Let me start off by saying, my dad was actually telling me the opening over winter break and explaining its significance one day.
Shantanu
- king of Hastinapura
- convinces a woman he meets by the river to marry him
- she marries on one condition that he never question her and the day he does she will leave
- they get married and child after child is born, she drowns each newborn into the river
- ah, the king breaks and asks his wife why she is drowning the children
- wife explains that these 8 kids are the eight gods, Vasus, who are being punished for stealing Vashishtha's cow by being incarnated in human form
- wife disappears with eighth child and later returns him to king when he is grown
- baby = Bhishma
- Falls in love again with Satyavati, fisherman's daughter
- some stipulations...dad won't approve since there is already a successor to the throne of Shantanu
- Bhishma gives up the right and says he won't even have kids to help his dad at a chance for love
- S & S have 2 kids, Chtrangada (becomes king soon dies) and Vichitravurya (too young so Bhishma = regent)
- Bhishma brings all 3 girls from the swayamvara for Vich, but Amba had promised herself to king of Shalwa
- Amba get rejected by King of Shalwa bc of she having lived in another's man's house
- Amba vows revenge
- Ambika and Ambalika marry Vich
Satyavati's First born
- Vich dies without leaving an heir, Satyavati tells Bhishma to sleep w/ Vich's widows
- Bhishma says NO, can't break his vow
- Satyavati says the person who slept with her (rishi named Parashara), originally changed her from smelling like a fish to always having a floral smell
- from that union child is Vyasa, who has a repelling appearance
- Sleeps with Ambika
- see closes her eyes, son, Dhritarashtra, is born blind
- Sleeps with Ambalika
- she's pale at time of union, baby is pale
- baby = Pandu
- Ambalika has her servant sleep with him...servant like him
- baby = Vidura = flawless
Struggles for Kids
- Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari, who covers her eyes to share husband's blindness
- has 100 kids = Karuavas
- eldest = Duryodhana
- Pandu marries Kunti and Madri
- cursed by deer who were having sex and Pandu had shot them
- deer = celestial being in disguise
- Curse = Pandu will die while making love
- Kunti has mantras for getting kids
- gift for her kindness from Sage Durvasa
- 1st child with Surya, she put Karna in a basket and put it in the river (rescued and raised by charioteer and wife)
- Pandu wants son so uses Kunti's ability
- Yama --> Yudhishthira
- Vayu --> Bhima
- Indra --> Arjuna
- Ashwins --> Sahadeva and Nakula
- 5 sons of Pandu = Pandavas
- can't resist his passion for Madri, he dies, Madri climbs his funeral pyre
- Kunti left to raise kids
New King
- Kunti and Pandavas are back to Hastinapura, where Dhritarashtra is king
- he raises his kids and the Pandavas together
- Duryodhana has a jealous/resentful streak
- tries to drown Bhima in a river
- Drona = boys guru
- trains them with his own son, Ashwatthaman
- Arjuna awarded secret weapon because of being the only one focused enough to pass it.
- saves Drona from crocodile
- recog publicly
- Karna arrives to challenge Arjuna.. Kunti recognizes Karna
- Guru Kripa asks Karna about parents to determine if royal lineage
- Duryodhana and Karna alias, makes him king of Anga
- Drona tells pupils to capture King Drupada, who had betrayed Drona
- Drona keeps 1/2 of King D's kingdom and gives 1/2 back
Fire
- Dhritarashtra names Yudhishthira as successor
- but his popularity among the people is a bit worrisome
- Duryodhana tells his dad to exile the boys
- sends Yudhishthira to Varanavata
- Purochana builds house of oil, resin, and straw for it to easily be a victim of a fire
- House of Joy for the Pandavas
- Pandavas are smart, escape through an underground tunnel
Hide...
- In the forest
- Bhima and Hidimbi, sister of a rakshasa that Bhima killed, have a kid named Ghatotkacha
- Kunti and Pandavas travel in the forest away from Hastinapura
- Pandavas in disguise as brahmins
- begging...Kunti divides the gatherings of the day
- Bhima battles Baka (a rakshasa)
- shocks everyone...how can a brahmin defeat a savage beast?
Draupadi's Bachelorette
- King Drupada holds a swayamvara for daughter Draupadi
- Guests:
- Pandavas
- Krishna and brother Balarama
- Karna and Duryodhana
- Arjuna (one of the Pandavas) strings the bow
- Kunti says the 5 must share Draupadi
- King is shocked that his daughter will have 5 husbands
- Vyasa explains about Draupadi's previous birth as Nalayani
- she was married to a sage
- sage slept with her in guise of 5 different men
- she prayed to Ishvara to give the 5 husband in her next life (in the form of Pandavas)
 |
| Pandavas Escaping the fire |
Bibliography. Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan, online pdf.
No comments:
Post a Comment