Stories Of Mahabharat Part Two

Arjuna’s exile

​In the last part we read about how Bheem rid the world of a demon named Bakasur. Also we saw how the Arjun (disguised as a brahmin) won the hand of Draupadi, the Panchal King’s daughter, in marriage. Duryodhana had recognized the victorious brahmin to be Arjun after witnessing his tremendous archery skill.

​The Pandavas returned home with Draupadi as Arjuna’s wife. Kunti was waiting for them thinking that her five sons will return home soon with their daily collection of alms.

​As soon as they reached their cottage, Yudhishthira called out to Kunti, “Mother! See what we have today!” Kunti was inside and did not see what Yudhishthir was talking about. So she casually replied, “Whatever it is divide it equally among yourselves.” But as soon as she noticed Draupadi she felt highly embarrassed at what she had said. She repented, “My sons, I was under the impression that you had brought something special by way of alms from some benevolent wealthy person. That is why I directed you to share whatever you had procured.”

​Once spoken, Kunti’s words could not be taken back and her dedicated five sons took Draupadi as their common wife. Draupadi too accepted the five Pandava brothers as her husbands. By now she had realised that the five brothers were the Pandavas. She was also proud that she was now a part of the royal family of Hastinapur.

It is not very easy to accept whatever is told by the elders; but ‘Dharma’ tells us to do so. The Pandavas were asked to do something unimaginable. But their mother’s word was final for the Pandavas and they followed it! However, when our parents ask us to do little chores, we rebel! Is it correct? We must learn to respect and follow our elders.

​After the swayamvara, Draupadi’s brother Dhrushtadyumna stealthily followed the five Brahmin brothers and found out their identities. Happily he returned home and informed his father Drupad that Draupadi had married the Pandavas. King Drupad then decided to celebrate the marriage, wherein the identities of the Pandavas were revealed. King Drupad then became a close ally to the Pandavas.

​News of Draupadi’s swayamvar and the true identities of the Brahmins reached Hastinapur. Bhishma advised Dhritarashtra to give half the kingdom to the Pandavas. Duryodhana did not like this idea but kept quiet and decided to wait for another opportunity to present itself to get rid of the Pandavas.

​Dhritarashtra listened to Bhishma and sent Vidura, his Prime Minister, to king Drupada’s court. He asked the Pandavas to return to Hastinapur with the promise that they would be treated fairly. The Pandavas agreed and proudly returned along with Kunti and Draupadi. Upon their arrival, the people accorded a grand welcome to the princes. The denizens of Hastinapur were overjoyed that the princes, who had been presumed dead in the fire, were safe and had returned!

​The Pandavas bowed down and humbly touched the feet of all their elders – Bhishma, Dhritarashtra, Vidur, Dronacharya and others. Dhritarashtra, consulted his trusted ministers and offered Khandavaprastha to the Pandavas. Yudhishthira, modest and accommodating as he was, accepted the offer and proceeded to Khandavprastha, to set up their own kingdom.

​In due course of time, the Pandavas made Indraprastha as the capital of Khandavaprastha. Indraprastha took the shape of a beautiful township with an impressive palace. People were happy and loved their king, Yudhishthira.

​Meanwhile to solve the complicated situation of Draupadi having wed the five Pandavas, Narada advised the brothers to draw up a code of conduct whereby none of the others could invade their brother’s privacy when the latter was with Draupadi. Failing which the violator was to go into exile for a period of twelve years.

​The dharma abiding Pandava brothers accepted these conditions and life proceeded smoothly until one day, a Brahmin came wailing bitterly. He told Arjuna that thieves had stolen his cows. Arjuna consoled and promised to go after the thieves. But he suddenly realised that his weapons were in Draupadi’s chamber and Yudhishthira was with her at that time. Arjuna was in a dilemma. But he chose to violate the code and accept exile instead of falling short in his duty as a Prince. He walked into Draupadi’s chamber, picked up his bow and quiver, and went after the thieves.

​Arjuna returned after restoring the cows to the Brahmin. He straightaway went to his elder brother Yudhishthira and apologised for breaking the code. He said, “I am guilty of violating our mutual agreement and now I seek your permission to go into exile for twelve years.” An aghast Yudhishthira tried to persuade Arjuna to change his mind by arguing that his selfless act of abiding by dharma negated the terms of the agreement. But Arjuna insisted on not making any exception and soon left for the forest.

​From Indraprastha, Arjuna first went to the Himalayas and passed his time in the company of sages, attending their discourses and performing the religious rituals.

