Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B
- Vidura helps Pandavas by telling them the evil plan so they set the guard-hose on fire to get revenge on the wicked captain Purochana.
- Flames moved to the lac palace that houses a woman and her three sons which made everyone believe Kunti and the Pandavas had been killed, so Duryodhana thought he had succeeded.
- Kunti and the Pandavas are now living in the forest again
- Many demons tried to kill them
- Hidimbi, a female demon, begs Kunti to have Bhima marry her.
- Bhima defeats her brother, and they get married. They had a son Ghatotkacha, that stayed with the rakshasas and promised to help the Pandavas whenever needed.
- Bhima helps the citizens of a town called Ekachakra by defeating their ruler Baka, whom demanded blood-tax.
- Drupada has two children through supernatural birth (ritual).
- There is a swayamwara to decide the daughters (Draupadi) husband
- Kunti and the Pandavas, disguised as brahmins, attend
- Drupada secretly longed for Arjuna to be his daughters husband
- Drupada gave every competitor five bows to hit a target to bring down a golden fish
- Many great warriors were their including their enemies Duryodhana and Karna, as well as king of many other kingdoms
- Many rajahs tried to string the bow, but failed
- Karna strung the bow but was intervened by Draupadi saying she wouldn't marry a base-born since she was the daughter of a king.
- Arjuna comes forward and hits the eye of the target dropping the golden fish.
- Drupada is happy because he recognizes Arjuna through the disguise.
- The other Rajahs were angry and stormed the Pandavas but Krishna explained who they were and said the bride had been won fairly.
- Kunti accidentally says that Draupadi should be shared between the brothers, so she becomes the wife of all five of the Pandavas
- Once Duryodhana finds out that the Pandavas are still alive, they are invited back to the kingdom and given rule over a piece of it. Yudhishthria finally becomes king of a wonderful city called Indraprastha.
- Made a pact to never enter when one of the husbands were sitting with Draupadi.
- Arjuna, needing his weapons to chase a band of robbers, accidentally entered the room where Yudhishthira and Draupadi were sitting.
- After catching the robbers, he returns and tells his brethren that he will go into exile for 12 years since he broke the pact.
- He met Ulipi (daughter of the king of nagas) at Haridwar, a holy place.
- She led him to her fathers palace and he stayed there awhile
- She gave him the powers to be invisible in water
- They had a son, Iravat.
- He left Ulipi
- Wanted to bath in a part of the river where no one lives if they jump in because of an alligator that eats them
- Being cocky, Arjuna jumps in anyways and almost gets killed by the alligator.
- Right when Arjuna feels his strength slipping away, he hears the voice of Ulipi telling him that even though he doesn't want to stay with her, she will make it to where he will never be able to be defeated by a creature of the water.
- He drags the alligator to shore
- She tells him that her and her three other nymph friends were cursed by a man they tried tried to seduce, and that they would be alligators until a man named Arjuna pulled you onto the shore
- He goes and helps the other three friends
- They go into the water and he never sees them again
- Arjuna leaves the holy place and wanders to Manipur.
- Arjuna falls in loves with the kings daughter, but the king is hesitant because he needs an heir. Arjuna has a son, and stays there for three years, then continues his journey through the forest.
- Arjuna then wanders to the kingdom of Krishna.
- Falls in love with his sister, Subhadra.
- Balarama, however, wishes that she would take Duryodhana as her husband.
- Krishna advised that he should take her forcefully following the advice of sages.
- Arjuna takes her and flees to Indraprastha
- Balarama is furious with his brother Krishna, but explains that he will follow Arjuna and slay all of the Pandavas.
- Krishna explained how no man would marry her now, and that they should just send messengers to ask him to come back so they can get married properly.
- Balarama agreed and Arjuna returned to get married, and stayed in Dwaraka until his exile was over.
- Arjuna returned to Indraprastha, Subhadra and Draupadi became in love with each other, and were very dear to Kunti.
- Draupadi had five sons, but Subhadra only had one, Abhimanyu, who became a great warrior.
- Agni, the god of fire, came to Arjuna and Krishna, dressed in rags, asking for their help to consume the forest so that he may be restored to his normal self.
- Indra had stopped him multiple times from consuming the Khandava forest.
- They agreed to help if he would supply them with heavenly weapons, which he did.
- They defeated Indra, and burned the forest.
- Six animals escaped. A snake, four birds, and the demon Maya (son of a rishi).
