the pot was empty and that she had nothing to offer.  Krishna assured her she would find something in the pot.  She took out a bit of leaf sticking to the side of the pot.  Krishna took it, ate it and walked away.  At that moment, Durvasa and his disciples, who were bathing in a forest stream, felt themselves filled with food and could eat no more.  Durvasa wondered at first how this could have happened.  But when he knew the truth he blessed Dharmaputra and departed.

 Shortly after this event, Bhima killed the ogre Kirmira, brother of Baka rakshasa, who had once opposed the entrance of the Pandavas into the Kamyaka forest.  In the furious combat that ensued, Bhima and Kirmira hurled trees at each other.  The earth trembled.  Finally Bhima strangled the ogre.

 Sage Vyasa then came to visit the Pandavas and advised Arjuna to go to the Himalayas to perform penance to Shiva, in order to obtain from him the divine arrow pasupata, which would be necessary to help him and his brothers in the eventual war with the Kauravas.  In order to test Arjuna’s prowess and faith, Shiva and his consort Parvati disguised themselves as tribal hunters.  The disguised Shiva fought Arjuna and defeated him, but despite this Arjuna continued to worship Shiva.  Impressed by Arjuna’s devotion, eventually Shiva turned into his true form, blessing Arjuna and presenting him with the divine arrow. 

After this Arjuna’s father, Indra, sent his charioteer to invite Arjuna to Devaloka, the abode of the gods.  There, a heavenly beauty called Urvasi fell in love with Arjuna.  When he did not respond to her advances, she was angered, and pronounced a curse on him that he would become a eunuch.  Whilst Arjuna was lamenting his fate, Indra consoled him by saying that the curse would only last for one year and that it would in fact be a blessing in disguise, because it would coincide with the period that he and his brothers had to spend incognito.  Before leaving Devaloka, Arjuna demonstrated his prowess by fighting and killing the Asuras, Nivatakavacha and Kalakeya, who were at that time attacking the heavenly sanctuary.

 During Arjuna’s absence in the Himalayas and in Devaloka, his brothers and Draupadi missed him very much and spent many years visiting forests and holy places.  They came to Kulinda and stayed in the forest of Narayanasrama, where one day the wind wafted a beautiful flower near Draupadi.  She was so charmed with its fragrance that she asked Bhima to find some more for her.  The flower was called the saugandhika.  Not knowing where he was going or what was in store for him, Bhima set out in the direction of the wind.  On his journey he encountered many dangers and difficulties before meeting his step-brother, Hanuman, meditating in the forest.  Bhima was teased and humbled by Hanuman, who eventually told Bhima how to find the garden of Kubera where the saugandhika flowers grew.  There, Bhima gathered the fragrant flowers and returned to Draupadi with them.

 The Pandavas were not only sorry about Arjuna’s absence, but also about their own plight.  One day the sage Brihadaswa came to their hermitage.  He brought news of another deceitful game of dice in which King Nala of Nishada was cheated of everything - his land, belongings and title.  This king was abandoned by his wife Damayanti, and had no brothers to console him. 

The twelve years of exile passed.  Arjuna rejoined them, and the Pandavas chose to spend the thirteenth year in the Matsya kingdom of Virata.  There, they lived in disguise:  Dharmaputra as a sanyasi (holy man) called Kanka, Bhima as a cook called Valala, Arjuna as a eunuch called Brihannala who taught music and dancing, Nakula as a horse trainer called Damagrandi, and Sahadeva as a herdsman called Tandripala.  Draupadi took up service as a sairandhri (female attendant) calling herself Malini.  She was companion to Virata’s queen, Sudeshna.

Draupadi’s beauty attracted the attention of Kichaka, brother of the queen and commander-in-chief of Virata’s armies.  Kichaka’s passion for Draupadi was uncontrollable.  After much shameful behavior, Kichaka was ultimately crushed to death by Valala (Bhima).

 During the year of disguise, Duryodhana sent his spies searching throughout the land, hoping the Pandavas would be discovered.  This would mean another twelve years of exile.  One of the spies reported that someone had killed Kichaka.  On hearing this, Duryodhana suspected that Bhima was responsible, and that the Pandavas were hiding in Virata’s country.

Knowing that the Pandavas would come to Virata’s aid if his kingdom were invaded, Duryodhana ordered Trigartha to capture Virata’s cattle, and later Duryodhana himself attacked the kingdom.  Brihannala (Arjuna) drove the chariot of Virata’s son Uttaran - a boastful young man - who went out to fight Duryodhana.  When Uttaran panicked, Arjuna had to reveal himself and fight the battle for him.  The secret of the Pandava’s disguise was broken, but fortunately the scheduled period of one year was already over.  Arjuna fought and defeated Duryodhana.  To show his appreciation, Virata offered Arjuna his daughter’s hand in marriage, but Arjuna declined, saying that his son Abhimanyu would be a more fitting husband for her. 