​One day Ulupi, daughter of a Naga king (who was the ruler of the serpent-world) saw Arjuna engaged in his religious pursuits. Arjuna’s handsome personality had always attracted the damsels. Ulupi was no exception. She immediately fell in love and decided to abduct Arjuna and marry him. So, when Arjuna went for a bath in the river, she grabbed him and took him to her father’s under water palace. Arjuna was puzzled by the abduction and asked Ulupi about her intentions.

Ulupi explained, “I am the princess of the Naga kingdom. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. I have brought you here to make you my husband. You have no way to escape.”

​Arjuna had no choice. He accepted the proposal offered by Ulupi and stayed with her for a while. Then one day Arjuna appealed to Ulupi the reason for his inability to continue staying with her when he was expected to travel during his period of exile. Ulupi agreed and returned Arjuna to the surface. Before bidding him farewell, she gave Arjuna a boon of protection from the bite of any water creature.

Dear friends, to the Pandavas ‘word was honour’! Arjuna think twice before accepting the consequences of breaking the pact he had with his brothers. Arjuna chose exile despite his intentions being noble. But we often do not accept our own mistakes! Henceforth when someone points our our mistake to us, or we realise we have committed a mistake, let us tell it openly and ask for pardon, shall we?

Draupadi Swayamvar

In the last that part we saw that Duryodhan hatched a scheme to get rid of the Pandavas and that the Pandavas narrowly escaped death and took refuge in a forest. We also read about Bhim and Hidimba’s marriage and Ghatotkach’s birth.

After some months of hiding, the Pandavas began to think of leaving the forest when Veda Vyas arrived. He consoled the Pandavas and assured them that justice would prevail. He advised them to have patience and to endure the current hardship.

On the advice of Veda Vyas, Kunti and her five sons went to a nearby town called Ekachakra. There they stayed with a Brahmin family, disguised as Brahmins. The Pandavas passed the days by begging alms and participating in payers.

One day, while Kunti was resting at noon, she heard someone wailing inside their host’s house. Intrigued by the unusual wailing, Kunti decided it was her duty to enquire what misfortune had befallen their hosts.

The sobbing Brahmin told Kunti about how the village was cursed by the arrival of a demon called Bakasur. He came into the town of Ekachakra and started killing people and livestock at random. Finally the town elders struck a deal with Bakasur and persuaded him to stay in the forest nearby. The town would send him a cartload of food drawn by two buffaloes, driven by a person. Each family in the town had to take turns to do this. Bakasur would eat the food, the buffaloes and the driver! Kunti immediately guessed that it must be the turn of their hosts to send a driver to Bakasur.

​Kunti immediately consoled the weeping Brahmin and told them, “I have five children; so allow me to send my son Bhim to meet the demon. The only request that I will make is to keep this a secret and to not reveal our identity to anyone.”

As per Kunti’s directive, Bhim drove the cart of food to the forest where Bakasur lived. When he saw Bakasur coming out, Bhim began to ear the food meant for Bakasur. Bakasur was furious and attacked Bhim. There ensued a fierce fight between the two and Bakasur was killed. Bhim dragged the demon’s body to the town entrance at night and left it there for the people to witness.

Next morning, the citizens were surprised and elated to see the demon’s dead body. They rejoiced to their heart’s content. When they asked the Brahmin what had happened, the Pandavas’ host only said, “It is all God’s will. Let us thank Him for getting rid of the menace for good.”

The King of Panchal (Drupad) had organised the swayamvar of his beautiful daughter Draupadi. The Pandavas who had heard of Draupadi’s celestial beauty, too wanted to participate in the swayamvar. So, the Pandavas, disguised as Brahmins, travelled to Ekachakra to attend the swayamvar ceremony of Draupadi.

At the swayamvar assembly, the Pandavas sat next to other Brahmins, away from the royal dignitaries as they did not want to reveal their identity. No one in the assembly recognized the Pandavas. Krishna was also present as an honoured guest.

At the appropriate time, king Drupad greeted and honored all the participants and announced that his daughter Draupadi was going to enter the hall. Amidst the sounds of bugles, drums and melodious music, princess Draupadi, accompanied by her brother Dhrushtadyumna, entered the swayamvar hall. As soon she entered, all eyes turned toward her.

​Dhrushtadyumna addressed the gathering and said, “Honorable princes, you can see a fish hanging from a revolving wheel fixed at the top of a pole. The reflection of the fish is seen in a wide pan full of oil, placed at the bottom of the pole. The competitor, who hits the eye of the fish while looking at the reflection, shall win the hand of my sister Draupadi.”

A bow and a quiver full of arrows had been placed on the stage for the competitors. The event began and a number of princes came forward and tried their luck one after the other. But none of them were successful. With long faces they returned to their seats.