- Maya was greatful that Arjuna had saved him from dying in the fire, so he promised to build the Pandavas a palace. He was the architect of the demons and had gold and gems that were being protected in the Himalayas by rakshasas.
- He built them a beautiful palace in 14 months that the rishi Narada compared to those of the gods.
- Duryodhana becomes extremely jealous of the Pandavas, and after making a fool of himself in their Palace, is full of rage,
- Yudhishthira is finally ready to become a rajah.
- He must defeat Jarasandha, a mighty king who is invulnerable to weapons
- Krishna, Arjuna, and Bhima go to the city of Mathura disguised as brahmins
- Jarasandha realized that night that they were warriors and asked why they are enemies.
- Krishna says that he must release all of the rajahs that are in his dungeons, or he will die
- The king refused, exclaiming that it was his vow to sacrifice them.
- The king asked to fight Bhima, and it ended with Bhima breaking his back over his knee
- Armies were sent out to get the support of rajahs from all around. Some agreed, some were forced and defeated.
- Duryodhana set up a rigged gambling match between Shakuni, and Yudhishthira, where Shakuni would win his kingdom.
- Yudhishthira knew that dice rolling always had bad intentions, but no warrior ever declines such a challenge.
- Yudhishthira, knowing it wouldn't be a fair gamble, still played, and lost everything, including himself.
- Once he had lost everything, Shakuni said that he could gamble Draupadi, and if he won, he would get everything back.
- However, he still lost. And Duryodhana made Draupadi his slave.
- Bhima vows some terrible things, explaining that he will never reach heaven if he doesn't defeat Duhshasana and break the knee of Duryodhana without any weapons.
- When Dhritarashtra realized what Duryodhana had done, he granted Draupadi two boons, and she freed the Pandavas.
- Duryodhana was angry at his sire for letting them go, and said that there would be a bloody war now. He asked his father to let them play one more match. The loser would go into exile for 12 years and concealment for one year after.
- Dhritarashtra granted his son the wish. The Pandavas returned to play with Shakuni, and using his loaded dice, won again.
- They are sent into exile. Kunti stays with Vidura since she is too old now to wander.
- Draupadi vowed that her hair will fall over her face until the day that Bhima moves it with the blood of Duhshasana on his hands.
Bibliography: Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition. Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.
- Flames moved to the lac palace that houses a woman and her three sons which made everyone believe Kunti and the Pandavas had been killed, so Duryodhana thought he had succeeded.
- Kunti and the Pandavas are now living in the forest again
- Many demons tried to kill them
- Hidimbi, a female demon, begs Kunti to have Bhima marry her.
- Bhima defeats her brother, and they get married. They had a son Ghatotkacha, that stayed with the rakshasas and promised to help the Pandavas whenever needed.
- Bhima helps the citizens of a town called Ekachakra by defeating their ruler Baka, whom demanded blood-tax.
- Drupada has two children through supernatural birth (ritual).
- There is a swayamwara to decide the daughters (Draupadi) husband
- Kunti and the Pandavas, disguised as brahmins, attend
- Drupada secretly longed for Arjuna to be his daughters husband
- Drupada gave every competitor five bows to hit a target to bring down a golden fish
- Many great warriors were their including their enemies Duryodhana and Karna, as well as king of many other kingdoms
- Many rajahs tried to string the bow, but failed
- Karna strung the bow but was intervened by Draupadi saying she wouldn't marry a base-born since she was the daughter of a king.
- Arjuna comes forward and hits the eye of the target dropping the golden fish.
- Drupada is happy because he recognizes Arjuna through the disguise.
- The other Rajahs were angry and stormed the Pandavas but Krishna explained who they were and said the bride had been won fairly.
- Kunti accidentally says that Draupadi should be shared between the brothers, so she becomes the wife of all five of the Pandavas
- Once Duryodhana finds out that the Pandavas are still alive, they are invited back to the kingdom and given rule over a piece of it. Yudhishthria finally becomes king of a wonderful city called Indraprastha.
- Made a pact to never enter when one of the husbands were sitting with Draupadi.
- Arjuna, needing his weapons to chase a band of robbers, accidentally entered the room where Yudhishthira and Draupadi were sitting.
- After catching the robbers, he returns and tells his brethren that he will go into exile for 12 years since he broke the pact.
- He met Ulipi (daughter of the king of nagas) at Haridwar, a holy place.
- She led him to her fathers palace and he stayed there awhile
- She gave him the powers to be invisible in water
- They had a son, Iravat.
