EPICS OF INDIA

Dhruva

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Uttanapada was the son of Svayambhuva Manu. Uttanapada's wives were Suniti and Suruchi. He had a son called Dhruva by Suniti and another son called Uttama by Suruchi. Suruchi was his favorite wife. One day he was fondling the son Uttama. Dhruva saw this and wanted also to get on to the father's lap. Suruchi, Dhruva's stepmother prevented this saying that only Uttama was entitled to sit on his father's lap. Dhruva was crying and informed of this to his mother Suniti. Suniti implored patience and said that she and Dhruva should submit to the fate that they were not the favored ones. She advised Dhruva. " Son, try to acquire religious merit. Be kind and friendly to all living creatures. You will be endowed with good fortune."

Dhruva said, "Let Uttama get the crown. I will by my own efforts attain a rank higher than my father's and get to be respected by the entire world." Having said this, he moved into the forest.

In the forest, he saw seven saints sitting on antelope skins, performing tapas. Dhruva narrated his story to them. The sages asked, "What do you want from us?"

Dhruva said, "I do not want money. I do not want

dom. I want the highest rank in the world. Tell me how I can attain this."

The sages said in one voice: "Anything desired by man can be attained by worshipping Vishnu-anything, even the highest rank in the highest of the three worlds."

Dhruva inquired, "Instruct me, O holy sages, how do I worship Vishnu, the god of gods."

The sages explained, "Remove your mind from all external objects; fix it steadily on the Supreme Soul on whom the entire universe exists. Repeat the prayer: Glory to the Supreme who is divine wisdom and whose form is this Universe."

Prince Dhruva went to a holy place on the Yamuna river and performed tapas. He meditated and prayed. The Supreme Being entered his soul. He became the repository of supreme, divine power. The gods were frightened that Dhruva may supersede the gods themselves in power. One of the gods even tried to deceive Dhruva and interrupt Dhruva's tapas by appearing before him in the form of Suniti and cried before him, saying " Son, you are only five years old. You are my only solace. Don't leave me. Protect me, my child, from the taunts of Suruchi. Your duty is to make your mother happy. If you do not come back to me, I will kill myself."

Dhruva was deeply meditating; he did not hear or see his mother weeping before him. The illusion disappeared from his presence. Only one object was seen by his mind's eye: the Supreme soul.

The gods were alarmed indeed. They had failed to shake Dhruva's resolve. So they went to Vishnu and complained, "This child is attaining superhuman powers by his tapas. We do not know what rank he wants, an Indra, a Sun or a guardian deity. Divert him, O Vishnu, from this tapas."

Vishnu calmly replied, "I know what Dhruva wants; he does not want sovereignty of the solar sphere or the earth or the oceans. I will grant Dhruva's wish and stop his tapas. Don't be alarmed; return to your stations and do your duties."

Swift as thought, Vishnu came to Dhruva appearing before him in the form in which he worshipped Vishnu and said, "I am pleased with your devotion, O son of Uttanapada. Ask me, what do you want?"

Dhruva opened his eyes and saw before him the Supreme Being. He was enthralled. He was overwhelmed. He was dumbfounded. After a few speechless moments, Dhruva said, "O Lord, I want this boon: let me know how to praise thee. I cannot find words to glorify you. My heart is full of love and devotion. God, give me the power to lay my prayers at your feet."

Vishnu's sacred conch touched Dhruva's head; instantly, Dhruva burst forth into a long song of praise of such glory that no man had heard before. When Dhruva had finished, the Lord asked, "Tell me what are the wishes of your heart."

Dhruva replied: "O Lord, you reside in all peoples' hearts. You therefore know all the wishes in my heart. All you are as

for is my confession. I confess: I do not want the rank of Indra, the rank of the Sun; nor do I want the sovereignty of the earth and the oceans. I just wanted to attain the highest position which no one had attained before. I do not know that position. You decide. I surrender completely."

Vishnu said, " You shall attain that rank; it will be a station which will sustain all the stars and the planets, above that of the sun and the moon. As the ever-present Pole Star, you will be an example to all people of what devotion can attain. Suniti, your mother will also dwell as a star near you. Your task now is to go back to your father, reconcile with your stepmother and be the guardian of your brother. Your old father is old and unhappy that you left him. You take over the

dom from him and rule according to the laws of Dharma. In due time, you will attain your place in the heavens."

Saying these, Vishnu disappeared. Dhruva bowed. When he returned home, he found a warm welcome from his father, mother and stepmother. He carried out the divine commands. He attained his place as the Pole Star (Dhruva taara) in the sky. Suniti shined beside him.

Mahabharata, The Greatest Indian Epic

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It has been called the national epic of India, and it is that, in very much the same sense that the Illiad is the national epic of Classical Greece. The Mahabharata is the story of a great war that ended one age and began another. The story has been passed down to us in a classical canon of Sanskrit verses some 100,000 stanzas long; that is about 12 times the length of the Western Bible. The best scholarly evidence indicates that the earliest layers of the epic were composed between 2500 and 3000 years ago. The text had reached pretty much its present form by about 300-400 C.E.

Mahabharata has also been called the Hindu bible. It is important at the outset to recognize that epic and bible are both Eurocentric terms. The former implies the kind of single-minded focus on the hero and his deeds that characterizes the stories that we Europeans learned as epics in our schooling. And the latter term implies a certain iconic status for the book in its society; our bible is not something we know so much as it is something we swear on. None of that is particularly true for the Mahabharata, although it is not completely false either. It just misses the point.

Epic and bible together imply an absolute division between the sacred and the profane - one pure fable and the other Holy Truth - that simply doesn it exist in the Hindu vision. Our Eurocentric minds, trained in a Jahwist tradition of good and evil, true and false, demand that the story go into one slot or the other, and if it is too big, then we will reduce it to fit. The Hindu mind, I think, rather than force the story into any single category, conceives a story big enough to encompass all categories.

The Mahabharata itself says it quite positively.

What is found herein may also be found in other sources,
What is not found herein does not matter.

The Mahabharata contains virtually all the lore and legend of the Classical Hindu Tradition - which is also, in typical Hindu defiance of simple-minded historicity - very much a living tradition. Here are the great creation stories - Manu is flood, the churning of the milk ocean, the descent of the Ganges. Here are the favorite myths and fairy tales. Here are the jokes. Here are the codes of law - moral, ethical, natural. One of the best things about the Mahabharata is its wonderful richness of episode and detail.

But Mahabharata is not a random collection of tales, like the Medieval gestes (to further prove the habit of thinking Eurocentrically). Every digressive bit of the Mahabharata is there to shed light on a central story. The core event of that story is the great battle that was fought on the field of Kurukshetra between the five sons of King Pandu and their allies on the one side and the hundred sons of King Dhritarashtra, with their allies, on the other side. The battle was the culmination of a long history of struggle and diplomatic maneuvering, and it involved virtually every tribal king and every powerful city-state in Central and Northern India at the time.

It was a tragic war, that pitted brothers against brothers, sons against fathers and uncles, brave noble men against brave noble men. And it was devastating. Nearly all of the best men died in the long battle. The Pandavas, the sons of King Pandu, survived, but there was no victory, for the war had destroyed the world that they knew, and the emptiness of what they had won colored the rest of their lives.

Now to say that the Mahabharata is the story of a great battle is to say that Hamlet is the story of an unsuccessful usurpation, or that Moby Dick is the story of a whale hunt. Hindu cosmology is sweeping, and the story of the Mahabharata war has cosmological significance, in that it marks the end of one yuga and the beginning of another. There are four yugas in every great cycle of existence, each one diminished from the one before. The yuga that ended with the Mahabharata war was the dvapara yuga - the age of heros, during which noble values still prevailed and men remained faithful to the principles and tasks of their castes. The age that follows the battle is the Kali yuga, the last age of the world; in it, all values are reduced, law becomes fragmented and powerless, and evil gains sway. We live in the Kali yuga.

The breadth of its vision is one of the things that makes the Mahabharata the best story I know. But there are other reasons. Mahabharata has a riveting plot and a compelling dramatic structure. Its characters are complex and real, with depth of personality that is unmatched in any other epical or biblical story I have heard. Finally, I have found the Mahabharata to be full of wisdom.

In the next few minutes, I am going to try to give you a sense of how the Mahabharata story goes.

Since the story has cosmic significance, its ultimate beginnings are lost in the mists of time and the minds of unknowable immensities; a wealth of family histories, myths, and fables lead up to the events that I will tell you about. I will jump into the story at a point where the succession to the kingship had come into question.

The old king had died without issue, but sons had been fathered on his two widows by his half-brother; by the Hindu laws of the levirate, those sons became the legal heirs of the dead king.

To complicate the situation further, the elder son, Dhritarashtra, although he was renowned through all the world for his wisdom and strength, had been born blind and so was not eligible to assume the kingship. His younger brother Pandu, then, assumed the throne of Hastinapura.

Then one day, before either of Pandu’s wives had conceived her first child, the king was out hunting, and he shot and mortally wounded a stag in the act of copulating with his mate. Before the stag died, he cursed Pandu.

"Oh King, what you have done is unlawful. The next time you attempt intercourse, your head will break apart and you will die."

Pandu was devastated. In the world of the Mahabharata, such curses always come true, and Pandu realized that the stag’s curse meant that he could never have sons. So he stepped down from the throne; he and his wives put on the garb of wandering hermits and went to live in the forest, leaving the kingdom under the stewardship of blind Dhritarashtra.

Then, in the woods, Pandu’s senior wife Kunti revealed that she possessed a secret mantram, a magical incantation, that would invoke a God to fill her womb with his power.

Pandu was delighted. Another section of the levirate laws declared that sons fathered on one’s wife by a god were lawful sons. With the aid of the mantram, Pandu had five sons, known collectively as the Pandavas, the sons of Pandu.

Yudhisthira, the eldest, was conceived by Dharma the god, who embodies dharma the law which is constant through all time and circumstance. Yudhishtira grew to be the wisest and most law-abiding of men; indeed, he is known as Lord Dharma. And he was a champion chariot warrior.

The god father of Bhima, Pandu’s next son, was Vayu, the wind, and Bhima grew to be enormously strong, with a voracious appetite; he is known as Wolf-belly, and he had fame in three worlds for his strength as a club fighter.

Finally, Kunti bore Arjuna. Arjuna’s father was Indra, King of the gods, Thunderbolt-Wielder, Destroyer of Cities. Arjuna grew to be a master of weapons, the Left-handed Archer, the Lord of Victory.

Pandu’s second wife, Madri, also used the mantram. She conceived twin sons by the twin physician gods, the Aswins, and Nakula and Sahadeva grew to be expert swordsmen.

While all this was going on in Pandu’s forest exile, the blind king Dhritarashtra, back in Hastinapura, had found miraculous intervention for his own issue, and his wife, the virtuous Gandhari, had born 100 sons. The eldest and chief of Dhritarashtra’s sons was Duryodhana, and he had assumed the role of crown prince in Hastinapura.

Then back in the forest, one spring day, Pandu happened upon Madri bathing, and she was so beautiful, so desireable, that he could no longer control himself, and Madri lacked the strength and the will to prevent him. He had her, the murdered stag’s curse kicked in, and Pandu paid his karmic debt. Madri was so unbalanced by Pandu’s death and her complicity in it that she threw herself on the funeral pyre and left the story to Kunti.

Kunti, for her part, packed up the five boys and took them to Hastinapura. "Here," she said to Dhritarashtra, "are the sons of Pandu."

"Move over."

Mahabharata covers the years following the Pandavas' arrival in Hastinapura in rich and inviting detail - the growing rivalry between Duryodhana with his 99 brothers, on the one side, and the five Pandavas, with their supporters, on the other; Duryodhana’s attempt to assassinate the Pandavas by burning the house in which they are visiting; their escape and their subsequent period of exile. For the purposes of plot advancement, the two most significant events of that period were the arrival on the scene of Draupadi, who became wife to the Pandavas, and Krishna, who became their most trusted friend, counselor, and ally.

The Arrival of Krishna

Arjuna actually won Draupadi’s hand at her svayambara, the Maiden’s Choice festival at which suitors contend for the love of the princess. Arjuna was the only one in the arena who could string and fire the massive bow that Draupadi’s father had made to test his daughter’s suitors. The family was living in exile at the time, disguised as brahmanas, student priests, and begging for their food. When Arjuna arrived with Draupadi at the door of the hut in which they were living, he jokingly called out to his mother, "Come see what I got in my begging bowl today." And Kunti, without looking up, gave a mother’s typical response: "Whatever it is, be sure to share it with your brothers."

A mother’s word is law.

So Draupadi married all five brothers.

Krishna had also been at Draupadi’s svayambara, up from his city of Maratha, and he had watched with keen interest as the stranger dressed as a brahmana had leaped into the arena and bested the finest warrior kings. Krishna was Kunti’s cousin. He knew of the Pandavas’ exile, and he thought he knew who the unknown warrior priest might be. Shortly after the festival Krishna found his way to the potter’s shed where the Pandavas were living with Kunti. He greeted his cousin Kunti, and clapped Arjuna on the shoulder.

"I knew that you were Arjuna."

"And you must be Krishna. We have never met, yet I feel that I have known you."

"Perhaps," said Krishna, "we have been friends in other lives."

"We will be friends in this life," said Arjuna.

"Yes," said Krishna, and they embraced.

The Krishna who found the Pandavas after Draupadi’s svayambhara is the same Krishna who is the object of the Hare Krishnas’ worship. In India, there is a whole canon of myth and legend surrounding Krishna, all of it later in origin than the Mahabharata, that emphasizes his godhead, as an avatar of the great god Vishnu, the Preserver. But in the Mahabharata, Krishna’s humanity is to the fore. His divinity is visible - he receives more honor and deference than his position, as the younger son of a distant king, would seem to warrant. And he performs several quick miracles, of the "Did-I-just-see-what-I-thought-I-just-saw?" sort. And there is a persistent sense of mystery that dwells in Krishna’s presence in the story. And the Pandavas acknowledge his godhood on several occasions, but it’s treated almost casually. Mostly Krishna is in the Mahabharata as a trusted counselor, an honored friend of the Pandava’s family, and Arjuna’s best friend. Arjuna and Krishna spend long stretches of the story away from the main action, off having adventures somewhere else that sometimes we learn about and sometimes we don’t. It’s easy to believe that they are playing parts in other stories than ours. In our story, however, Krishna is a friend and counselor, and shortly after he enters the story, at the end of the first long book of the Mahabharata, he helps the Pandavas effect a reconciliation with their rivals.

The Assembly Hall

King Dhritarashtra, in fact, agreed to split the kingdom in half. He would remain as King in Hastinapura, with Duryodhana as his crown prince. The Pandavas would take over the undeveloped eastern part of the country.

The Pandavas established a capital city, which they called Indraprasta, and their fortunes flourished, while those of the Kurus remained stagnant. After twelve years of growing prosperity and steady expansion of his influence, King Yudhishtira was ready to conduct the most powerful Vedic ritual, the Royal Sacrifice, which would make him lawful king of all the known world.

The sacrifice required thousands of brahmin priests and took years to perform. Yudishtira’s brothers had to secure allegiance to his reign from every king in all four corners of the world. And when it was all over, and Yudhishtira had won the right to be called Great King, maharaja, he invited all of the kings in his dominion to celebrate with him in the magnificent assembly hall that he had built just for this event.

Duryodhana came, and he was green with jealousy. What is more, he made a fool of himself in front of the assembled kings, and the Pandavas laughed at him. He returned to Hastinapura in a black funk; striding into the Kuru’s assembly hall, Duryodhana, with an angry swirl of his cape, sat on the floor.

"I am finished with life. The Pandavas have everything, and I have nothing. I will take no food, no drink. I will stay here until my hatred has become my funeral pyre and consumed me totally."

"Duryodhana," said his brother Duhsasana. "You must not."

Duryodhana said, "Yudishtira has the world, and Arjuna got it for him."

"We can defeat the Pandavas," said Duhsasana.

"All the kings of the world have tried, and all have failed. Yudhishtira does not stir from the Law, and nothing can defeat him."

"I know how to defeat Yudhishtira."

The speaker was Sakuni...

Dharma, as we saw at Yudhishtira’s conception, is a god. Dharma is also Law - not only the law that governs the states and affairs of men, but also moral law and natural law. Dharma is the field on which all karmic action unfolds. This we sow, thus we tend the crop, so we reap. Dharma controls all that; it is dharma in which it all happens. The concept of dharma is not rigid, like the western concept of Fate, but it recognizes the power of individual determination. That determination is expressed through sacrifices and austerities, and if it is intense enough, it can alter the karmic balance.

At this point in the story, if Duryodhana had followed through on his vow, released hold of everything but his hatred, and nourished that until his body rose in bright flame, the Pandavas could have been goners, and we would have had a different story. But now Duryodhana listened to Sakuni, and we have the Mahabharata.

The Game of Dice

Sakuni was Duryodhana’s uncle, younger brother of Dhritarashtra’s wife, the virtuous Gandhari. He was shrewd and unscrupulous, well known in the courts of Hastinapura and Indraprasta as an expert dice player. He proposed to invite the Pandavas to a game of dice and exploit Yudhishtira’s inability to resist a challenge. Sakuni was confident that he could defeat Yudhishtira, and Duryodhana could take in a game what he could not take on the field of war.

They sent old Vidura with the invitation to play. Vidura was honest as the day is long and boring as scripture. Tiresome as he was, he loved the Pandavas.

"They want you to come to a game of dice, " Vidura told Yudhishtira.

"How kind of them," said Yudhishtira. "Of course we will come."

"But you must not play the dice, Yudhishtira. Gambling is wrong."

Yudhishtira said, "Uncle, you know that I may not refuse a challenge."

"You know they will cheat," said Vidura.

"I may not refuse a challenge."

Duryodhana built a new assembly hall in which to hold the contest, and he invited all the kings to attend. The Pandavas travelled to Hastinapura with their wife Draupadi, but without Krishna, who was busy fighting other wars elsewhere. Draupadi retired to her quarters, and Yudhishtira and his brothers entered the assembly hall.

"Have you come to play dice," demanded Duryodhana.

"A king may not lawfully refuse a challenge from another king," said Lord Dharma.

"I challenge you," said Duryodhana.

"I will play."

"My uncle Sakuni will cast the dice for me," said Duryodhana.

"Isn’t that a bit unorthodox?" asked Yudhishtira.

"Do you refuse to play?" challenged Duryodhana.

"What will be, must be," said Yudhishtira. "Let us play. I will offer this magnificent golden chain as my stake."

Yudhishtira lost, of course. The dice they played was not our modern game of pure chance, but a game that involved number skills and quick hands, and Sakuni was an expert. And he cheated. Probably. It’s impossible to know for sure that he cheated, and it is really beside the point anyway. Yudhishtira lost everything - his palaces and lands and herds, his chariots and his servants, the very clothes on his back.

Sakuni said, "Do you want to play again?"

"I have nothing left to stake," said Yudhishtira.

"You have your brothers."

There was an audible gasp from the audience. Yudhishtira was clearly shaken, but he remained steady. He spoke to Duryodhana.

"Prince, consider. Is this lawful and wise?"

Duryodhana gave him that look, between a smile and a sneer.

"You are Lord Dharma. Do you refuse to play?"

"So it will be," said Yudhishtira.

In quick order, they were all gone. Steadfast Nakula and Sahadeva, the splendid swordsmen; mighty Bhima, Wolf-Belly; Arjuna, Lord of Victory, the Left-handed Archer; each in turn was stripped of his weapons and his warrior’s garb and sent to kneel among the servants. Yudhishtira had only himself to lose, and when Duryodhana challenged him to stake his own liberty, he lost that too.

Sakuni said, "Do you want to play again?"

"What is left?" said Yudhishtira, wearily.

"Your wife."

"Play."

"No!" "Yudhishtira, you must not!" "Yudhishtira, you have carried this too far." "This must not be allowed." Murmers of protest and repulsion came from the assembled kings. But the fierce insanity of the gambler on a roll blazed from Sakuni’s eyes, and Duryodhana was virtually trembling in anticipation of his total triumph. With a sweeping, humiliating gesture, Sakuni played.

"There, I’ve won again," said Sakuni.

Duryodhana crowed. "We will make her into a serving maid, and she can clean the palace. Vidura, go fetch Draupadi."

But Vidura refused, chastising Duryodhana. "Fool, don’t you realize that you are playing with fire. You are behaving like a child; you are a deer rousing tigers."

"Vidura still fears the stupid Pandavas." Duryodhana summoned a servant. "Pratikami, go fetch Draupadi."

But when Pratikami went to fetch her, Draupadi refused to come. "First," she commanded the servant, "ask Yudhishtira this question - did you lose me before or after you lost yourself? Bring me his answer, and I will come with you."

When Pratikami returned to the assembly hall without Draupadi, Duryodhana was furious. "Duhsasana!" He called his brother.

"Yudhishtira’s whore demands an answer. Go, tell her that she is legally won, and bring her here."

Duhsasana had to subdue Draupadi by force. He dragged her out of the women’s quarters and into the assembly hall by her hair. And there, in front of all the kings and the defeated Pandavas, he mocked her, called her whore for having five husbands, and vowed to have his way with her. Then, as Draupadi stood helpless, clad only in a nightgown, weeping with shame and rage, Duhsasana ripped her gown from her to expose her nakedness.

But she was not naked. She was still clad in her simple shift. Cursing, Duhsasana reached out again and ripped it off.

And Draupadi was still not naked.

Again and again Duhsasana ripped Draupadi’s clothes away, until the floor of the assembly hall was littered in a rainbow of gowns. And she was still not naked.

Absolute silence descended on the assembly hall. There were only two people in the whole world. There was Draupadi, clothed in the lawfulness of her rage. There was Duhsasana, exhausted and suddenly afraid. And then Bhima rose. In the silence, the vow that he spoke then echoed through every corner of the three worlds.

"Duhsasana, when the final battle comes, I will tear your chest open and drink your blood"

"King!" Draupadi broke in and addressed Dhritarashtra directly. "Father-in-law I call you, for you have been a law-wise father to your brother Pandu’s sons, my husbands. When Yudhishtira lost himself, he lost the right to lose me. My husbands are lost, but I am free. Will you protect your daughter-in-law when she has lost her husbands? Great king, you must answer."

"Father!" Duryodhana interrupted her. "Draupadi is lawfully won. You must not listen to her harlot’s tricks." And he flashed his left thigh at Draupadi - the Sanskrit equivalent of an obscene gesture - and glared at Bhima.

Again, a shocked silence fell, and all the worlds shook with Bhima’s second vow.

"Duryodhana, I will crush that thigh with my club before I kill you."

Dhritarashtra, deep in his blindness, lost in his love for his sons, his and Gandhari’s, suddenly felt cold with fear, fear for his sons.

"Draupadi, daughter, you are free. Ask a boon."

"Set Yudhishtira free."

"Yudishtira is free," said the King. "Ask another boon."

"Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhima and Arjuna - set them free."

"They are free; let their chariots and armor be returned. Draupadi, you may ask a third boon."

"With my husbands free, I need no further boon. Everything I need, they will win for me with their strong arms."

"Excellent answer, excellent answer," murmered the assembled kings.

"All that Yudhishtira lost will be restored," said King Dhritarashtra. "You may return to your kingdom in safety, your fortunes intact."

"Old blind fool," muttered Duhsasana.

"Scared rabbit," sneered Sakuni.

"I can’t believe he did that!" moaned Duryodhana.

"Father," he pleaded. "Send after them; let us have one more round of dice."

These were the stakes that Duryodhana proposed to settle the game. They would play one round; the losing party must spend twelve years in the forest, in exile, clothed as hermits, then a thirteenth year among the people, in disguise. If they should be discovered during the thirteenth year, they would have to spend another twelve years in exile. If they are able to escape detection, then the kingdom becomes theirs.

Of course Yudhishtira agreed to play, and of course he lost again, and a new phase of the Pandavas’ lives began, the years of forest exile. In many ways, this is the happiest and generally sunniest part of the story. The Pandavas travelled with their retinue all over northern India, visiting the sacred places, meeting all sorts of sages and saints, and hearing the most wonderful stories. Draupadi gave all of her husbands a fair amount of grief for what they put her through, with Yudhishtira taking the worst of the heat. And she egged them toward revenge. But there was no real hardship, and they lived comfortably and well in the forest.

If the story of the Forest Exile is pastoral, the next part of the story, telling of the Pandavas’ thirteenth year, is high burlesque, as the Pandavas sign on as palace servants in the court of King Virata, a minor-league cattle baron with social ambitions. Yudhishtira, having learned the science of dice from a wandering troubador in the forest, signs on as Virata’s tutor in that game. Bhima is employed as the king’s cook, and Draupadi becomes the Queen’s hairdresser. Arjuna, through a boon from Brahma himself, becomes a transvestite; drawing on what he had learned during a visit to his father Indra’s heaven, he/she signs on dancing-mistress to the Princess. In a year full of delightful episode, all the comedy in that situation is exploited.

But then the year was over, the masquerade ended, and Duryodhana, predictably, refused to relinquish the kingdom.

The Bhagavad-Gita

Both sides recruited allies and prepared for war. Diplomatic efforts persisted; Krishna offered a most reasonable compromise, and presented it most persuasively, but Duryodhana refused to give the Pandavas even enough land to cover the head of a pin. It is strange, but even now, even after two thousand years, readers of the story get the sense that at any time, right up to the end, if Duryodhana had come to his senses, then we would have had a totally different set of stories; there would have been no Mahabharata.

He did not come to his senses, of course, and the great war began. It was held on the broad plain of Kurukshetra - the field of the Kurus. There were 18 armies on the one side, the allies of Duryodhana and Dhritarashtra. The Pandavas and their allies mustered 12 armies. An army from Krishna’s tribe of the Vrsnis fought for Duryodhana. Krishna himself was a non-combatant; he had agreed to drive Arjuna’s chariot.

The day of the battle dawned clear, and the armies drew up on opposite sides of the field. Every warrior had his conch shell trumpet, and all were sounding. Imagine the shofar, twice or ten times as loud, and hundreds of them sounding at once. That is what it must have been like.

Arjuna told Krishna, "Take us out between the armies."

Krishna positioned the chariot halfway between the armies, and stopped. It was quieter there; both armies were distant; Arjuna looked out.

"I see my brothers there, my cousins, my uncles, the beloved sons of my beloved friends."

He swung around.

"And there also, there are my cousins, my uncles, the beloved sons of my beloved friends. They are all my brothers, Krishna. It cannot be lawful to kill them. I cannot kill them. I will have no part of this action."

Krishna answered. "There can be no blame for law-minded action, if you act with the proper dispassionate attitude. You must do the right thing, and be heedless of consequence."

Arjuna said, "Krishna, all those people are going to die. I will not be responsible for their deaths."

"Quite right," said Krishna.

"What do you mean?"

Krishna explained. "We act as instruments of dharma. Everybody on this field today is working out karmic dramas that extend back through lifetimes upon lifetimes. You and I, my best true friend, have been preparing for this battle for hundreds of lifetimes. I remember every one of them. You don’t."

Arjuna studied his friend.

"Krishna, who are you?"

And there was a flash of light, bright as a thousand suns, and Arjuna saw Krishna’s cosmic form as Narayana, one of the great gods. There, all at once, were all of the planets and all of the stars and all of the gods and all of the demons and spirits, gandarvhas and apsaras, all of the sages and saints, all of the priests and warriors, all that is and all that ever was and all that will be. Arjuna saw, and felt, endless perfect love swelling to fill the everything that Krishna had become. And he saw all the gory deeds that were ever done and the carnage that must come with time; he saw Krishna tall as mountains, black as night, his eyes blazing as he waded through rivers of blood, the mangled corpses of Duryodhana and his brothers dangling from his bloody jaws.

"Krishna, stop!" Arjuna fell to the chariot floor, his head in his hands. "Be just my friend again."

"But you see how it is, Arjuna," said Krishna, as he helped his friend up. "You cannot kill them, because they are dead already; their own actions have doomed them. You cannot be responsible for their deaths, because each one is responsible for his own death. In each lifetime, each one does what he has to do, and if he does it selflessly, in love of me, without regard for gain or loss, he may come finally to rest in my perfection and be free of the cycles of action and death.

"You are a warrior. You must fight. And you will bear the pain of action because you will be steadfast in your love of me."

"Let us continue," said Arjuna, and he sounded his great conch Devadatta.

The war lasted eighteen days, and it was every bit as ugly as the vision Arjuna had received, every bit as ugly as any war has ever been. The war was corrupting: at some point or another during it, virtually every warrior, including Yudhishtira and Arjuna, resorted to trickery and deceit to accomplish his purpose. Bhima fulfilled his vows; he killed all hundred of Dritarashtra’s sons, and broke the old blind hero’s heart.The great war of the Bharatas destroyed all the promise in the world and all the best hope.

When it was over, only the Pandavas and a handful of others survived. But the world had changed. The Pandavas spent a large part of the rest of their lives trying to understand the laws that governed the post-war world, and the long chapters in the Mahabharata that follow the story of the war itself are dry and didactic. The law that is explicated here seems more contrived and considerably more abstruse than the dharma that governed the behavior of warriors and kings before the war. The final chapters of the story are elegiac in tone.

The Final Journey

Krishna, after a vigorous and heroic life, retired to the forest to sit in meditation, and a hunter mistook him for a deer and fatally wounded him. Arjuna was griefstricken when the great sage Vyasa brought him the news.

"Krishna’s time had come," Vyasa told him. "Remember what he taught you."

"Every man is responsible for his own death," said Arjuna.

"Arjuna," said Vyasa, "this age has nothing left in it for you. Bhima, your part in this story is done. Yudhishtira, is it not time to take your brothers home?"

So the Pandavas went on their last journey, north, into the great mountains. It was a small troup this time - just Draupadi, the five brothers, and Yudhishtira’s faithful dog. One by one they fell, victims of time and their own distinctive frailties. Draupadi went first, then Sahadeva and Nakula, then Arjuna, and finally mighty Bhima. Yudhishtira and his dog continued through the high mountain passes against the vicious wind and swirling snow.

And suddenly, there was Indra, in his chariot, offering Yudhishtira a hand up.

"Welcome, Yudhishtira, hero. You have won to my heaven. Come aboard and I will take you there."

Yudhishtira whistled for his dog.

"Hold on." Indra smiled fondly at Yudhishtira and wagged his finger. "No dogs in heaven."

"He is a faithful and true companion," said Yudhishtira.

"Sorry, old chap. Just gods and human heros in my heaven."

"If he cannot come with me, then I will stay with him." And Yudhishtira stepped down from Indra’s chariot.

"But, Yudhishtira, old warrior, great king. You are the great hero of a great story. Your place is in my heaven."

"My place is where dharma is constant. This dog has been companion, protector, friend. I will stay near him."

"Yudhishtira," said the dog as he transformed into the embodied form of god Dharma. "My son, I have been with you through your long sad journey, and I am well pleased with your devotion. Draupadi and your brothers await you in Indra’s heaven; they have all left their bodies behind. You alone, great king, alone in all the ages, will enter Indra’s heaven in this body."

But Indra’s heaven was not quite what Yudhishtira had expected. Duryodhana was there, for one thing, in a place of prominence and honor, surrounded by luxury. And there was Duhsasana, along with the 98 other sons of King Dhritarashtra, and the deceitful Sakuni, all in noble places, partaking of Indra’s glory. Karna was not there, nor Dhritarashtra, nor Drona; there was no one to be seen who had held Yudhishtira’s love and admiration on earth.

"Where are my brothers," demanded Yudhishtira. "Where is the sinless Draupadi?"

There was an embarrassed silence. Then Indra spoke. "They are elsewhere, Yudhishtira. Now you must try to be friends with Duryodhana, and put the past behind you."

"Take me to my brothers."

Indra sent his servant to guide the great king to his brothers. They travelled down, into a foul gloomy realm, where corpses littered the path and rivulets of blood etched a barren landscape. They came to the edge of a broad deep trench, from which rose waves of heat, and rank odors, and the cries of the damned.

Indra’s messenger stopped. "They told me not to go any further than this. You may stay or return with me."

"Where are my brothers?" And then Yudhishtira recognized their voices, thick with pain, rising from the foul pit.

"Yudhishtira, stay with us," pleaded the voice of Nakula.

"Your presence cools us, and soothes our pain," cried Bhima.

"Stay with us, Yudhishtira." The voice was barely recognizeable as Arjuna.

And then Draupadi, wavering, "Stay."

"Will you return," asked Indra’s servant.

"I belong with those who have been true to themselves and have done the right thing. I will stay here," replied Yudhishtira.

And then he felt a cool breeze, and the light rose, and the air became fragrant, and Yudhishtira became aware that the sky was full of gods, radiant in their chariots, their banners waving, their smiles broad. Arjuna was there, and Bhima, and Draupadi and the twins, and their mother Kunti, and Pandu and Madri, and Karna, and King Dhritarashtra, all the god-like heros.

Once again, god Dharma descended and spoke to Yudhishtira. "All the deceptions are ended now, Yudhishtira. You are home."

"But why..."

And Dharma explained. "There is some good and some bad in all beings. All kings must have a glimpse of hell. You had your glimpse and were not shaken from your truth. Now you have come home, and the adventure ends in peace at last."

