Mahabharata Reading Notes C



Image Details: Duryodhana, Source: Wikimedia

Duryodhana is still jealous of the Pandava's achievements while they are still in exile. Sakuni tells Duryodhana to go to the Kamyaka forest where the Pandava's are and where his finest clothes and jewels. This way it will make the Pandava's jealous and they will feel much lower than Duryodhana. Duryodhana goes to Kamyaka and holds feasts, dances, and entertainment to make the Pandava's feel jealous. Duryodhana tries to summon the Pandava's to his party; however, a gandharva refuses him passage and they get into a fight. The gandharva eventually imprisons Duryodhana and Yudhistira hears of his plight and asks Bhima to go and save him. Arjuna and Bhima go and save Duryodhana, who becomes ashamed that his plan did not work.

The Pandava's leave Kamyaka and go to the kingdom of Dwaitavana. They meet a brahmin there who proclaims that he lost all his elements for performing a ritual and requests the Pandava's to help him gather his elements back. As a kshatriya, Yudhistira felt that it was his duty to help the brahmin; however, when he shot at the deer needed for the ritual, it sprang away from him. The brother's eventually become tired and find a pool with sparkling water. The brother's drink from the pond and die because they did not heed to Yudhistira's warning that the pond was dangerous. It turns out this was a test from the gods to Yudhistira and eventually all the brothers are resurrected back to life.

With one year left on the Pandava's exile, they decide to go to Matsya, the kingdom of king Virata. They all decide to conceal their identities by posing to be other people. The Pandava's lived in peace for the next year in their new identities. However, one day the queen's brother, Kichaka, visits the kingdom and became enamored with Draupadi. As he pursued her, her husbands could do nothing as it would give away their identities. Kichaka assaults Draupadi when she refuses his advances. When she told the king of what happened, he didn't listen to her. Eventually, Draupadi enlists the help of Bhima, who kills Kichaka. People become terrified of Kichaka's death, even trying to kill Draupadi as they see her as an evil spirit. However, Draupadi tells the queen that no harm will fall on their kingdom as they let her stay there for thirteen more days.

Bibliography: R.K. Narayan, Mahabharata: A shortened modern prose version of the Indian epic, 1978. 

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