When Karna’s turn came Draupadi spoke out. She refused to marry Karna because he did not have any royal antecedents. Karna was brought up as the son of a charioteer. A humiliated Karna left the hall in a huff.

​Drupad and Dhrushtadyumna were getting worried since all of the princes present at the function had failed. Finally, Arjun sought Yudhistir’s permission to participate in the contest. With his elder brother’s consent, Arjun, still in the guise of a Brahmin walked towards the stage. People were amazed to see a Brahmin trying to achieve a feat in which valiant princes had miserably failed. “He must be crazy!” remarked one of the brahmins!

Staying calm and composed, Arjun picked up the bow and an arrow. He looked at the reflection of the fish in the oil pan and drew the bowstring and shot the arrow. The arrow darted with a twang and pierced the eye of the fish. People could not believe that a Brahmin had mastered archery better the assembled princes.

The princes felt insulted and came forward to harm Arjun. Immediately the rest of the Pandavas grouped together to defend Arjun. Soon enough, all the people realised the strength and skill of the five brothers, the Pandavas. Finally, Krishna stepped in and asked the frustrated princes to take their failure gracefully and the fighting stopped.

Meanwhile Duryodhana, who was also present, guessed that the winner must be Arjun, and the four other Brahmins must be the Pandava brothers he had planned to kill! He was amazed as to how they had escaped the fire at Varnavat.

What happened after this? We will learn about it in the next part.

Dear children, did you observe how selfless Kunti’s thoughts and actions were? She wanted to help her hosts and did not hesitate even for a moment before deciding on sending Bhim to confront Bakasur. When your friends or family members (brothers or sisters) ask you to part with something you have, do you readily give it to them or do you refuse? We have to remember that joy lies in selfless action. Let us inculcate this virtue in ourselves from today itself, shall we?

Escape from lakshagriha !

In the last part we saw that King of Panchal, Drupad was conquered by Dronacharya’s disicples who then presented the defeated king as Gurudakshina.

Kauravas and Pandavas returned to Hastinapur. They were received with great honour. The Pandavas were superior to the Kauravas in every respect, both in strength and intelligence. They were greatly appreciated for their innate noble qualities. Bhishma advised Dhritarashtra to declare Yudhishthira as the crown prince of Hastinapur since he was the eldest and was endowed with all the qualities necessary in a king.

Duryodhana’s jealousy of the Pandavas increased after learning that Yudhishthira would be declared the crown prince. Out of anger, Duryodhana hatched a plan to kill the Pandavas so that he could ascend the Hastinapur throne. One day Duryodhana approached his father, Dhritarashtra, and requested him to send the Pandavas to the annual Pashupati fair in Varnavat, a place far away from Hastinapur. Ignorant of any foul play, Dhritarashtra asked the Pandavas to attend the fair.

Duryodhana, on the other hand, secretly ordered his trusted aide and architect Purochana, to make a special palace, with highly inflammable materials, specially for the Pandavas (Lakshagriha – house of lacquer). His wicked plan was to burn the Pandavas alive while sleeping. According to the plan, Purochana would guard the palace and would ignite it on the following dark night.

However, Vidur (Dhritarashtra and Pandu’s half-brother) came to know of Duryodhana’s heinous plan and alerted Yudhishthir. Yudhishthir did not want to make a big deal out of this matter, since the Pandavas were not yet ready to fight back. So he decided to handle this in a secretive manner. In order to allow the Pandavas to gain time, Vidur sent a miner to Varnavat to secretly dig an escape tunnel from the palace. The tunnel would lead into a nearby dense forest, an area easy enough for the Pandavas to hide.

On the night when the heinous deed was about to be performed, Bheem bolted Purochana’s room from outside and set the house on fire. Then the Pandavas and Kunti escaped through the tunnel into the forest. At the site of the destructive fire, the people of Varnavat came rushing to extinguish the fire. However, the highly flammable palace burnt to ashes quickly. Everyone thought that the Pandavas were burnt in the fire. Soon, the news reached Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra and Bhishma were shocked to hear the news. Duryodhana was elated to hear it, but outwardly acted as if he was sad. Only Vidur knew what had actually happened!

After many miles of trekking through the forest, the Pandava brothers and Kunti laid down under a banyan tree, hungry and thirsty. Bheem went to get water but when he came back, he saw everyone in deep sleep. Bheem stayed awake to guard them. (Children, Bheem was also tired; but as a duty he took upon himself the responsibility to guard his family. This is abiding by Dharma – righteousness.)