Of course the Mahabharata doesn’t end with Yudhisthira's welcome to heaven, any more than it began with King Pandu’s killing of the stag. The story resonates. It is not that it never ends, but that it is always ending, always beginning. It is an easy story to step into; when Peter Brook staged his nine-hour dramatic realization of the Mahabharata in New York several years ago, the New Yorker faulted him for making the story an allegory about the dangers of life in a nuclear age. But Brook didn’t work that allegory in; Jean-Claude Carriere’s script is actually very straight and faithful to the original epic story in its structure and its details. What the New Yorker critic felt was the story’s resonance. It has always been a current story.

Great Hindu Legend Lord Shiva

2010-01-21T05:32:00.001+05:30

According to one legend, shiva initial materialize when Brahma and Vishnu were arguing regarding which of them was more powerful. Their quarrel was interrupted by the unexpected look of a large burning pillar whose roots and branches complete outside sight into the earth and sky. Brahma became a goose and flew up to locate the top of the pillar, even as turned into a boar and dug in to the ground to appear for its roots. Unsuccessful in their search, the two god’s arrival and saw Shiva surface from an opening in the support. Recognize Shiva’s huge power, they established him as the third ruler of the universe.

Lord Shiva-God of formation of universe and he is as well referred has destructor. His huge position is to balance the good and evil events. Though this balance gets disturb he destroys the creation for the formation of next cycle. He is a deity of exercise in the cyclic practice of formation.

Lord Shiva is the lord of mercy. He guards the devotees since evil forces, trouble and suffering of their devotees.

He materialize with unclad body through tiger skin in his body, three matted locks on his head, Goddesses Ganga on his chief and he has a third eye and has a snake on his correct shoulder and he wear Kundalas, Rudraksha necklace.

He materialize with unclad body through tiger hide in his body, present matted locks on his skull, Goddesses Ganga on his skull and he has a third eye and has a snake on his correct accept and he wears kundalas, Rudraksha necklace.

His exterior symbolizes his behavior. The unclad body shows that he is a resource of whole universe. 3 metted locks are the integration of material, mental and spiritual energies. Goddesses Ganga shows destruction of sin, knowledge and bestows with information, peace and cleanliness. The third eye indicates the religious information and power. While he opens the third eye, the rotation of construction starts. The 108 beads represent the elements used in making of the earth. The tiger skin represents his potential power.

Lord Shiva has 1,008 names, including Mahadeva, Mahesh, Rudra, Neelkantha, and Ishwar. He is also called Mahayogi, or the huge ascetic, who represent the main form of serious penance and abstract thought, which results in salvation Shiva is supposed to survive in many variety. His mainly regular illustration is as a dark-skinned severe with a blue throat. Typically seated cross-legged on a tiger skin, Shiva’s hair is matted and coiled on his chief, adorned with a snake and a crescent moon. Ganga is forever depicted smooth out of his topknot.

Shiva has four arms and three eyes. The third eye, in the center of his forehead is forever closed and simply opens to destroy an evil doer. A garland of skulls, rudraksha bead, or a snake hangs from his neck. Lord Shiva also carries snakes as armlets and bracelets. The serpent, contest, despised and fear by all further creatures, establish a place of honour on Shiva’s holy being, just because he was enthused by their plight.

In single offer, Shiva hold his trishul, the Pinaka the trishul regularly has a damaru or wait beat joined to it. In a different hand, he holds a conch defense, and in the third, a rudraksha rosary, a club, or a bow. Individual hands are typically empty, raised in an indication of approval and defense. The added points to his foot, anywhere the devotee is certain of salvation. He carries a tiger or leopard skin around his waist, and his high body is typically bare, but dirty with ashes, as befits an ascetic.

His third eye is supposed to have emerged when Parvati, in a playful mood, covered his eyes with her hands. At once, the universe was plunged into darkness and there was chaos. To restore arrange, Shiva created a different eye on his forehead, from which emerged fire to return light.
The light from this eye is supposed to be extremely influential, and as a result destructive. Shiva opens his third eye only in anger, and the criminal is burnt to cinders.

The name Lord Shiva does not emerge in the Vedas. Though he is recognized with the Vedic god Rudra, lord of songs, sacrifice, and nourishment, the healer of diseases and provider of property. According to the Shiva Purana Shiva is said to contain five faces, related to his five tasks, the panchakriya formation, organization, destruction, awareness, and grace. His five faces are related with the formation of the holy syllable Om.

Shiva is supposed to live o Mount Kailash, a mountain in the Himalayas. His vehicle is Nandi the bull and his weapon, the trishul. Shiva’s wife is Parvati, who is as well thought to be a part of Shiva. One of the mainly well-liked forms of Shiva is that of Ardhanarishvara.

According to a legend in the Puranas, Brahma was ineffective of making. He propitiated Shiva who catch this form and separated Parvati from his body. Parvati has numerous incarnations, like Kali, Durga, and Uma. Their sons are Kartikeya and Ganesh.

Bhagwan God Shiva is invented to contain a huge number of attendants, called ganas. These mythological beings have human bodies with animal heads. Bhagwan Shiva’s son Ganesha is the head of the ganas.

Across the state, present are hundreds of holy place and shrines devoted to shiva. He typically worshipped in the structure of a Shivalinga, and also as a deity. He is worshipped by offering flowers, except the Ketaki Brahma Bel trees, milk, and sandalwood attach are also nice to him. Present is a particular arati to shiva and numerous hymns and poems in his praise.

Present there is lot of stories in the Puranas about the origin of Shiva According to the Vishnu Purana, at the establishment of this kalpa Brahma required a child and meditated for one. At present, a child appeared on his lap and started crying. While asked by Brahma why he was crying, the child replied that it was because he did not have a name Brahma then named him Rudra, meaning “howler”.

Though the child cried seven added times and was given seven more names. Shiva as a result has eight forms: Rudra, Sharva, Bhava, Ugra, Bhima, Pashupati, Ishana, and Mahadeva, which, according to the Shiva Purana, write to the earth, water, fire, wind, sky, a yogi called Kshetragya, the sun, and the moon respectively. Throughout the samudra manthan, when poison was churn out of the ocean, Shiva is said to have swallowed it to save the planet from destruction. Since he drank the poison, Parvati clasped his throat securely so that the poison was churned out of the ocean, Because of this, he is known as Neelkantha, the blue-necked one.

Bhagwan Shiva decided an irregular boon to a demon called Bhasmasura who wish that if he situated his hand on anyone’s leader, that person would turn to ashes. No earlier was his need resolute than he menaced Shiva himself, who took to his heels and was saved by Vishnu in the form of Mohini, mutual their energies and formed Hari-hara putra later, recognized with Sasta or Aiyappa, a celibate tribal deity in kerala, whose cult is currently huge in India. He lives on in Mohiniattam, the feminine equal of Kerala’s dance theatre, Kathakali.

Bhagwan Shiva is the maker of dance and of the initial 16 rhythmic syllables still uttered, since which the Sanskrit language was born. His dance of anger is called the Roudra Tandava and his dance, and they begged him to dance over. Lord Shiva promised to do so in the heart of his devotees and in a blessed grove in Tamil Nadu, everywhere the great temple of Chidambaram was build, the merely one in all Indian devoted to Shiva as Nataraja, the lord of dance. It is supposed that on the 13th day of every bright lunar fortnight after 6 o’clock in the evening, falls a blessed hour called Pradosha Worshipping Lord Shiva at this time is akin to worshipping all the powers.

HINDU EPICS

2009-08-18T21:11:00.000+05:30

The two great epic works of the Hindus are Ramayan and Mahabharat. In modern terms the Mahabharat may be said to be realistic and the Ramayan idealistic, in their respective handling of human characters.

Sita in Ramayan is all that a woman could or should be. And is impressive by her sweetness and devotion. Draupadi in Mahabharat, on the other hand maybe any of the high spirited modern women with her anger and brooding for revenge and for that reason more human.

There is greater realistic truth in the full blooded characters of Mahabharat, higher passion, nobler resolve, fierce jealousy and more biting scorn and greater grandeur in many of it's scenes. Yet it is greater spiritual beauty, greater softness and tenderness of emotions in Ramayan. The subject of Mahabharat is men and war, while the subject of Ramayan is women and home.

These epics are regarded as the Vedas of the masses. People in sorrow, in joy and in daily toil turn to these epics for solace and inspiration. In Indian context norms of Epic are set by Ramayan and Mahabharat.

Many more topics were treated in great length by number of line verses or chapters but none equals these two. Interestingly, these two epics have provided canvas or theme for many forms of art, like paintings, sculpture, poems, plays and stories. This epic is written by Krishnadvaipayan Vyas. It was claimed that whatever that can exist in human life is all dealt with by Vyas in Mahabharat and conversely. Whatever that does not exist in Mahabharat can not exist in the world.

It is a story of a dynasty of Kuru that is Kaurav. Later on lineage assigned to Pandu that is dynasty of Pandava.And finally war between the two related families,which involved many small kingdoms throughout the nation.The final version of the epic was formed in the fourth century A.D.There are many Parvas having lacks of Shlokas. The most authentic version of Mahabharat was prepared in 20th century by many researchers under the guidance of Mr. Vaidya in Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

The story of Mahabharat has many substories, many plots and subplots hence by spread it is very wide. The epic has also inspired many artists like that by Ramayan. Many plays such as Abhidnyan Shakuntala, by Kallidasa, plays by Bhasa such as Venisamhara, Urubhanga etc. are based on the themes or plots from Mahabharat.The story is believed to have taken place around 1500 years BC.

Interestingly it was mentioned as history while the Ramayan was mentioned as a part of Purana. It was originally written as 'Jay'. It was later on revised as 'Bharata' and it was further expanded as 'Mahabharat'. It consists of story of Dushyant a king and Shakuntala a daughter of heavenly dancer Menaka. Her son was named as Bharat. He later on ascended the throne of Dushyant.

The name of the nation designated by foreigners as India bears his name to the subcontinent as Bharat. Hence the name of the nation is Bharat alias India. If Ramayan is symbolised as ideality and for setting up the norms and standards of ideality, Mahabharat can be considered as depiction of reality.

Ramayan has taught what it should be, whereas Mahabharat has bravely depicted what it generally is. It is story of lust, and renunciation, pious as well as crooks. It speaks of fearless warriors and cowardly behavior of some of them. Of obedience as well as rebels.

Though it is mainly a story of dynasties a character coming as a shepherd brought up as foster son of a chief in a village Mathura is raised to the height of God in the Indian minds. He is the one who is responsible for the final war between the two kingdoms to assert for righteous claim and only he is credited with the out come of the war, the victory of Pandavs.

Mahabharat as a pool of information mirrors society at that time, customs rites and rituals, value system and ethics of the time. It also speaks of political variation in the form of local democratic government to rural form of governance to kings and kingdom. It also reflects racial as well as cultural struggles amongst the different people of India. It has forged the Indian identity as unity in variety of races, languages, religious beliefs etc.

KRISHNA

2009-08-18T21:10:00.002+05:30

Bhagavata Purana relates the life of Krishna, the enunciator of the Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata.

The tale of Krishna is enshrined in the hearts of all, remembering Krishna, the cowherd, as a beloved God and remembrance of his exploits a source of joy to all.

Yadava dynasty had their capital in Mathura on the banks of the Yamuna. The Yadavas were a pastoral group. Ugrasena was a king of this dynasty. Kamsa, who was Ugrasena’s son deposed and imprisoned his own father. Ugrasena’s brother was Devaka. Devaka had a daughter named Devaki who was married to Vasudeva, son of Surasena. Surasena was also a Yadava like Ugrasena.

After the marriage of Devaki and Vasudeva, Kamsa was driving the couple to the bridegroom’s house. As the chariot roared past Mathura, a voice was heard from heaven, addressed to the charioteer, Kamsa: "O fool of a king! You are conducting a lady whose eighth son will grow up to kill you."

Kamsa’s impulsive reaction was to stop the chariot, seize Devaki and kill her on the spot. Vasudeva intervened and promised to put into the hands of Kamsa all the children of Devaki as soon as they were born. Vasudeva implored Kamsa to spare the life of Devaki. Kamsa was satisfied with the arrangement proposed by Vasudeva for dealing with Devaki’s children and drove the chariot on without injuring Devaki. As a measure of abundant caution, Kamsa put both Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison under close guard.

Kamsa started killing every child as soon as the child was born. He had killed six children in succession. Devaki became pregnant for the seventh time. A miracle occurred. The child in her womb got transferred miraculously to the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva. Rohini, fearing Kamsa, was living at Gokulam on the opposite bank of the Yamuna river. This child conceived in Rohini’s womb was Balarama.

Devaki became pregnant for the eighth time. This eighth child was born at midnight in prison. The Lord appeard in divine form at first and then, the lying-in-chamber in the prison was filled with a dazzling light. Vasudeva and Devaki realized that the born child was no human, but a divine incarnation. They jointly praised the glory of the Lord and counted it a blessing that the Lord had grown in her womb before manifesting Himself. The divine form was shown to the parents and the Supreme Being had assumed the form of a human child.

At the very moment that the Lord was born in the prison cell, the divine Maya or the Power incarnate of the Lord was born, in the Gokulam, as the female child of Yasoda, the wife of Nanda.

A divine prompting came to Vasudeva: "Take your male child across the Yamuna to Gokulam and exchange him for Yasoda’s daughter. Then you can return to prison before anyone learns of the birth of the eighth child of Devaki." Vasudeva took the child in his arms and the prison doors opened automatically, as the guards had been put to sleep by divine intervention. Vasudeva reached the bank of the Yamuna river which was in a spate. The river parted and made way for Vasudeva carrying the divine child. Vasudeva reached the opposite bank of the river safely and found all the inmates of Gokulam fast asleep. Entering the house of Nanda, Vasudeva placed the child on the bed of Yasoda, picked up Yasoda’s female child and returned to Mathura.

Vasudeva laid the female child by Devaki’s side and the prison doors shut automatically. The guards were now awake and were startled by the cries of the female child. The guards ran to Kamsa and announced the birth of the eighth child to Devaki. Knowing that the eighth child would be the cause of his death, Kamsa rushed to prison to execute the child. Devaki pleaded: "O Kamsa, it is only a female child. How can this child do you any harm?" Kamsa ignored Devaki’s pleading, snatched the child from her lap and dashed the child down on a stone slah. The child did not fall down; instead, the child flew up and appeared on the sky as a goddess with eight arms and each arm carrying a weapon, "O fool of a king! You will gain nothing by killing me. The one who will destroy you is elsewhere. Do not kill innocent children, from now on." With these words, the goddess disappeared. Kamsa felt penitent and apologized to Vasudeva and Devaki for the pain he had caused them. He set free Vasudeva and Devaki from the prison.

Meanwhile, there was a great rejoicing in the Gokulam, hailing the birth of a son in Nanda’s household. On the eleventh day of the happy event, priests performed the rites to bless the child and named the child, Krishna. The entire Gokulam wore a festive appearance. The streets were swept clean and all the frontals of all houses were decorated with flags and flowers. Cows were smeared with turmeric and adorned with peacock feathers and garlands. Gopas and Gopis of the Gokulam danced in joy and flocked to Nanda’s house to see the child and offer presents to the Nandas. Rohini was ecstatic and received them all and treated the guests with sweets. The entire Gokulam was rejuvenated and everyone was filled with a sense of oncoming prosperity and joy.

One day, Nanda went to Mathura to pay his tribute to Kamsa. When Nanda met Vasudeva In Mathura, Vasudeva enquired: "How are your two sons, Balarama and Krishna? I hope your newborn child, Krishna and Rohini are in good health." Nanda assured Vasudeva, "Krishna is a source of joy to Rohini and to me and indeed to the entire Gokulam." As Nanda parted company, Vasudeva uttered a warning, the import of which Nanda could not comprehend: "Brother Nanda! Now that you have paid your tribute to Kamsa, get back home promptly. My mind is filled with foreboding that some ominous events are about to occur in Gokulam."

As Nanda returned home, an ominous event had indeed occurred. A she-demon called Putana had been instructed by Kamsa to kill all new-born children in cities, villages and hamlets. Finding that there was a new-born child in Nanda’s household, Putana promptly set about to kill the child. She had the power of assuming any desired form and could fly through air. Putana reached the Gokulam and assumed the form of a beautiful woman. She saw Krishna lying on his bed and smiling at all those who tried to carry him in their arms. Putana went to Krishna, lifted him up onto her lap and began to breast-feed him. She had smeared her breasts with a deadly poison and hoped that the child would consume the poison and die at once. The divine child knew Putana’s tricks; the divine child started sucking the life of the demon along with her poisoned breast-milk. Putana’s vital organs withered, she started rolling convulsively and cried, "Enough! Let me go!" She had suffered so intensely that Putana could no longer conceal her true form. The form of a beautiful faded away and Putana now appeared in her true form as a hideous demon. She died gasping for breath as the divine child lay on her bosom. Gopis who had gathered around were stunned and snatched the child away from the demon’s body. Rohini prayed all the gods for their mercy and grasped the child in her breast. Nanda now understood the meaning of what Vasudeva had told him at Mathura.

On the first anniversary of Krishna’s birth another miracle happened. Nanda and Yasoda were celebrating the birthday with festivities and feast. A cart was loaded with vessels of milk, cheese and butter. The child Krishna was put to sleep below the cart. Gopis suddenly heard some noises emanating from the cart. Krishna had woken up and shattered the wheels and axle of the cart and the cart was overturned spilling milk, cheese and butter on the ground. Gopis saw in utter disbelief that the little child had so much power as to break and overturn the cart. Yasoda tried to explain away the event as the work of some other demon like Putana trying to injure her dear darling child, Krishna.

Another emissary demon called Trinavrita, sent by Kamsa, came to Gokulam. The demon assumed the form a whirlwind and tried to carry away the child Krishna who was playing in the house. The inmates of the Gokulam ran hither and tither as the whirlwind caused havoc in the area. They frantically started searching for Krishna. The demon had carried Krishna up in the sky but he found the child to be too heavy. Krishna clung to the throat of the demon and crushed the demon to death, while still hanging at the neck of the demon. The body of the demon fell crashing to the ground but the child Krishna was unhurt. The Gopis picked up the child and handed over Krishna to Yasoda.

These happenings made Nanda realize that Vasudeva did convey something by talking about his foreboding. Yasoda had also experienced some extraordinary phenomena. One day, Krishna was playing with other children. The children ran up to Yasoda to report that Krishna had put a handful of earth into his mouth. Yasoda ran up to Krishna, "You mischievous! Open your mouth, let me see what you have in your mouth." Krishna refused and tried to run away from Yasoda. After repeated coaxing, Yasoda made Krishna open his mouth. Behold, Yasoda saw in his mouth the miraculous vision of the entire universe: the earth with its mountains, oceans and continents, the sun, the moon, the stars and all the planets, Yasoda saw her own village there surrounded by the children and Krishna opening his mouth to her. "Am I dreaming?" exclaimed Yasoda and realized that all changing things are rooted in a changeless spirit.

Balarama was fair in complexion and Krishna was dark in complexion. Balarama was strong and Krishna was sprightly and bubbling with energy. The two playful brothers were the darling of the Gopis of the Vraja. The Gopis adored the mischievous pranks of Krishna such as stealing the butter and the cheese from the pots in the kitchen, drinking themilk out of their millkpots and letting the calves loose from their fetters. While they enjoyed such pranks, they also came to Yasoda one day to report against Krishna and his mischievous behavior, "O Mother Yasoda! Your child Krishna is very naughty indeed! He untethers our calves just before milking-time and when we try to beat him up, he just laughs and runs away. He steals the milk from our kitchen and shared the curds with his friends. When he finds the pots empty, he breaks them and runs away. We tried to keep the pots away from his reach by hanging them from the roof. He gets to these pots standing upon a bench or by piercing a hole with a stone thrown at the hanging-pot. As as the milk leaks down from the hole in the pot, he holds the milk in the hollow of his palms and feeds himself and his friends. Look at him, Yasoda; he stands before you as though he is the most innocent child. What a mischievous kid you have brought into Gokulam, Yasoda. We do not how to cope with this mischievous, Krishna."

Making these complaints in a tone of mock-seriousness, the Gopis were adoring at the same time the charm and the lovely lips of Krishna. Krishna started running away, "Now I am going, you can tell everything to mom, without fear of my presence!" Gopis sang in unison, "What a darling you have brought into Gokulam, O Yasoda!"

One day, Yasoda had to tie him up to the mortar with a strong rope to stop his childish pranks of breaking and stealing butter from the pot in her kitchen. Krishna started crawling on all fours and dragged the wooden mortar into the garden. The mortar was caught between two trees and as Krishna tried to pull it through, the two trees fell. Two Siddhas emerged from the fallen trees prostrated at the feet of Krishna, "O Krishna! We are the sons of Kubera, the god of wealth, in our previous birth. We were transformed as trees when we were cursed by Narada to reproach us for our pride in our wealth and power. Now, you have freed us. We will adore the mercy of God."

Incidents like these created a sense of terror in the minds of the inmates of the Gokulam, including Nanda and Yasoda. Extraordinary events had been occurring in the Gokulam which seemed to indicate that demons and evil spirits had settled in the colony threatening the very survival of the Gokulam. Upananda, an old cowherd addressed the inmates:"Let us get out of this place before further calamities strike us. Brindavan forest is nearby. Let us go there." The Gopas and Gopis agreed and moved into Brindavan, located between the Govardhana hill and the banks of the Yamuna river. Krishna and Balarama enjoyed the sylvan tracts of Brindavan. Krishna would play on his flute and both he and his brother would tend the cows and the calves.

One day, the cowherd boys and Krishna were playing on the banks of the Yamuna. It was a hot day. The cowherd boys drank water from the river and at once fell down unconscious. Krishna revived them and learnt that the poisonous snake called Kaliya had released its poison into the river. Even the birds flying over the river fell down dead because of the poison that had entered into the atmosphere. As the cowherd boys and Krishna started in search of Kaliya, they saw a kadamba tree on the banks of the river. Krishna climbed up this tree and dived into the waters of the Yamuna. A huge serpent emerged from the waters with its hundred black hoods and hanging purple tongues. Kaliya, the serpent, coiled himself around the body of the boy, Krishna. The clouds darkened and ominous portents were seen on the sky. The inmates of Brindavan came rushing to the banks of the Yamuna river and saw Krishna struggling with the serpent. An extraordinary phenomenon occurred: Krishna had grown in size and the coils wound round his body became tighter. Krishna’s body had now started crushing the body of the serpent. The serpent could not withstand the force of the growing body of Krishna and had to release him from the coils. Krishna now jumped on to one of the hoods of the serpent and started dancing, holding the serpent Kaliya by his tail. Now the snake was dying and the red blood drops from the snake fell on the feet of Krishna and shone like rubies. The entire brood of snakes of the Kaliya vintage came to the surface and prostrated at the feet of Krishna. Krishna stopped his dance. Kaliya and his brood of snakes were now chastened. Krishna asked them to leave the river and move to the ocean. The serpent colony departed, the river Yamuna was rid of the poison in her waters.

It was the day of worship of Indra, the god of clouds and rain. Krishna suggested to Nanda and other elders of Brindavan that on this day learned men and women should be honored, poor people should be fed, the inmates should take their cattle in a procession round the Govardhana hill which was the main sustenance for the entire colony of Brindavan. These suggestions were accepted and the festivities began. Then, there was thunder and lightning in the sky and a heavy downpour of rain descended on Brindavan. The cowherd felt that this was symbolic of Indra’s anger. The rain became severe and evolved into a tempetuous hail-storm hurling stones at the people of Brindavan. "We have done something wrong by deviating from the traditional forms of worship of Indra," cried the cowherds.

Krishna shouted his command: "All of you go towards the valley where the waters were not too deep." Krishna plunged into the ravine where the waters were very deep and disappeared. After a while, the people of Brindavan were witness to a miracle. The Govardhana hill was rising like an umbrella revealing dry ground. Krishna was seen at the centre of the dry ground, supporting the weight of the hill on an uplifted finger of his hand. The people rushed into the dry ground. Krishna held up the hill on his finger for seven days until the rains stopped and the floods subsided. Krishna asked the people to move into Brindavan and lowered the Govardhana back into its place.

The Vraja country soon realized that Krishna was God in human form. The call of Krishna’s flute was a call to a life divine. Vraja people knew that the highest aim of their lives was to be devoted to Lord Krishna.

Krishnaleela (exploits of Krishna) were now household stories, everyone in Mathura knew of Krishna’s divine deeds in Brindavanam. The people of Mathura also came to know that Krishna was indeed the eighth child of Devaki and as prophesied will be Kamsa’s nemesis in due time. People were suffering under the oppressive regime of Kamsa and knew that Kamsa’s time was up since Krishna was growing in beauty and strength across the Yamuna in the forests of Brindavanam. People were enjoying hearing the stories of Krishna’s mischiefs and exploits and counting the days for their deliverance day when Krishna would take on Kamsa. Kamsa had tried to handle Krishna by sending Putana when Krishna was a mere child. Kamsa also sent other demons in the form of a mighty bull, in the form of a wild horse and all these demon-forms perished at Krishna’s hands and gained their deliverance.

Kamsa sent his messenger Akrura to Brindavan announcing a tournament in the capital. Kamsa had confided in Akrura that the plan was to station a mighty elephant at the entrance to the tournament grounds and to drive the animal towards Balarama and Krishna as soon as they entered and crush them to death under the feet of the elephant. If this strategy fails, two wrestlers, Chanura and Mushtika would challenge the two brothers Krishna and Balarama to a wrestling match and kill the latter in the contest. Akrura was no fool; he hated Kamsa like all other subjects of the kingdom and realized that Krishna was god in human form. Anyway, Akrura went to Nanda and extended the invitation of the king Kamsa; at the same time, Akrura also warned Krishna, secretly, of the evil designs of Kamsa. Krishna and Balarama laughed on learning about the plans and actively encouraged Nanda and other cowherds to accept the invitation to the tourney and prepare for the festivities.

ARJUNA

2009-08-18T21:10:00.001+05:30

Arjuna is one of the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Arjuna is a central figure in Hindu religion whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver'. Arjuna is thus "The Peerless Archer". The third of the five Pandava brothers, Arjun was one of the children borne by Kunti, first wife of Pandu.

Arjun or Partha was a master archer and played a central role in the conflict between the Pandavas and their adversaries, the sons of Dhritarashtra known as the Kauravas. To begin with, Arjun was reluctant to take part in battle because of the slaughter he knew he would cause in the enemy ranks, which included many of his own relatives. He was persuaded by his charioteer and close friend Lord Krishna, to change his mind. Their dialogue about issues involved in warâ€”courage, a warriorâ€™s duty, the nature of human life and the soul, and the role of Godsâ€”forms the subject of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the key episodes in the epic MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. He also played the key role in killing Karna, his arch-rival, in reality an unknown brother, on the side of the Kauravas.

It is asserted by some sources that the legend of "Ä€rash, the Parthian Archer" in Persian mythology bears some resemblance to that of Arjuna; this is cited by some as being reminiscent of a shared Indo-Iranian heritage. However, Arjun is an integral part of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata and one of its lead characters. The other central characters in the story are not mentioned in the story of Arash. Lastly, Indian scientists have discovered what they claim to be Dwaraka, or Krishna's city, indicating that the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata may indeed have a link to actual events in Indian history, as opposed to being a mythological tale.

He bears a total of ten names: Arjun, Phalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetvaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijaya, PÄ�rth, Savyasachinn (also referred as Sabyasachi), and Dhananjaya. When he is asked to say his ten names as a proof of his identity:

"My ten names are - Arjun, Phalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetvaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijaya, Parth, Savyashachee and Dhananjaya. I was called Dhanajaya when I conquered all the kings at the time of RÄ�jsooya Yajna and collected wealth from all of them. I always fight till the end and I always win, that is why I am called Vijaya. My horses which were given to me by Agni Dev are white, that is why I am called ShwetavÄ�hana. My father Indra gave me a beautiful crown when I was with Him, that is why I am called Kiriti. I have never fought by unfair means in any battle that is why I am called Jishnu. I never frighten my enemies by meanness, I can use my both hands when I shoot my arrows, that is why I am called Savyashachee. My complexion is unique like the Arjun tree, and my name is stainless, that is why I am named Arjun. I was born on the slopes of Himvaan in a place called Satsring on a day when the Nakshatra Uttara PhalgunÄ« was in ascent, that is why my name is Phaalgun. I am called Vibhatsu because I am terrible when I am angry. My mother's name is Prithaa, so I am also called Paarth. I have taken an oath that I will destroy that person (and his kinsmen) who hurts my brother Yudhishthira and spills his blood on Earth. I cannot be defeated by anyone." (Mahabharat)

Pandu was unable to sire a child. His first wife Kunti had, in her maiden days, received a boon from sage Kindamb, which enabled her to invoke any deity of her choice and beget a child by such deity. Pandu and Kunti decided to make use of this boon; Kunti invoked in turn Yama Dharmaraja, Vayu and Indra and gave birth to three sons. Arjuna was the third son, born of Indra, king of the demi gods (devas).

Arjuna is depicted as a wholesome and well-rounded personality, a healthy mind in a healthy body, a person whom any mother, wife and friend would cherish and be proud of. The son of Indra, Arjuna is said to have been well-built and extremely handsome; he married four times, as detailed here. Arjuna was also true and loyal to his friends (his best friend was the great warrior Satyaki); he enjoyed a life-long rapport with his cousin and brother-in-law, Sri Krishna. He was also sensitive and thoughtful, as demonstrated by his misgivings about the Kurukshetra war, which caused Sri Krishna to impart the Gita to him. His sense of duty was acute; he once chose to go into exile rather than refuse to help a brahmin subject, a story detailed elsewhere.

It is as a warrior that Arjuna is best known. The foundation for his career as a warrior was laid young; Arjuna was an outstanding and diligent student, learning everything that his guru Dronacharya could teach him, and early attaining the status of "Maharathi" or outstanding warrior. Guru Dronacharya once decided to test his students. He hung a wooden bird from the branch of a tree and then summoned his students. One by one, he asked his students to aim for the eye of the wooden bird and be ready to shoot; then, when they were ready, he would ask the student to describe all that he was able to see. The students generally described the garden, the tree, flowers, the branch from which the bird was suspended and the bird itself. Guru Dronacharya then asked them to step aside. When asked what he could see, Arjuna told his Guru that he could only see the bird's eye. Another story says that Arjuna once noticed brother Bheema, who was a voracious eater, eating in the dark as though it was daylight, and realized that if he could practice archery in the dark he would become vastly more proficient.

His skill in archery was to have an unlikely utility; it won him the hand of Draupadi, his first wife, the daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala. A contest was held by Drupada to choose a suitable match for his daughter. A wooden fish was suspended high above a pool of water; furthermore, the fish rotated in a circle. Contestants were required to string a heavy bow and then use it to hit the eye of the rotating fish. They were allowed to take aim at the eye of the fish only by looking at its reflection in the pool of water. Many princes and noblemen vied for the hand of the princess of Panchala. Some (including Karna, another hero of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata) were disqualified on grounds of supposedly low birth. However, although the Pandavas and their mother were in hiding at that time, Arjuna had prudently dressed as a high-caste Brahmin and was allowed to compete. This was just as well, since it was eventually Arjuna, the peerless archer, who alone was able to accomplish the set task; he won the hand of Draupadi.

All the five Pandava brothers had attended the tournament without informing Kunti, their mother, about it. They returned home in triumph, bringing the princess Draupadi with them. From outside the house, they shouted out to their mother: "Mother, you will never believe what we have got here! Make a guess!" Busy with her work, Kunti refused to be baited. "Whatever it is, share it between yourselves equally, and do not quarrel over the matter," she said. So seriously did the brothers take even this casual statement of their mother, that they resolved upon making Draupadi their common wife. It says something about the magnanimity of Arjuna that, having won his bride single-handedly, he 'shared' her with all his brothers willingly. One possible reason he took this action was to prevent any breach or jealousy arising between the brothers. However, despite marrying all five brothers, Draupadi loved Arjun the most and always favoured him. And Arjun loved Draupadi the most out of his four wives. There is another story about Draupadi, which mentions the boon she received in her previous birth of having five of the most desired men, as her husbands. Initially Draupadi's parents didn't agree to her marriage to all the Pandavas. But when he was told about this boon she had, King Drupad agreed.

The brothers agreed upon a protocol governing their relations with Draupadi, their common wife. An important point of this agreement was that no brother would disturb the couple when another brother was alone with Draupadi; the penalty for doing so was exile for a year. Once, when the Pandavas were still ruling over a prosperous Indraprastha, a brahmin came in great agitation to Arjuna and sought his help: a pack of cattle-thieves had seized his herd, he had recourse to none but Arjuna for a remedy. Arjuna was in a dilemma: his weaponry was in the room where Draupadi and Yudhishthira were alone together, and disturbing them would incur the penalty agreed upon. Arjuna hesitated for but a moment; in his mind, coming to the aid of his subject in distress, especially a brahmin, was the raison d'etre of a prince. The prospect of exile did not deter him from fulfilling the duty of aiding the brahmin; he disturbed the conjugal couple, took up his weaponry and rode forth to subdue the cattle-thieves. Upon finishing that task, he insisted, in the teeth of opposition from his entire family, including the two people whom he had disturbed, upon going away on exile.

