Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part A

The story starts off with an introduction about the author Vyasa and how he came to be. He was born because his "mother" Satyavati wanted to lose her fishy smell and the rishi Parashara granted her wish based on the condition that she remained a virgin.  We also meet Devavrata/Brishna. He's the son of King Shantanu and Ganga, and he is a human with divine powers. Ganga agreed to be the human mother of the 8 Vasnus as long as they promised to each give 1/8 of their power to her son. King Shantanu weds Ganga, and she makes him promise that he will not utter a bad word towards her or she will leave him. She has 7 kids with the king and casts them off one by one, until the king finally bursts and exclaims his horror. She leaves him, but leaves him Devavrata.  Later, the king falls in love with Satyavati and tries to marry her, but he cannot disinherit his son in place of hers. As a result, he leaves. Devavrata becomes Brishna when he renounces his claim to the throne. Then, Satyavati marries the king and bears 2 sons named Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Her sons ruled with Brishma as regent. When the king dies, Brishma goes to find 3 brides for Vichitravirya in Benares. He seizes them in a battle and escorts them to Hastinapura. He marries 2 of the brides except for Amba. She leaves and Shiva tells her that she will slay Bhishma in battle. Despite having 2 brides, Vichitravirya did not have any sons. She calls upon Vyasa for help, and he has a son Vidura who is the human incarnation of Dharma. He was raised along with 2 other brothers named Dhritarashtra (blind) and Pandu by Brishma. Pandu was chosen to be king and he later married Kunti. However, Kunti had a son named Karna before she met Pandu. She sent Karna away down the river as a baby and he was found and raised by Radha and Adhiratha. Pandu often went hunting in the mountains and shot 2 deer, which were a holy brahmin and Kunti in animal form. The brahmin died and cursed Pandu to die in the arms in one of his wives. Scared, Pandu went to live in solitude with his 2 wives. Pandu later dies in the arms of his wife Madri. He also had 5 "sons" Yudhishthira, Bhima, Vayu, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva and they were known as the Pandava brothers. Dhirarasthra has the "Kaurava Sons" and Duryodhana is his eldest and he is evil, proud, and jealous. Meanwhile, Kunti is struggling to raise Pandu's 5 sons, so she brings them to Hastinapura and they're raised with the Kauravas. However, Duryodhana is not happy that he is being raised with his cousins. Duryodhana tries to kills Bhima by poisoning him and throws him into the Ganges, but Bhima is saved by Vasuki, Aryaka, and his nagas. He is gifted with supernatural strength and he is advised to not tell his secret. Drona becomes the mentor to the Pandavas and Duryodhana grows more hateful and jealous of the brothers, especially Arjuna.  Each brother shows a strength through their training. Yudhisthira is a superman and a scholar and Arjuna is a noble warrior. Bhima wields a club, Nakula can tame steeds, and Sahadeva is a mighty swordsman with knowledge in astronomy. After their training, the Pandava brothers show their skills in a tournament. However, when Bhima and Duryodhana fight, Duryodhana takes it too far, and Arjuna intervenes. At the tournament, Karna also appears but doesn't know that he is the brother of Arjuna. With his mysterious appearance, Duryodhana takes advantage of the situation to make him his ally by proclaiming him to be the Rajah of Anga. The Pandava brothers are intimidated by Karna's strength and they are cautious of him. With their training completed, Drona asks them to bring about his revenge against King Drupada as payment for his services. They go to battle, and then Drupada asks to revive his friendship with Drona. Drona agrees if he is given half of his kingdom and Drupada agrees. Meanwhile, Duryodhana becomes more jealous as Yudhishthira is named the successor of Dhistarashtra's throne. As a result, he turns the king as Yudhisthira and asks him to build a palace filled with wooden furniture in Varanatava for the Pandavas to live in. He plans to set fire to the palace and kill the Pandavas and Kuti. He tells a captain Purochana his plan and he agrees to help him.

This story was very different from the Ramayana. It reads more like a soap opera that follows generations of one family. There is a large cast of characters, but they each play an important role in the story. As a result, the story is very intentional and is a little convoluted at times with all of the events and characters connecting together. It is a little convoluted because it jumps from character to character, but it does still show a cohesive story for the most part. Part A seems mostly character driven to set up the foundation of the story. This story doesn't feel as plot driven as the Ramayana, but I'm still excited to see what will happen next. This part set up the tension between the Kauravas and the Pamavanas, so I'm interested to see how their conflict develops. I also like the characters showed more moral ambiguity too. We have our "good" characters, but they don't exactly do the best things. Throughout the story, you can see how some characters become more corrupt, such as Drona.

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Pandava Brothers

Source: Wikipedia