The forest was a hunting reserve of a fearful demon called Hidimb. He lived with his sister Hidimba on a huge tree, near the place where the Pandavas were resting. As soon as Hidimb smelled the presence of humans, he asked his sister Hidimba to kill them for their dinner. Hidimba reached the place and saw Bheem guarding the Pandavas. After seeing the strong and muscular Bheem, she instantly fell in love with him. So she transformed herself into a beautiful maiden and approached Bheem. Bheem also fell in love with Hidimba at the first sight. On Hidimba’s inquiry Bheem explained the reason for his family being in the forest. Hidimba sympathised and promised to help them. In the meantime, Hidimb got impatient and came down from the tree in search of his sister. When he saw his sister in human form he was enraged and attacked Bheem. Bheem dragged Hidimb away (because the rest of the Pandavas were sleeping) and after a fierce fight finally slayed the demon.

When the family of Pandavas got up, Kunti noticed a beautiful maiden standing near Bheem. She inquired and Hidimba explained what had just happened. She further requested Kunti to permit Bheem to marry her. Hidimba promised to return Bheem to the Pandavas after the birth of a child. Kunti and her four sons were impressed by Hidimba and agreed to accept her as Bheem’s wife.

Following a short ceremony, Hidimba and Bheem took leave of Kunti and the Pandavas. In course of time, a child was born to the two of them, he was named Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha grew up in quickly and, like his father, became a great warrior. Bheem returned to his family with his son and wife. As promised, Hidimba left with her son after a short visit and Ghatotkacha promised to return to the Pandavas whenever they needed him.

Dear children, humans have 6 foes; they are – desire, anger, greed, attachment, jealousy, and pride. Duryodhana was consumed by all these foes, and hence he tried to get rid of his own cousins just to get the throne of Hastinapur. He was always unhappy with the success and happiness of Pandavas. For a happy life, we should try to get rid of the six foes (in the form of our personality defects). Will you try this today itself ?

The Princes grow up!

In the last part we read about the birth of the five Pandavas, Pandu and Madri’s subsequent demise and that the Pandavas moved to Hastinapur. Now let us read about the princes’ student days…

​Kripacharya in his childhood days, known as Kripa, along with his sister Krupi, orphans from a Brahmin family, came to King Shantanu (Bhishma’s father). Shantanu was a kind-hearted king. He raised Kripa and Krupi with care. Kripa, put in a lot of effort and became a master in the art of warfare and was then known as Kripacharya. Krupi was married to Drona, the son of rushi Bharadwaj; Rushi Bharadwaj was the best archer of his time. He ran a school to teach martial arts to the princes. Bharadwaj, personally trained his son Drona. During his student life, Drona became a close friend of prince Drupada who promised Drona that he would share half his kingdom with him when he became king.

After rushi Bharadwaj’s demise, Drona took over his father’s responsibilities and came to be known as Guru Dronacharya. In those days, an ideal teacher provided free education to all of his students and was satisfied with the honour showered by his students and the community. Vidyadan was considered to be the most superior thing to do. As a result, he stayed poor in meeting his daily needs unless some king provided financial support. Dronacharya had a son named Ashwatthama whom he loved dearly. One day Dronacharya witnessed Ashwatthama’s playmates mock his poverty. (Dear children, never be rude to anyone, because each one of us has a part of God in us. So be righteous and do not insult anyone because of his shortcomings.)

​Dronacharya decided to approach his former schoolmate Drupada for financial help. Drupada had become a king and since he was immersed in his royalty, he ignored his childhood promise to Dronacharya. He openly insulted Dronacharya and called him a beggar. Dronacharya was deeply offended and vowed that one day he will exact revenge on Drupada and left the court! He soon left his hermitage and arrived at Kripacharya’s residence along with his wife Krupi and Ashwatthama. (Dear children, remember to never go back on your word. Once you give a promise live up to it. Be trustworthy !)

Once when the princes of Hastinapur were playing ball, Dronacharya was passing by. He saw the bouncing ball fall into a nearby well. The princes were wondering how to get the ball out of the well. Dronacharya came forward. He listened to the princes and then threw his own ring into the well. He then claimed that he would get the ball and the ring out with the help of his skill in archery. And in quick succession threw blades of grass that helped pull the ball and the ring out of the well! The excited princes all requested Drona to see their grandfather Bhishma. Bhishma, heard what had happened and instantly recognized this as Drona’s skill. He immediately appointed Dronacharya as the princes’ teacher. Dronacharya was very pleased with his position that considerably improved the economic condition of his family. He began to instruct the princes with great care and love.