Apart from Draupadi, Arjuna was the husband of three other ladies, namely Chitrangada, Uluchi and Subhadra. All of these events occurred during the period when he went into exile alone after having disturbed Draupadi and Yudhishthira in their private apartments.

Chitrangada: Arjuna travelled the length and breadth of India during his term of exile. His wanderings took him to ancient Manipur in the eastern Himalayas, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. Here he met the gentle Chitrangada, daughter of the king of Manipur, and was moved to seek her hand in marriage. Her father the king demurred on the plea that, according to the matrilineal customs of his people, the children born of Chitrangada were heir to Manipur; he could not allow his heirs to be taken away from Manipur by their father. Arjuna agreed to the stipulation that he would take away neither his wife Chitrangada nor any children borne by her from Manipur, and wed the princess on this premise. A son, whom they named Babruvahana, was soon born to the happy couple--he would succeed his grandfather as King of Manipur.

Uluchi: While Arjuna was in Manipur, Uluchi, a Naga princess of otherwise noble character, became infatuated of him. She caused him to be abducted after he had been intoxicated with potent concoctions; she had him conveyed to her realm in the netherworld. Here, uluchi induced an unwilling Arjuna to take her for wife. Later, the large-hearted Uluchi restored Arjuna to the lamenting Chitrangada. Uluchi later did much to further the comfort and happiness not only of Arjuna, but also of Chitrangada and the young Babruvahana. She played a very major part in the upbringing of Babruvahana; she enjoyed much influence over him, and was eventually also to restore Arjuna to life after he was slain in battle by Babruvahana.

Subhadra: Arjuna decided to spend the last portion of his term of exile in an orchard near Dwaraka, the residence of his cousins Balarama, Krishna and Subhadra, who were the children of his maternal uncle Vasudeva. Here, he and his cousin Subhadra fell in love with each other. This matter was abetted by Krishna, who had always been particularly attached to Arjuna, and wished nothing but the best for his sister Subhadra. Knowing that the entire family would view with disfavour the prospect of Subhadra becoming the fourth wife of her cousin Arjuna, Krishna facilitated the elopement of the couple and their departure for Indraprastha. In a twist to the tale, at Krishna's advice, it was Subhadra who drove the chariot from Dwaraka to Indraprastha. Krishna used this fact to persuade his family that Subhadra had not been abducted; on the contrary, it was she who had kidnapped Arjuna.

A single son, Abhimanyu, was born to Arjuna and Subhadra. Parikshita, son of Abhimanyu and UttarÄ�, born after Abhimanyu was killed in the battlefield, was destined to be the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru clan, and succeeded Yudhistra as the emperor of the Pandava kingdom

Shortly after his return to Indraprastha, Arjuna visits the Khandava forest with Krishna. There they encounter Agni, the fire-god. He has become wan from consuming too much ghee as a result of one king who is performing far too many 'yagnas' (ritual invocations with fire), and feeding ghee to Agni. He asks for Arjuna and Krishna's help in consuming the forest in its entirety to restore him to health. Takshaka the serpent-king, a friend of Indra's, resides in it and Indra thus causes rain whenever Agni tries to burn this forest. Arjuna tells him that while he has training in the divine weapons, to withstand the power of Indra's astras he must have an exceptionally powerful bow, an unbreakable one. Agni then invokes Varuna, and then gives Arjuna the Gandiva, an incredibly powerful bow, which gave its user sure victory in battle. This bow plays a great role in Arjuna's battles to come. Additionally, he also gives Arjuna a divine chariot, with powerful white horses that do not tire, and are unwounded by normal weapons.

Arjuna tells Agni to proceed, and fights a duel with his father in the process, a battle that lasts several days and nights. A voice from the sky proclaims Arjuna and Krishna the victors, and tells Indra to withdraw.

In the burning of the forest, Arjuna chose to spare one Asura, named Maya, who was a gifted architect. In his gratitude, Maya built Yudhishtra a magnificent royal hall, unparalleled in the world. It is this hall, which triggers the pinnacle of Duryodhana's envy, causing the game of dice to be played.

After Arjuna's return to Indraprastha, several crucial incidents described in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata took place, culminating in the exile of all the five Pandava brothers and of their common wife Draupadi. Arjuna's training during this period is particularly significant in the war to come.

Pashupata: During the fifth year of their exile, Arjuna leaves the others and proceeds to the Himalayas to do tapas to Lord Shiva, to obtain the Pashupata, Shiva's personal astra (i.e. "weapon"), one so powerful as to lack any counter-astra. Arjuna performs penance for a long time. Shiva, pleased with his penance, decides to test him further. He causes an asura in the shape of a large wild boar to disturb Arjuna's penance. Incensed at the boar, Arjuna chases it, and shoots an arrow at it to kill. At the same instant, another arrow from the bow of a rude hunter (Shiva) also hits the boar. The hunter and Arjuna, with the pride of warriors, argue about whose arrow killed the boar. This leads to an intense duel between the two. The hunter soon deprives Arjuna of all his weapons. Arjuna, who feels ashamed at this defeat, turns to the Shivalinga, that he has been worshipping during his penance, and offers it some flowers in prayer, only to find that the flowers have magically appeared on the body of the hunter instead. Arjuna realizes the hunter's identity, and falls at Shiva's feet. Shiva subsequently grants him knowledge of the Pasupata.

After obtaining this astra, he then proceeds to Indraloka (heaven), spending time with his biological father Indra, and acquiring further training from the devas. Additionally, he destroys the Nivatakavachas and Kalakeyas - two powerful asura clans that resided in the skies, and menaced the gods. The clans had obtained boons from Brahma as to be undefeatable by gods. Arjuna, being a mortal man, could destroy them with his training.

Urvashi's curse: While in Indraloka, Arjuna was propositioned by the apsara (celestial danseuse) Urvashi. Urvashi had once been married to a king named Pururavas, and had borne a son named Ayus from that liaison; Ayus was a distant forbear of Arjuna, hence he regarded Urvashi as a mother. Arjuna reminded Urvashi of this connection while rejecting her advances. Another belief says that since Indra was Arjuna's father and Urvashi was an apsara in Indra's court, so Urvashi is more like a motherly figure for him. Urvashi got annoyed at this rejection, saying Arjuna has insulted by spurning her advances. Urvashi rebuked Arjuna and told him that a danseuse is not concerned with earthly relations of any sort. Yet Arjuna could not overcome his scruples; "I am a child in front of you," he said. Chagrined at this response, Urvashi cursed Arjuna with impotence. Because Indra told her to reduce the curse, she modified her curse to last only one year, and Arjuna could choose any one year of his life during which to suffer the life of a eunuch. This curse proved fortuitous; Arjuna used it as a very effective disguise for the period of one year when he, his brothers and Draupadi all lived incognito while in exile.

After spending 12 years in the forest, the Pandavas spent the thirteenth year of exile incognito, as stipulated by their agreement with the Kauravas. This year is spent by them in disguise at the court of King VirÄ�ta. Arjuna made use of the curse put on him by the apsara Urvashi and chose this year in which to live the life of a eunuch. He assumed the name Brihannala. At the end of one year, Arjuna single-handedly defeated a Kaurava host that had invaded VirÄ�ta's kingdom. In appreciation of this valour, and being appraised of the true identity of the Pandavas, King VirÄ�ta offered the hand of his daughter UttarÄ� to Arjuna. Arjuna demurred on grounds of age as well as that UttarÄ� was like a daughter to him, owing to his having been (as a eunuch) her tutor in song and dance. He proposed that UttarÄ� should marry his young son Abhimanyu. This wedding duly took place; the posthumous son born of that union was destined to be the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru clan.

In addition to the guidance of and personal attention from Krishna, Arjuna had the support of Hanuman during the great battle of Kurukshetra.

Arjuna entered the battlefield with the flag of Hanuman on his chariot. The incident that led to this was an earlier encounter between Hanuman and Arjuna; Hanuman appeared as a small talking monkey before Arjuna at Rameshwaram, where Sri Rama had built the great bridge to cross over to Lanka to rescue Sita. Upon Arjuna's wondering out aloud at Sri Rama's taking the help of "monkeys" rather than building a bridge of arrows, Hanuman (in the form of the little monkey) challenged him to build one capable of bearing him alone. Unaware of the monkey's true identity, Arjuna accepted the challenge. Hanuman then proceeded to repeatedly destroy the bridges made by Arjuna who became depressed and suicidal, and decided to take his own life. Vishnu then appeared before them both, chiding Arjuna for his vanity, and Hanuman for making the accomplished warrior Arjuna feel incompetent. As an act of 'penitence', Hanuman agreed to help Arjuna by stabilizing and strengthening his chariot during the then-likely great battle.

Upon finishing the period of their exile, the Pandavas seek the return of their kingdom from the Kauravas, who refuse to honour the terms of the agreement. War breaks out.

The Bhagavad Gita:

Krishna's elder step brother Balarama, ruler of Dwaraka, decides not to take sides in the war, as both Kauravas and Pandavas are kinsmen of the Yadavas. However, Krishna in his personal capacity decides to be near Arjuna and protect him. Krishna becomes Arjuna's personal charioteer during the 18-day war and protects Arjuna upon numerous occasions from injury and death. The term "Charioteer" in connection to Krishna is interpreted as "One who guides" or "One who shows the way"; apart from protecting Arjuna from all mishap, Krishna also showed Arjuna the righteous way by revealing the Bhagavad Gita to him in the hours immediately preceding the start of battle.

This happened thus: As the two armies fell into battle-formation and faced each other on the battlefield, Arjuna's heart grew heavy. He saw arrayed before him his own kinsfolk; the elders of his clan on whose knees he had once been dandled as a child; the very guru Dronacharya who first taught him to wield the bow all those decades ago. Will it be worthwhile, he asked himself, to annihilate his own kindred for the sake of a kingdom? Arjuna sees his spirit faltering at this crucial juncture just as the war is about to begin; he resorts to Krishna for guidance.

It is at this juncture that Lord Krishna reveals the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. This is one of the most revered of Hindu texts. In it, Krishna deems it Arjuna's duty to struggle to uphold righteousness, without consideration of personal loss, consequence or reward; the discharge of one's moral duty, he says, supersedes all other pursuits, whether spiritual and material, in life.

The Bhagavad Gita is a record of the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. The relationship between Arjuna and Krishna is representative of what is ideal for all mankind: Man guided by God. The Bhagavad Gita records the Lord comforting and guiding a mortal who is facing a terrible moral crisis, and is an important scripture in Hinduism.

The Kurukshetra war:

Thus fortified in his belief of the righteousness of his chosen course of action, Arjuna takes up arms and essays a vastly important role in the winning of the war by the Pandavas.

Arjuna killed his uterine brother Karna, another formidable warrior who was fighting in aid of the Kauravas against the Pandavas. This act of fratricide was committed by him while in ignorance of the relationship. Karna and Arjuna form a terrible rivalry when Karna seeks to revenge himself upon Arjuna's guru and the princely order for casting him out and humiliating him. Arjuna is further provoked when Karna insults Arjuna and the other Pandava's wife Draupadi and has an indirect role in the murder of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu in battle. They both bring this terrible and personal rivalry to a climactic battle of terrifying proportions. For a long, long time, powerful weapons are discharged by the two warriors at terrifying pace without relent. The prowess and courage of both is marvelled by the millions of other soldiers. Karna knowing that he cannot kill Arjuna by any means he takes out his snake arrow to kill Arjuna. He uses this snake arrow against arjuna but snake aswasena whose mother was killed by arjuna enters that arrow and tries to kill Arjuna. But the Lord Krishna saves his friend and devotee Arjuna at this crucial juncture. Then Arjuna becomes mad with anger and shame and rains innumerable arrows at Karna and wounds him .Then Arjuna is urged by Lord Krishna to kill Karna when he is attempting to raise his chariot, reminding him of Karna's own apparent lack of mercy and regard for the rules of war in the killing of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu in a terrible and brutal fashion. Arjuna thus kills Karna. In the end Karna's sins doom him, marking another instance in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata of how an individual's actions serve to mark his destiny, and the need to lead a virtuous life.

In another memorable battle, it was Arjuna who annihilated a whole akshouhini, or hundreds of thousands (109,350) of Kaurava soldiers in one day to avenge the terrible murder of his son Abhimanyu, who was killed by all of the strongest warriors of the Kaurava Army, attacking simultaneously and especially when Abhimanyu was exhausted and deprived of weapons and trapped in a formation impossible for anyone save the Kuru general Drona, Arjuna, Krishna and Krishna's son Pradyumna to escape from. Having pledged to enter the fire if he failed to kill the Sindhu king Jayadratha, whom he held principally responsible, by the end of the day, Arjuna in the process kills an entire akshauhini, or more than hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In the climactic moment, the sun is close to setting and thousands of warriors still separate Arjuna and Jayadratha. Seeing his friend's plight, the Lord Krishna, his charioteer, raises his Sudarshana Chakra to cover the Sun, faking a sunset. The Kaurava warriors rejoice over Arjuna's defeat and imminent death, and Jayadratha is exposed in a crucial moment, where upon the Lord's urging, Arjuna sets loose a powerful arrow that decapitates Jayadratha. This note of the act of protection of Krishna of his righteous friend and disciple will be incomplete without adding that Jayadratha's father, the old and sinful king Vridhakshtra had blessed his son that anyone who caused his head to fall to the ground would cause his own head to burst. Jayadratha's head is carried by the arrow to his own father's hands, who was meditating near the battlefield; who in his shock drops the head and himself dies of his own blessing.

After the conclusion of the war, the Pandavas take charge of Hastinapura, the undivided realm of their ancestors. Their great victory, the wide support they gained for their cause and the defeat of the many kings who had supported the Kauravas, all unite to make them feel that the time is right to hazard a further venture: the performance of the Asvamedha Yagna, or "horse sacrifice", whereafter the title of Chakravarti ("Emperor") may be assumed. The sacrifice required that after preliminary rituals, a horse is let loose to wander where it will. The kings upon whose lands the horse wanders all have a choice: they may either accept the master of the horse (in this case, Yudishthira, eldest of the Pandavas) as their own leige lord and offer their submission to him, or they may offer resistance and wage war. Arjuna led the armed host which followed the horse around its random wanderings. He had occasion to receive the submission of many kings, either without or following an armed confrontation. He was thus instrumental in the expansion of the Pandava domains.

His war campaign into the Uttarapatha resulted in the reduction of over thirty tribes/Kingdoms including those of Pragjyotisha, Uluka, Modapura, Vamadeva, Sudaman, Susankula, Northern Uluka, Puru kingdom of Viswagaswa, Utsava-Sanketa, Lohita, Trigarta, Darava, Abhisara, Kokonada, Ursa, Simhapura, Suhma, Sumala, Balhika, Darada, Kamboja. Thence after reducing the robber tribes of the mountains, Arjuna landed into Transoxiana region (Sakadvipa or Scythia) and conquers the Lohas, Parama Kambojas, Northern Rishikas (or Parama Rishikas), Limpurushas, Haratakas, Gandharvas and the Uttarakurus etc.

In course of time, the Pandava brothers decide, at an advanced age, to renounce the world. They entrust the kingdom to Parikshita, the son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna. The Pandavas, including Arjuna, then retire to the Himalayas and eventually depart the world

MAHABALI

2009-08-18T21:08:00.002+05:30

Mahabali was a great king of the Asuras(demons). Once he performed a big ritual during which he gave away lots of gifts to all the people who visited him. He was proud of himself and gave more and more to the people who were arriving. At the end of the ritual, a small boy visited him. The Asura king asked him what he wanted as a gift. The boy told him that he only wanted to have a small piece of land about the size of his small feet. The king was surprised about the humble request but anyway offered to give the boy what he wanted. In those days if a king gave his word on something he was duty-bound to do it. As soon as the king gave his word, the boy suddenly started growing size. He was growing so fast and so huge that with one foot he covered the whole earth. He told the king that he had covered the whole earth and did not have any place left for his second foot. The proud and arrogant king realized that the boy was none other than God himself who had come in the form of a boy to humble him. He realized that this was the time to seek refuge in God and offered his own head for the boy to place his second foot. God placed his second foot on the king's head and the king reached the heavens because of God's grace.

The above story is from the Dasavatharam, or the story of God's Ten Incarnations from the Hindu mythology.

YUYUTSU

2009-08-18T21:08:00.001+05:30

Yuyutsu in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was the son of King Dhritarashtra, and one of the palace maidservants. He was a half-brother to Duryodhana and the other Kauravas. Disgusted by the treatment of the Pandavas by the Kauravas, he joined the side of the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war and was the only son of Dhritarashtra to survive the war. He was younger to Duryodhana but elder than Dushasana

YUDHISHTHIRA (DHARMARAJA)

2009-08-18T21:07:00.001+05:30

In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira was the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, king of Hastinapura and Indraprastha, and World Emperor. He was the principal protagonist of the Kurukshetra War, and for his unblemished piety, known as Dharmaraja (Most pious one). Some sources describe him to be an adept warrior with the Spear.

Yudhisthira's father Pandu, the king of Hastinapura, soon after his marriage accidentally shot a Brahmin and his wife, mistaking them for deer, while the couple were making love. Before he died, the Brahmin cursed the king himself to die at once, the minute he engaged in intercourse with one of his two wives. Due to this curse, Pandu was unable to father children. In additional penance for the murder, Pandu also abdicated the crown to his blind brother Dhritarashtra.

Yudhisthira therefore was conceived in an unusual way. His mother, Queen Kunti, had in her youth been granted the power to invoke the Devas by Rishi Durvasa. Each god, when invoked, would place a child in her lap. Urged by Pandu to use her invocations, Kunti gave birth to Yudhisthira by invoking the Lord of Righteousness, Dharma. Being Pandu's eldest son, Yudhisthira was the rightful heir to the throne. However, this claim was contested by the Dhritarashtra's son, Duryodhana.

Yudhisthira's four younger brothers were Bhima, (born by invoking Vayu); Arjuna, (born by invoking Indra); and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, (born by invoking the Ashwini Gods). If Karna, the son of Kunti born before her marriage by invoking Surya is counted, Yudhisthira would be the second-eldest of five Pandava brothers.

Yudhisthira was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru preceptors Kripa and Drona. He was a master of the spear weapon, and a maharatha, capable of combating 10,000 opponents all together at a time.

Yudhisthira is also known as Bharata (Descendent of the line of Bharata) and Ajatashatru (One Without Enemies).

Yudhisthira's true prowess was shown in his unflinching adherence to satya (truth) and dharma (righteousness), which were more precious to him than any royal ambitions, material pursuits and family relations.

Yudhisthira rescued Bhima from Yama, and all of his four brothers from death by exemplifying not only his immense knowledge of dharma but also his very own way of understanding the finer implications of dharma, as judged by Yama, who was testing him in the guise of a Crane and a Yaksha.

Yudhisthira's dharma was markedly distinct from that of other righteous kings. He married Draupadi along with his four brothers, he had Bhima marry an outcast Rakshasi, he termed "prayer" as "poison", he saw an uneventful life with no credit and a belly full of food at the end of the day as happiness, he denounced casteism, saying a Brahmin is known by his actions and not his birth or education--thus portraying the real changeable dharma, the dharma that modifies itself to suit the times.

Due to his piety, Yudhisthira's feet and his chariot do not touch the ground, to symbolize his purity.

Yudhisthira and his brothers were favored by the Kuru elders like Bhishma, Vidura ,Kripa and Drona over Duryodhana and his brothers, the Kauravas, due to their devotion to their elders, pious habits and great aptitude in religion and military skills, and all the necessary qualifications for the greatest of the kshatriya order.

Yudhisthira married the Panchali princess Draupadi, who bore him his son Prativindya.

When the Pandavas came of age, King Dhritarashtra sought to avoid a conflict with his sons, the Kauravas, by giving Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, albeit the lands which were arid, unprosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha.

But with the help of Yudhisthira's cousin Krishna, a new city, Indraprastha, was constructed by the Deva architect Viswakarman. The Asura architect Mayasura constructed the Mayasabha, which was the largest regal assembly hall in the world. Yudhisthira was crowned king of Khandavaprastha and Indraprastha. As he governed with absolute piousness, with a strict adherence to duty and service to this people, his kingdom grew prosperous, and people from all over were attracted to it.

Yudhisthira performed the Rajasuya sacrifice to become the Emperor of the World. His motives were not to obtain power for himself, but to establish dharma and defend religion all over the world by suppressing the enemies of Krishna and sinful, aggressive kings.

Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva led armies across the four corners of the world to obtain tributes from all kingdoms for Yudhisthira's sacrifice. At his sacrifice, Yudhisthira honored Krishna as the most famous and greatest personality. This incensed Sisupala, who proceeded to hurl several insults at Krishna and the Pandavas for selecting a "cowherd" for the great honor. When Sisupala's transgressions exceed the hundred pardons that Krishna had promised his mother, Krishna summons the sudarshana chakra to behead him. Following which, the yajna is completed successfully.

Yudhisthira was unable to refuse when Duryodhana's maternal uncle Shakuni, challenged him to a game of dice. Thanks to Shakuni's cheating, Yudhisthira lost each throw, eventually gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Owing to the protests of Vidura, Bhishma and Drona, Dhritarashtra returned all these losses. However, Shakuni challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending thirteen years in exile, with the condition of anonymity in the last year, in the forest before they could reclaim their kingdom.

Yudhisthira was criticized by Draupadi and Bhima for succumbing to temptation and playing dice, an art he was absolutely unskilled at, making the Pandavas prey to Shakuni and Duryodhana's evil designs. Yudhisthira reproached himself for weakness of mind, but at the time he argued that it was impossible to refuse a challenge of any nature, as he was a kshatriya and obliged to stand by the kshatriya code of honour.

During the thirteen years, he was repeatedly tested for staunch adherence to religious values in face of adversity.

The conditions of the debt required the Pandavas to disguise themselves and not be discovered during the last year of exile. Yudhisthira learned dice play from Narada Muni and assumed the guise of a brahmin courtier and dice player in the Matsya Rajya of king Virata.

When the period of exile was completed, Duryodhana and Shakuni nevertheless refused to return Yudhisthira's kingdom. Yudhisthira made numerous diplomatic efforts to retrieve his kingdom peacefully; all failed. To go to war to reclaim his birthright would mean fighting and killing his own relatives, an idea that appalled Yudhisthira. But Krishna, Yudhisthira's most trusted advisor (whom he recognized as the Avatara of Vishnu, the Supreme Godhead, Brahman), pointed out that Yudhisthira's claim was righteous, and the deeds of Duryodhana were evil. If all peace efforts failed, war was therefore a most righteous course. There are many passages in the Mahabharata in which Yudhisthira's will to fight a bloody war for the sake of a kingdom falters, but Krishna justifies the war as moral and as the unavoidable duty of all moral warriors.

In the war, the Kuru commander Drona was killing of thousands of Pandava warriors. Krishna hatched a plan to tell Drona that his son Ashwathama had died, so that the invincible and destructive Kuru commander would give up his arms and thus could be killed.

The plan was set in motion when Bhima killed an elephant named Ashwathama, and loudly proclaimed that Ashwathama was dead. Drona, knowing that only Yudhisthira, with his firm adherence to the truth, could tell him for sure if his son had died, approached Yudhisthira for confirmation. Yudhisthira told him: "Ashwathama has died". However Yudhisthira could not make himself tell a lie, despite the fact that if Drona continued to fight, the Pandavas and the cause of dharma itself would have lost and he added: "naro va kunjaro va" which means he is not sure whether elephant or man had died.

Krishna knew that Yudhisthira would be unable to lie, and had all the warriors beat war-drums and cymbals to make as much noise as possible. The words "naro va kunjaro va" were lost in the tumult and the ruse worked. Drona was disheartened, and laid down his weapons. He was then killed by Dhristadyumna.

When he spoke his half-lie, Yudhisthira's feet and chariot descended to the ground. However, Yudhisthira himself killed Shalya, the king of Madra and the last Kuru commander.

At the end of the war, Yudhisthira and the Pandava army emerged victorious, but Yudhisthira's children, the sons of Draupadi, and many Pandava heroes like Dhristadyumna, Abhimanyu, Virata, Drupada, Ghatotkacha were dead. Millions of warriors on both sides were killed.

Yudhisthira performed the tarpana ritual for the souls of the departed. Upon his return to Hastinapura, he was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura.

Out of his piousness, Yudhisthira retained Dhristarashtra as the king of the city of Hastinapura, and offered him complete respect and deference as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons.

Yudhisthira later performed the Ashwamedha yagna (sacrifice) to re-establish the rule of dharma all over the world. In this sacrifice, a horse was released to wander for a year, and Yudhisthira's brother Arjuna led the Pandava army, following the horse. The kings of all the countries where the horse wandered were asked to submit to Yudhisthira's rule or face war. All paid tribute, once again establishing Yudhisthira as the undisputed Emperor of the World.

Upon the onset of the Kali yuga and the death of Krishna, Yudhisthira and his brothers retired, leaving the throne to their only descendant to survive the war of Kurukshetra, Arjuna's grandson Parikshita. Giving up all their belongings and ties, the Pandavas made their final journey of pilgrimage in the Himalayas.

While climbing the peaks, one by one Draupadi and each Pandava in reverse order of age fell to their deaths, dragged down by the weight of their guilt of few, but real sins. But Yudhisthira reached the mountain peak, because he was unblemished by sin or untruth.

The true character of Yuddhisthira is revealed at the end of the Mahabharata. On the mountain peak, Indra, King of Gods, arrived to take Yudhisthira to heaven in his Golden Chariot. As Yudhisthira was about to step into the Chariot, the Deva told him to leave behind his companion dog, an unholy creature not worthy of heaven. Yudhisthira stepped back, refusing to leave behind the creature who he had taken under his protection. Indra wondered at him - "You can leave your brothers behind, not arranging proper cremations for them...and you refuse to leave behind a stray dog!"

Yudhisthira replied, "Draupadi and my brothers have left me, not me [them]." And he refused to go to heaven without the dog. At that moment the dog changed into the God Dharma, his father, who was testing him...and Yudhisthira had passed with distinction.

Yudhisthira was carried away on Indra's chariot. On reaching Heaven he did not find either his virtuous brothers or his wife Draupadi. Instead he saw Duryodhana and his evil allies. The Gods told him that his brothers were in Naraka (hell) atoning their little sins, while Duryodhana was in heaven since he died at the blessed place of Kurukshetra.

Yudhisthira loyally went to Naraka (hell) to meet his brothers, but the sights and sounds of gore and blood horrified him. Tempted to flee, he mastered himself and remained on hearing the voice of his beloved brothers and Draupadi...calling out to him, asking him to stay with them in their misery. Yudhisthira decided to remain, ordering the Divine charioteer to return..preferring to live in hell with good people than in a heaven of evil ones. At that moment the scene changed. This was yet another illusion to test him on the one hand, and on other hand to enable him to atone for his sin of using deceit to kill Drona. Indra and Krishna appeared before him and told him that his brothers were already in Heaven, along with his enemies, for earthly virtues and vices don't hold true in heavenly realms. Krishna yet again hailed Yudhisthira for his dharma, and bowed to him, in the final defining moment of the epic where divinity bowed down to humanity.

VIRATA

2009-08-18T21:06:00.002+05:30

Virata, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was a king in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Princess UttarÄ�. He finally gets killed by Drona during the great war along with his three sons, named Uttara, Shveta and Shankha

VIDURA

2009-08-18T21:06:00.001+05:30

Vidura was half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu. He was a son of a maid-servant who served the queens of Hastinapura, Ambika and Ambalika. In some accounts, he was an incarnation of Yama or Dharma Raja, who was cursed by the sage, Mandavya, for imposing punishment on him that exceed the sin.

Both queens were married to King Vichitravirya of Hastinapur, who died childless. Vichitravirya's mother Satyavati was anxious to ensure that the royal line was carried on. She called upon her other son Vyasa, to go to the beds of the two queens to father children. Vyasa was a hermit, and came to the palace, unkempt as he was. He went to Ambika who closed her eyes when she saw him, and to Ambalika who became pale. Hence the children they bore were blind and weak.

When Satyavati asked Vyasa to go to Ambika's bed again, to ensure that there would be children, she placed her maid-servant instead in her bed. The maid-servant was not frightened. Hence her son was not born flawed like his half-brothers. Thus, Vidura was born who was raised as brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

With his half-brothers he was raised and educated by Bhishma, whom they called father.

As he had no royal blood, he was never considered for, or had any chance of obtaining the throne of the kingdom. He served his brothers as a minister.

After Krishna, he was the most trusted advisor to the Pandavas and had warned them repeatedly about Duryodhana's plots. In particular, he warned the Pandavas from Duryodhana's plan to burn them alive in a house of wax he had made for them. He was known for speaking the truth and for his intelligence.

Vidura is famous also for being a true devotee of Lord Krishna. When the latter visited Hastinapura as a peace missary of the Pandavas, he shunned Duryodhana's offer to stay in his stately guesthouse, instead choosing the humble dwellings of Vidura.

In protest against the Mahabharata war, Vidura resigned from the post of minister.

After the great battle, he helped Yudhishtira when he became ruler. Later, he accompanied Dhritarashtra, and his sisters-in-law Gandhari, and Kunti, when they left on their last journey to the forest. He died before his companions, on the banks of the Ganga.

VICHITRAVIRYA

2009-08-18T21:05:00.001+05:30

Vichitravirya in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is the younger son of queen Satyavati and king Santanu. His elder brother, Chitrangada, succeeded king Santanu to the throne of Hastinapura. But when he died childless, Vichitravirya became a king.

Vichitravirya was still a child when he was crowned king, thus Bhishma ruled as his regent. When the young king became at proper age to marry, Bhishma searched for him for a suitable bride. And he heard the king of Kasi was holding a swayamvara for his three daughters. Since Vichitravirya himself was yet too young to stand any chance of being chosen by the young women, Bhishma himself went to the swayamvara.

Bhishma won the swayamvara and brought the Princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika to marry Vichitravirya. But Amba had already given her heart to another, therefore Ambika and Ambalika were married to Vichitravirya.

Unfortunately, shortly after his marriage, Vichitravirya died of consumption tuberculosis. As he died heirless, Vyasa was summoned to subsequently father Pandu, Dhritarashtra and Vidura.

Vyasa came to help Ambika and Ambalika have children with his Yogic power. Vyasa told that they should come alone near him. First did Ambika, but because of shyness and fear she closed her eyes. Vyasa told Satyavati that the child will be blind. Later this child was named Dhritarashtra. Thus Satyawati sent Ambalika and warned her that she should remain calm. But Ambalika's face became pale because of fear. Vyasa told that child will suffer from anaemia, and he will not be fit enough to rule the kingdom. Later this child was known as Pandu. Then Vyasa told Satyavati to send one of them again so that a healthy child can be born. This time Ambika and Ambalika sent her maid in the place of themselves. Maid was quite calm and composed during the Yogic process, and so she got a healthy child later named as Vidura.

UTTARA

2009-08-18T21:04:00.000+05:30

Uttara, the princess, married Arjuna's son Abhimanyu. She was widowed at a very young age when Abhimanyu was killed in the Kurukshetra war. Her son, Parikshita, was the sole surviving dynast of the Kuru clan and eventually became king of Hastinapura.It is also believed that Uttara had learnt dance from Arjuna as a princess during the 14th year of exile of the Pandavas when Arjuna lived a life of a eunuch and practiced his art of dance learnt from the apsaras in heavens.It is during this phase that Arjuna admired Uttara's qualities and later proposed her marriage to his son Abhimanyu.

ULOOPI

2009-08-18T21:03:00.002+05:30

Uloopi(or Uloochi), in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was one of Arjuna's wives. While Arjuna was in Manipur, the Naga princess bAecame infatuated with him. She caused him to be abducted after he had been intoxicated with potent concoctions and had him conveyed to her realm in the netherworld. There, Uloopi induced an unwilling Arjuna to take her for a wife. She was the mother of Iravan. She later restored Arjuna to the lamenting Chitrangadaa, one of Arjuna's other wives. She played a major part in the upbringing of Arjuna and Chitrangada's son, Babruvahana. She was also able to restore Arjuna to life after he was slain in battle by Babruvahana. When Arjuna was given a curse by the Vasus, Bheeshma's brothers, after he killed Bheeshma in the Kurushtra war, she redeemed Arjuna from thier curse.

SUBHADRA

2009-08-18T21:03:00.001+05:30

Subhadra is an important character in the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic. She is the half-sister of Krishna, wife of Arjuna (third of the Pandava brothers), and mother of Abhimanyu.

Subhadra is the only daughter of Vasudeva, born to him by his wife Rohini Devi. She is born after Krishna rescues thier father, Vasudeva, from prison and is thus much younger than both her brothers. Subhadra therefore grows up in comfort as the princess, and escapes the travails that haunted her family before her birth.

Arjuna, the Pandava, once spends 1 year in exile for breaking a vow. He spends the last portion of this exile in Dwaraka, at the residence of his cousins Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra. They are his cousins because their father, Vasudeva, was the brother of Arjuna's mother Kunti. During his sojourn at Dwaraka, a romance ensues between Arjuna and Subhadra. This matter was abetted by Krishna, who had always been particularly attached to Arjuna, and wished nothing but the best for his sister Subhadra.