- He left Ulipi
- Wanted to bath in a part of the river where no one lives if they jump in because of an alligator that eats them
- Being cocky, Arjuna jumps in anyways and almost gets killed by the alligator.
- Right when Arjuna feels his strength slipping away, he hears the voice of Ulipi telling him that even though he doesn't want to stay with her, she will make it to where he will never be able to be defeated by a creature of the water.
- He drags the alligator to shore
- She tells him that her and her three other nymph friends were cursed by a man they tried tried to seduce, and that they would be alligators until a man named Arjuna pulled you onto the shore
- He goes and helps the other three friends
- They go into the water and he never sees them again
- Arjuna leaves the holy place and wanders to Manipur.
- Arjuna falls in loves with the kings daughter, but the king is hesitant because he needs an heir. Arjuna has a son, and stays there for three years, then continues his journey through the forest.
- Arjuna then wanders to the kingdom of Krishna.
- Falls in love with his sister, Subhadra.
- Balarama, however, wishes that she would take Duryodhana as her husband.
- Krishna advised that he should take her forcefully following the advice of sages.
- Arjuna takes her and flees to Indraprastha
- Balarama is furious with his brother Krishna, but explains that he will follow Arjuna and slay all of the Pandavas.
- Krishna explained how no man would marry her now, and that they should just send messengers to ask him to come back so they can get married properly.
- Balarama agreed and Arjuna returned to get married, and stayed in Dwaraka until his exile was over.
- Arjuna returned to Indraprastha, Subhadra and Draupadi became in love with each other, and were very dear to Kunti.
- Draupadi had five sons, but Subhadra only had one, Abhimanyu, who became a great warrior.
- Agni, the god of fire, came to Arjuna and Krishna, dressed in rags, asking for their help to consume the forest so that he may be restored to his normal self.
- Indra had stopped him multiple times from consuming the Khandava forest.
- They agreed to help if he would supply them with heavenly weapons, which he did.
- They defeated Indra, and burned the forest.
- Six animals escaped. A snake, four birds, and the demon Maya (son of a rishi).
- Maya was greatful that Arjuna had saved him from dying in the fire, so he promised to build the Pandavas a palace. He was the architect of the demons and had gold and gems that were being protected in the Himalayas by rakshasas.
- He built them a beautiful palace in 14 months that the rishi Narada compared to those of the gods.
- Duryodhana becomes extremely jealous of the Pandavas, and after making a fool of himself in their Palace, is full of rage,
- Yudhishthira is finally ready to become a rajah.
- He must defeat Jarasandha, a mighty king who is invulnerable to weapons
- Krishna, Arjuna, and Bhima go to the city of Mathura disguised as brahmins
- Jarasandha realized that night that they were warriors and asked why they are enemies.
- Krishna says that he must release all of the rajahs that are in his dungeons, or he will die
- The king refused, exclaiming that it was his vow to sacrifice them.
- The king asked to fight Bhima, and it ended with Bhima breaking his back over his knee
- Armies were sent out to get the support of rajahs from all around. Some agreed, some were forced and defeated.
- Duryodhana set up a rigged gambling match between Shakuni, and Yudhishthira, where Shakuni would win his kingdom.
- Yudhishthira knew that dice rolling always had bad intentions, but no warrior ever declines such a challenge.
- Yudhishthira, knowing it wouldn't be a fair gamble, still played, and lost everything, including himself.
- Once he had lost everything, Shakuni said that he could gamble Draupadi, and if he won, he would get everything back.
- However, he still lost. And Duryodhana made Draupadi his slave.
- Bhima vows some terrible things, explaining that he will never reach heaven if he doesn't defeat Duhshasana and break the knee of Duryodhana without any weapons.
- When Dhritarashtra realized what Duryodhana had done, he granted Draupadi two boons, and she freed the Pandavas.
- Duryodhana was angry at his sire for letting them go, and said that there would be a bloody war now. He asked his father to let them play one more match. The loser would go into exile for 12 years and concealment for one year after.
- Dhritarashtra granted his son the wish. The Pandavas returned to play with Shakuni, and using his loaded dice, won again.
- They are sent into exile. Kunti stays with Vidura since she is too old now to wander.
- Draupadi vowed that her hair will fall over her face until the day that Bhima moves it with the blood of Duhshasana on his hands.
Bibliography: Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition. Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.
Shakuni and Yudhishthira gambling match
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