Of all the disciples, Dronacharya loved Arjuna the most. He was the most skillful and Drona once promised Arjuna that he would make him the best archer in the world. One-day Ekalavya, son of a nishada king, requested Dronacharya to accept him as a disciple. Dronacharya was committed to teach only the royal princes of Kuru dynasty. Hence, he refused to take Ekalavya as his disciple. Ekalavya was disappointed but did not lose hope. He went into a deep forest, made an idol of Dronacharya and considered that the idol itself was guiding him, practiced archery diligently. Through his devotion and constant practice, Ekalavya became an archer par excellence.

One day the Kuru princes went hunting into the jungle where Ekalavya lived. Their hunting dog strayed from the party and saw Ekalavya. It began to bark while Ekalavya was busy practicing. Ekalavya shot a volley of arrows at the dog such that it corked its open mouth. The dog ran back to the royal party and the princes were amazed to see its plight. They all came to Ekalavya, along with Dronacharya, in order to identify the person who has surpassed them in the art of archery.

​Ekalavya saw Dronacharya and fell at the feet of his guru. Drona was highly pleased by his devotion and diligence. He soon recognized that Ekalavya will eventually become the indomitable rival of Arjuna and Drona may not be able to keep his promise. So, with a heavy heart Drona asked for Ekalavya’s right thumb as Guru dakshina. Ekalavya obeyed and promptly placed his right thumb at the guru’s feet, despite knowing that this would greatly hamper his archery skills. What a glorious example of obedience to teachers! (Dear children, today when the teacher-student relationship is deteriorating, how do you respect your teachers?)

When the princes had completed their training, grandsire Bhishma arranged for a competition in order to demonstrate their sportsmanship. Various dignitaries were invited in the grand ceremony. Arjuna surprised everyone by his feats of archery. When the tournament was about to be concluded, Karna arrived on the scene. No one knew that he was Kunti’s son who was raised by a charioteer. He challenged Arjuna. At this point, Kripacharya raised an objection that the competition was meant for royal princes only and not open to ordinary people.

On hearing the objection, Duryodhan, who was intensely jealous of Arjuna, came forward and offered Karna the state of Anga, making him a prince. Karna in turn pledged his undying friendship and loyalty to Duryodhan. Karna proved to be as as good as Arjuna, and no one could decide who was the superior of the two; but this incident proved to be the start of Karna and Arjuna’s rivalry.

The day completed and the royal princes, came to Dronacharya to pay their respects. Dronacharya reminded them of their duty of offering Gurudakshina and asked them to capture Drupada, the king of Panchal, and to bring him as a prisoner. The Kaurava princes went first, but failed to capture him. But the Pandavas had no problem and shortly a chained Drupada was presented before Dronacharya.

​Dronacharya reminded Drupada of the insults he inflicted on him and said, “Drupada, as a friend I am returning half of the kingdom to you, but I hope that in the future you will remember the lesson and respect the promises that you make.”

Dear children, we learned about the immense gurubhakti (devotion towards one’s teachers) from Ekalavya’s incident. Also we learned that we should be true to our word and never renege on a promise from Drupada’s incident. Shall we implement these lessons in out lives from today ?

Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas

In the second part we saw that Pandu abdicated the throne in favour of Dhritarashtra. There was no heir to the throne since neither brother had any children.

One day, when Pandu was hunting in the forest, he shot an arrow at a buck who was with a doe. Before dying, the buck (which was actually a rushi in disguise) cursed Pandu that he will die the instant he touches any of his wives. Pandu was shocked but the damage was done. After returning to the hermitage, he narrated the events to his wives. They all agreed to lead the life of ascetics.

​Pandu regularly recalled the rushi’s curse and felt distressed, and Kunti painfully noticed it. It was then, that she decided to reveal a secret that she had kept close to her heart. Kunti said, “When I was young, Sage Durvasa came to my father’s house. I served the sage devotionally and as a result, the sage blessed me with a mantra through which I could invoke any god I desire to beget a son. The mantra, however, can be used only five times.”

​Pandu was very happy. There was a way the dynasty could continue after his demise. (Kunti, however, did not disclose to Pandu that she has already used the mantra once. After receiving the mantra, young that she was, Kunti was impatient to test the boon. She did so without giving much importance to the consequences. Dear children, never be impatient and undertake anything in a hurry. Haste is waste !

​Kunti invoked the Sun Deity and was blessed with a son wearing earrings and impenetrable armour from birth. At that time Kunti was not married. She immediately realised that the child born out of wedlock would bring infamy to her her family. She was scared of losing her reputation; hence she put the newborn into a basket and set it afloat in the river Ganga. A childless charioteer luckily discovered the basket. He brought up the abandoned child as his own. The child was duly named Karna because he was born with the earrings (karn kundals). But let us see what happens to Karna later on.)