As the period of Arjuna's exile draws to a close, and his departure homeward becomes imminent, Arjuna proposes marriage to his cousin, and she acquiesces. Knowing that the entire family would view with disfavour the prospect of Subhadra becoming the fourth wife of her much-married cousin Arjuna, Krishna facilitates the elopement of the couple and their departure for Indraprastha. He gives the couple a crucial piece of advice related to their elopement: it was Subhadra, and not Arjuna, who drove the chariot away from Dwaraka and towards Indraprastha. Krishna later uses this fact to persuade his family that Subhadra had not been abducted; on the contrary, it was she who had kidnapped Arjuna!!

Subhadra and Arjuna soon have a son, the valiant Abhimanyu. Not long afterwards, the celebrated game of dice ensues between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Pandavas leave Indraprastha to spend 13 years in exile. It is decided that Subhadra and her infant son must spend the period of exile in Dwaraka, so that Abhimanyu may profit from receiving Krishna's tutelage and gain a suitable education, that would prepare him for the struggles and responsibilities that he, Abhimanyu, is expected to bear in later life.

At the end of the period of exile, Arjuna sends for his wife and son. Abhimanyu is wed to Uttara, daughter of king Virata. To Subhadra's great grief, the young Abhimanyu is killed during the Kurukshetra war which ensues soon afterwards. Uttara is pregnant at that time and is later delivered of a son, who is named Parikshita.

Parikshita is destined to become the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru dynasty, Pandavas and Kauravas combined. When he comes of age, the Pandavas (being his grandfather Arjuna and four grand-uncles) anoint him king of their realm and retire to the Himalayas. Subhadra remains behind to guide and mentor her grandson.

SHIKHANDI

2009-08-18T21:02:00.000+05:30

Shikandi is a character in the Hindu epic, the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. The son of Drupada, he fought in the Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas.

He had been born in an earlier lifetime as a woman named Amba, who was rejected by Bhishma for marriage. Feeling deeply humiliated and wanting revenge, Amba carried out great prayers and penance with the desire to be the cause of Bhishma's death. Amba was then reborn as Shikhandini.

From her birth, a Divine voice told her father to raise her as a son. So Shikhandini was raised like a man, trained in warfare and eventually married. On her wedding night, her wife insulted her on finding out the truth. Contemplating suicide, she fled Pancala, but was saved by a Yaksha who exchanged his sex with her. Shikhandi came back a man and had a happy married life with his wife and had children too. After his death, his masculinity was transferred back to the Yaksha.

In the battle of Kurukshetra, Bhishma recognised him as Amba reborn, and not wanting to fight 'a woman', lowered his weapons. Knowing that Bhishma would react thus to Shikhandi, Arjuna hid behind Shikhandi and attacked Bhishma with a devastating volley of arrows. Thus, only with Shikhandi's help could Arjuna deal a death blow to Bhishma, who had been virtually invincible until then. Shikhandi was finally killed by Ashwatthama on the 18th day of battle.

SHANTANU

2009-08-18T21:01:00.002+05:30

Shantanu is the father of Bhishma and a king of Hastinapura in the great epic of the Mahabharata. He is a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapur and had been born in the latter's old age. The eldest son Devapi suffered from leprosy and abdicated his inheritance to become a hermit. The middle son Bahlika devoted his life to conquer the old Aryan territoties near Balkh and hence, Shantanu become the King of Hastinapur by default.

Shantanu and Ganga

Once while strolling on the banks of the river Ganga, Shantanu saw a maiden of exceeding beauty. So enthralled was he by her charm, that he asked her to be his wife. She agreed, but put forth a condition, that at no stage shall the king question her actions, or she would leave him. He agreed to her condition and their marriage was solemnised.

In due course she bore him a child, but at its birth she flung the baby into the river Ganga and returned smiling to the king. Pained and bewildered as he was by her action, he did not question her, for fear of her leaving his side. This act, of drowning their babies continued for six more children.

When, at the birth of their eighth child, his wife left to throw the baby into the river, Shantanu, who had so far bore his children's fates with fortitude to honour his promise, could no longer suppress his anguish. He finally burst out and questioned her as to why she would perform such an act upon the birth of a child. Thus he broke his promise. The maiden revealed her identity. She was Ganga, the goddess of the river. As the king had gone back on his words, she would have to leave him. She told him that she would not kill this 8th child, but would take him with her, and present him to the king in due course.

Shantanu was saddened by her departure and waited many years for the return of his son. As promised, the goddess returned his son, now grown into a young lad. His name was Devavrata and would become famous by the name of Bhishma, a central character of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata.

Shantanu and Satyavati

When Bhishma had grown into a young handsome prince, Shantanu came across Satyavati, a ferryman's daughter, and fell in love with her. The ferryman agreed to the marriage on condition that any child Satyavati bore him would inherit the throne.

King Shantanu was unable to give his word on accession as it would be unfair to Bhishma, the rightful heir to the throne. However, Bhishma came to know of this and in a magnificent gesture of renunciation and sacrifice for the sake of his father, gave his word to the ferryman that he would renounce all claims to the throne, in favour of Satyavati's children. To reassure the sceptical ferryman further, he also vowed life-long celibacy to ensure that future generations borne of Satyavati are also not challenged by his offspring.

Shantanu and Satyavati went on to have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After Shantanu's death, Satyavati continued to rule the kingdom with her two sons, with help from Bhishma.

SHALYA

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King Shalya was the brother of Madri, the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva and the ruler of Madra-desa or the kingdom of Madra. Thus, he was the maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and was loved and revered by the Pandavas. When he was young, he entered a competition among princes and nobilities to marry Kunti, but subsequently lost to Pandu. Madri was married off to Pandu as part of a secret deal between Shalya and Pandu. Shalya was a skilled archer and formidable warrior.

The Pandavas had counted on Shalya joining their side with his huge army. On the way to assist the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War, Shalya was tricked by Duryodhana, who arranged a huge feast for Shalya and his men. When Shalya was impressed by the hospitality of his host who he mistakenly thought to be Yudhisthira, he offered to be at his host's service. Unable to turn down Duryodhana's request to join the Kauravas, Shalya met Yudhisthira and apologized for his error. Yudhishtira knowing that Shalya was a great charioteer and forecasting that Shalya would someday be asked to be the charioteer of Karna, extracted a vow from Shalya to the effect that Shalya will demoralise Karna and dampen his spirits. Yudhishtira, a person of immaculate character, for once, stooped to a low level. It is still unclear as to why Yudhishtira did so. Anyway, Shalya assured the Pandavas that he would do everything possible to demoralise Karna and dampen his spirits.

Shalya reluctantly entered the Kurukshetra war on the Kauravas' side. Shalya served as Karna's charioteer during the latter's battle with Arjuna, while continuously praising the Pandava prince and citing Karna's shortcomings. Shalya took over the leadership of the Kaurava army on the eighteenth and last day of the great battle after the death of Karna when it was becoming rapidly clear that the war was a lost cause, and close to the end of the battle he was killed by Prince Yudhishtira with a spear. Shalya was the second to last Kaurava commander-in-chief and after his death, the Kauravas were left leaderless and broke ranks fleeing from the slaughter despite Duryodhana's best efforts.

SHAKUNI

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The villain Shakuni, an avatar of Dwapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. He was very fond of his nephew Duryodhana. He won the kingdom of the Pandavas' for his nephew, as a wager in a rigged game of dice. The dice that were used were made with Shakuni's father's thigh bones and would always do his bidding.

Some sources say Shakuni had been insulted when his beloved sister has been married to the blind Kuru king Dhritarashtra and swore to destroy the Kaurava clan. He achieved this by poisoning the mind of his volatile nephew, and influenced Duryodhana into instigating the war with the Pandavas, which resulted in the destruction of the Kauravas. Thus, he is seen by many as the ultimate cause of the destructive Kurukshetra War

When the Pandavas were given the arid part of Hastinapura, with their great labor and effort, they managed to convert this arid and barren land into a great city called Indraprastha. Soon word of this fabulous city spred and Duryodhana himself came to see the palace. He mistook water for a floor, and fell into it. Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, burst out laughing and insulted Duryodhana by saying that the son of a blindman can only be a blindman. Enraged, Duryodhana returned to Hastinapur. Reading his nephew's state of mind, Shakuni plotted a clever plan to strip Pandavas of Indraprastha. He invited the Pandavas to a friendly game of dice against Duryodhana, being a pastmaster of the game himself. When the game started, he stoked Yudhisthira's gambling urges by letting him win a few minor victories. Soon however, Shakuni used his skills in the game to good effect, and before Yudhishtir could be persuaded to stop playing, he had already lost all his wealth and kingdom. Then Shakuni suggested that he would return all Yudhistir had lost and more if he would put up his brothers at stake. He also taunted Yudhisthira whenever he hesitated from playing. After two more rounds of play, Yudhisthira lost his brothers and their wife, Draupadi, to Duryodhana, thus ensuring his revenge.

Shakuni took Duryodhana's side in the great war at Kurukshetra. He was killed on the battlefield by Sahadeva, one of the Pandava brothers.

SATYAVATHI

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Satyavati is the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes, principal characters of the Mahabharata, one of the principal texts in Hindu mythology. She is nevertheless a commoner, daughter to a ferryman or fisherman. She is also known as Matsyagandha (one who has the smell of fish).

As a young woman, she met the wandering rishi Parashara, by whom she had a son, Vyasa. His birth took place in secret on an island in the river Yamuna. This island in the shallow river Yamuna exists even today, and is enigmatic to say the least. At this point, the east-flowing river actually flows towards the west, giving the locale it's local name --- Pachmani( Paschim being West). This situation has existed for thousands of years, over a vast plain where there is no reason for the Yamuna to flow a tortuous path, rather than straight ahead. No hills or mountains cause the exreme meandering of the flow, and even the times of great floods have failed to alter the path of the river in this area. This strip of land surrounded by water on all sides is ideally located from safety point of view and is known as Manchodri in local parlance. Later, King Santanu of Hastinapura saw her and asked her to marry him. She agreed on condition that their children would inherit the throne. Their children were Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. After Santanu's death, she with her princely sons ruled the kingdom. Although both these sons died childless, she arranged for her first son Vyasa to father the children of the two wives of Vichitravirya (Ambika and Ambalika).

SATYAKI

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Satyaki, also called Yuyudhana, is a powerful warrior belong to the Yadava-Vrishni dynasty of Lord Krishna, in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata epic.

Satyaki is devoted to Krishna and his best friend Arjuna, with whom he trained under Drona in military arts. He was born in the line of Shini of the Vrishni clan, and was a son of Satyaka. He was strongly and passionately favors the cause of the Pandavas over the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra War. Satyaki accompanies Krishna to the Kuru capital with Krishna as the emissary of peace which is ridiculed and turned down by the sons of Dhritarashtra.

In the Kurukshetra war, Satyaki and Kritavarma were two important Yadava heroes who fought on opposing sides. Satyaki fought on the side of the Pandavas, Kritavarma joined the Kauravas. Satyaki was a valiant warrior and on one particular occasion, stunned Drona by allegedly breaking his bow for a successive 101 times. In the course of the fourteenth day of the conflict, Satyaki fights an intense battle with his archrival Bhurisravas with whom he has a long standing family feud. After a long and bloody battle, Satyaki begins to tire, and Bhurisravas batters him and drags him across the battlefield. Arjuna is warned by Lord Krishna of what is happening. Bhurisravas prepares to kill Satyaki, but he is rescued from death by Arjuna, who shoots an arrow cutting off Bhurisravas' arm.

Bhurisrava wails out that by striking him without warning, Arjuna had disgraced the honor between warriors. Arjuna rebukes him for attacking a defenseless Satyaki. He reiterates that protecting Satyaki's life at all costs was his responsibility as a friend and comrade in arms.

Satyaki emerges from his swoon, and swiftly decapitates his enemy. He is condemned for this rash act, but every soldier present realizes that the power of Krishna made Satyaki end Bhurisravas' life, which was going to happen anyway.

Satyaki and Kritavarma both survived the Kurukshetra conflict . Kritavarma is involved in the slaughter of the Panchalas and the sons of the Pandavas in the undeclared night attack with Kripacharya and Ashwatthama. 36 years after the war, the Yadavas, including Satyaki and Kritavarma are involved in a drunken brawl with Satyaki accusing Kritavarma of killing sleeping soldiers and Kritavarma citicizing Satyaki for his beheading of the unarmed Bhurisravas. In the ensuing melee, Satyaki, Kritavarma and the rest of the Yadavas are exterminated, as it was ordained by Gandhari's curse. Krishna desired to remove the Yadava clan from earth at the same time as his Avatara is fulfilled, so that the earth may be free of any possibly sinful and aggressive warriors, which was the wider purpose of the Kurukshetra war.

SANJAYA

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Sanjaya is a character from the ancient Indian epic MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. In this story of warring families, the father of the principals of the Kaurava side is the blind king Dhritarashtra. His advisor and hence also his charioteer Sanjaya (who has the gift of seeing events at a distance granted by the rishi Vyasa) narrates to Dhritarshtra the action in the climactic battle of Kurukshetra, which includes the Bhagavad Gita. He had the unpleasant duty of breaking the news of the death of Dhritarashtra's hundred sons at the hands of Bhima at different points of time in the battle and offers the sorrowing king solace in his darkest hours. Sanjaya is known to be brutally frank in his recital of the day's battle events and his own opinions, (which usually would predict the utter destruction of the Kauravas at the hands of Arjuna and Krishna).

In the Bhagavad Gita, passages often start with the Sanskrit words "Sanjaya uvaacha:" ("Sanjaya said:"). The entire Bhagavad Gita (translates as The Song of God or God's song) is a recital of Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra of the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna.

SAHADEVA

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Sahadeva is a character in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. He was one of the sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. He was one of the five Pandava brothers and had a twin brother named Nakula.

All the five Pandava brothers were wed concurrently to Draupadi, and each had a son by her.

During their incognito in the Matsya kingdom of king Virata, Sahadev was responsible for the cowshed and had taken a vow to kill the king of Gandhara, Shakuni who had tricked them all their life. He was successful in his vow in killing Shakuni the second-last day of battle.

Of the five Pandavas, Sahadeva was the youngest. He is nevertheless referred to as the wisest of all of them. Yudhishtra even speaks of him as wiser than Brihaspati, the divine teacher of the Devas.

Sahadeva as seen in the Javanese shadow puppet play (wayang)

Sahadeva was a great astrologer and was supposed to have known the events of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata war aforehand but was cursed that if he disclosed the knowledge, his head would split in pieces. Hence, his relatively silent role in the epic compared to the other brothers.

Like his brother Nakula, Sahadeva was an expert swordsman. He was married to Magadhan King Jarasandh's daughter and his brother-in-law's name was also Sahadev.

He is one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna. Krishna once asked Sahadeva, what should be done to stop the war. Sahadeva told that Krishna must be tied down and prisoned and all the Pandavas along with Duryodhana must be sent to forest and Karna must be made the king. When krishna challenged him to tie him down, Sahadeva started meditating and envisioned Krishna as a small baby and tied him down. Since Krishna could not move out of his bondage created by Sahadeva in his meditative trance, he blessed him with divine vision and Sahadeva released Krishna from the bondage which he made in his meditation.

PARIKSHIT

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Parikshit is the son of Abhimanyu and Uttara, and the grandson of Arjuna. He was the successor of Yudhisthira to the throne of Hastinapura.

Parikshita is the son of Uttara, the Matsya princess and Abhimanyu, the Vrishni son of Arjuna. He is born only after the end of the war.

Uttara is carrying their son in her womb when Abhimanyu is mercilessly and unfairly slain by the Kauravas. Later, Ashwathama attempts to kill the unborn child and his mother by directing the brahmastra towards her tent off the battlefields. She is saved by Lord Krishna, who was also the maternal uncle of Abhimanyu (Arjuna's wife Subhadra was the sister of Lord Krishna and mother of Abhimanyu.)

The chief priest Dhaumya predicts to king Yudhisthira after Parikshita's birth that he will be a great devotee of the Supreme Lord Vishnu, and since he was saved by the Lord Krishna, he will be known as Vishnurata (One who is always protected by the Lord).

Dhaumya Rishi predicts that Parikshita would be ever-devoted to virtue, religious principles and the truth and would be a wise monarch, exactly as Ikshvaku and Rama of Ayodhya. He would be as exemplary a warrior as Arjuna, his own grandfather, and would expand the fame of his family.

He is given the name Parikshita as he would search and test for the Supreme Lord, whom he had witnessed as an unborn child, across the world and within every human being.

Upon the commencement of the Kali yuga, the dark age of sin, and the departure of Krishna Avatara from the world, the five Pandava brothers retire. Young Parikshita is duly invested as king, with Kripa as his counselor. He performed three aswamedha yajnas under the guidance of Kripa.

Once Parikshita went hunting in the forest. Kali, the embodiment of Kali Yuga, appeared before him and asked permission to enter his kingdom, which the king denied. Upon insisting, Parikshita allowed him four places to reside: where there is gambling, alcohol consumption, prostitution and gold. Kali smartly entered into Parikshita's golden crown and spoiled his thoughts.

Parikshita entered into a sage Shringi's hut as he was thirsty. He found the sage in deep meditation. He bowed to him several times but as their was no response he took a dead snake and threw it around the sage's neck. Later when the sage's son heard of this incident and cursed the king to die of a snake bite on the 7th day.

On hearing this, the king forswore the throne for his son Janamejaya and spent his last 7 days listening to the discourses of Sage Sukadeva on Bhagavata. As prophesied, the snake king Takshaka bit Parikshita, who left his mortal remains behind and attained salvation.

Other thesis say that Kali had entered the gold and thus creating man's desire for gold. Parikshit had gone hunting into the forest. He stops at one point and gets into the lake for a bath. He removes his crown and keeps it on the bank of river. Takshaka, a naga king sees the golden crown and desires to get it. He steals the crown, but he was got by Parikshita guards. Parikshita jails him. On his release Takshaka avenges Parikshita and kills him mercilessly.

On hearing this, Parikshita's son Janamejaya vows to kill all the naga in a week. Janamejaya starts his killing spree of naga. He brutally murders Takshaka. Asthika, a close friend of Janamejaya, minister and a philosopher comes to know of Janamajaya's act and stops him.

PANDU

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In the Mahabharata epic, Pandu is the son of Vichitravirya and his second wife, Ambalika from Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas.

After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son. Ambalika was instructed by Satyavati to keep her eyes open lest she would bear a blind son like Ambika (Dhritarashtra). She did keep her eyes open but she became pale after seeing the formidable form of the Sage. Therefore, Pandu was born pale.

Pandu was an excellent archer. He became the commander of King Dhritarashtra's army and also ruled the kingdom for him. Pandu conquered the territories of Dasarnas, Kashi, Anga, Vango, Kalinga, Magadha etc. and thus re-established their superiority over all the kings.

Pandu got married to Madri, daughter of the King of Madra, and Kunti, daughter of King Kuntibhoja of Vrish. While hunting in a forest, Pandu shot a Rishi (who was engaged in sexual intercourse with his wife), so the Rishi cursed him that, when he approaches his wife with love he will die. Upset, Pandu renounced his kingdom and lived like a hermit with his wives.

Kunti used her boons given by Sage Durvasa to bear three sonsâ€”Yudhishtira (by Lord Yama), Bhima (by Lord Vayu), and Arjuna (by Lord Indra). Also Kunti gave birth to Karna through Surya. She also gave her boons to Madri, who bore Nakula and Sahadeva twins from the physicians to the gods, Ashwini Kumar twins.

Thus the Pandavas of Pandu were born.

Pandu was suffered by some sexual diseases.After 15 years of celibacy, when Kunti and his sons were away, Pandu suddenly became strongly attracted to Madri. Because of the curse, he died after attempting to touch her, and Madri, out of repentance and grief, burned herself alive on her husband's funeral pyre

NAKULA

2009-08-18T20:55:00.002+05:30

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Nakula was the son of king Pandu and queen Madri. He and his twin brother Sahadeva are in the image of the Ashwini Gods. He was one of the five Pandavas whose story is told in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata - the youngest two.

According to record, the twins have special abilities of caring for horses and cows. Nakula is described as extremely attractive. He is also quite observant and keeps a watchful eye on his elder brother Bhima's mischievous and often dangerous pranks.

Nakula was chosen by Yudhishtara as the one brother to be brought back to life during the exile in forest, when all the other four brothers had died after drinking water from a lake. This was because he was the son of Madri, and Yudhishtara, being the son of Kunti, wanted to be fair to both mothers.

MADHRI

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Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.

On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their friendship. Looking at her beauty, Pandu accepted the lady willingly and took her to Hastinapur.

She, alongside Kunti, faithfully accompanied Pandu in his hermetical retreat following his abdication as the king of Hastinapura. Both Kunti and Madri were directly affected by the curse on Pandu because they were denied the opportunity to bear Pandu's children. However, a boon was given to Kunti which enabled her to bear Yudishtira, Bhima, and Arjuna. This boon was passed on to Madri, who then bore twins from Ashwins named Nakula and Sahadeva. Madri apparently made a misuse of the boon. The boon was to be used only with a single God (the word God being used loosely) at a time and Madri invoked the presence of twin Gods (the Ashwin twins). Hence Kunti took the boon back from Madri.

One fateful day, Pandu desired Madri and the memory of the curse briefly eluded him. Death struck Pandu immediately. Madri, filled with remorse, self immolated on Pandu's funeral pyre. Kunti became a single mother of the five children.

KUNTI

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Kunti is the mother of the eldest three of the Pandava brothers from the Indian epic Mahabharata. Her story is also told within the Srimad Bhagavatam, wherein she speaks on the philosophy of devotion of Krishna, known as Bhakti yoga. Kunti is thus held as a figure of great importance within many Hindu traditions and especially with worshippers of Krishna (Vaishnavas).

Her father was ÅšÅ©rasena of the Yadu clan, and she was named Pritha (PÅ—tha). She was thus the sister of Vasudeva, father of Krishna. She was given in adoption to the childless King Kuntibhoja, after which she became known as Kunti. After her arrival, King Kuntibhoja was blessed with children. He considered her his lucky charm and took care of her until her marriage.

When she was young, the rishi Durvasa told her a mantra with which Kunti could summon any deva and have a child by him without a pregnancy. When Kunti asked why he gave her this mantra, he told her that it would be useful to her later in life.

Kunti could not believe the mantra, so she tried to use it. The god Surya, appeared. She asked him to go back, but Surya said he was compelled to fulfill the mantra before returning. Kunti then abandoned the child in a basket in a river. This child was later found and adopted by a chariot driver and his wife, and was named Karna. He went on to become an important character in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata. The ambiguous emotions Karna felt about his birth mother play an important role in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata.

Later on, Kunti married Prince Pandu of Hastinapura. He took a second wife Madri, but was unable to father children. Grief-stricken, he left for the forest with his wives, to live in self-imposed exile. Then, Kunti revealed her secret mantra. She used it three times, first receiving a son, Yudishtira, from the god Yama, then Bhima from the god Vayu, and thirdly Arjuna, from the god Indra. Kunti revealed the mantra to Madri, who bore twin sons, Nakula and Sahadeva, from the twin gods the Asvins. The five together are known as the Pandavas.

After the death of Pandu and Madri, Kunti was left to tend for all five sons. After the great battle and in her old age, she goes in exile to the forest, with her brothers-in-law Dhritarashtra and Vidura, and Dhritarashtra's wife Gandhari where they die together in a forest fire.

Kunti's character within the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata is accorded much respect within the Hindu tradition. Her activities were that of a very pious and loyal wife and of a person with a great deal of self-control. Kunti was given a special boon which enabled her to bear the sons of great celestial devas as many times as she wished. However Kunti did not misuse her boon, limiting herself to three sons only. In spite of Pandu's pleas for more sons, Kunti held onto the Shastras which state that one should not have more than 3 children when the children are not conceived in the usual manner (in the case of Kunti she was granted sons instead of she conceiving them the normal way). And when requested by Pandu, she shared this special mantra with Madri, Pandu's other wife.

KRITAVARMA

2009-08-18T20:53:00.002+05:30

Kritavarma was an important Yadava warrior and chieftain, and a contemporary of Krishna. He finds mention in several ancient Sanskrit texts including the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata and the Harivamsa.

He was born in the Andhaka clan of the Yadavas, and some sources describe him as a brother of Hrithika, who was the great grandfather of Krishna, but this seems unlikely. Though he is depicted as a devotee of Krishna in the Vishnu Purana, apparently he was not in good terms with Krishna, and was one of the conspirators who plotted to kill Satrajit, Krishna's father-in-law during the Syamantaka Jewel episode.

During the great battle at Kurukshetra, Kritavarma was an ally of the Kauravas against the Pandavas and lead the Yadava army (also called the Narayani Sena). He was one of the three survivors of the entire Kaurava army and had helped Ashwatthama in carrying out his heinous night time massacre of Panchala warriors, in which the latter had slaughtered among others, Dhrishtadyumna (the Pandava commander-in-chief), Shikhandi and the five sons of Draupadi. The event is described in the Sauptika Parva of the Mahabharata. He returned to his kingdom after the war and was later killed by Satyaki in Dwarka during the final destruction of the Yadavas, as we find in the Mausala Parva of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata.

KRIPA

2009-08-18T20:52:00.002+05:30

Kripacharya, also often called Kripa, was the chief priest at the court of Hastinapura, in the Mahabharata.

He was the son of Sharadvan and Janapadi. His twin sister Kripi married Drona, the weapons master to the court.

He fought in the great battle of Kurukshetra for the Kaurava side. Afterwards, he was appointed to be the teacher and preceptor of Parikshita, the grandson of Arjuna.

Maharishi Gautam had a son called Shardwan. Shardwan was born with arrows and was a born archer. He was from his early childhood, more interested in archery than in the study of the Vedas. He meditated and attained the art of all types of warfare. He was such a great archer that no one could defeat him. This created panic amongst the gods and specially Indra, the king of the gods felt the most threatened. He then sent a beautiful divine nymph from the heaven to distract the celibate saint. The nymph called Janpadi came to the saint and tried to seduce him in various ways. Shardwan was distracted and the sight of such a beautiful woman made him lose control. As he was a great saint he still managed to resist the temptation and controlled his desires. But his concentration was lost and he dropped his bow and arrows. His semen fell on some weeds by the wayside and divided the weeds into two from which a boy and a girl were born. The saint himself left the hermitage and his bow and arrow and went to the forest for penance. Coincidentally, King Shantanu, the great-grandfather of the Pandavas was crossing from there and saw the children by the wayside. One look at them and he realised that they were the children of a great archer Brahmin. He named them Kripa and Kripi and decided to take them back with him to his palace. When Shardwan came to know of this he came to the palace and revealed the identity of the children and performed the various rituals which are performed for the children of Brahmins. He also taught the children archery, Vedas and other shashtras and the secrets of the Universe. The children grew up to become experts in the art of warfare and this boy Kripa came to be known as Kripacharya who was now assigned the task of teaching the young princes all about warfare.

KARNA

2009-08-18T20:52:00.001+05:30

Karna is one of the central figures in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the first son of Kunti, and was thus half brother to the Pandavas, and the eldest of them. Although Duryodhana of the Kauravas appoint him king of Anga, his role in the legend far exceeds the importance of a king. He fought for the Kauravas in the great battle at Kurukshetra. As such, the name Karna (and various other spellings) is a common Indian first name.

The princess Kunti attended to the sage Durvasa for a full year, while he was a guest at her father's palace. The sage was pleased with her service and granted her a boon whereby she could call upon any god of her choice, and beget a child in his image. Unsure of whether the boon would actually be granted, Kunti, while still unmarried, decided to test the boon and called upon Surya the sun god. Bound by the power of the mantra, Surya granted her a son as radiant and strong as his father, although she did not want a child (wishing only to test the power). Through his divine power, Kunti retained her virginity. Thus Karna was born. Surya gifted Karna with an armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala') which dipped in Amrit, which were attached to him from birth.

Unwilling to face the world as an unwed mother, Kunti abandoned Karna, setting him afloat in a box in a river.

The child Karna was borne down the river and picked up by King Dhritarashtra's charioteer, Adhiratha, a sudra. Karna was raised by him and his wife Radha (not the same Radha who was Lord Krishna's Companion at Mathura) as their son and named Vasusena (born with wealth), due to his natural set of armour and earrings. They knew something of his parentage by the jewellery he was found with, and never hid from him the fact that he was not their biological child. He was also known as Radheya because of the name of his mother Radha.

The bond between Karna and his foster family was one of pure love, respect and affection despite the lack of blood relationship. Adhiratha was honored by Karna in front of all the warrior kind, and Karna lovingly performed his duties as a son and brother within his foster family, despite his rise as king of Anga and the eventual revelation of his true birth.

As he grew into adulthood, Karna sought to be a warrior. He approached Dronacharya, who at that time had established his school and was training the Kuru princes, requesting admission into his school. Drona refused to teach him, as he was a 'sutaputra' or the son of a charioteer. Karna realized his caste would continue to be a barrier in his quest for knowledge. He decided eventually to approach Parashurama, who was known to teach Bramhins alone. Karna appeared to Parashurama as a Brahmin and wanted to learn the arts of war from Parashurama and would use them to maintain order as Parashurama had done, and was accepted as his student. Karna is described as a diligent student. Parashurama trained him to the point where Parashurama declared Karna to have surpassed him in the arts of war.

As Karna's training came to completion, Parashurama learnt the truth about Karna's origin. One afternoon, he requested Karna to bring a pillow for him to sleep outside in the shade. Karna instead offered him his lap as a pillow. While Parashurama was asleep, an insect came by and alighting on Karna's thigh, bit him. Despite the pain, Karna did not move as it would disturb his Guru. The insect bit deep into Karna's leg, causing blood to flow out, the warmth and feel of which woke up Parashurama. He deduced at once that Karna was a kshatriya as only a warrior could withstand such pain without flinching. He cursed Karna, stating that when he required an astra (divine weapon) the most, he would be unable to recall its incantation. Radheya pleaded with him and told him he was not a kshatriya (even though he was, he did not know it yet) and this would have been the act of any student towards his guru. After a Parashurama heard his plea Parashurama said his curse was irrevocable, he would gift to him the Vijaya, Parashurama's personal bow, and that in the end, Karna would achieve what he wanted the most, everlasting honor.

Departing from Parashurama's ashram, Karna wandered for some time. Mistaking a cow for a wild animal, he shot an arrow and killed it. Incensed, the brahmin who owned the cow cursed Karna, stating that when Karna would fight the most crucial battle of his life his wheel would get stuck in the mud, rendering him vulnerable to his enemy.

Returning home, Karna informed his family of his training, keeping the curses a secret. He susbequently decided to seek out a position in the Hastinapura court.

Drona held a tournament at Hastinapura, to display the skills of the Kuru princes. Arjuna emerged in this tournament as a particularly gifted archer. Karna arrived at the tournament and after surpassing Arjuna's feats, challenged him to a duel. However, Kripacharya refused Karna his duel, asking first for his clan and kingdom - according to the rules of dueling, only a prince may challenge Arjuna who is a prince of the Kuru house. Duryodhana, the oldest of the Kauravas, offers Karna the throne of Anga (today's Bhagalpur in Bihar), so that Karna would be a king and thus be more than eligible to duel his cousin. When Karna, who is emotionally overcome at this, asks him what he can do to repay him, Duryodhana tells him all he wants is his friendship. "I want your heart" he tells Karna, to which Karna says it is already his.

This event establishes key relationships in the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata, namely, the strong bond between Duryodhana and Karna, the intense rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, and the enmity in general between the Pandavas as a whole and Karna.

Karna is spoken of as a loyal and true friend to Duryodhana. While he was later party to the infamous game of dice to please Duryodhana, he was opposed to it to begin with. Karna disliked Shakuni, and advised Duryodhana continuously to use his prowess and skill to defeat his enemies, rather than deceit and trickery. When the attempt to kill the Pandavas in the house of lac fails, Karna chides Duryodhana in his despondence, telling him the ways of cowards are doomed to failure and exhorting him to be a warrior and obtain what he wants through valour.

As a king, warrior and friend of Duryodhana, Karna became part of the Hastinapura court. He went on to repeat Bheeshma's actions in bringing the princesses of Kashi to Duryodhana as wives, appearing at the Kashi court, seizing the princesses, and challenging the kings and princes to take them from him if they can.

Another instance was when Karna aided Duryodhana in marrying the princess of Chitragandha (not to be confused with Princess Chitrangada of Manipur). In her swayamvar, the princess rejected Duryodhana, who subsequently carried her away by force. The other kings present at the swayamvar pursued Duryodhana. However, Karna defeated them single-handedly. Among the kings present in the princess of Chitragandha's swayamvar were Jarasandha, Shishupala, Dantavakra and Rukmi. As a token of his appreciation, Jarasandha gifted Karna a portion of Magadha.

Karna was renowned in all the worlds for his generosity, surpassing even the Gods. Following his appointment as king, he took an oath : Anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he would worship the Sun, would go away with his request fulfilled. He would never let anyone leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra and Kunti took advantage of it.

Karna was one of the suitor for Draupadi at the famed swayamvar. Unlike other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow. Before he could take aim, however, Draupadi intervened, stating she would not wed a suta.