Although the twelve years of exile and one year of disguise were over, the Kauravas were still unwilling to restore the kingdom to the Pandavas.  So Dharmaputra requested that Krishna go to see Duryodhana and ask for their share of the land.  Although they were fully entitled to half the kingdom, Dharmaputra said that in order to avoid war they would be satisfied with five villages, or five houses, or even one house for all five of them.   Krishna was preparing to go to Duryodhana’s palace when Draupadi arrived.  She deplored the idea of settlement with the Kauravas and reminded Krishna of her curse on Dussassana.  Krishna assured her that everything would turn out as she wished because Duryodhana would never agree to an honorable settlement. 

Krishna went to Duryodhana and explained the reason for his visit.  Dhritarashtra asked Duryodhana to obey Krishna and give the Pandavas their share of the kingdom.  But Duryodhana would not relent.  In the ensuing argument, Krishna pleaded for the Pandavas.  Duryodhana became so angry that he ordered Dussassana to tie Krishna up in ropes.  Krishna showed his Viswarupa - causing Duryodhana and Dussassana to faint.

 With no hope of a peaceful co-existence between the two families, preparations for war began.  The armies were drawn up for battle on the plains of Kurukshetra.  Both sides claimed Krishna as their ally because he was related to both.  Krishna offered the opponents the choice of himself unarmed or of a large army.  Duryodhana chose the army and Arjuna chose his brother-in-law unarmed.  Krishna offered to act as Arjuna’s charioteer, and it was in this capacity that he is believed to have delivered the divine sermon of the Bhagavadgita. 

The battle was fierce and horrible.  It lasted eighteen days.  Dussassana was killed on the fifteenth day of battle, when he made a concentrated attack on Bhima.  Bhima remembered Draupadi’s humiliation in the open court at Hastinapura many years earlier.  An uncontrollable anger blazed up in him.  Given special powers by Krishna, Bhima leapt at Dussassana, hurled him down, broke his limbs, tore open his chest and drank his blood, thus fulfilling Draupadi’s curse.  Finally, Bhima anointed Draupadi’s hair with Dussassana’s blood.

 As the battle continued, Bhima fought Duryodhana single-handedly, smashing his thigh and mortally wounding him.  Vengeance was complete.

 All the Kaurava brothers had been destroyed, but three surviving members of the Kaurava forces set fire to the Pandava camp, destroyed their army and killed the five Pandava children.  Only the Pandava brothers and Draupadi themselves survived.  The Pandavas returned to the Hastinapura palace.  After a reconciliation with Dhritarashtra, Dharmaputra was crowned king.  He performed the Aswamedha horse sacrifice, signifying that he was now king of all kings.  The Pandavas lived in peace and prosperity. 

The old blind Dhritarashtra was overcome with grief after the loss of his sons.   His feelings were bitter.  Fifteen years after Dharmaputra ascended the throne, Dhritarashtra left the court and retired to a hermitage in the forest, along with his wife Gandhari and Kunti, the mother of the three elder Pandavas.  Three years later they all perished in a fire.  The Pandavas were overcome with remorse at this disaster.

 When news came that Krishna had ascended into heaven, they all knew that Dwapara Yuga - the period in Hindu chronology in which they lived - was about to end.  Kali Yuga would shortly begin.  In order to avoid living in this Yuga, they renounced everything.  Dharmaputra abdicated the throne in favor of Parikshit, the son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna, the only surviving member of the Pandava descendant.

 Dharmaputra, his four brothers and Draupadi then set off on the long journey to the Himalayas, to the heaven of Indra on Mount Meru.  It was a pilgrimage towards death, and their only companion was a dog that followed them from Hastinapura.  One by one the Pandavas died by the wayside.  As they died Dharmaputra explained their deaths as punishment for some weakness.  Draupadi died first because she showed more love to Arjuna than to her other husbands.  Then Sahadeva because he was too conceited.  Next Nakula because he was too vain about his appearance.  Arjuna because he belittled the other warriors by his boast that he would destroy all his enemies by himself.  Finally Bhima’s death was punishment for his pride in his strength.

 Dharmaputra alone reached the gates of Indra’s heaven, with the dog accompanying him.  When invited by Indra to enter, he refused to do so before being assured that his brothers and Draupadi had found a place in heaven.  He was assured that they were already there.  Again he refused to enter unless his faithful dog could come in also.  At last he was admitted.  Dharmaputra was dismayed to find that his brothers and Draupadi were not there - instead Duryodhana was sitting on the throne, surrounded by the Kauravas.

 Dharmaputra refused to stay, and was conducted to Hell.  There he saw terrifying sights and heard the wailing of grief and unspeakable anguish.  Among the screams, he distinguished the voices of his brothers and Draupadi.  He resolved to share their fate rather than to live with their enemies in heaven.

 As Dharmaputra expressed this resolution, the whole scene was shown to be the effect of maya - an illusion that was designed to test his faith.  He had endured the supreme test.  Thereafter Dharmaputra, his brothers, Draupadi and their children dwelt with Indra in heaven, in everlasting contentment.