Meanwhile, Sage Vyas visited Dhritarashtra and Gandhari took pains to ensure that the sage would have a comfortable time in the palace. Pleased with the reception he received, Sage Vyas decided to confer a boon on Gandhari. The queen asked for a 100 sons who would be as powerful as her husband. The Sage granted the boon and left.

In the forest, Pandu requested Kunti to invoke Dharma, the God of righteousness, first. Kunti was blessed with Pandu’s first son Yudhishthir. The news of the birth of first child reached Dhritarashtra and Gandhari. Gandhari was disturbed that despite the Sage’s boon she did not beget sons. She immediately called out to Vyasa rushi and requested him to hasten the birth of her hundred sons. Through his spiritual powers Vyasa did so hundred sons of Dhritarashtra emerged along with a daughter Dushala. Duryodhan was the eldest son while Dushashan was the second. As soon as Duryodhan was born, people began to see bad omens, which they thought would bring misfortune to the great dynasty. (Which turned out to be true! More of that later)

​Pandu requested Kunti to pray to the Wind God ‘Pavan’, following which Bheem, the second son was born. Indra blessed Kunti with the third son, Arjun. Madri was still childless. Pandu requested Kunti to pass on the mantra to Madri, the second wife of Pandu; so that she can also have a child. Madri invoked the twin Gods, Ashwini Kumar and was blessed with two sons, Nakul and Sahadev.

Thus, with the boon received by Kunti, Pandu was blessed with five sons, Yudhishthir, Bheem, Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev. These five worthy children of Pandu were called Pandavas. They grew up strong and well behaved. They learned the art of war games from their able father Pandu. The rushis taught them the Vedas.

It was a spring day while Pandu was strolling on the riverside, he saw Madri passing by. Aroused with passion he touched Madri and the rushi’s cuse took effect! Pandu died instantly.

​Kunti and Madri were grief-stricken. The news reached Dhritarashtra and he too was shocked. Pandu’s body was carried to Hastinapur for the last rites. Madri decided to submit herself to the funeral pyre of Pandu and appealed to Kunti to take care of her two sons, Nakul and Sahadev, as her own. The sons of Pandu, returned to Hastinapur and joined their cousins, the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarashtra).

All the cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas grew up together under the watchful eye of their grandfather Bhishma. They learned the art of warfare under the able tutelage of Krupacharya, a renowned guru.

In the next part we will learn more about Krupacharya and the the life of Pandavas in Hastinapur.

Shantanu and Ganga’s wedding

​Mahabharata is a literary as well as historical treasure of India. It is the longest epic poem in the world, originally composed in Sanskrut, by Sage Vyas several thousand years ago.

​Mahabharata belongs not only to India but to the world too. The central theme is that ‘victory comes to those who stay on the righteous path’. It has the much revered Bhagavad Geeta, Bhagwan ShriKrushna’s teachings to his dearest disciple Arjuna. The Bhagavad Geeta provides perennial spiritual strength to the people of India in all phases of their lives.

The Mahabharata stories presented here are in chronological order and are aimed to provide a fair amount of knowledge to your children. This is a universal book and is of great use to every person irrespective of his religion, caste or creed.

King Dushyant, a powerful ruler in ancient India. Dushyanta married Shakuntala, the foster-daughter of Kanva rushi. Shakuntala was born to Menaka (an Apsara) of Indra’s court, and Rushi Vishwamitra. Shakuntala gave birth to a worthy son Bharata, who grew up to be fearless and strong. He ruled for many years and was the founder of the Kuru dynasty. It is after this Bharata that our country gets the name ‘Bharat’. Unfortunately, things did not go well after the death of Bharata and his large empire was reduced to a kingdom of medium size with its capital in Hastinapur.

​Mahabharata means the story of the descendants of Bharata. The regular saga of the epic of the Mahabharata, however, starts with king Shantanu. Shantanu lived in Hastinapur and was known for his valor and wisdom.

One day Shantanu went out hunting to a nearby forest. (You might wonder that how hunting was allowed then, as hunting is strictly prohibited now. Children do not forget that this story is of ancient times and that time people were righteous and abiding Dharma. One of the duties of the king in those times was to keep a check on the population of wild animals in the forests. Therefore they could hunt animals. Due to the greediness and selfishness of people many species of animals have become extinct now. So all the animal species that still exist have to be protected. The number of tigers also is dwindling now; so nowadays great care is taken to stop the killing of wild animals.