Karna, furious over the insult, stormed out of the arena. The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as brahmanas. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully tackled the target, winning Draupadi's hand. He also fought a duel subsequently with Karna, who expressed admiration for his skill.

When Arjuna's identity is later revealed, Karna's feelings of rivalry further intensify.

Karna was never happy with Shakuni's plan to defeat the Pandavas by trickery and deceit. He preferred the way of battle and repeatedly cajoled Duryodhana to choose that path. To please Duryodhana, however, he chose to be a part of the game, leading to the disturbing Cheer-haran scene.

After Shakuni had won the game of dice by trickery, the Pandavas' queen Draupadi was dragged into the court by Duhsassana who attempted to strip her, incited by Karna, Duryodhana and his wicked brothers. Karna calls Draupadi a "whore", and goes as far as to say that whores have no rights so it would not be wrong to bring her nude in front of everyone.

On the spot, Bhima vows that he will personally slaughter Duryodhana and his brothers in battle.

During the Pandavas' exile, Karna took upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the World Emperor. Karna commanded an army to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and made them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, the king of Hastinapura or else die in battle. Karna succeeded in all the battles. In this military adventure, Karna is stated to have waged wars and reduced to submission numerous kingdoms including those of the Kambojas, the Shakas, the Kekayas, the Avantyas, the Gandharas, the Madarakas, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the Panchalas, the Videhas, the Suhmas, the Angas, the Vangas, the Nishadas, the Kalingas, the Vatsa, theAshmakas, the Rishikas (i.e south-western Rishikas located in Maharashtra) and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes

Indra, king of the gods (Devas) and father of Arjuna, realized that Karna would be invincible in battle as long as he had the golden armour suit and earrings that he was born with. During the Pandavas' exile, when war was imminent, Indra took it upon himself to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor brahmin during his mid-day worship. He knew of Karna's moral policy and that he would never refuse any request of a Brahmin or beggar at that time of the day. Karna's father, the Sun god Surya, informed Karna in a dream that Indra would disguise himself as a beggar and ask for Karna's armour and earrings as alms. Surya exhorted him not to give away his protection. Karna, who did not know that Surya was his father, does not heed the warning. As Surya had predicted, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna, despite knowing that the armour and earrings were his protection, readily gives them away. In fact, he cuts off his birthsuit armour and earrings from his body without flinching. Indra, shamed into generosity by Karna's gesture, reciprocates by giving Karna the boon to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once.

Kunti, fearing the war, approached Karna and revealed her identity as his mother to him. The two share a touching moment together, when she tells him to throw aside the name 'Radheya' and call himself 'Kaunteya' (Kunti's firstborn) instead, and he replies that that is the day he has wanted all his life. Upon her requesting him to come with her however, a request that Surya himself reinforces from the sky, Karna refuses. He tells Kunti, that, had she been willing to call him Kaunteya many years ago, when he appeared at the tournament, things might have been different, but now it is too late. He owes Duryodhana too much, is Duryodhana's friend first and foremost, and must fight the Pandavas. However, he promises her that he will not kill any of the five, save Arjuna. He and Arjuna have sworn to kill each other, and one of them must die. He tells Kunti she can only dream of six sons. She will always have five sons, either him or Arjuna. He agrees to Kunti that he will use naga-astram only once against Arjuna.

Karna requests his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth heritage a secret until his death. Only then she may reveal to the world that he was actually her first born. It is noteworthy that Karna denies to reveal this secret which makes him, the eldest of the Pandavas, rightful emperor.

Before the start of the war, Bhishma, the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava force, does not pick Karna as one of his key generals and instead assigns him to a less significant position (to curb his undue hatred of the Pandavas). Insulted, Karna rebels against Bhishma, and refuses to fight under Bhishma's authority. He is aghast when Duryodhana does not intervene to reinstate him. Duryodhana, the astute politician that he is, knows fully well the advantage of having Bhishma on his side even though the grand patriarch of all the warriors, undefeated for several generations, has openly declared that the Pandavas are also dear to him and that he would not kill them.

Karna only enters the battlefield on the 11th day, after Bhishma was struck down the previous day. It is also interesting to note that he does not capture any of the Pandavas even though he had defeated them and had the opportunity of doing so.

On the thirteenth day of the battle, Dronacharya (Drona) organized a special formation for the phalanxes called the Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha. (Chakravyuh and Padmavyuha are 2 different military formations. While Chakravyuh denotes a circular arrangement, Padmavyuh means a lotus formation). Only Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandavas' side knew how to break the scheme; however both were purposely taken away from the battle field by two kings on Duryodhana's side. Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son had partial knowledge of the formation having heard it when he was in his mother's womb when Arjuna, his father, was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his mother, Subhadra, but could not hear all the information as his mother fell asleep in Arjuna's lap. Hence he could enter the Chakravyuha, but did not know how to exit it. It was decided that Abhimanyu would lead the Pandavas into the Chakravyuha and then they would fight their way out. No one that day was able to defeat Abhimanyu, who had entered the Chakravyuha a circular arrangement of soldiers. But Jayadratha, a king in the Kaurava army, prevented the other Pandavas from entering the formation. Abhimanyu was left all alone in the middle of the enemy formation. Once inside, he fought valiantly and single handedly defeated almost all reputed generals of the Kauravas including Karna, Drona and Duryodhana. Duryodhana and Karna chose to assist to eliminate Abhimanyu as per the instructions of Drona. Karna shot arrows that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas overwhelmed him. The battle ends with Abhimanyu's death. His father, Arjuna takes up a terrible pledge to kill Jayadratha the next day before the sunset, or he would sacrifice his own life by self-immolation.

On the fourteenth day, the battle uncharacteristically spilled over into the night and Ghatotkacha, the half-asura son of the Pandava Bhima began decimating the Kaurava forces (Asuras became extraordinarily powerful at night). Duryodhana and Karna bravely stood and fought with him. Finally when it semmed that Ghatotkacha would decimate all the Kaurava forces that very night, Duryodhana requested Karna to salvage the situation.Thus,he was forced to use the Shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha. This had been granted to him by Indra as a mark of respect for his peerless generosity. However, Indra allowed Karna to use the weapon only once, after which it would return to Indra. Karna was now without that weapon and his impregnable armour and earrings. Now Karna did not have a divine weapon that was a serious threat to Arjuna and would have to rely primarily on his skills and prowess to take on Arjuna, who was equipped with a wider range of divine weaponry. Still, Karna knew that he must face Arjuna in battle and one of the two would certainly die.

On the fifteenth day of battle, Dronacharya, the guru of the warriors on both sides, is killed by unfair means. Yudishtra, who could not tell a lie, names an elephant ashwathatmma, the son of Drona and kills the elephant. He then announces that Ashwathama, the elephant has been killed, with the word elephant drowned out. Drona is killed in his sorrow and Karna is appointed as the commander-and-chief of the Kaurava forces. In individual confrontations on the battlefield, Karna defeats all the Pandavas, except Arjuna, but chooses to spare their lives, keeping his promise to his mother Kunti.

On the seventeenth day of battle, the much anticipated confrontation between Karna and Arjuna finally takes place. They were evenly matched during the spectacular combat. Karna had been gifted a bow by Parashurama called Vijaya(pinakin), one designed by Vishwakarma himself. At Duryodhana's request, Shalya, who was a maternal uncle to Pandavas, reluctantly agreed to drive Karna's chariot, hence he had a charioteer to equal Krishna (Shalya had mastered the Ashwahridaya - "Art of Horses")

Without the Shakti weapon, Karna had no particular way to kill Arjuna. He had to rely upon his own garnered skill. In a wondrous, intense display of amazing archery, valour and courage, Karna and Arjuna engaged and exhausted all their brilliance, knowledge and passion. Karna devised an intelligent strategy based upon his personal prowess. He stunned Arjuna with a powerful volley of arrows that struck his chest. And the instant in which Arjuna was dazzled, Karna let loose another powerful volley intended at killing his powerful foe. King Shalya of Madra, Karna's charioteer (Shalya, who was the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva, had been tricked into fighting on the Kaurava side, but had promised Yudhisthira that he would not allow Karna to kill Arjuna), told Karna to play safe by aiming the {naga-astram} arrow at Arjuna's chest. However, Karna refused to heed that advice and aimed the arrow at Arjuna's head. But Lord Krishna came to his friend and devotee's rescue, plunging the chariot into the earth by his power, causing the fatal arrow to miss Arjuna by a few miserable inches and strike Arjuna's crown instead.

During the course of combat, one of the Karna's chariot wheels got stuck in loose soil, apparently because of a curse put on Karna by a Brahmin whose cow Karna had mistakenly killed. King Shalya, who was his charioteer, refused to get down and remove the wheel from the mud . Hence Karna asked Arjuna to disengage in combat, while he got off his chariot and removed the wheel from the mud. Arjuna agreed. But Krishna recalled Karna's previous lapses in honourable conduct and ordered Arjuna to shoot at Karna while he was attempting to lift his wheel out of the mud. The chariot wheel remained stuck and the curse of Parashurama ensured that Karna could not recall the mantras necessary to unleash the more powerful weapons of mass destruction - The Brahmastra. Krishna reminds Arjuna of Karna's ruthlessness against Abhimanyu when Abhimanyu was similarly left without a chariot or weapons.

All of Arjuna's tears, pain and anger swelled up within him as he aimed the fatal shaft Anjalika at a desperate Karna and beheaded him.

After Karna's death, Kunti informed the Pandavas that she was Karna's mother and that he was the eldest of the Pandavas. The Pandavas grieved for Karna. Yudhisthira, particularly, was incensed on hearing that his mother had kept secret from him and his brothers Karna's true identity, whom it would have been their duty in life to serve and revere as their elder, as his four brothers had served and revered him. He cursed all women, stating that henceforth they would never be able to keep a secret.

Karna remains a tragic figure for millions of Hindus and Indians to this day. He remains a brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his whole life, and died with terrific courage, valor and honor, to rise to immortality in fame. He is especially famous for his generosity. He is also an example of misjudgement and how that renders all the fine qualities of an individual futile.

The city of Karnal in Haryana, near Kurukshetra, is named after Karna.

Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards the evil Duryodhana. Karna's blind affection for Duryodhana led him to, albeit unwillingly, assist his dear friend in all his immoral and unjust actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malicious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall for assisting the evil against the good. The blemish to his name is his treatment of Draupadi, and his role in the killing of the unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu.

JARASANDHA

2009-08-18T20:51:00.001+05:30

Jarasandha, the king of Magadha, is a character of the epic Mahabharata. He was the son of Brihadratha, Vedic king.

Brihadratha was the king of Magadha. His wives were the twin princesses of Kashi. While he led a content life and was a famed king, he was unable to sire children. Frustrated over his inability, he retreated to the forest, eventually serving a rishi by the name of Chandakaushika. The rishi took pity upon him and on finding the cause of his sorrow, gave him a fruit that he blessed with fertility, instructing him to give it to his wife (The sage did not know that he had two). Not wishing to displease either wife, Brihadratha cut the fruit in half and gave it to both. Shortly after, each wife brought forth half a child. The two lifeless halves were viewed with horror, and Brihadratha ordered they be cast outside his city. A witch / man-eating demoness (Rakshasi) named Jara picked them up and put them together to carry them off. On their coming in contact a boy was formed, who cried out aloud. Not having the heart to kill a living child, the demoness gave it up to the king, explaining what had happened. The father gave the boy the name Jarasandha after the witch, because he had been put together by Jara.

Chandakaushika arrived at the court, and seeing the child, prophesied to Brihadratha that his son would be specially gifted, and would be renowned as a devotee of Lord Shiva.

Jarasandha became a famed and powerful king, extending his empire far and wide. He prevailed over many kings, and was crowned emperor of Magadha. Even while Jarasandh's power continued to grow, he had concerns about his future, as he had no heirs. Therefore, upon the advise of his close friend, King Banasur, Jarasandh decided to get his two daughters, Asti and Prapti married to the Crown-Prince of Mathura, Kansa. Jarasandh also lent his army and his personal advise to Kans for creating a coup in Mathura.

Eventually, after Kansa was killed by Lord Krishna, Jarasandh developed intense hatred for him and was determined to defeat and kill him. Seeing the pitiful situations of his widowed daughters, Jarasandh vowed to attack Mathura and take over the Kingdom. However, his efforts failed in response to the recently enthroned King Ugrasena, his supporters Vasudeva, the chief military strategist Akroor and the power of Lord Krishna and Balarama.

Even though his efforts failed repeatedly, Jarasandh attacked Mathura for a total of 18 times; after his last attack, Krishna convinced King Ugrasena and his father, Crown-Prince Vasudeva to rescind the land and establish a new Kingdom at Dwaraka, due to strategic reasons.

Jarasandha had many kings in captivity, and when Krishna returned from Dwaranka, he, with Bhima and Arjuna, went to Jarasandha's capital for the purpose of slaying their enemy (as Jarasandha was perceived to be a king who would not consent to Yudhisthira becoming the Emperor by performing the Rajasuya yagna) and liberating the kings. They went in disguise of three Brahmins and told Jarasandha to choose one of them to fight with. Jarasandha chose Bheema. Jarasandha refused to release the kings, and accepted the alternative of a combat, in which he was killed by Bhima. The fight lasted long, for 27 days. Finally, on Krishna's suggestion (which was unlawful considering the laws prevalent in those days pertaining to single combat), Bhima tore apart Jarasandha in two pieces lengthwise and threw away the pieces in opposite directions.

After his death, all the imprisoned Kings were released and Lord Krishna installed his more virtuous son to succeed his throne, making him the ally of Indraprastha.

JANAMEJAYA

2009-08-18T20:50:00.001+05:30

Emperor Janamejaya was the son of Maharaja Parikshit and great-grandson of Arjuna the valiant warrior hero of the Mahabharata epic. He took up the Kuru throne following the death of father. His significance comes as the listener of the first narration of the Mahabharata, narrated by Vaishampayana, student of Vyasa.

Emperor Janamejaya was responsible for the retelling of the famous epic Mahabharata a story of Janamejaya's ancestors from the time of Bharata up to the great Kurukshetra war between his great grandfathers the Pandavas and their paternal cousins the Kauravas. This was recited to him by the sage Vaishampayana after he asked the sage about his ancestors.

Emperor Janamejaya ascended to the throne of Hastinapura upon the death of his father Parikshita. According to legend, Parikshita, the lone descendant of the House of Pandu, had died of snakebite. He had been cursed by a sage to die so, the curse having been consummated by the serpent-chieftain Takshak.

Janamejaya bore a deep grudge against the serpents for this act, and thus decided to wipe them out altogether. He attempted this by performing a great Sarpa satra - a sacrifice that would destroy all living serpents.

Just as he was about to begin the sacrifice, the rishi Vyasa arrived with a host of rishis. The sages told Janamejaya that to avenge himself on all Nagas, for the action of one, who was after all consummating a curse, would be unrighteous, and not worthy of one descended from the Pandavas themselves. Janamejaya desists from completing the sacrifice. Upon Janamejaya's expressed curiosity as to the lives and actions of his forefathers, Vyasa's disciple Vaishampayana then narrates the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata, at the spot where the homa was to have to have been held.

The mass sacrifice was started on the banks of the river Arind at Bardan, now Known as Parham, a corrupt form of Parikshitgarh, A masonry tank said to have been built by Emperor Janamejaya to mark the site of the sacrificial pit, known as Parikshit kund, still exists in Mainpuri district. Close to this village a very large and high khera containing the ruins of a fort and some stone sculptures has been found . It is said to date back to the time of Emperor Parikshita. A popular local legend is that as a consequence of the virtues of that sacrifice snakes are still harmless in this place and its neighborhood.

The day of the homa is today revered by Hindus as the Nag Panchami ritual.

IRAVAN

2009-08-18T20:49:00.001+05:30

Iravat or Iravan, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was the son of Pandava prince Arjuna and Naga princess Ulupi. He fought on the side of the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war and was killed by the Rakshasa Alumvusha on the eighth day of the war.

HIDIMBI

2009-08-18T20:47:00.000+05:30

Hidimbi, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is a Rakshasi. She met Bhima while he was travelling in the forest with his Pandava brothers and mother Kunti. After fleeing a burning palace at Varanavat, which was set up by their cousin Duryodhana to burn them alive; the Pandavas were wandering in the deep woods at night. Hidimbi's brother, Hidimba, an alleged cannibal, had sent her to bring him manflesh, but when she saw the handsome prince Bhima sitting in the glade she fell in love with him and could not bring herself to kill him. She transformed into a tall, dark-skinned and immensely beautiful woman dressed in ornaments and garlands and approached him. When Hidimbi was late, Hidimba came to kill Bhima himself. He tried to attack Hidimbi but she was protected by Bhima, who killed Hidimba after a good fight. Hidimbi then asked Bhima to marry her, at which he was reluctant initially but finally ensued after being repeatedly insisted. He agreed to spend the time from dawn to dusk with her on the condition that during the dark hours he would remain with his brothers, and this would continue till they had a son. She eventually bore Bhima a son, Ghatotkacha. When the Pandavas left the forest, Bhima had to leave her as they were on a war campaign. It isn't clear whether they ever met again.

It is suggested by the similarity of their names that Hidimba and Hidimbi were twins.

It may be noted here that in certain parts of Himachal Pradesh Hidimbi (or Hidimbaa) is worshipped as a goddess. There's a temple dedicated to her in Manali.

GHATOTKACHA

2009-08-18T20:46:00.000+05:30

Ghatotkacha (Sanskrit à¤˜à¤Ÿà¥‹à¤¤à¥�à¤•à¤š), as per the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata epic, was the son of Bhima and Hidimbi (Hidimbaa, classically). His maternal parentage made him half-Rakshasa, and gave him many magical powers that made him an important fighter in the Kurukshetra war, the climax of the epic. He got his name from his head, which was shaped like a pot (in Sanskrit, Ghatam means pot and "Utkach" means head.

Ghatotkacha, when he was young, lived with his mother Hidimbaa, when one day he had a fight with Abhimanyu, his cousin, without knowing that Abhimanyu was Arjuna's son.[2] The telugu movie Mayabazar is based upon this fight and Ghatotkacha's subsequent help to Abhimanyu in winning the hand of Balarama's daughter, Sasirekha.

Ghatotkacha is considered to be a loyal and humble figure. He made himself and his followers available to his father Bhima at any time; all Bhima had to do was to think of him and he would appear. Like his father, Ghatotkacha primarily fought with the mace.

His wife was Ahilawati and his son was Barbarika.

In the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata, Ghatotkacha was summoned by Bhima to fight on the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra battle. Invoking his magical powers, he wrought great havoc in the Kaurava army. In particular after the death of Jayadratha, when the battle continued on past sunset, his powers were at their most effective (at night).

At this point in the battle, the Kaurava leader Duryodhana appealed to his best fighter, Karna, to kill Ghatotkacha as the whole Kaurava army was coming close to annihilation due to his ceaseless strikes from the air. Karna possessed a divine weapon, or shakti, granted by the god Indra. It could be used only once, and Karna had been saving it to use on his arch-enemy, the best Pandava fighter, Arjuna.

Loyal Karna, unable to refuse the request of Duryodhana whose cause he had pledged himself to serve, hurled the missile at Ghatotkacha, killing him. This is considered to be the turning point of the war. After his death, the Pandava counselor Krishna smiled, as he considered the war to have been won for the Pandavas now that Karna no longer had a divine weapon to use in fighting Arjuna.

GANDHARI

2009-08-18T20:44:00.000+05:30

GandharÄ« is a character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In the epic, she was the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, a region spanning northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, from which her name is derived. Gandhari's marriage was arranged to Dhritarashtra, the eldest prince of the Kuru kingdom.

Gandhari voluntarily blindfolded herself throughout her married life. Her husband Dhritarashtra was born blind, and on meeting him and realizing this, she decided to deny herself the pleasure of sight that her husband could never relish.

Gandhari bore a hundred sons, (collectively known as the Kauravas), and one daughter Dushala who married Jayadratha. The Kaurava, principally Duryodhana and Dushasana, were the villains of the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata, and were all killed in their war against their cousins, the Pandava, at Kurukshetra.

Although Gandhari's sons were portrayed as villains, the MahÄ�bhÄ�rata attributes high moral standards to Gandhari. She repeatedly exhorted her sons to follow dharma and make peace with the Pandavas. Gandhari was especially close to Kunti who respected her like an elder sister.

Gandhari made a single exception to her blindfolded state, when she removed her blindfold to see Duryodhana rendering his entire body except his loins invulnerable to any foe. This was however to prove fruitless as Bhima smashed Duryodhana's thighs in their decisive encounter on the eighteenth day of the Kurukshetra battle, a move both literally and figuratively below the belt.

Gandhari was also devout; in particular an ardent worshipper of Lord Shiva. Gandhari's sacrifice of her eyesight and her austere life was to grant her great spiritual power. Gandhari's anguish in the loss of her hundred sons resulted in her cursing Krishna in effect ensuring the destruction of the Yadavas. It is also said that through a small gap in the napkin in which her eyes were blindfolded, her gaze fell on Yudhisthira's toe. The toe was charred black due to her wrath and power. Gandhari ended her life with her husband and her sister-in-law Kunti in the Himalayas, where they died in a forest fire.

Ekalavya

2009-08-11T12:50:00.002+05:30

In the epic Mahabharata, Ekalavya is a young prince of the Nishadha tribes, and a member of a low caste, who nevertheless aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharya. After being rejected by Drona, Ekalavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay image of Drona. He achieves a level of skill equal to that of Arjuna, Drona's favorite and most accomplished pupil. Fearful that Ekalavya will excel him, Arjuna begs Drona to take action. Drona goes to Ekalavya and demands that Ekalavya turn over his right thumb as a teacher's fee. The loyal Ekalavya cripples himself, and thereby ruins his prospects as an archer, by severing his thumb and giving it to Drona.
In the Mahabharatha, Ekalavya is introduced as a young prince of the lowly Nishadha tribes. Ekalavya was born to Devashrava (brother of Vasudeva, who was father of Krishna) and was raised by Hiranyadhanus, the leader (King) of the Nishadhas, who was a commander in the army of Jarasandha (the king of Magadha).
Desirous of learning advanced skills of archery, he seeks the tutelage of Drona, the legendary weaponsmaster of and instructor of Arjuna and his brothers. Drona, however, rejects Ekalavya on account of the prince's humble origins.
Ekalavya is undeterred and goes off into the forest where he fashions a clay image of Drona. Worshipping the statue as his preceptor, he begins a disciplined program of self-study. As a result, Ekalavya becomes an archer of exceptional prowess, superior even to Drona's best pupil, Arjuna. One day while Ekalavya is practicing, he hears a dog barking. Before the dog can shut up or get out of the way, Ekalavya fires seven arrows in rapid succession to fill the dog's mouth without injuring it. The Pandava princes come upon the "stuffed" dog, and wonder who could have pulled off such a feat of archery. Searching the forest, they find a dark-skinned man dressed all in black, his body besmeared with filth and his hair in matted locks. It is Ekalavya, who introduces himself to them as a pupil of Drona.
Arjuna fears that Ekalavya may have eclipsed him in skill with the bow. As a result, Arjuna complains to his teacher Drona, reminding Drona of his promise that he would allow no other pupil to be the equal of Arjuna. Drona acknowledges Arjuna's claim, and goes with the princes to seek out Ekalavya. He finds Ekalavya, as always, diligently practicing archery. Seeing Drona, Ekalavya prostrates himself and clasps the teacher's hands, awaiting his order.
Drona asks Ekalavya for a dakshina or deed of gratitude that a student owes his teacher upon the completion of his training. Ekalavya replies that there is nothing he would not give his teacher. Drona cruelly asks for Ekalavya's right thumb, knowing that its loss will hamper Ekalavya's ability to pursue archery. Ekalavya, however, cheerfully and without hesitation severs his thumb and hands it to Drona. For his part, Arjuna is relieved to find that the crippled Ekalavya can no longer shoot with his former skill and facility.
Later, Ekalavya worked as a confidant of King Jarasandh. At the time of Rukmini's Swayamvar, he acted as the messenger between Shishupala and Rukmini's father Bhishmaka, at Jarasandh's behest. Bhishmaka decides that Rukmini should marry Shishupala, but instead Rukmini elopes with Krishna. Ekalavya is later killed by Krishna, who hurls a rock against him, in a conflict against Jarasandh's army.

Dushasana

2009-08-11T12:50:00.001+05:30

Dushasana was the second son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Gandhari in the epic Mahabharata, and the younger brother of Duryodhana.
When Dhritarashtra's queen Gandhari's pregnancy continues for an unusually long period of time, she beats her womb in frustration and envy of Kunti, the queen of Pandu, who had given birth to three of the five Pandavas. Due to her actions, a hardened mass of grey-colored flesh emerges from her womb. Gandhari is devastated, and worships Vyasa, the great sage who had blessed her with one hundred sons, to redeem his words.
Vyasa divides the flesh ball into one hundred equal pieces, and puts them in pots of ghee, which are sealed and buried into the earth for one year. At the end of the year, the first pot is opened, and Duryodhana emerges. The next one to emerge is Dushasana. Dushasana is devoted to his older brother Duryodhana, and is also closely involved in the various schemes and plots to kill the Pandavas.
After Yudhisthira loses his kingdom, his brothers and his wife Draupadi in a game of dice with Shakuni, Dushasana dragged Draupadi down in the assembly at the behest of his brother Duryodhana, and tried to disrobe her. Draupadi prayed to Krishna and he made her sari to be of infinite length, so Dushasana could not take it off. However, the princess was humiliated as she was dragged into court by her hair. Because of this humiliation, Draupadi vows that she will not tie her hair until she washes it with the blood of dead Dushasana.
Bhima also pledges to tear open Dushasana's chest and drink his blood.
In the Kurukshetra War, Bhima kills Dushasana, tears his arm out of his body and drinks his blood, as pledged and helps Draupadi redeem her vow while redeeming his own. Dushasana's death greatly agitated Karna and Duryodhana, and demoralized the Kaurava Army watching Bhima in his ecstasy of wrath

Duryodhana

2009-08-11T12:49:00.000+05:30

In the Hindu epic the MahÄbhÄrata, Duryodhana (à¤¦à¥à¤°à¥à¤¯à¥‹à¤§à¤¨) is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, and the chief antagonist of the Pandavas. He was an avatar of the demon Kali who had bewitched the soul of Nala, forcing him to gamble away his kingdom.
When Dhritarashtra's queen Gandhari's pregnancy continued for an unusually long period of time, she beat her womb in frustration, at the envy of Kunti, the queen of Pandu who had given birth to Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava. Due to actions of Gandhari, a hardened mass of grey-colored flesh produced from her womb. Gandhari was very shocked and upset.She worshiped Vyasa,the great sage who had blessed her with one hundred sons,to redeem his words.
Vyasa divides the flesh ball into one hundred equal pieces, and puts them in pots of ghee, which are sealed and buried into the earth for one year. At the end of the year, the first pot is opened, and Duryodhana emerges.
Literally, Duryodhana means "hard to conquer". His chariot bore a flag depicting a hooded cobra.
Dark omens surround his emergence from the pot, which are construed by royal brahmins to be the warning signs of a great disaster. Dhritarashtra's half-brother Vidura tells him that when such omens surround the birth of a child, it signals the violent end of that dynasty. Both Vidura and Bhishma counsel the king to abandon the child, but Dhritarashtra is unable to do so out of love and emotional attachment to his first-born.
Duryodhana's body is said to be made out of thunder, and he is extremely powerful. He is revered by his younger brothers, especially Dushasana. Learning martial skills from his gurus, Kripa, Drona and Balarama, he was extremely powerful with the mace weapon, and the equal of Bhima, the powerful Pandava in its use
At the martial exhibition where the Kaurava and Pandava princes demonstrate their skills before their elders, their guru Drona and the people of the kingdom, a great and effulgent warrior, Karna appears and challenges Arjuna, who is considered by Drona to be the best of the warrior princes. But Karna is humiliated when Kripa asks him to ascertain his caste, as it would be inappropriate for unequals to compete.
Duryodhana immediately defends Karna, and makes him king of Anga so that he is regarded as Arjuna's equal. Karna pledges his allegiance and friendship to Duryodhana, as Duryodhana had rescued him from the source of continuing humiliation and hardship for him. Neither of them know that Karna is in fact Kunti's eldest son born to Surya.
A very intense bond of friendship develops between the two, and Duryodhana becomes very close to Karna. It is held that if there was one good quality in Duryodhana, it was his deep affection for his friend Karna.
In the Kurukshetra War, Karna is Duryodhana's greatest hope for victory. He earnestly believes that Karna is superior to Arjuna, and will inevitably destroy him and his four brothers. While devoted to Duryodhana, Karna knows that even though his skills are as good as, if not better than Arjuna's, he is incapable of killing Arjuna as he is protected by Lord Krishna. When Karna is killed, Duryodhana mourns his death intensely.
Although loved by all his family, Duryodhana and most of his brothers are seen as inferior to the Pandavas in their adherence to virtue and duty, and respect of elders. Duryodhana is mentored by his maternal uncle Shakuni, who desires the elevation of his sister's children at the expense of the Pandavas. Shakuni masterminds most of Duryodhana's plots to humiliate and kill the Pandavas.
Duryodhana is especially jealous of the Pandavas, knowing that Yudhisthira is his rival to the throne of Hastinapura. He also bore a deep hatred of Bhima, who dominates the Kauravas in sport and skill, with his immense physical power and strength.
Duryodhana attempts to murder Bhima by feeding him a poisoned feast, but Bhima survives due to his immense physical capacity and blessings from celestial Nagas. Duryodhana then plots with his evil counselor Purochana to set ablaze a house where the Pandavas were staying. Purochana is himself killed in the fire, but the Pandavas manage to escape.
When the princes come of age, Yudhisthira is given half the kingdom and made king of Indraprastha, so as to avoid a clash with the Kaurava princes over the whole Kuru kingdom. Duryodhana becomes the prince regent of Hastinapura, and owing to the age and blindness of his father, he accumulates much control and influence, managing the state affairs himself with a coterie of his advisors that include his uncle Shakuni, brother Dushasana and friend Karna.
But Duryodhana remains jealous of Yudhisthira, owing to Indraprastha's prosperity and fame exceeding Hastinapura's. When Yudhisthira performs the Rajasuya sacrifice that makes him emperor of the World, Duryodhana is unable to contain his anger, which is intensified when Yudhisthira's queen Draupadi makes fun of him when he slips into a pool of water in the court.
Knowing that the Kauravas cannot rival the Pandavas in martial power, Shakuni devises a scheme to rob Yudhisthira of his kingdom and wealth by defeating him in a game of dice, which Shakuni is an expert at and Yudhisthira a complete novice. Unable to resist the challenge, Yudhisthira gambles away his entire kingdom, his wealth, his four brothers and even his wife, in a series of gambits to retrieve one by staking another.
The first time, the king Dhritarashtra and Vidura make Duryodhana re-establish Yudhisthira. But when the plot is repeated, Shakuni sets the condition that Yudhisthira and his brothers must spend thirteen years in exile in the forest before they may receive their kingdom back. The thirteenth year must be passed incognito, or else they would be condemned to repeat the term of exile.
Duryodhana encourages his brother Dushasana to drag Draupadi into the court and strip her clothes, as she is now his property as Yudhisthira had gambled everything away to him. Dushasana attempts to strip Draupadi, who is mystically rescued by Krishna, who gives her an inexhaustible supply of sari.
Nevertheless, due to this action Bhima swears that at the end of the exile, he would break Duryodhana's thigh (as Duryodhana asked Draupadi to sit on his thigh).
During the exile, Duryodhana attempts to humiliate Yudhisthira by flashing his wealth and prowess in their forest of exile. He is however caught in a conflict with the Gandharva king Chitrasena, who captures him. Yudhisthira asks Arjuna and Bhima to rescue Duryodhana, who is humiliated. Setting his mind to die, Duryodhana pledges to fast unto death.
During his fast, Duryodhana is mystically taken to a gathering of powerful Daitya and Danava beings, who inform him that he was born as a result of their tapasya, and his mission was to destroy the purpose of the Devas and Krishna upon earth. The demonic beings assure him that powerful demons had been incarnated as his allies, making his defeat impossible. Encouraged, Duryodhana returns to Hastinapura.
Karna now embarks upon a worldwide military campaign to subjugate kings and impose Duryodhana's imperial authority over them. Bringing tribute and allegiance from all the world's kings, Karna helps Duryodhana perform the Vaishnava sacrifice to please Vishnu, and crowns himself World emperor, as Yudhisthira did with the Rajasuya.
At the end of the exile term, Duryodhana refuses to return Yudhisthira's kingdom, despite the counsel of Bhishma, Drona, Vidura and even Krishna, whom he attempted to kidnap. Although Dhritarashtra criticizes his son, he tacitly desires that Duryodhana, and not Yudhishitra remain Emperor.
Making war inevitable, Duryodhana gathers support from powerful kings and armies. The most legendary warriors - Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwathama, Shalya, even though most of them were critical of him - are forced to fight for Duryodhana. He ends up amassing a larger army than his rivals.
In the war, Duryodhana repeatedly eggs on the invincible Bhishma and Drona to forward his cause, even though his main hope is Karna. He asks Drona to capture Yudhisthira alive, so that he may blackmail the Pandavas into surrender, or force Yudhisthira to gamble again. He also participates in the brutal and unethical murder of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.
But he is repeatedly frustrated when the Pandavas succeed in downing the two Kuru legends, and is emotionally distraught when Arjuna slays over one million Kuru soldiers in one day and kills Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu over the killing of Abhimanyu. And all along, Bhima is steadily slaying his brothers, increasing his misery and bringing him closer to defeat.
Duryodhana's hopes are finally shattered when Karna is killed by Arjuna after an intense and legendary battle. After making some final desperate efforts, he flees the battlefield and hides in a lake, within which he survives by his mystic powers of yoga. He re-emerges after Ashwathama and Kripa encourage him to face his destiny with courage.
Queen Gandhari is distraught when she hears that all her sons save Duryodhana have been slain. Despite knowing that Duryodhana was wicked and his cause unrighteous, she decides to help him win. Asking him to bathe and enter her tent naked, she prepares to use the great mystic power of her eyes, blind-folded for many years out of respect for her blind husband, to make his body invincible to all attack in every portion.
But when Krishna, who is returning after paying the queen a visit, runs into a naked Duryodhana coming to the tent, he mockingly admonishes him for his intent to appear so before his own mother. Knowing of Gandhari's intentions, Krishna criticizes Duryodhana, who sheepishly covers his groin before entering the tent.
When Gandhari's eyes fall upon Duryodhana, they mystically make each part of his body invincible. She is shocked to see that Duryodhana had covered his groin, which were thus not protected by her mystic power.
When he faces the Pandava brothers and Krishna alone, Yudhisthira offers him the option of fighting any of the Pandava one-on-one. If he defeated that Pandava, Yudhisthira would hand the kingdom to Duryodhana, despite having won the wider war.
Out of pride, Duryodhana picks his archnemesis Bhima instead of any of the other Pandava brothers who would have been overwhelmed by his skill at fighting with the mace. Both possessed exceptional physical strength and had trained under Balarama in mace fighting and wrestling to the same level of prowess. After a long and brutal battle stretching many days, Duryodhana begins to exhaust Bhima.
At this point, Krishna, who is observing the fight, motions to Bhima, reminding him of his oath to crush Duryodhana's thigh. Bhima viciously attacks Duryodhana with a mace and strikes at his thigh which is not protected by Gandhari's blessing, and Duryodhana finally falls, mortally wounded.
Although Duryodhana bemoans that he was slain by unfair means, given that it was illegal to attack below the waist according to the rules of mace-fighting, Krishna points out to the dying prince that his humiliation of Draupadi, murder plots and cheating of the Pandavas and the killing of Abhimanyu did not comply with dharma or the norms of battle either. It was useless thus, for Duryodhana to hope that religious values would protect him, when he had honored them not once in his whole life.
Duryodhana dies slowly, and is cremated by the Pandavas. When Yudhisthira himself ascends to Swarga, he sees Duryodhana there upon a throne. He is angry that Duryodhana is enjoying a place in heaven despite his sins, but Indra explains to him that he had served his time in hell, and had also been a good and powerful king.

