Week 7 Reading Diary A: Nivedita's Mahabharata.

As much as I wanted to watch the film, I just couldn't devote 2.5 hours of my day watching a movie when I have so much studying to do. That's why I decided to read Nivedita's Mahabharata. The story line was about the same compared to last week's reading of the Mahabharata, but there were some interesting changes. Drona and King Drupada of Panchala have a feud going on because King Drupada humiliated Drona as a brahmin beggar. I thought that was pretty mean since they were childhood friends. Drona swears revenge so he decides to train the Pandavas along with the adopted Karna as part of his revenge plot. Arjuna and Karna become rivals.

I pity Ekalavya because everyone rejects him since he's part of a lower caste. He wanted to be Drona's pupil so badly that he but his right thumb off as a teacher's fee. He was such a skilled archer until he had to cut off his thumb. I believe he was a better archer than Arjuna, he just wasn't appreciated.

Another interesting chapter of the story was when Karna becomes king. Kunti, mother of the Pandavas, also happens to be Karna's mother. So in other words, Karna is technically a Pandava. His father is Surya, the sun god, while Arjuna's father is Indra, the storm god. Maybe that's symbolic of why they are rivals since storms hide the sun.

Back to the revenge plot, Drona had the princes capture King Drupada, who then had to give up half of the Panchala kingdom so Drona can not be king. King Dhritarashtra (father of the Kauravas) decides to replace his eldest son Duryodhana (Kaurava) with Yudhishthira (Pandava) as his successor. Out of jealousy, Duryodhana convinces his father to send the Pandavas away so that he can be king in their absence. So then Pandavas are sent to a different city in a house of lac. The plan was to set the house of fire to kill the Pandavas but the Pandavas were forewarned of the evil plan. So Bhima (Pandava) sets the house on fire while the Pandavas make an escape to make it seem like the Pandavas died in the fire. They live in hiding with disguises.

Of course on their journey they want a wife so they enter an archer's contest to win Princess Draupadi's hand in marraige. Karna wanted to string the bow, but Draupadi didn't allow him since he was the adopted son a charioteer. Arjuna wins her hand, and she's married to all five of them. Why would anyone want five husbands? That is so much work. Is she expected to cook and clean for five grown men? No thank you. Hard pass.

Long story short, Duryodhana and Yudhishthira engage in a gambling match where Yudhishthira loses everything (twice) and the Pandavas go into exile. Good job, Yudhishthira.

The Dice Game. Source.