The aim behind telling this story of Mahabharata to you is that you also should understand the importance of righteous behaviour which will make you happy in life. So please pay attention to every aspect that is covered in this story. You can put into practice all the virtues that you will come across as we proceed with the story.)

So while hunting king Shantanu reached the banks of the river Ganga and there he saw a very beautiful lady appearing out of the water and walking on its surface. Her grace and Divine beauty struck Shantanu at the very first sight and he was completely spellbound. When the king inquired who she was, the lady curtly asked, “Why do you wish to know that?” Shantanu admitted that he was captivated by her Divine beauty and wished to marry her. He also introduced himself stating that he was Shantanu, the king of Hastinapur.

The lady said, “I can accept your proposal provided you are ready to abide by two conditions.” The king asked her anxiously, “What are they?”

“Firstly, you will never ask anything about my personal life, like who I am or where do I come from?

Secondly, you will never stop me from doing anything or ask the reason for anything I do.”

​Shantanu was so much fascinated by her beauty that he immediately accepted the conditions. She was now known as Ganga. They instantly got married and returned to Shantanu’s palace. In the beginning everything was very smooth and one day queen Ganga gave birth to a lovely boy. As soon as king Shantanu heard of this good news, he was overjoyed and rushed to the palace to congratulate the queen. But he was astonished when he saw that the queen took the newborn into her arms, went to the river, and drowned him. The king was shocked and felt miserable, yet he could not ask the queen about her action. He was bound by his pledge, not to question or interfere with her actions.

Hardly had Shantanu recovered from the shock of the death of his first son at the hands of the queen when she became pregnant again. The king felt happy and thought that the queen would not repeat her dreadful action. But the queen again took the newborn into her arms, and drowned him in the river.

After seeing the ghastly action of the queen, the king was in immense grief but his pledge barred him from saying anything.

This continued until queen Ganga bore the eighth son and marched to the river as before. Shantanu lost his patience and as soon as the queen was about to drown the newborn, Shantanu stopped her. “I have lost seven sons like this and am left with no heir. I can no longer stand to see my flesh and blood decimated before my eyes.”

Queen Ganga turned around and said, “Oh King, you have violated your pledge. I will not stay with you any longer. However before leaving you, I will open the secret that led to the death of your seven sons. Once it so happened that the saint Vashishtha got offended with eight gods known as Vasus (Deities of directions). He cursed them to be born as human beings on earth and undergo the mental torture of being a human. Hearing this, seven of the Vasus implored the saint to be excused but the eighth one, who was the most mischievous, kept standing rudely. ”

​Vashishtha was appeased and modified his curse, “Seven of you will die and come back to heaven as soon as you are born, but the eighth one will have to live on earth for a long period and face tribulations as a human.”

​Ganga continued, “Upon the request from the Vasus, I had assumed human form and had married you. My job is now over and I must now go back to my heavenly abode. I am taking your eighth son with me and will bring him back to you after he is amply grown up.”

After saying this, Ganga flew away into the sky along with the newborn. King Shantanu felt very disappointed and returned to his palace with a broken heart. Here ends chapter one of Mahabharata.

Dear children, are you curious to learn what happened to King Shantanu’s son? Before we get to that, from this chapter we can realise how glorious our history is ! Our ancestors were such staunch followers of Dharma even in adverse conditions! We will be seeing more examples of this in the following chapters.

Devavrata becomes Bhishma!

In the first part of Mahabharata we read that Ganga flew away with Shantanu’s child. Now let us learn what happened next !

Many years later, when Shantanu visited the river Ganga, Goddess Ganga emerged out of the river with a young boy.

She said, “Oh King ! Here is your eighth son, Devavrata. He has mastered the art of weilding arms, and has unparalleled skills, equalling those of Sage Parshuram. Rushi Vasishtha has imparted the knowledge of the Vedas and the Vedanta, arts and sciences to him. This is your child, the finest archer and master statesman. He will bring immortal fame to his father’s name, and will be a great boon to the future generation. I have brought him up in order to let him cope with the life on this earth”. (Ganga, as an ideal parent, ensured that their child would be brought up with the right sanskars. This was necessary so as to mould young Devavrata for his future role as a mentor to the descendents of Shantanu)

King Shantanu was very happy to receive his son and with great pride he brought the prince to the palace. While celebrating Devavrata’s arrival the king declared him the crown prince of his kingdom. Devavrata was brave, just and looked highly promising. The subjects welcomed the decision wholeheartedly.