Duhsala

2009-08-11T12:48:00.000+05:30

Duhsala was the sister of Duryodhana in the Indian epic Mahabharata. She was married to Jayadratha the king of Sindhu and Sauvira. Jayadratha was slain by Arjuna in the Kurukshetra War. Dussala had a son named Suratha. Her grandson battled with Arjuna, when he came to the country of Sindhus after the Kurukshetra War, to collect tribute for Yudhisthira's Aswamedha sacrifice. Arjuna considered Duryodhana's sister as his own sister. Due to love for his sister Arjuna spared life to Suratha's son and left the country of Sindhus.

Drona

2009-08-11T12:46:00.000+05:30

In the epic Mahabharata, Drona or Dronacharya is the royal guru to the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He was a master of advanced military arts, including the devastras. Arjuna was his favorite student. Drona's love for Arjuna was only second to his love for his son Ashwathama.
Drona was born a brahmin, son of Bharadwaja, in modern day Dehradun (a modification of dehra-dron, a clay pot), which implies that he was not gestated in a womb, but outside the human body in a Droon (vessel).
The story of Drona's birth is recounted dramatically in MahÄbhÄrata, Book I: Adi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Section Bharadwaja went with his companions to the Ganges to perform his ablutions. There he beheld a beautiful apsara named Ghritachi who had come to bathe. The sage was overcome by desire, causing him to ejaculate and captured the fluid in a vessel called a drona, and Drona himself sprang from the fluid thus preserved. Drona would later boast that he had sprung from Bharadwaja without ever having been in a womb.
Drona spent his youth in poverty, but studied religion and military arts together with the then prince of Panchala, Drupada. Drupada and Drona became close friends and Drupada, in his childish playfullness, promised to give Drona half his kingdom on ascending the throne of Panchala.
Drona married Kripi, the sister of Kripa, the royal teacher of the princes of Hastinapura. Kripi and Drona had Ashwathama as son.
Learning that Parasurama was giving away his fruits of penance to brahmanas, Drona approached him. Unfortunately by the time Drona arrived, Parasurama had given away all his belongings to other brahmanas. Taking pity upon the plight of Drona, Parasurama decided to impart his knowledge of combat to Drona.
For the sake of his wife and son, Drona desired freedom from poverty. Remembering the promise given by Drupada, he decided to approach him to ask for help. However, drunk with power, King Drupada refused to even recognise Drona and humiliated him by calling him an inferior person.
In the Mahabaratha, Drupada gives Drona a long and haughty explanation of why he is rejecting him. Friendship, says Drupada, is possible only between persons of equal station in life. As a child, he says, it was possible for him to be friends with Drona, because at that time they were equals. But now Drupada had become a king, while Drona remained a luckless indigent. Under these circumstances, friendship was impossible. However, he said he would satisfy Drona if he begged for alms befitting a Brahmin rather than claiming his right as a friend. Drupada advised Drona to think no more of the matter, and to be on his way. Drona went away silently, but in his heart he vowed revenge.
Dronacharya's legend as a great teacher and warrior exceeds Hindu mythology by strongly influencing Indian social traditions. Drona inspires great debates about morality and dharma in the MahÄbhÄrata epic.
Drona went to Hastinapura, hoping to open a school of military arts for young princes with the help of the king Dhritarashtra. One day, he saw a number of young boys, the Kauravas and Pandavas gathered around a well. He asked them what the matter was, and Yudhisthira, the eldest, replied that their ball had fallen into the well and they did not know how to retrieve it.
Drona laughed, and mildly rebuked the princes for being helpless over such a plain problem. Yudhisthira replied that if he, the brahmin, could retrieve their ball, the king of Hastinapura would provide all the basic necessities to him for life. Drona first threw in a ring of his, collected some grass blades, and uttered mystical Vedic chants. He then threw the blades into the well one after another, like spears. The first blade stuck to the ball, and the second stuck to the first, and so on, forming a chain. Drona gently pulled the ball out with this rope of grass.
In a feat that was even more amazing to the boys, Drona then chanted Vedic mantras again and fired a grass blade into the well. It struck within the center of his floating ring and rose out of the well in a matter of moments, retrieving Drona's ring. Excited, the boys took Drona to the city and reported this incident to Bhishma, their grandfather.
Bhishma instantly realized that this was Drona, and his prowess exemplified, asked him to become the Guru of the Kuru princes, training them in advanced military arts. Drona then established a school near the city, where princes from numerous kingdoms around the country came to study under him.
Of all the Kaurava and Pandava brothers training under Drona, Arjuna emerges as the most dedicated, hard-working and most naturally talented of them all, exceeding Drona's son Ashwathama as well. Arjuna assiduously serves his teacher, who is greatly impressed by his devoted pupil.
Arjuna surpasses Drona's expectations in numerous challenges. When Drona tests the princes' alertness and ability by creating an illusion of a crocodile attacking him and dragging him away, most of the princes are left dumbfounded. But Arjuna swiftly fires arrows that slay the illusionary animal, and Drona congratulates Arjuna for passing this test. As a reward, Drona gifts Arjuna the super-powerful divine weapon of Brahma known as BRAHMASIRIVAS.However, he tells Arjuna not to use this irresistible weapon against any ordinary warrior. This weapon had a sharp edge surrounded below by 3 heads of Lord Brahma. In another challenge, Drona gives each prince a pot to fill with water and swiftly return. Whoever returns fastest would receive instruction in some extra special knowledge. He gives his son Ashwathama a wide-necked pot unlike the other's narrow-necked ones, hoping he will be the first to return. But Arjuna uses his knowledge of a mystical water weapon to fill his pot swiftly and returns first.
In a great challenge, Drona sets up a wooden bird upon a tree, and from across the adjacent river, asks the princes to shoot it down by striking its eye. When prince Yudhisthira tries first, Drona asks him what he saw. Yudhisthira replies he saw Drona, his brothers, the river, the forest, the tree and the bird. Drona replies that Yudhisthira would fail and asks another prince to step forward. The others give the same reply, and Drona is disappointed with all. But when Arjuna steps forth, he tells Drona that he sees only the eye of the bird and nothing else. When Drona excitedly asks him to continue, Arjuna replies that he saw only the bird's eye. Drona asks him to shoot, and Arjuna strikes the bird down in the eye.
Drona had advised the chefs of the palace not to serve food to Arjuna in the dark. However, one night, it so happened that Arjuna was served food in the dark. He subtely observed that he was able to eat food in dark. By practice, hands would reach one's mouth even in darkness. This striked Arjuna to practice archery in darkness. He begins training by night to use his weapons in absolute darkness, and steadily achieves a great level of skill.
Drona is greatly impressed by Arjuna's concentration, determination and drive, and promises him that he will become the most powerful warrior on earth. Drona gives Arjuna special knowledge of the devastras that no other prince possesses.
Ekalavya is a young prince of the Nishadha tribes, who comes to Drona for instruction. Drona rejects him on account of him not belonging to the Kshatriya varna (caste). Ekalavya is undeterred, and entering a forest, begins study and practice by himself, having fashioned a clay image of Drona and worshipping him. Solely by his determination, Ekalavya becomes a warrior of exceptional prowess, at par with the young Arjuna. One day, a dog barks while he is focused upon practice, and without looking, the prince fires arrows that seal up the dog's mouth while not causing any harm. The Pandava princes see this dog running, and wonder who could have done such a feat. They see Ekalavya, who announces himself as a pupil of Drona.
Arjuna is worried that his position as the best warrior in the world might by usurped. Drona sees his worry, and visits Ekalavya with the princes. Ekalavya promptly worships Drona. Drona is angered by Ekalavya's unscrupulous behavior, claiming to be Drona's student despite his rejection. He is also worried that if Ekalavya maintained this level of skill, he would one day become warrior par-excellence than himself. The more important and personal reason seems to have been his partiality towards Arjuna. Drona asks Ekalavya for a dakshina, or a deed of thanks a student must give to his teacher upon the completion of his training. Drona asks for Ekalavya's right thumb, which Ekalavya unhesitatingly cuts off and hands to Drona, despite knowing that this would irreparably hamper his archery skills.
Drona similarly rejects Karna, as he does not belong to the kshatriya caste. Humiliated, Karna vows to exact revenge. He obtains the knowledge of weapons and military arts from Parasurama, by appearing as a brahmin, and challenges Arjuna in the martial exhibition. Thus, Drona inadvertently laid the foundation for the Karna's great rivalry with Arjuna.
On completing their training, Drona asked the Kauravas to bring Drupada bound in chains. Duryodhana appoints Vikarna, the best warrior among the Kauravas, as the army commander. Then he, Dushasana, Sudarshana, Yuyutsu, Vikarna and the remaining Kauravas attack Panchala with the Hastinapur army. They fail to defeat the Panchala army, whereupon Drona sent Arjuna and his brothers for the task. The 5 Pandavas attacked Panchala without an army. Arjuna captures Drupada as ordered. Drona takes half of Drupada's kingdom, thus becoming his equal. He forgave Drupada for his misdeeds, however Drupada burnt in the desire for revenge and performed a yagna to have a son who would slay Drona and a daughter who would marry Arjuna. His wish was fulfilled and thus was born Dhristadyumna, the slayer of Drona, and Draupadi, the consort of the Pandavas.
Drona strongly condemns the wicked prince Duryodhana and his brothers for their abusive treatment of the Pandavas, and for usurping their kingdom by sending them into exile. But being a servant of Hastinapura, Drona is bound by duty to fight for the Kauravas, and thus against his favorite Pandavas.
Drona is one of the most powerful and destructive warriors in the Kurukshetra War. He is an invincible warrior, whom no person on earth can defeat, and he single-handedly slays hundreds of thousands of Pandava soldiers with his powerful armory of weapons and incredible skill. After the fall of Bhishma, he becomes the Chief Commander of the Kuru Army.
Drona had been the preceptor of most kings involved in the war, on both sides.
On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to break a wheel shaped battle formation known as the Chakra Vyuha (see Wars of Hindu Mythology). Drona as commander forms this strategy as he knows that only Arjuna and Krishna know how to penetrate it. He asks the king of the Samshaptaka army to distract Arjuna and Krishna into another part of the battlefield, allowing the main Kuru army to surge through the Pandava ranks.
However, Arjuna's young son Abhimanyu is able to penetrate the formation. However, he is trapped when Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu holds the Pandava warriors following him at bay. Abhimanyu does not know how to get out of the Chakra Vyuha, but goes upon an all-out attack on the Kuru army, killing tens of thousands of warriors single-handedly. He even holds Karna and Drona himself at bay. Amazed at his prowess and courage, he is likened by the Kurus as his father's equal in greatness.
However, his army facing decimation, Drona asks Karna, Dushasana and others to simultaneously attack Abhimanyu, to strike down his horses, his charioteer and to disable his chariot from different angles. Left without support, Abhimanyu begins fighting from the ground, whereupon all the Kuru warriors simultaneously attack him. Exhausted after his long, prodigious feats, Abhimanyu is weakened and grabs one of the wheels of his chariot and blocking all the attacks, but is eventually killed with the stabbing of seven swords, simultaneously.
All this was an extreme violation of the rules of war, whereby a lone warrior may not be attacked by more than one, and not at all if he is disabled or without chariot. This devious murder of his son enrages Arjuna, who swears to kill Jayadratha, whom he sees as responsible for his son's death. If he failed to do so the next day, he would step into fire and commit suicide.
Drona lines up the entire Kuru army, with millions of its soldiers in front of Arjuna to thwart his mission. But Arjuna exhibits his full prowess, and by the end of the day has killed more than a million warriors single-handedly. With the help of Krishna, he slays Jayadratha in the nick of time. But on the whole, Arjuna devastates the entire Kuru army dramatically in just one day of fighting.
In the war, Yudhisthira is targeted by Drona to be captured. For this plan to be successful, Duryodhana invites King Bhagadatta, son of the great asura Narakasura to fight against the Pandavas. Bhagadatta was the king of Prajokiyatsa, modern day Burma. As Krishna had killed Narakasur, Bhagadatta agreed to join the Kauravas. But, in spite of Bhagadatta's support, Drona fails to capture Yudhistra alive. The Kuru commander and preceptor is however killing hundreds of thousands of Pandava warriors and thus advancing Duryodhana's cause.
On the 15th day of the Mahabharata war, Drona, instigated by King Duryodhana's remarks of being a traitor, uses the Brahmadanda. This spiritual divine weapon contained the power of the 7 greatest sages of Hinduism. Drona had neither imparted the knowledge of this divine weapon to either Ashwattama or Arjuna. Thus, he proves unconquerable on the 15th day of war. Krishna asks Yudhisthira to proclaim that Drona's son Ashwathama has died, so that the invincible and destructive Kuru commander would give up his arms and thus could be killed. Bhima proceeds to kill an elephant named Ashwathama, and loudly proclaims that Ashwathama is dead.
Drona knows that only Yudhisthira, with his firm adherence to the truth, could tell him for sure if his son had died. When Drona approaches Yudhisthira to seek to confirm this, Yudhisthira tells him that Ashwathama is dead..., then, ..the elephant, but this last part is drowned out by the sound of trumpets and conchshells being sounded as if in triumph, on Krishna's instruction.
Yudhisthira cannot make himself tell a lie, despite the fact that if Drona continued to fight, the Pandavas and the cause of dharma itself would lose. When he speaks his half-lie, Yudhisthira's feet and chariot descend to the ground momentarily. Drona is disheartened, and lays down his weapons. He is then killed by Dhristadyumna.
It is said that Drona's soul, by meditation had already left his body before Dhristadyumna could strike. His death greatly saddens Arjuna, who had hoped to capture him alive.

Draupadi

2009-08-11T12:40:00.000+05:30

In the epic Mahabharata, Draupadi is the daughter of King Drupada, originally known as Princess Krishnaa (due to her dark complexion) and becomes the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura, Indraprastha and the Emperor of India at the end of the war, Draupadi again becomes Queen.Drupada had been defeated by Arjuna on behalf of Drona, who subsequently took half his kingdom to humiliate him. To gain revenge on Drona, he performed a great sacrifice to beget a powerful son who could kill him. Having been struck by Arjuna's valour, Drupada also prayed at the sacrifice for an exceptionally beautiful daughter to give to his, as a token of his appreciation. Draupadi thus emerged with Drishtadyumna from the sacrificial fire.Upon Draupadi's emergence a divine voice said she would be the reason for the destruction of the Kauravas. When Draupadi grew to be a young woman she was considered very beautiful, mainly for her glowing dark skin, large dark eyes and graceful figure.It is believed that Goddess Kali had given a part of her powers to her, for the destruction of the Kauravas. As Drupada was the ruler of the kingdom of Panchala, Draupadi was also known as Paanchali. She was named by Brahmanas as "KrsnÄ" due to her radiant dusky skin {the Lord Krishna was also dark-skinned) and is very often referred to and addressed by this name in the MahÄbhÄrata.Drupada intended that Arjuna alone win the hand of his daughter. Upon hearing of the Pandavaas' supposed death at Varanavata he set up a swayamvar for Draupadi intending to bring Arjuna out into the open. The princes vying for Draupadi's hand had to shoot 5 arrows at a revolving target, while looking only at its reflection in a bowl. Drupada was confident that Arjuna alone could accomplish this task. Arriving with his brothers disguised as brahmins, Arjuna successfully tackles the target. He and his brothers also defeat the other suitors who attack them, enraged at a brahmin winning a Kshatriya princess's hand.While in exile, Kunti, mother of the Pandavas often advised her sons that they share everything they have (or obtain through Bhiksha i.e. alms) equally amongst themselves. Upon returning home with Draupadi, Arjuna addresses his mother first "Look mother, I have brought Bhiksha (alms)!". Kunti, unmindful of what Arjuna was referring to, unassumingly asked her son to share whatever it is with his brothers. Thus, in order to obey their mother's order all five accepted Draupadi as their wife. This is fraternal polyandry.According to another source, when Sage Vyasa visits the family, he explains to Draupadi that her unique position as the wife of five brothers results from a certain incident in her previous birth. She had in that lifetime prayed to Lord Shiva to grant her a husband with five desired qualities. Lord Shiva, pleased with her devotion, tells her that it is very difficult to get a husband with all five qualities that she desired. But she sticks to her ground and asks for the same. Then Lord Shiva grants her wish saying that she would get the same in her next birth. Hence she gets married to five brothers each who represents a given quality.None of the Draupadi's children survive the end of the epic. Parikshit, grandson of Subhadra and Arjuna, is the sole Kuru dynast who survives, at the end of Mahabharata.Draupadiâ€™s Cheer-Haran, literally meaning stripping of oneâ€™s clothes, marks a definitive moment in the story of MahÄbhÄrata. It is the central reason of the MahÄbhÄrata war, the rivalry between Pandavas and Kauravas being the more general cause.Yudhishthira and his four brothers were the rulers of Indraprastha under the sovereignty of Emperor Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtraâ€™s son Duryodhana who resided in the capital of the empire Hastinapur was always jealous of his cousins. Together with his brothers, his friend Karna and maternal uncle Shakuni, he conspired to call the Pandavas at Hastinapur and win their kingdoms in a game of gambling. Shakuni was an inveterate gambler and very skilled at winning by unfair means. The idea was that Shakuni will play against Yudhishthira and win at the gambling table what was impossible to win at the battlefield.As the game proceeded, Yudhishthira lost all his wealth and kingdom one by one. Having lost all material wealth, he went on to put his brothers at stake one by one and lost them too. Ultimately he put himself at stake, and lost again. All the Pandavas were now the slaves of Kauravas. But for the villain Shakuni, the humiliation of Pandavas was not complete. He plods Yudhishthira that he has not lost everything yet. Yudhishthira still has Draupadi with him and if he wishes he can win everything back by putting Draupadi at stake. Yudhishthira walks into the trap and to the horror of everybody present, puts Draupadi as a bet for the next round. Shakuni rolls the dice and gleefully shouts â€œLook, I have wonâ€. Duryodhana commands his younger brother Dushasana to forcefully bring her into the forum. Dushasana barges into the living quarters of Draupadi who had just finished her bath and was drying her loose hair. Dushasan grabs her by the hair and brings her into the court dragging her by the hair.Unable to withstand the distress of his wife, an emotional Bhima even threatens to burn up Yudhishthiraâ€™s hands with which he placed Draupadi on stake. Arjun tries to help Draupadi but Yudhistira forbids him. Bhima vows to cut off Dushasana's hands one day in battle. Arjun vows to kill Karna for insulting his wifeNow in an emotional appeal to the elders present in the forum, Draupadi repeatedly questions the legality of the right of Yudhishthira to place her at stake when he himself had lost his freedom and as a consequence did not possess any property in the first place. Everybody remains dumbfounded. Bhishma, the patriarch of the Kaurava family and a formidable warrior, has only this explanation to offer to Draupadi - â€œThe course of morality is subtle and even the illustrious wise in this world fail to always understand it.â€ He now commands the Pandavas to strip themselves in the manner of slaves. They obey by stripping off their upper garments.Then Kauravas demand the same from Draupadi, who remains crying. Then to the horror of everybody present, Dushasana proceeds to strip Draupadi of her sari. Seeing her husbands unable or unwilling to help her, Draupadi prays to Lord Krishna to protect her modesty. Lord Krishna now works a miracle so that as Dushasana unwraps layers and layers of her sari, her sari keeps getting extended. Seeing Draupadi being violated so brazenly, Bhima in a roaring rage, vows to tear open Dushasanaâ€™s breast one day and drink his blood. Finally, a tired Dushasana backs off without being able to strip Draupadi.Duryodhana repeatedly challenges Yudhishthiraâ€™s four brothers to disassociate themselves from Yudhishthiraâ€™s authority and take their wife back. No one dares to denounce their loyalty to their eldest brother. In order to provoke the Pandavas further, Duryodhana bares and pats his thigh looking into Draupadiâ€™s eyes, implying her to sit on his thigh. In impotent rage Bhima vows in front of the entire assembly that one day he will break that very thigh of Duryodhan in a battle.Finally, the blind monarch Dhritarashtra's conscience is stirred, in part fearing the wrath of Pandavas against his sons. He intervenes and asks Draupadi to wish for whatever she desires. Draupadi asks her husbands the Pandavas to be freed from slavery. Dhritarashtra grants her wish and also restores to Pandavas all they lost in the game of dice. Free from the bondage Bhima, hotheaded as ever, immediately proposes to his brothers to slay all Kauravas present then and there itself. Yudhishthira and Arjuna prevent him from taking any rash action. After many words of reconciliation between Pandavas and Dhritarashtra, Pandavas withdraw to their kingdom along with Draupadi and their entourage.Shakuni, Karna and Duryodhan later convince Dhritarashtra to invite Pandavas for a new game of dice, with modified rules. It was following the defeat in this new game that Pandavas were sent into exile for 12 years.However, not pledging her, given that the other Pandava brothers had already been pledged and lost, would also not have resolved the dilemma Yudhishthira faced. The lack of a definite way to resolve the conflict is what has led to this passage being extremely controversial. That the elders like Bhishma, Drona, and Dhritarashtra remained silent spectators of the entire episode adds valuable insight to their personalities too. Vidura was the only one who objected to the whole thing but he did not have the authority to stop it. In any case the passage must be seen in the light of the mores of the times of its writing which lay a few millennia ago.Krishna treats Draupadi as his sister, pledges his friendship to Draupadi and vows to show the world the greatest example of friendship. This is quite possibly why Krishna helps Draupadi when the Pandavas lose her in a gamble.As per Narada and Vayu Puranas, Draupadi was composite Avatar of Goddesses Shyamala (wife of Dharma), Bharati (Wife of Vayu), Sachi (wife of Indra), Usha (wife of Ashwinis) and hence married their earthly counterparts in form of Five Pandavas. Enraged at a jest by Parvati and the four goddesses, Brahma cursed them to human birth which the solution Parvati brought about was to be born as one woman, Draupadi and hence share the earthly body for a smaller period of time. Draupadi 's characteristic anger and fight against injustice reflects the Parvati or her Shakti, Kali inhabiting Draupadi 's mortal flesh at times. At other times, Draupadi was docile and even waited to be rescued (as in case of Jayadratha and Jatasura) showing the qualities of other goddesses like Sachi and Usha. Other times, she showed cunning and guile to hide their true identity and still use Vayu putra Bhima to kill Keechaka like Goddess Bharati would. Draupadi was also avatar of Goddess Shree or Wealth who was joint wife to five Indras, aka Five Pandavas. She was to be born several times for imprisoning the Indras. First time was as Vedavati who cursed Ravana (here we find yet another goddess Avatar Swaha, wife to Agni). She then came again as Maya-Sita especially to take revenge from Ravana while Agni hid the real Sita. Third one was partial either Damyanti (whos ehusband Nala was equivalent to Dharma, Vayu, Indra just like the Pandavas) and her daughter Nalayani. She married Sage Mudgala. Fifth Avatar was Draupadi herself. So we find in Draupadi, a composite avatar of Kali, Parvati, Sachi, Shyamala, Usha, Bharati, Shree, Swaha, the eight goddesses.Krishna calls Draupadi his sakhi, or friend. Another story says the reason he helps Draupadi is that she prayed with utmost devotion. When Krishna had cut his finger on the Sudarshan Chakra, she bound it with her Sari, this act being the origin of Rakhi. The another story of origin of Rakhi is Sachi tying thread to Indra. Sachi's avatar is Draupadi.Also, Krishna is the one who opposes her marriage to Karna and promotes her marriage to ArjunaDraupadi is the exemplification of bhakti to God. She showed utmost faith to Lord Krishna.

Dhritarashtra

2009-08-10T18:00:00.001+05:30

In the Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra was the son born to Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika. He was fathered by Vyasa. This blind king of Hastinapura was father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari. These children came to be known as the Kauravas. Duryodhana and Dushasana were the first two sons.

After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son with his yogic powers. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open it. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra was born blind. His brother Pandu, ruled the kingdom for him due to his blindness. After Pandu's death, he became king of Hastinapura.

At the birth of his first son Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra was advised by Vidura and Bhishma to abandon the child due to bad omens surrounding the child but his love for him stopped him. Dhritarashtra was advised by his elders to be fair to the Pandavas, who were returning from the forest with their mother, Kunti.

Duryodhana was focused on making sure that the he would be the next heir for the kingdom. The king himself wanted his son to be his heir but he was also forced to consider the eldest Pandava, Yudhisthira who was older then Duryodhana.

Against his will, he named Yudhisthira his heir which left Duryodhana frustrated. As a solution Bhishma suggested the partition of Hastinapur. Trying to maintain peace, Dhritarashtra gave Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, albeit the lands which were arid, unprosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha. He purposely kept the better half of the kingdom for himself so that his son may one day rule his half of the kingdom.

Dhritarashtra was one of the many men present when Yudhisthira lost the dice game against Shakuni, Duryodhana, Dushasana and Karna. With each throw, the king lost everything gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Dhritarashtra was silent when Dushasana tried to disrobe Draupadi (the Pandavas wife) in front of the court. Finally, the blind monarch conscience was stirred, in part fearing the wrath of Pandavas against his sons. Fearing retribution from the five brothers he returned all the things they lost in the dice game.

However, Shakuni challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending fourteen years in exile in the forest before they could reclaim their kingdom. Dhritarashtra was warned by many that the Pandavas will not forget their humiliation. He was constantly told by many that he needed to remember that his responsibilities as king must be placed before his affection as a father.

Sanjaya, Dhritrashtraâ€™s charioteer was blessed by Sage Vyasa with the ability to see the past,present and the future, narrated important events of the Kurukshetra war, a war fought between the Kauravas (the sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandavas, to the blind king. Dhritarashtra's sorrow increased day by day as an ever increasing number of his sons were slain by Bhima. He frequently bemoaned his ineffectiveness in preventing Duryodhana from going to war. Sanjaya often consoled the bereaved king but reminded him every time that dharma was on the Pandava side and a war against Krishna and Arjuna could not be humanly won regardless of the strength of the opposing force.

At the end of the great battle, Dhritarashtra was overcome with grief and rage at the loss of his hundred sons. When the blind king met the Pandavas who had come to seek his blessing prior to ascending the throne, he embraced all of them. When it was Bhima's turn, Krishna knew that the king was blind and possessed the strength of a hundred thousand elephants from the boon granted by Vyasa. He was quick to move Bhima aside and push an iron figure of Bhima into Dhritarashtra's embrace. When the thought entered Dhritarashtra's mind that the man in his embrace had killed every one of his hundred sons without mercy, his anger rose to such a pitch that the metal statue was crushed into powder. Thus, Bhima was saved and Dhritarashtra composed himself and gave the Pandavas his blessing.

Yudhisthira was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura. The war had killed many great warriors and millions of soldiers were killed on each side. Yudhisthira once again showed his kindness when he decided that the king of the city of Hastinapura should be Dhristarashtra. He offered the blind king complete respect and deference as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons. After many years as the ruler of Hastinapura, Dhristarashtra along with Ghandhari, Kunti and Vidura left for their final journey into the forest. They died in a forest fire in the Himalayas.

Dhristadyumna

2009-08-10T17:59:00.001+05:30

Dhristadyumna was the son of Drupada and brother of Draupadi and Shikhandi in the classic epic MahÄbhÄrata. He is appointed Commander of the Pandava Army, and is responsible for the killing of Drona.

The king of the Panchalas, Drupada undertakes a putrakami yagna, a sacrifice to please the Gods and obtain offspring by their blessing. Drupada desires a son who can kill Drona, the Kuru martial guru who had humiliated him in battle and taken half his kingdom, even though it was Drupada who had reneged a promise made to his childhood friend Drona, that he would share his kingdom with him.

With the help of two brahmins, Drupada undertakes the sacrifice. After his wife takes the sacrificial offerings, out of the fire a fully grown powerful young and armed man before their very eyes. He is already bestowed with great martial and religious knowledge.

Even though he is the prophesied killer of Drona, he is accepted by Drona to join his school for young princes, where he learns the advanced military arts.

When his sister is bethrothed to a young brahmin of five, who wins the martial contest at her swayamvara, Dhristadyumna secretly follows the five brahmins and his sister, only to discover that they are in fact the five Pandavas: Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.

Taking the advice of Lord Krishna and Arjuna, Dhristadyumna is installed as the Commander in Chief of the Pandava Army.

At a point when Drona, as the Kuru commander is killing vast numbers of Pandava troops, Krishna advises Yudhisthira to adopt a plan to kill the preceptor now. As it is known that as long as Drona has raised his weapons he is invincible to all other warriors, Krishna advises that it be proclaimed that Drona's son, Ashwathama has just died in the battle. It is known that out of the grief of such an eventuality, Drona will at least temporarily drop his arms.

Krishna justifies this lie to Yudhisthira as necessary to the victory of morality in the war. As Yudhisthira continues to hesitate, his brother Bhima kills a known elephant in the Kuru legions named Ashwathama and celebrates shouting "Ashwathama is dead! Ashwathama is dead!".

Shocked with disbelief when the news reaches him, Drona seeks out Yudhisthira to ascertain the news, knowing that the son of Dharma would never speak a lie. Yudhisthira tells him that Ashwathama is dead, but mutters "(I wonder) whether the man or the elephant...." ( Aswathama Hatah... naro waa Kunjarovaa)in an inaudible voice to prevent telling a whole lie or as another version tells us that he said it equally loud but Shri Krishna had planned to blow his conch at that exact moment so that Drona is unable to hear that part.

Now convinced, Drona lays down his arms and sits in meditation. It is actually said in the epic that Drona's soul has already left his body through his mediation, but Dhristadyumna takes this opportunity, swings onto Drona's chariot, and lops off his head.

Dhristadyumna is verbally abused by Satyaki and Arjuna, who were devoted students of Drona, but is defended by Krishna.

After the war is over, Ashwathama treacherously attacks the Pandava camp during the night, killing Dhristadyumna and the sons of Draupadi in revenge for his father's death and the defeat of the Kurus.

Chitrangada

2009-08-10T17:58:00.001+05:30

ChitrÄngadÄ in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is one of Arjuna's wives. Arjuna travelled the length and breadth of India during his term of exile. His wanderings took him to ancient Manipur in the eastern Himalayas, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. There, he met ChitrÄngadÄ, the daughter of the king of Manipur, and was moved to seek her hand in marriage. Her father demurred on the plea that, according to the matrilineal customs of his people, the children born of ChitrÄngadÄ were heir to Manipur; he could not allow his heirs to be taken away from Manipur by their father. Arjuna agreed to the stipulation that he would take away neither his wife ChitrÄngadÄ nor any children borne by her from Manipur and wed the princess on this premise. A son, whom they named Babruvahana, was soon born to the couple. Babruvahana would succeed his grandfather as king of Manipur.

Rabindranath Tagore took the story of ChitrÄngadÄ and turned it into a dance drama, very much like a modern day musical with the story put to music and with the characters acting out the parts in dance. Tagore's story differs a bit from the story of ChitrÄngadÄ in the MahÄbhÄrata. He expands on the character and gives her new life. In Tagore's story, ChitrÄngadÄ is the only child of the King of Manipur. Being the heir to the throne, she dresses like a man and is the protector of the land. Her people look to her to keep them safe. One day, she meets Arjuna and seeing him in action as he hunts in the forest, she falls in love with him. Arjuna is impressed by her fighting abilities but all along believes her to be a man. ChitrÄngadÄ falls madly in love with Arjuna but believes he could never love her the way she is. She receives a boon from a sage and transforms herself into a beautiful ladylike woman. When she meets Arjuna again, he can't help but fall in love with her. Though she believes that she has everything she wants in life, deep down she wishes that he could love her for her true self. When marauders come into her kingdom to take over the villages, Arjuna learns from the people of the kingdom that their Princess is the greatest warrior around and they wonder why she isn't there to help protect them now. Arjuna is impressed by the story of this woman who seems to be his equal when it comes to fighting and longs to meet her. ChitrÄngadÄ appears and saves her kingdom before revealing her true self to Arjuna. No longer in love with her just for her beauty, Arjuna marries ChitrÄngadÄ.

Bhishma

2009-08-10T17:57:00.000+05:30

Bhishma is one of the central characters of the Mahabharata. Bhishma was born as Devevrata and is the grand sire of the heros and villans of the epic mahabharata.

Once the eight Vasus visited Vashishta's ashram with their wives, one of the wives took a fancy to Nandini and asked her husband Prabhasa, to steal it from Vashishta. Prabhasa the vasu,stole it with the help of the others, and was cursed by Vashishta to be born in the world of men. The seven Vasus who assist in stealing Nandini have their curse softened to be liberated from their human birth as soon as they are born, but Prabhasa, due to his being instrumental in the theft, is cursed to endure a longer life on the earth, though the curse is softened so that he becomes one of the most illustrious men of his times.

The youngest brother is born as Bhishma the youngest son of Shantanu by his first wife Ganga (the holy River), The other 7, were born as the older siblings of Bhishma, who were drowned by their mother Ganga as soon as they were born, thus fulfilling the softened curse on them.

Shantanu was the 12th king of a line starting from Dushyanta and Bharata, though the vansh (family or progeny) is said to have started with Bharata the great.

Bhishma learnt political science from Brihaspati, the guru of the Devas, Vedas and Vedangas from rishi Vasishta, and archery from Parashurama, also known as Bhargava, thus becoming an exceptionally skilled administrator, as well as an undefeatable warrior. His banner in battle was a golden palm tree.

He was known as 'Bhishma Pitamaha' (i.e., Bhishma, the grandfather or grandsire) among the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Bhishma is considered to be one of the greatest examples of a dutibound officer.

'Bhishma' means 'He of the terrible oath', referring to his vow of life-long celibacy. Devavrata became known as Bhishma because he took the bhishan pratigya â€” the vow of life-long celibacy and of service to whoever sat on the throne of his father (the throne of Hastinapur). This was because when his father Shantanu wanted to marry a fisherwoman Satyavati, her father refused, on the grounds that his daughter's children would never be rulers as Shantanu already had a son (Devavrata). This made Shantanu despondent. To placate Satyavati's father, Devavrata promised that he would never stake a claim to the throne, implying that the child born to Shantanu and Satyavati would become the ruler after Shantanu. At this, Satyavati's father retorted that even if Devavrata gave up his claim to the throne, his (Devavrata's) children would still claim the throne. At this, Devavrata, to make his father happy, took the terrible vow, thus sacrificing his 'crown-prince' title and denying himself the pleasures of intercourse. This gave him immediate recognition among the gods and his father granted him the boon of Ichha Mrityu (control over his own death â€” he could choose the time of his death, but not, as may be suggested, one of immortality).

Bhishma was a great archer and a warrior of peerless valour and courage. In the process of finding a bride for the young king Vichitravirya (son of Shantanu and Satyavati) for whom he was the regent, Bhishma challenged the assemblage of suitors at the swayamvar of princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika of Kashi (Varanasi) and defeated all of them. Unknown to Bhishma, Salwa, the ruler of Saubala was in love with Amba (the eldest princess) who reciprocated his feelings. On the way to Hastinapura with the princesses, Bhishma was confronted by Salwa who challenged him to a battle for the hand of Amba in marriage. After a hard fight, Salwa was vanquished and admitted defeat. Upon reaching Hastinapur Amba confided in Bhishma that she wished to wed Salwa and no other. When Bhishma sent her back to Salwa, the vanquished ruler turned her down in humiliation of losing the combat. Upon being turned down by Vichitravirya too, as a maiden who had loved another man, Amba was incensed at Bhishma, whose interference she perceived as the root cause of her troubles.

Amba took refuge with Parasurama, the guru of bhisma. Parasurama ordered Bhishma to marry Amba. Bhishma politely refused saying that he is ready to leave his life at the command of the teacher but not the promise that he had made. Upon the refusal Parasurama called him for a fight at Kurukshetra.

At the battlegrounds, while Bhishma was on a chariot, he saw his guru on the ground. He requested Parasurama to be equal to him by taking a chariot and Kavacham (armor). Parasurama blessed Bhishma with the power of divine vision and asked him to look again. When Bhishma looked at his guru with the divine eye-sight, he saw the Earth as Parasurama's chariot, the four Vedas as the horses, the Upanishads as the reins, Vayu as the sarathy (Charioteer) and the Vedic goddesses Gayatri, Savitri & Saraswati as the armor.

Bhishma got down from the chariot and sought the blessings of Parasurama to adhere to his dharma. Parasurama told him that if he would not have behaved in this manner Parasurama would have cursed him. Parasurama advised him to fight to protect his dharma of bramacharya and Prasurama would fight to protect his duty towards the word given to Amba.

They fought for 23 days without any result. Parasurama is a chiranjeev or immortal whereas Bhishma had the boon of death at his wish. On the 22nd night, Bhishma prayed to his ancestors to help him to bring the war to an end. His anscestors gave him a weapon which was not known to Parasurama . They told him that it would put Parasurama to sleep in the battlefield. A person who sleeps in the battlefield is considered to be dead as per Vedas. They advised Bhishma to call back the weapon at the end of day after sunset so that Parasurama will come back to his sense and that shall bring the end to war.

On the 23rd day, when Bhishma took the weapon given by his pitru's, a divine voice spoke to him asking not to use the weapon and insult his guru Parasurama and it told Parasurama that he cannot win over Bhishma in the war. But Parasurama said that he cannot go back from the war when Bhishma is still standing against him in the battlefield. Bhishma in respect of his teacher walked away from the combat and allowed a graceful exit for Parasurama.

Parasurama told amba that he could not win over Bhishma and gave her the boon of "mahakal shiva". Amba did penance to please Shiva. Shiva gave the boon that she will be instrumental for the death of Bhishma. Amba would be born as a princess in the house of king Drupada, and as a consequence of another boon would be transformed into Shikhandi (a male) and be the root cause of Bhishma's death.

He is the one who witnessed the MahÄbhÄrata completely from the beginning since the rule of the Shantanu.

In the great battle at Kurukshetra, Bhishma, bound by his oath to serve the ruler of Hastinapura, fought very reluctantly on the side of the Kauravas; nevertheless, he gave it his best effort. At one stage, his impeccable military prowess, combined with Arjuna's disinclination to fight him, almost made Lord Krishna break His vow of not actually fighting in the war. Krishna charged at Bhishma to kill him with a chariot wheel and was welcomed with folded hands by the grandsire. Then Arjuna pleaded with Krishna to stop and reminded him of the vow.

Bhishma was finally grievously wounded on the tenth day of the battle by Arjuna, who hid behind another warrior Shikhandi, and rained arrows on the grandsire. Bhishma knew that Shikhandi was born a woman and to strike a woman he deemed unworthy of the chivalrous. Thus, the warrior did not resist but merely remarked to Dushasana, "These are Arjuna's arrows, they cannot be Shikhandi's because they tear my flesh as a crab's young ones tear their mother's body." Of all of Duryodhana's commander-in-chiefs, Bhishma had held off the inevitable defeat the longest. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces for ten days compared to Drona's five, Karna's two and Salya on the final day. Bhishma fell, his entire body resting on a pincushion of Arjuna's arrows. After that Drona become the Commander-in-Chief of Kaurav army. After his demise Karna replaced him. Soon after this, Karna, who in the face of Bhishma's criticism had sworn his vow to keep out of the Kurukshetra till the withdrawal of Bhishma, approached the grandsire to seek his blessings. Bhishma reveals to Karna that he always knew the truth of the latter's parentage and implored him to persuade Duryodhana (at this point he also told Karna that he had not allowed to fight him under his command as he did not want the real brothers to fight with each other) to end the carnage that had already resulted in such great slaughter. Upon Karna's refusal and insistence to remain true to Duryodhana, he nevertheless received the grandsire's blessing. He lay on the 'bed of arrows' till the end of the battle, and chose to die only after learning that the Pandavas had won, as he was now assured that the throne of Hastinapura was in safe hands. In his last days before he ascended to heaven, he recited to Yudhisthira the famous hymn to Vishnu, the Vishnu sahasranama. Bhishma also admitted he had been wrong to fight for Duryodhana even though he was the king's employee since one's only allegiance is towards righteousness.

Bhima

2009-08-10T17:56:00.000+05:30

In the Mahabharata, Bhima was the second of the Pandava brothers. He was son of Kunti by Vayu, but like the other brothers, he was acknowledged son by Pandu . He was distinguished from his brothers by his great stature and strength.

His legendary prowess has been mentioned in glowing terms throughout the epic. Eg: "Of all the wielders of the mace, there is none equal to Bhima; and there is none also who is so skilful a rider of elephants. On car, they say, he yields not to even Arjuna; and as to might of arms, he is equal to ten thousand elephants. Well-trained and active, he who hath again been rendered bitterly hostile, would in anger consume the Dhartarashtras in no time. Always wrathful, and strong of arms, he is not capable of being subdued in battle by even Indra himself." Udyoga Parva Chapt XXII.

He lived for a time in hiding with his brothers during their first exile. In this period, he came across Hidimba and Hidimbi, a rakshasha brother and sister. Because of the enmity of the rakshasha to the people of the Kuru kingdom, Hidimba asked Hidimbi to lure Bhima to a trap. However, Bhima and Hidimbi were attracted to each other. Bhima fought and killed Hidimba, and lived for a year in the forest with Hidimbi, by whom he had a son, Ghatotkacha.

With his brothers, he was married to Draupadi. After the first return of the Pandavas to the Kuru lands, he challenged the king of Magadha, Jarasandha, to a wrestling bout and killed him, thus making it possible for his brothers to take part in the Rajsuya Yajna.

He was furious when the game of dice between his brother, King Yudhisthira, and Duryodhana reached its final stages. But when Dushasana attempted to strip Draupadi in the court, he swore that he would kill him one day and drink his blood.

During the second exile of the Pandavas, he visited Alakapuri and was blessed by Kubera. At the end of their exile at the court of Virata, he disguised himself and acted as a palace cook.

He was a pivotal figure in the great battle of Kurukshetra, killing six out of the eleven akshaukiNis of the other side(Kauravas). Six akshauNis adds up to the astronomical figure of around 1,705,860 men and 787,320 beasts which is testimony to the portrayal as the character of supreme physical prowess. In the battle, his charioteer was Krishna's son himself. During a majority of the 18 days during which the battle was fought, the kauravas were frightened to face his might and sent elephants to fight him. An entire sub-chapter is devoted to describing the "light chat" or banter that he used to maintain with Krishna's son whilst fighting the enemies - yet another glimpse into the power that VedaVyasa invests in Bhima's persona. Bhima's weapon of choice was the mace - which means he was skilled in close combat. Amongst the most important personalities that he quelled were Baka (head of a cannibalistic race), Kirmira ( Baka's brother), MaNiman ( leader of the anger-demons in Kubera's garden), Jarasandha, Dushasana etc. He also defeated mighty Dronacharya by breaking his chariot eight times while Arjuna was trying to find and kill Jayadratha, defeated and forced the powerful Karna to withdraw from battle in four pitched battles while Karna was trying to save the remaining brothers of Duryodhan. During the battle, he killed the elephant called Ashvatthama, which enabled the Pandavas to spread the falsehood that Ashvatthama son of Drona, had been killed. At the end of the battle, he also fatally wounded Duryodhana in a duel, after striking him a foul blow below the waist. At this time, Balarama criticised Bhima for the foul blow, but was calmed down by Krishna. Bhima refrained from killing any respectable elders in the Kaurava's side out of respect for their virtue. The only elderly person he killed was the king of Bahlika (Bhishma's maternal uncle) - and he does this because the king of Bahlika asks Bhima to kill him to release him from the sin of fighting for the kauravas (Bahlika had to fight with the kauravas on account of Bhishma, his nephew).

He finished his days with his brothers and Draupadi, on their great and final journey toward Vaikunta. He was the last to die on the journey, leaving Yudhisthira alone to complete the journey by himself.

Although there are several instances of Arjuna and others doubting or questioning the will of Krishna, the portrayal of Bhima's devotion to krishna is umblemished in the original MahÄbhÄrata.

Barbarika

2009-08-10T17:49:00.000+05:30

In the Mahabharata, Barbarika was the son of Ghatotkacha and Maurvi, daughter of Muru, a Yadava king. That makes him the grandson of Bhima.

Barbarika was originally a yaksha, and was reborn as a man.

He wanted to fight on the Pandava side, but he was forced to stick to his principle of always fighting on behalf of the losing side.

He learnt the art of warfare from his mother. Shiva, pleased with him, gave him the three infallible arrows. Hence, Barbarika came to be known by the appellation Teen Baandhaari, the 'Bearer of Three Arrows.' Later, Agni (the God of Fire) gave him the Bow that would make him victorious in the three worlds.

The omnipresent Krishna, disguised as a Brahmin, stopped Barbarika to examine his strength. He baited Barbarika by mocking him for going to the great battle with only three arrows. On this, Barbarika replied that a single arrow was enough to destroy all his opponents in the war, and it would then return to his quiver. If all the three were used, it would create havoc in the three worlds. Krishna challenged him to tie all the leaves of the peepal tree under which he was standing, with one arrow. Barbarika accepted the challenge, removed one arrow from his quiver and released it from his bow. The arrow tied all the leaves together within moments. However, Krishna had held one leaf under his foot, and the arrow started revolving around it. Krishna then asked the boy whom he would favour in the war. Barbarika revealed that he intended to fight for whichever side appeared set to lose. Krishna knew that the defeat of the Kauravas was inevitable. He judged that if this brave boy joins their side, the result would then tilt in their favour.

The Brahmin (Krishna) then sought charity from the warrior. Barbarika promised him anything he wished. Krishna asked him to give his head in charity. Barbarika was shocked. Perceiving that all was not as it appeared, he requested the Brahmin to disclose his real identity. Krishna showed Barbarika a vision of His Divine Form and Barbarika was thus graced. Krishna then explained to him that before a battle, the head of the bravest Kshatriya needs to be sacrificed, in order to worship/sanctify the battlefield. Krishna said that he considered Barbarika to be the bravest among Kshatriyas, and was hence asking for his head in charity. In fulfilment of his promise, and in compliance with the Lord's command, Barbarika gave his head to Krishna in charity. This happened on the 12th day of the Shukla Paksha (bright half) of the month of Phalguna.

Krishna, pleased with Barbarika's great sacrifice, granted him the boon that when Kaliyuga descends, he would be worshipped by the name of Shyam in his form. His devotees would be blessed just by pronouncing his name from the bottom of their hearts.

Before decapitating himself, Barbarika told Krishna of his great desire to view the forthcoming battle, and requested him to facilitate it. Krishna agreed, and placed the head atop a hill overlooking the battlefield. From the hill, the head of Barbarika watched the whole battle.

At the end of the battle, the victorious Pandava brothers argued amongst themselves as to who was responsible for the victory. Krishna suggested that Barbarika's head, which had watched the whole battle, should be allowed to judge. Barbarika's head suggested that it was Krishna alone who was responsible for the victory: his advice, his presence, his gameplan had been crucial. Barbarika's head said that he had seen the Sudarshana Chakra revolving around the battlefield, hacking the Kaurava army to pieces; and Draupadi, assuming the fearful form of Mahakali Durga, drinking bowl after bowl of blood without allowing even one drop of blood to fall on the earth.

When Barbarika learnt that battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas had become inevitable, he wanted to witness what was to be the MahÄbhÄrata War. He promised his mother that if he felt the urge to participate in the battle, he would join the side which would be losing. He rode to the field on his Blue Horse (Neela Ghoda) equipped with his three arrows and bow.

Babruvahana

2009-08-08T14:58:00.001+05:30

Babruvahana is one of the sons of Arjuna, begotten through Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur, during the period of his exile at Manipur.

Babruvahana was adopted as the son of his maternal grandfather, and reigned at Manipur as his successor. He dwelt there in a palace of great splendour, surrounded with wealth and signs of power.

When Arjuna went to Manipur with the horse intended for the Aswamedha, there was a quarrel between Arjuna and King Babhruvahana, and the latter killed his father with an arrow. Repenting of his deed, he determined to kill himself, but he obtained from his stepmother, the Naga princess Uloopi, a gem which restored Arjuna to life. He returned with his father to Hastinapura.[1]This was on account of a curse by the Vasus, on account of Arjuna's killing Bhishma (who is an incarnation of one of the Vasus) during the Mahabharatha war.

Ashwatthama

2009-08-08T14:57:00.000+05:30

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was the son of guru Dronacharya. He is one of the eight Chiranjeevins. Dronacharya loved him dearly. Rumours about his death in the Kurukshetra war led to the death of his father at the hands of Prince Dhrishtadyumna. A vengeful Ashwatthama obtained permission from the dying Duryodhana to brutally murder Dhrishtadhyumna after the war had officially ended. Ashwatthama at the end of the war promised Duryodhana that he would kill the Pandavas.

Ashwatthama was observing on the last day of the war, how an owl was attacked by crows in the day and how the owls attacked back in the night. So he surmised that under the laws of nature, a person can fight when he is strong. He, Kritavarma and Kripacharya tried to attack the camp of Pandavas and they were stopped by a demon kept by Krishna. However, Krishna also took the precaution of taking the Pandavas along with Satyaki to the river side of the Ganges.

Ashwatthama worshipped Shiva and offered his body as offering to Shiva. Shiva gave him the boon that whoever faces him that night shall die. Ashwatthama attacked the Pandava camp in the middle of the night, but by error ended up murdering the five sons of the Pandavas by Draupadi.

The Pandavas, incensed by this act, chased him resulting in his fight with Arjuna. During the fight, Ashwatthama invoked the extremely powerful Brahmashira weapon--which incidentally he had once tried to exchange with Krishna's discus without success--against Arjuna. Arjuna in response invoked the same weapon. Fearing the destruction of the world, the sages advised both to take back their weapons. While Arjuna could do so, Ashwatthama (presumably having less skill) could not and was given the option of choosing any single target to destroy. Out of spite, Ashwatthama directed the weapon to the wombs of Pandava women. Among them was Uttara, Arjuna's daughter-in-law.

At this time, Uttara was carrying the unborn Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, who upon birth would be the future heir to all the Pandava brothers. The Brahmastra weapon was successful in fatally burning the foetus, but Krishna revived the stillborn child and cursed Ashwatthama with leprosy and to roam the world for 6,000 years as an unloved castaway. In another version, it is believed that he is cursed to remain alive till the end of the Kali Yuga. It is believed that Ashwatthama migrated to the land currently known as the Arabian Peninsula. Another version goes to say that he is still on Earth in the form of cyclones and typhoons. An old fort near Burhanpur, India called Asirgarh has a Lord Shiva temple on top where it is believed that Ashwatthama offers a red rose everyday to Lord Shiva early in the morning. Another story says that Ashwatthama is still roaming in the forest of Gir, Junagadh in the Gujarat state of India.

Ashwatthama also had to surrender a valuable gem, Mani, set on his forehead, the wearer of which ceases to have any fear from weapons or disease or hunger, and ceases to have any fear of gods, Danavas and Nagas.

Ashwatthama was one of the three survivors of the Kaurava army, along with Kritavarma and Kripacharya.

Ambika

2009-08-08T14:56:00.002+05:30

Ambika was the daughter of King of Kashi and wife of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapur.

Along with her sisters Amba and Ambalika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya.

After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them each a son. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his very dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas, was born blind.

After Dhritarashtra's birth, when Satyavati requested Vyasa to visit Ambika for the 2nd time, she dared not go and sent her maid instead. So the maid gave birth to a son Vidura, who was raised as a brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

Ambalika

2009-08-08T14:56:00.001+05:30

Ambalika was the daughter of King of Kashi and the wife of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapur.

Along with her sisters Amba and Ambika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled kings and princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya.

After Vichitravirya's death, his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son. Ambalika was instructed by Satyavati to keep her eyes open lest she would bear a blind son like Ambika (Dhritarashtra). She did keep her eyes open but she became pale after seeing the formidable form of the Sage. Hence her son, Pandu the father of the Pandavas, was born sickly.

Amba

2009-08-08T14:55:00.002+05:30

Amba was the eldest daughter of King of Kashi in the Hindu epic of the Mahabharata.

Along with her sisters Ambika and Ambalika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya, the king of Hastinapura.

Vichitravirya married only her sisters and rejected Amba since she had already given her heart to another. When Amba went to see her beloved, he rejected her as well in shame of losing the combat against Bhishma at the Swayamvara. Amba then returned to Bhishma and demanded that he marry her. He declined since he had already taken a vow of bachelorhood. Enraged that she was going to be an unmarriageable women, she swore to kill him, at least in her next life, and died.

She was re-born as Shikhandi the son of Drupada. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Shikhandi was instrumental in Bhishma's death.

Ahilawati

2009-08-08T14:55:00.001+05:30

Ahilawati was a female character in the famous epic Mahabharata. She was a Nag Kanya meaning a snake girl and was married to Bhima's son Ghatotkacha. Prior to her marriage she was referred to as Maurvi. She was won by Ghatotkacha after passing a difficult exam. She asked him various questions but he succeeded in answering all of them. She was the mother of Barbareek who is better known as Khatushyamji. She taught the lesson to Barbareek to support the losers and because of that he got famous with name of Hare Ka Sahara

Abhimanyu

2009-08-08T14:54:00.001+05:30

Abhimanyu is a brave and tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, the half-sister of Lord Krishna.

As an unborn child in his mother's womb, Abhimanyu learns the knowledge of entering the deadly and virtually impenetrable Chakravyuha (see Wars of Hindu Mythology) from Arjuna.The epic explains that he overheard Arjuna talking about this with his mother from the womb. Arjuna spoke about entering Chakravyuha and later Subhadra dozed to sleep. Arjuna stopped explaining Chakravyuha escape when he saw Subhadra slept while listening. As an effect, the baby Abhimanyu in womb didn't get a chance to know of coming out of it.

Abhimanyu spent his childhood in Dwaraka, his mother's city. He was trained by Pradyumna, the son of Sri Krishna and his great warrior father Arjuna and brought up under the guidance of Lord Krishna. His father arranged his marriage to Uttara, daughter of king Virata to seal an alliance between the Pandavas and the royal family of Virata, in lieu of the forthcoming Kurukshetra War. The Pandavas had been hiding in cognito to live through the final year of their exile without being discovered, in Virata's kingdom of Matsya.

Being the grandson of Lord Indra, god of mystical weapons and wars responsible for killing thousands of enemy heroes and hundreds of thousands of warriors, Abhimanyu was a courageous and dashing warrior. Considered equal to his father's level owing his prodigious feats, Abhimanyu was able to hold at bay, great heroes like Drona, Karna, Duryodhana and Dushasana. He was praised for his audacious bravery and absolute loyalty to his father, his uncles and to their cause.

Abhimanyu has taken part in the war of Mahabharat and killed important personalities such as Kumara Lakshmana, the son of Duryodhana and Brihadbala, the king of Kosala belonging to Ikshwaku dynasty.

On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to break a circular battle formation known as the Chakravyuha (see Wars of Hindu Mythology).

The Pandavas accept the challenge since they know that the knowledge of how to defeat such a formation is known to Krishna and Arjuna.

However, on that day, Krishna and Arjuna are dragged into fighting a war on another front with the Samsaptakas. Since the Pandavas have accepted the challenge already, they have no choice but to attempt to use young lad Abhimanyu, who has knowledge on how to break into the formation but none whatsoever regarding how to break out of it. To make sure that Abhimanyu does not get trapped in this endeavour, the remaining Pandava brothers decide that they and their allies will also break into the formation along with Abhimanyu and assist the boy in breaking out of it. It is important to note that the plan is hatched well after Arjuna and Krishna have been distracted away by the Samsaptaka army led by Susarma.

On the fateful day, Abhimanyu uses his skills to successfully break into the formation. The Pandava brothers and allies attempt to follow him inside the formation, but they are effectively cut off by Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, who makes use of a boon from Shiva to hold off all Pandavas except Arjuna for one day only. Abhimanyu is left to fend for himself against the entire Kaurava army.

When Abhimanyu commands his charioteer to lead his chariot towards Drona, the man is not happy to do so and raises objections. He requests the sixteen-year-old to take time to think about it before he begins the battle. He points out that Abhimanyu has grown up amidst great love and comforts and he is not a master of the battle arts as Drona is. Young Abhimanyuâ€™s answer is disturbing to the reader of the epic and it speaks loudly of his underestimation of the mighty warriors on the Kaurava side and of his overestimation of himself, of his megalomania. Laughing aloud, he tells his charioteer: â€œWhat is this Drona or even the entire world of kshatriyas to me? I can fight Indra himself, mounted on his Airavata, along with all the gods! Why, I can fight in a battle even Lord Rudra himself, to whom the entire world of beings pays homage! This battle that I am going wage today does not bewilder me in the least.â€ Abhimanyuâ€™s shocking words do not stop with these either. Continuing in the same vein he says: â€œThis entire army of enemies is not equal to one sixteenth of my power. Why, even if I find in front of me in the battlefield my father Arjuna or my uncle himself, the mighty Vishnu who has conquered the whole universe, that wouldnâ€™t frighten me.â€

With no great joy in his mind, the poor charioteer takes his master forward. Abhimanyu breaks into the chakravyuha. In the mighty battle that follows with relentless ferocity for hours on end, he slaughters ordinary enemy warriors and mighty heroes alike, even as a whirlwind pulls up by their roots tiny bushes as well as mighty trees on its path

Abhimanyu fights valiantly single-handedly slaying several warriors who come his way including Duryodhana's son Laxman.Among the others who were killed are Karnaâ€™s younger brother, Ashmakaâ€™s son, Shalyaâ€™s younger brother, Shalyaâ€™s son Rukmaratha, Drighalochana, Kundavedhi, Sushena, Vasatiya, Kratha and numerous other great warriors. He wounds Karna and makes him flee, makes Dushshasana faint in the battlefield so that he has to be carried off by others. Upon witnessing the death of his beloved son, Duryodhana is incensed and orders the entire Kaurava force to attack Abhimanyu. Continually frustrated in attempts to pierce Abhimanyu's armor, Karna on Dronacharya's advice shatters Abhimanyu's bow firing arrows from behind him. Thus disabled, his chariot breaks down shortly later, the charioteer and horses are killed, and all his weapons are laid to waste. He attempts then to fight off the bow wielding warriors sitting on horses, elephants at the same time with a sword and a chariot wheel as a shield. Dushasana's son engages in fierce hand to hand combat with Abhimanyu. Ignoring all codes of war, the Kauravas all fight simultaneously with him. He holds his own until his sword breaks and the remaining chariot wheel shatters into pieces. Abhimanyu gets killed shortly thereafter when Dushasana's son crushes his skull with a mace.

It is said that it is Abhimanyu's death that marks the end of the adherence to the rules of war. Krishna cites the despicable manner in which Abhimanyu was killed to incite Arjuna to kill Karna. This is cited as a reason to kill Duryodhana. Some say that this does not only apply to the particular war but marks the end of fair and nobly conducted wars.

News of the despicable acts committed on Abhimanyu reached his father Arjuna at the end of the day, who vows to kill Jayadratha the very next day by sunset, and failing to do so, commit suicide by self-immolation immediately.

The Kaurava army the next day places Jayadratha furthest away from Arjuna, and every warrior including the Samshaptakas (mercenaries to vow only to return from battle fields only upon victory else death) attempts to prevent Arjuna from reaching anywhere close to Jayadratha. Arjuna literally hacks through the Kaurava army and kills more than a hundred thousand soldiers and warriors in a single day. However, almost by sundown, Arjuna's chariot is still nowhere near Jayadratha's. Arjuna becomes despondent because he realizes that failure is imminent, and starts getting mentally prepared to self-immolate. Krishna being the almighty god uses his powers to temporarily to create an eclipse. The Kauravas and Pandavas alike believe that indeed the sun has set and the war stops according to the rules. Both sides come to watch Arjuna self-immolate. In his haste to see Arjuna's death, Jayadratha also comes to the front. Krishna sees the opportunity that he has effectively created, and the sun comes out again. Before the Kauravas can take corrective action, Krishna points out to Arjuna and asks him to pick up his Gandiva and behead Jayadratha. Arjuna's unerring arrows decapitate Jayadratha, and his vow to kill Jayadratha by sunset that day and avenge Abhimanyu's death is fulfilled. The reason for creating eclipse is also suggested at many places as a plot to save Arjuna from death, because Jayadratha had got a boon from his father that whoever would cause Jayadratha's head to fall onto earth would also die immediately. So Lord Krishna wanted everything to happen in this way so that Jayadratha would be on an easy aim. When Arjuna beheads Jayadratha, he does it so skillfully that the head falls straight into the lap of his father who was sitting under a tree. His father is shocked and stands up, causing Jayadratha's head to fall to earth. Thus his father is killed immediately.

Abhimanyu is the reincarnation of Varchas, the son of the moon god. When the moon god was asked to let his son incarnate himself on earth by the other devas, he made a pact that his son will only remain on earth for 16 years as he could not bear to be separated from him. Abhimanyu was 16 years old when he died in the war.

His son, Parikshita, born after his death, remains the sole survivor of the Kuru clan at the conclusion of the MahÄbhÄrata war, and carries on the Pandava lineage.

Abhimanyu is often thought of as a very brave warrior on the Pandava side, willingly giving up his life in war at a very young age.

Harischandra

2009-08-08T14:52:00.002+05:30

In ancient India, a king named Harischandra ruled over Kosala kingdom. This kingdom exemplified the adage: yathaa raajaa tathaa prajaah, which means: as the king, so are the subjects. The people of the kingdom were virtuous: they avoided anything evil; they did not drink nor did they gamble; they were not arrogant of their wealth; they were truthful and just in their dealings. As as result of these virtues, there was no famine, sickness or untimely death in the kingdom. People were healthy and strong; women were beautiful, cultured and all the people looked upon their king as their father and the queen as their mother. In an extraordinary quirk of fate, the very virtues brought trouble to the king and the kingdom.

Vasishta was the family priest of the king. He got into a dispute with sage Visvamitra on the possibility of finding a man of incorruptible virtue. Viswamitra contended that this was impossible; even a virtuous person can fail if put to rigorous tests. Vasishta's argument was that while Viswamitra had a point in general terms, there were indeed exceptional men in the world who cannot be tempted to give up their virtue. He cited Harischandra as one such man. Viswamitra laughed and said that Vasishta seemed to be carried away because Harischandra was the latter's patron. Viswamitra challenged that he will put Harischandra to such a rigorous testing that Vasishta would be proved wrong. Both the sages agreed to conduct the experiment with gods as witnesses.

Viswamitra forthwith proceeded to the capital of Harischandra's kingdom, Ayodhya and learnt that the king was proceeding on a hunting expedition. Viswamitra went ahead of the king and sat down in tapas in a wayside ashram. As the king's hunting party passed by, the sage created an illusion of female voices crying, 'O save us, save us from this man." The king replied, "I am coming to help. I will pierce with my arrows, the wretch molesting women" and ran towards the direction from which the cries were heard. The sage's tapas was disturbed with all the commotion. The king prostrated before the sage and apologized to him for the disturbance caused offering his kingdom and his wealth in reparation.

"What? Are these meaningless words?" Viswamitra questioned angrily.

"O Sage, I speak with all sincerity. I will keep my word."

"I take you at your word, then," responded the sage, "You are already indebted to me; you owe me the fees for the Rajasuya sacrifice which I had asked you to hold in trust for me."

"I will pay the fees whenever you demand, O Viswamitra."

"Okay; get back to your capital and arrange to hand over your kingdom and all your wealth."