King Shantanu was getting old and so he decided to step down from his throne. He was lonely and always missed his wife Ganga. One day while he was taking a stroll on the bank of the river Ganga, he was attracted towards a charming maiden, Satyavati. She was the daughter of the chief of the fishermen tribe. She used to ferry rushis across the river, in her boat. She had a Divine fragrance coming out of her body.

​Satyavati did not always have such a divine fragrance. She was originally known as Matsyagandha due to the fishy smell that emanated from her. Once Rushi Parashar came to the riverbank and asked to be ferried across. That time Satyavati took him across the river in her boat. Rushi Parashar was pleased with her and blessed her with a divine fragrance along with the boon of a son who was named Vyas. Immediately after his birth, Vyas grew up quickly through his Divine powers and left to meditate. Vyas, however, promised his mother Satyavati that he will always be at her beck and call. (Vyas, is the legendary sage Ved Vyas, who had mastered the Vedas, the first Guru. Ved Vyas narrated the entire Mahabharata at a stretch while Shri Ganesh wrote it down. Sage Vyas was also a mentor to the descendents of Shantanu)

​Shantanu did not know anything about Satyavati’s past. He was charmed by her beauty. He went to her father, the fisherman chief, and asked for Satyavati’s hand in marriage. The chief agreed to the proposal but laid down a condition. He told the king that the son born to Satyavati should be the successor of to King and not Devavrata. Shantanu was shocked to hear the condition and returned home disappointed and unhappy. Devavrata later discovered the cause of his father’s unhappiness and went to Satyavati’s father and requested him to allow his father, king Shantanu to marry Satyavati. In return he promised to give up his right to the throne for Satyavati’s son.

​Satyavati’s father thought for a while and said, “We believe noble prince, but what about your children? What if they covet the throne?”

Hearing this, Devavrata took the grave vow that he will never marry in his life, for he would remain celibate. From then on he was known as Bhishma, the firm. Bhishma respectfully brought Satyavati to Shantanu’s palace. Shantanu was elated to see Satyavati but was shocked when he heard about Bhishma’s vow. He blessed Bhishma with the power to choose his time of death (Ichchha mrutyu).

In due course, queen Satyavati became the mother of two princes – Chitrangad and Vichitravirya. After Shantanu’s death, Chitrangad succeeded the throne but was killed in a war. Vichitravirya, then a minor, was crowned by Bhishma as the king of Hastinapur. When Vichitravirya came of age, Bhishma and queen Satyavati got him married to two princesses of the king of Kashi, Ambika and Ambalika. Unfortunately, Vichitravirya died without a successor.

​Bhishma and Satyavati decided to call Ved Vyas. Vyas arrived in no time. Satyavati explained to him the grave situation that the family had no heir. She requested Vyas to bless Ambika, the elder of the two widows of Vichitravirya, with a son who can succeed the deceased king. Vyas agreed.

​Vyas asked Ambika to come to him, but she was terrified of Him and closed her eyes when she was near Vyas. The Sage blessed her with a son. But since she had closed her eyes, the son born to Ambika was blind. He was named Dhritarashtra. The queen was disappointed and asked Vyas to bless Ambalika, the younger widow. Ambalika had one look at Sage Vyas and turned pale out of fear while the Sage was uttering the boon. As a result, the child born to Ambalika was pale and was called Pandu, meaning pale.

Queen Satyavati was puzzled, what can be done now? She requested Sage Vyas for another chance and sent for Ambika to receive the boon again. Ambika did not wish to go before the Sage. Instead, without telling her mother-in-law, Ambika sent her maid to the Sage after disguising her with stately garments. The maid remained fearless and greeted Ved Vyas with great devotion. Feeling happy, the Sage gave her a boon and she bore a perfect child called Vidur.

In course of time Pandu ascended the throne as his elder brother Dhrutarashtra was blind and Vidur became the prime minister due to his ability of perfect judgement and distinguished talent. Dhrutarashtra married Gandhari, the princess of Gandhar in Baluchistan. When Gandhari came to know that her husband is blind, she bandaged her eyes permanently with a cloth.

During the time of Pandu, the Kuru kingdom expanded far and wide. Pandu was married twice, first to Kunti and then to Madri. After many years of rule, Pandu decided to retire to Himalayas leaving the kingdom in the hands of Dhrutarashtra and grandfather Bhishma. There was no heir to the throne since none of the brothers had any children. So what happened thereafter?

Dear children, Bhishma took such a grave oath for his father. Our parents do not ask for such sacrifices from us. We are sometimes asked to do minor things like helping to clean the house, doing our homework on time or even just spending some time with them. Bhishma’s story reminds us that we too have a duty towards our parents. Will you promise to love and respect your parents and always try to keep them happy ?