Viswamitra held Harischandra to his words and went the next day to gain control of the kingdom and all the palace wealth. Harischandra gave up all that and also the ornaments of his queen.

"O sage, what more should I give you/"

"Who is the king of Kosala now," roared Viswamitra.

"Viswamitra," echoed Harischandra.

"Listen to my royal command, " repled Viswamitra, "You should leave my kingdom immediately with your wife only with the clothes you are wearing."

Harischandra observed with utmost devotion, "Your command will be obeyed." Accompanied by his wife, Chandramati and their boy Rohita, Harischandra started leaving the capital.

"Before you go, Harischandra, you have to pay me the fees for the Rajasuya which you owe me and which I had entrusted to you."

"I have now nothing which I call my own, except the clothing you have permitted me to retain. Please give me time to discharge the debt I owe you. In a month, I will pay back the sum."

"I agree; a month from now, I will come to collect the fees."

Harischandra took leave of his creditor amidst the cries of his subjects who got wind of the actions of the truthful king, "O king, how can a casually uttered word bind you? Your virtue is ruining us all. You cannot desert us. We will come with you."

Harischandra exhorted his subjects that their duty was to serve the new king. The troubles he had to face were of his own making and the subjects should not suffer on this account. Their new king was a royal sage, famous and possessed of marvellous powers. The new king's actions were prompted by some divine providence, which was inscrutable. It was the duty of the subjects never to swerve from virtue and the path of righteousness.

Viswamitra commanded his troops to tell Harischandra to stop this wasteful exhortation and to proceed forthwith out of the kingdom. Harischandra at once stopped talking and left the capital with his wife and son.

The threesome had to beg for their foot at the Dharmasalas on the way and to do manual work to earn their livelihood. They proceeded towards Kashi to wash away their sons in the sacred waters of the Ganga. As they entered the gates of the holy city of Kashi, Viswamitra was there to encounter them, "This is just to remind you: today is the day when you should repay the debt you owed me." Harischandra counted the days and realized that Viswamitra spoke the truth. Though dismayed, he immediately gained his courage and said to himself that he still had half-a-day before him during which time he should try to earn to repay the debt. Viswamitra said, "If you tell me that you would not pay me or even say that you do not owe me anything, I will not bother you any more. I can write off the debt." Harischandra replied vehemently, "O Sage, it is a fact that I owe you Rajasuya sacrifice fees. I will try to pay you before the end of the day."

The sage departed leaving Harischandra to work out a strategy. He set to thinking of ways he can raise money: What if I sell myself as a slave to some rich merchant and discharge the sage's debt? Oh no, what will happen to his wife and his son if he parted from them? Chandramati suggested that she and her son could be sold instead so that Harischandra could repay the debt, earn some livelihood later and buy them back.

Harischandra saw the strength of Chandramati's arguments. He took the wife and son to the market-place of the city and loudly announced, choking with tears, that his son and wife were for sale. A brahman came to him and said that his young wife needed the services of a servant-maid and offered to by only Chandramati and said that he had no use for the boy. Chandramati pleaded with the brahman that she would teach her son to do menial work and make him useful in the master's household. Finally the deal was struck, the brahman bought both of them paying a small additional sum and took them to his house.

Instantly, Viswamitra appeared. Harischandra paid him the the entire amount which he had received from the brahman.

"This is not even half of what you owe me," noted Viswamitra, in anger.

"True, Sage. I will give you the balance in a short time," implored Harischandra.

"The day is coming to a close; you have not kept your promise. I see you are a promise-breaker. Just tell me you owe me nothing, I will set you free of your debt."

"I deserve your anger, Sage. I do owe you money and I have to discharge your debt. I have just sold my wife and my son and repayed your debt in part. Please give me one more hour, just before sunset; I will try to sell myself and repay your debt in full."

"How many times should I be coming to you? Anyway, it is only one hour before sunset. Let me see." So saying, the angry creditor sage went away.

Harischandra returned to the market and starting crying aloud to everyone's hearing: "I am available as a slave to be bought with money, while the sun is still shining in the west."

Nobody was prepared to pay the price he was quoting. An executioner, the head of the local cemetery stepped up to take a deep look at Harischandra. He was fould-smelling, disfigured, uncouth, with a long, repulsive face, projecting teeth and a beard, dark-complexioned, pendulous belly, tawny eyes. He carried some birds, he had a skull in his hand and adorned himself with the garlands taken from the corpses. He was surrounded by a pack of dogs and was heard cursing in harsh tones. He also a carried a long staff. In sum, his appearance created fear and was repulsive.

"Who are you?" asked Harischandra when the cemetery-keeper offered to buy him.

"My name is Pravira, an expert executioner of the city. I am the guard of the cemetery at the south-western end of the city. My job is to despatch those who are condemned to death, to gather clothes of the dead brought to my cemetery."

Harischandra was wondering if he should accept to be the slave of Pravira. Viswamitra appeared on the scene and prodded, "Why are you hesitant to be his slave when he is offering you money enough to repay my debt?"

Harischandra pleaded, "O Sage, make me your slave for the balance of the money I owe you. I will obey your commands. I belong to the race of solar ancestry among kings. Please save me from becoming a slave to a cemetery-keeper."

"Just tell me that you do not owwe me anything more and I will let you free as a free man."

"How can I say that? I still owe you money," Harischandra pointed out.

"So you want to be my slave?" asked the creditor.

"Yes, sir. I beg of you. Please take me as your slave," said the debtor Harischandra.

"I agree. Now that you are my slave, I discharge you from the debt. But I am selling you right now to this cemetery-keeper for the sum he has offered."

The executioner was happy that he got the slave he had bargained for. He paid the money to Viswamitra and led Harischandra away to his house near the cemetery.

Harischandra's job at the cemetery was to collect for his master the cemetery fees from those coming to bury or burn the dead and to gather the discarded clothes of the corpses.

"Stay on this burial ground night and day and watch out for the corpses to arrive. Collect the fees strictly from everyone. Divide the collection into six parts; one part is for the king, three parts are for me; two parts will be your wages. You are also to execute the criminals condemned to death."

Harischandra worked for 12 months in this job. He was loyal to his master. His appearance was slowly changing like his master; with dishevelled hair, shoddy beard, emaciated and with protruding bones from his chest. He heard the crackling sounds of the burning faggots on the funeral pyres and howling of the jackals. He was frequently reminding himself of his wife and son and would often join the lamenting funeral parties and join in the loud lamentations remembering the dead. He reassured himself that he had done the right thing to avoid being untruthful and to avoid being unfaithful. He reminded himself of his priest Vasishta's saying that Dharma was the only light that mortals had on earth and everything else was illusion caused by ajnaana (ignorance). He had to walk by this light wherever it led him. He had to do his duty by the light whether he was the king of solar ancestry or as the assistant keeper of the Varanasi cemetery. It was not for him to choose.

A year passed by. One night, a ragged and destitute woman brought to the burning ground her own arms the body of her son. He was a small boy. He had died of snake-bite. She had also brought with her a bundle of sticks for the funeral pyre. Harischandra demanded of her the prescribed fees for the cremation. She pleaded with him that she was a destitute and could not pay. Harischandra refused to prepare for the cremation. He said that he could exempt his own share but he had to collect at least the king's share and his master's share of the fees. He saw a little jewel of gold hanging from her neck, mostly hidden by her ragged clothes and suggested that this be sold to pay the reduced fees he was demanding. On hearing this, the woman started crying, "O gods, what sins have I committed that the sacred symbol of my marriage which till now was visible only to my husband should be seen my the cemetery assistant/"

Harischandra was startled. He peered into the face through the enveloping darkness and asked, "Who was your husband?" She replied, sobbing, "My husband was once a king, a cruel creditor had forced him to sell her and her their son in the market of Varanasi." Harischandra saw what he was upto and fell on the dead body, crying, "O Rohita, Rohita darling son, my son! I am your father here, come to me dear child. O my god what snake was it, what were you doing, how did it happen? O god, I can't bear this anymore."

It was indeed Chandramati, Harischandra's wife who had brought her son to the burning ground at the dead of night. They recognized each other and wept together, caressing the lifeless corpse of their son lying on their laps. They resolved not to outlive their child. They wanted to get into the pyre and put an end to their lives also. But then, the problem of the cremation of the boy had to be resolved. Harischandra had to collect his fees. He told Chandramati to get back to her master and beg of him the money needed for the cremation of the boy. Chandramati had no options, she had to leave the cemetery.

As she was returning home, groping through the darkness, a man with a small bundle in his hand accosted her, "Who are you? Why are you weeping? Why are you here in this dark hour of the night?" Chandramati related the story and asked the man to show her the way to the master's house. The man, hearing the heartrending story said, "You do not have to go all the way to your master's house. Take this bundle. It has some jewelw. You can use the jewels to pay the cremation fee." He thrust the bundle into her hands and ran away into the woods, in the darkness of the night. Chandramati was left alone in utter fright. She heard the oncoming sounds of horses' hoofs. Beams of penetrating light were also seen. They were the police of the city on horseback in pursuit of the thief who had burgled into a house, strangled a sleeping child and had stolen the jewels on the child's body. The police saw the woman with the bundle in her hands and thought that she was the thief. Her extreme poverty and ragged clothes made her look like a criminal in the eyes of the police.

She was taken prisoner and taken to the magistrate's court and a complaint was lodged against her. "Ogre, don't you have any children? How heartless can you be that you stole a child's jewels?" shouted the magistrate. Chandramati narrated her story and explained how the bundle had come to be in her hands. The magristrate did not believe her, "You are a murderer and a thief. Don't add another attribute of being a liar."

The magistrate condemned her to death before sunrise the next morning and she was led away to the chief executioner of the city. Harischandra was on vigil near the body of his son awaiting the arrival of his wife with the cremation fee. She was being led in chains to the block for being executed as a criminal. Harischandra saw this and could scarcely believe his eyes. He ran toward the place of execution. He was stopped on the way by a boy who brought the master's message: Pravira wanted Harischandra to at once fetch the axe and execute the criminal who was being led to the block. Harischandra was reeling under the impact of horror upon horror being heaped on him. He was rendered speechless, momentarily.

The execution had to go on. The orders of the master keeper of the cemetery were unequivocal and very clear. Harischandra brought the axe and proceeded to the place of execution. The guards read out the orders of the magistrate. It was not for Harischandra to question the orders nor to produce counter-evidence to prove the victim's innocence. He was only the slave of his master whose orders had to be carried out. Chandramati looked at Harischandra with a stony, cold stare. Her agony was too deep for tears. As though by mutual consent, the husband and wife refused to recognize each other, they didn'' say a word in the presence of the guards. They had to go through the final stages of their tragic lives and get on with it and meet on the other side of death.

Harischandra took the axe in both his hands, closed his eyes in speechless torment of prayer and started lifting the axe up over his head and as he was bringing down the axe, his hands were seized from behind by Viswamitra who had now appeared on the scene. Gods gathered aaround in heaven watching the ordeals of the king.

Viswamitra acknowledged his defeat to Vasishta and announced, "O Harischandra, your is now alive. You and your wife have a merited place in heaven by your adherence unswervingly to virtue in the most trying circumstances. All your troubles so far are merely illusion created by me."

Indra the king of the gods explained to Harischandra how his virtue was being put to test. He welcomed the couple to heaven and asked him to install the son on the throne of Kosala.

Prahlada

2009-08-08T14:50:00.000+05:30

Hiranyakasipu was the king of Daityas. He performed tapas and got a boon from Brahma: he could not be slain by man or beast. He became arrogant with the boon. He thought he was so powerful that he could terrorize all the three worlds. He also thought that there was no need for an Almighty God to rule this universe. He hated all believers in God and treated them as his enemies. His tyranny was such that he asked his subjects to worship him as God and to give up all their current religious practices. All the temples in his kingdom were destroyed and the ancient scriptures were burnt. He decreed that religion was forbidden at home and at school. Any citizen could utter the name of God to his or her children only on pain of execution. All officers of his kingdom were asked to propagate the message that there was no one higher than Hiranyakasipu in the entire universe. Prahlada was Hiranyakasipu's son. He got his education in a gurukulam for some years and learnt all the arts befitting a prince. Prahlada visited Hiranyakasipu together with his teacher during Prahlada's stay in the gurukulam. Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada, "What have you learnt so far, my son?" "Dear father, let me tell you the essence of all that I have learnt so far. I adore Him who is without beginning, middle or end; He is the imperishable Lord of the Universe and the First Cause." These words pierced Hiranyakasipu's heart like arrows and provoked the king in utter rage. Hiranyakasipu's eyes became red with anger and he was trembling with emotion. He turned towards the teacher and asked him what type of teaching he had been imparting to Prahlada. "O King!," replied the teacher politely, "I did not teach Prahlada what he has just told you. I am myself surprised by Prahlada's conviction and at what he said." Hiranyakasipu now turned towards Prahlada, "Who has taught you these vile lessons about the imperishable Lord? Your teacher denies it." "O father! The God of gods is the Supreme instructor of the entire universe. Can you not see His teaching on all material and natural objects of the world-on rocks and trees, in the sky and oceans and most importantly, in the face of man?" "Who is the God of gods you are talking about? I am the only sovereign of the three worlds!" Hiranyakasipu exclaimed. "Human beings are too frail to describe the glory of God. God is only to be meditated upon in utter devotion. All things emanate from the Supreme God and all things abide in Him." "You fool, my son! Do you want to die? How can you call someone else supreme while I am around?" "The Supreme God is the creator, protector and destroyer of everything in the universe. He is also your Lord, my father. Why do you feel offended by this truth?" "Evil spirits have entered your heart. Only a possessed person can utter such words." Hiranyakasipu tried hard to fathom the mind of his son. "Not only in my heart, God has entered into all hearts. God is all pervasive. We, you and I, live and move only because of Him." Hiranyakasipu had had enough of the wretched words, "Take this fool of Prahlada away to his teacher's house. I will speak to the teacher later." After some months, Prahlada was beckoned into the presence of Hiranyakasipu, "Now tell me, if you have learnt any good verses." "May He grace us! May He, who moves everything May He, who is the cause of creation, animate and inanimate May He, the God of gods bless us!" Hiranyakasipu was livid with anger, "Kill this wretched boy! He deserves to die. He is a disgrace to the clan of Hiranyakasipu." "God is present in the weapons of your soldiers and also in my body, so they cannot hurt me," said Prahlada exuding confidence. Hiranyakasipu drew his sword and struck at Prahlada. Prahlada felt no pain. The king's sword did not even leave a scratch. Hiranyakasipu struck repeatedly but with no impact. Hiranyakasipu got exasperated, "Chain up Prahlada and lodge him in the dungeon." Hiranyakasipu tried all types of tortures: throwing Prahlada among poisonous snakes, trampling by furious elephants, tricks of sorcery, and scorching with flames, but to no avail. None of these tortures could hurt Prahlada a bit. In one instance, Prahlada prayed to God to show mercy on the sorcerers and brought them back to life even though they had been consumed in the flames they tried to throw at Prahlada. As the magicians came back to life, they bowed to Prahlada and thanked him for his generosity. Hiranyakasipu was wondering how Prahlada was able to counter the magical arts of the sorcerers, "Wherefrom did you attain these magical powers?" "Father," replied Prahlada, "If we think of no evil to others, we have nothing to fear. I see the same God in all beings as in my own soul. One whose heart is filled with the Supreme Being sees the same Lord everywhere. Father, the power I possess is possessed by all whose hearts recognize the God of gods abiding in them." Hiranyakasipu was shaking with fury as he listened to the words of his son, Prahlada. He ordered his palace servants to throw the boy down from the palace tower so that his body will be smashed to pieces on the ground. The goddess earth received Prahlada gently in her lap as the guards of the palace hurled Prahlada down. Hiranyakasipu ordered that the boy be bound and thrown into the ocean. The Daityas who carried our the orders reported failure: "O King, the boy started floating in the waters. The ocean was in fury and threatened to submerge the earth with its waves." Hiranyakasipu ordered that rocks be tied on with Prahlada so that he and the rocks will sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Prahlada started praying: "Glory to thee, O Supreme Being". You as Brahma created this world; as Vishnu, You preserve this world; and as Rudra, You destroy it. Thou art everything, all things are only Your forms. Thou art everywhere, here at the bottom of the ocean as also in the sky high above. I am everlasting, imperishable and unchangeable because I am one with Thee." Thus meditating, Prahlada was lost in prayer and became one with the object of his meditations. At once, the bonds which bound him were burst asunder, the piles of rock crumbled into sand and he came up floating on the waves. As he floated on the tossing waves, Prahlada praised the Lord's glory: "Thou art perceptible and imperceptible; divisible and indivisible; definable and indefinable; mutable and immutable; Thou are both one and many. You are the First Cause of the Universe."

The Supreme Being now appeared before Prahlada, "Child, your trials are over now. I am pleased with your faithful devotion to me. What boon do you demand?"

Prahlada replied prayerfully, "In all my births, my faith in Thee should not decay!" "I know your devotion will be unwavering. Now choose another boon." "O Supreme Being! Pardon my father for punishing me just because I was praising Thee. Free him from ignorance and sin." "I grant the boon you desire. Now choose another boon for yourself." "All my desires are fulfilled by the boon you granted me that my devotion in You will not decay. I need no other boon." "Those shall live in me for ever." So saying, the Supreme Being vanished from Prahlada's sight. The king Hiranyakasipu was now a changed man. He embraced Prahlada, "Are you alive, my dear child? I repent for my cruelty. I now believe in the Supreme Being."

NOTES: This is the ending in story line of the Vishnu Purana. The Bhagavata Purana relates that Hiranyakasipu demanded his son Prahlada to prove that God existed everywhere and asked if He was in the pillar of the hall in the palace. Hiranyakasipu struck the pillar with his fist and God came out in the form of a man with a lion's head and tore the tyrant king into pieces. He was Narasimha who had to adopt this hybrid man-animal form because Hiranyakasipu had obtained a boon that he would be killed neither by man nor animal. The boon did not bar the king being killed by a hybrid form.

INDIAN EPICS

2009-08-08T14:49:00.000+05:30

Bharata

2009-08-05T20:44:00.002+05:30

Bharata was the second brother of LordRama and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi of the Solar Dynasty in the Hindu epic Ramayana .He is considered to be born in the aspect of the Sudarshana Chakra, the most famous of Vishnu`s Panchayudhas. Although the Ramayana describes all four brothers as loving and devoted to one another Shatrughna was close to Bharata and Lakshmana was close to Rama was the common notion. He was married to Mandavi daughter of King Janaka`s brother Kushadhvaja, and hence a cousin ofSita. They had two sons, Taksha and Pushkala.

The Ramayana is the story of how Rama was sent to exile in the forest for 14 years by Dasratha on the advice of Kaikeyi in order to put Bharata her own son on the throne of Ayodhya..Bharata was away from Ayodhya when Rama went to exile .When he returned and heard about Rama`s exile he declared his intention of bringing Rama back from the forests, and if need be, of serving out his exile for him. When the people of Ayodhya and the numerous allies of Rama heard of this, their scorn and hatred towards Bharata (born out the assumption that he had a role in Rama`s exile) dissolved, and he was immediately made immortal in fame to the world by his selflessness, honour for his family`s fame and tradition, adherence to truth and righteousness and last but not least, love for his older brother.Ayodhya`s guru Vasishta stated that no one had learned the lessons of dharma better than Bharata.

When Bharata met Rama and Lakshmana in the forest and delivered the painful news of their father`s death he pleaded Rama to return to Ayodhya as the new emperor .Rama refused this on the ground that such a deed would be unrighteous . Upon an explanation from King Janaka that since Bharata`s love for Rama was unparalleled it became his duty to enable Rama to live righteously,and therefore Bharata gave up his efforts to take Rama back to Ayodhya before the completion of the fourteen years .Before leaving he vowed to Rama that if Rama did not return immediately after the completion of fourteen years ,he would give his life up by immolation.He agreed to govern Ayodhya not as its ruler but only as Rama`s representative.The people supported Bharata, as he became the `king` of Kosala and Ayodhya, but Bharata himself placed Rama`s sandals at the foot of the royal throne, and neither sat upon the throne nor crowned himself. Bharata`s reign was righteous and the kingdom was safe and prosperous but Bharata waited for Rama`s return .During this time he diligently served Kousalya ,Rama`s mother and Sumitra ,Lakshmana`s mother.

Upon Rama`s return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana ,Bharata led the procession to greet the rightful king and queen and his brother Lakshmana.When Rama decided to retire,Bharata and Shatrughna joined him. When Rama walked into the river Sarayu, he transformed into his eternal and original Mahavishnu form, which Bharata and Shatrughna walked into the river also and united with him.

Dasaratha

2009-08-05T20:42:00.002+05:30

Dasaratha was the great king in the epic Ramayana, who was the father of Rama, the hero of the epic and the avatar of Lord Vishnu. Dasaratha was the scion of Raghuvamsa and the king of Ayodhya. He had three wives namely Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. The son of Kaushalya was Rama, son of Kaikeyi was Bharata and son of Sumitra were Lakshman and Shatrughna. Dasaratha and Kaushalya had one daughter, named Shanta, who was the wife of Ekashringa.

Four key events of Ramayana direct the entire tragedy of king Dasaratha`s life. The first story is about Dasaratha and Ravana. Hearing Dasaratha`s fame Ravana felt jealous and sent messengers to his court asking for his homage and regard otherwise threatened for the war. In reply Dasaratha shot off arrows and told the messengers that when they will return to Lanka they would found that main gates of Lanka to be shut closed by the arrows. Ravana felt humiliated at this defeat and took it as his insult. He also realized that king Dasaratha was superior to him. Then Ravana took a severe penance to pacify Lord Brahma. When Brahma appeared before Ravana, he asked him not to bless Dasaratha with the gift of child.

Dasaratha was famous for his miraculous ability to hunt blind and shooting arrows by hearing the sound only. Once during one of his hunting expeditions, Dasaratha heard a noise resembling elephant drinking water and shot an arrow in the direction in quest of his prey. But to his astonish Dasaratha noticed that he had instead shot an young boy named as Sravana Kumar who was collecting water in a pitcher for his blind parents. Sravanakumar was the only child of his parents and his parents were totally dependent on him. Sravana used to carry his parents everywhere on two pans of balance supported on his shoulder and collect water to quench their thirst.

At his death Sravana was inconsolable at the thought that his parents would be without any support to protect them. As his dying wish, Sravana asked the king to carry water to his thirsty parents. Dasaratha carried the water to the old couple and they drank the water without knowing that it was not being offered by their son. The king then hesitantly narrated the death incident of Sravanakumar to his parents. The old couple was so distressed at the pathetic news of the death of their son that Sravana`s father cursed king Dasaratha that one day he too would suffer from `Putrasoka`(grief of separation from one`s son). The old couple then sacrificed their lives, as they did not want to live anymore after consuming water offered by their son`s killer.

Dasaratha also fought for the gods in the battle against Asuras and Kaikeyi acted as his charioteer. Kaikayi saved Dasaratha`s life during the battle. Dasaratha was so pleased with Kaikeyi that he asked her to wish two boons, on which Kaikeyi said that she would ask when she wished to avail them.

These three incidents played a significant role to make Dasaratha`s fate. By Ravana`s wish he had no sons, which he was able to overcome by performing the horse sacrifice to obtain children. Dasaratha was blessed with four sons. When the boys were grown up, Dasaratha decided to retire and embrocate his eldest son Rama to the throne of Ayodhya. Before the anoint ceremony took place Kaikeyi asked Dasaratha to grant him boons according to good old promise. She asked for the first boon her son Bharata`s enthronement instead of Rama and for the second boon she asked Rama`s exile to forest for fourteen years. Dasaratha was helpless and he must grant the boons to maintain the truth, which was `Kshatriya dharma`. After Rama left Ayodhya Dasaratha could not bear the pain of the seperation from his most beloved son. Unable to withstand the anguish, the dispirited king Dasaratha died out of grief and pain and thus Sravana`s blind parent`s curse came true.

Kaikasi

2009-08-05T20:41:00.001+05:30

Kaikasi was one of the daughters of Sumali and Ketumati, the Rakshasas. She was married to Muni Visravas and the mother of Ravana.
Sumali with his family lived for a long time in Patala, the Naraka. He once visited the earth and wanted his daughter Kaikasi to entice Visravas. Visravas was mesmerized by her beauty and married her. She gave birth to Ravana, the huge Kambhakarna who grew up in the forest.

Sumantra

2009-08-05T20:40:00.000+05:30

In the Hindu mythology it is mentioned that Sumantra was the chief counselor Of Maharaja Dasaratha.

Sumatra once made a prophecy that Aswamedha was to be performed by the Rishi Sringa. He pacified the infant Rama with a mirror. Sumantra was sent by Vasishtha to summon the Maharaja to the ceremony of the crowning of Rama as the King. Kaikeyi, Dasarath`s wife intervened and desired Sumatra to bring Lord Rama into their presence, and on his arrival she informed him of a previous promise of Maharaja and stated that he should go into exile. Sumantra reproached Kaikeyi but all in vain. Sumantra then drove Rama and Sita out of Ayodhya in the royal chariot, and on his return to the palace delivered Rama`s parting message to Dasaratha

Sarama

2009-08-05T20:38:00.000+05:30

In the epic Ramayana it is said that Sarama is one of the female guardians placed over Sita when she was a captive in Lanka. Sarama is an elderly Rakshasi differed from the others, and was of a kind disposition. The beauty and misfortune of the gentle princess sita touched her with pity. In the extremity of Sita`s distress, when an attempt had been made to convince her that Rama was dead then Sarama took the fainting Sita in her arms. Sarama then bending tenderly over her whispered comforting words in her ears and said that Rama was not dead and that it was cruel trick of magic meant for her. Then Sarama told how she had heard, Ravana planning this scheme for persuading Sita to believe that her husband is dead. Sarama then kindly narrated to Sita the landing of a vast army of Rama that seemed to have sprung from the bosom of the sea.

Sita

2009-08-05T20:37:00.002+05:30

In Hindu mythology, Sita is the spouse of Rama the esteemed as an exemplarily of womanly and wifely virtue. She sprang from a furrow when king Janaka was plowing his field and Rama won her as his bride by bending Shiva`s bow.

Sita`s abduction by the demon king Ravana and subsequent rescue are described in the Ramayana. She kept herself chaste during her long imprisonment, and on her return she proved her purity by undergoing an ordeal by fire. A symbol of the sufferings and strengths of women, she is one of the most revered figures in the Hindu pantheon.

Thataka

2009-08-05T20:35:00.000+05:30

Thataka was a beautiful Yaksha princess who turned into demoness in the epic Ramayana. Thataka was the daughter and only child of the Yaksha king Suketu. Thataka had a romance with Asura king Sumali. She had two sons with Sumali, Subahu and Mareecha and a daughter Kaikesi. Thataka and Sumali decided to marry their daughter to the sage Vishrava so that she could have the progeny that would be omnipotent and ruler of the three worlds. They organized a meeting between Kaikesi and Vishrava , in a way that it seemed to be a `chance encounter` and the Rishi, who was already married could fell in love with Kaikesi. Kaikesi and Vishrava had three sons namely Ravana, Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna and a daughter named Soorpanakha.

Rishi Agastya cursed both Suketu and Sumali to death. Thataka took the curse on herself through her son Subahu to take revenge on the sage. As a result sage Agastya was enraged and cursed Thataka that she will lose her beautiful physique and both Thataka and her son Subahu would be transformed to horrific demonic creatures with cruel, cannibalistic nature.

Tathaka and Subahu became revengeful on sages and they attempted to harass as many rishis as they could by destroying their Yagnas (sacrifice) with rains of flesh and blood. Brahmarishi Vishwamitra was especially the goal of Thataka. Vishwamitra could bear no more Thataka`s harassment. He finally approached King Dasaratha and sought his help.The King send two of his four sons, sixteen years old Rama and Lakshman to the forest to protect both sage Vishwamitra and his Yajna.

When Thataka and Subahu attempted again to destroy the Yajna of Vishwamitra, rama first warned them not to do so. They did not listened to him and laughed at Rama by calling him a `mere boy`. Rama then killed both the mother and son. This act helped Thataka to gain the blessings of Vishwamitra and all other assembled sages.

Surpanakha

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Surpanakha is a Rakshasi (female demon) of Ramayana, who is the sister of Ravana. The word Surpanakha literally means the lady with sharp nails.

Once Surpankha saw Rama in the forest of Panchavati and immediately falls in love of him. She desired to have Rama and disguised herself as a beautiful woman by using the power of Maya. Surpanakha in the guise of young human lady appeared before Rama like a full moon. Her slender frame was like a golden creeper and her lovely lips and teeth perfectly matched with her fawn-like eyes. Her gait was that of a peacock and her anklets made music as she proceeded. Surpanakha came near Rama and bowed low to touch his feet. Rama enquired about her origin. Surpanakha replied that she was the daughter of grandson of Brahma and Kubera was her brother. After that Surpanakha praised Rama`s masculine beauty and asked him to marry her. Rama said that he is already married and is `Ekapatnivrata` meaning `loyal to one wife only`.

Rama asked her to approach his brother Lakshman. But Lakshman enjoyed teasing her and said that he was his brother`s servant. Hence, it would be better for Surpanakha to be Rama`s second wife rather than his first wife. Surpanakha became angry and made abusive remark about Sita. Lakshman could not control his rage and cut off Surpanakha`s nose and ears. In some versions of Ramayana, Lakshman cut Surpanakha`s breasts too.

To avenge this insult, Surpanakha returned to the forest accompanied by his two brothers khara and Dushana. They had a battle with Rama and Lakshman but both Khara and Dushanas were defeated and killed in the war. Surpanakha then returned to Lanka and cried before his brother Ravana and pleaded to take revenge of her great insult. Ravana became vindictive and took Maricha with him and made plans to retaliate his sister surpanakha`s humiliation.

Sugreeva

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In Hindu mythology Sugreeva was the younger brother of Vali, and the ruler of the kingdom Kishkindha. In some legends Sugreeva is depicted as son of Surya, the sun God. As the leader of monkeys Sugriva helped Rama to search and liberate his wife, Sita from the captivity of Rakshasa king Ravana.

Another legend says that Sugreeva is the son of Ahalya and Indra. Ahalya was the beautiful wife of Sage Gautama. Lord Indra and Surya came in the guise of sage Gautama and they had union with Ahalya. Ahalya had two sons, Sugreeva and Vali, who came from Indra and Surya respectively. At first they both were human beings but as soon as sage Gautama came to know that they were not his sons he threw Vali and Sugreeva in oceans and cursed them to turn into monkeys.

Vali ruled the kingdom of Kishkindha to the subjects of Vanara or monkeys. Tara was his wife and Sugreeva was his brother. At first the two brothers were very closed to each other. One day, a raging demon came to the gate of the capital and challenged Vali in a fight. Vali accepted the challenge but as soon as he proceeded towards the demon it was afraid and flew away in a deep cave. Vali entered the cave chasing the demon and asked his younger brother Sugreeva to guard the entrance of the cave. Sugreeva waited there for a long time but nobody came out.

Instead Sugreeva could hear great roar of the demon and the blood oozed out from the mouth of the cave. Sugreeva with a heavy heart concluded that his bother Vali had died in the battle and sealed the mouth of the cave by rolling a boulder. He returned to the Kishkindha and gave the news to other monkeys. He then took the charge of the kingdom as the ruler. But Vali was alive and conquered the battle. When ultimately he could return home he found that Sugreeva had become the king of Kishkindha. Vali decided that his brother Sugreeva had betrayed him. Though Sugreeva humbly tried to explain everything but Vali was not ready to listen anything. As a result he banished Sugreeva from Kishkindha and the two brothers, who were once good friends, became enemies.

In exile, Sugriva met Shri Rama, who was the avatar of Vishnu. Rama was searching for his wife Sita who was kidnapped and captivated by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Sugreeva joined Rama in quest of Sita. Rama promised in return that he would kill Vali and would re-enthrone Sugreeva as the king of Kishkindha.

Rama and Sugreeva went for Vali. Rama stood back while Sugreeva accused Vali for taking over his wife and kingdom and challenged him in a fight. The two monkey brothers, Vali and Sugreeva rushed to each other, fighting with trees and stones and with fist, teeth and nails. They both look alike and indistinguishable in the eyes of the observer. So Sugreeva`s counceller Hanuman stepped forward and put a garland of flowers around Sugreeva`s neck. Rama then could easily distinguish Vali and killed him by driving an arrow through Vali`s heart. When Vali had expired Sugreeva married his widow Tara and anointed in the throne of Kishkindha.

Sugreeva sent his most trusted companion Hanuman to find Sita. Hanuman returned with the news that Ravana, the demon king had captivated Sita in his island fortress of Lanka. When Rama decided to set for Lanka, Sugreeva also joined him along with his monkey-army to help him. When the army reached the seashore they built a special bridge across the sea to reach Lanka. The army also protected Rama in his citadel. After the great battle, Rama killed Ravana and Sita was liberated.

During the battle Sugreeva almost died when he decided to face a Rakshasa Kumbhakarna, the brother of Ravana. Sugreeva attacked the demon with the trunk of the Sala tree. The tree merely broke over Kumbhakarna`s head. The demon then caught hold of Sugreeva and dragged him off. He was sure to kill him but Rama`s brother Lakshman interfered and saved Sugreeva`s life.