THE KAURAVA MOTHER - GANDHARI

Gandhari, another important female character in the epic Mahabharata also underwent physical and mental sufferings like Kunti and Draupadi. Gandhari was the only daughter of the Gandhara king Subala with  hundred brothers, Shakuni being the youngest one. Gandhari made unparalleled sacrifices throughout her life. She imbibed strong moral values in her life.

King  Subala was worried when he came to know that Gandhari’s horoscope predicted that  her husband would die immediately after her marriage. To avert such calamities, he first performed her marriage to a goat, but misfortune for Gandhari didn’t stop there. Bhishma arrived and requested the king to give his daughter Gandhari in marriage to the blind Dhrutarashtra of the Kuru dynasty. It is then her high moral values surfaced and she wanted to identify completely with her husband. Hence she tied a piece of silk to her eyes voluntarily. The youngest brother Shakuni wasn’t happy with this. When sage Veda-Vyasa came to Hastinapur after marriage she served the sage with reverence and devotion. The sage granted her a boon and wished for a hundred sons. Thus Gandhari became a mother of hundred Kauravas, Duryodhana being the eldest one.

Gandhari was a loyal and a dedicated wife to Dhrutarashtra. She disliked her eldest son Duryodhana’s jealousy and hatred towards his cousins, the Pandavas. She tried to educate Duryodhana about the perils of jealousy. She even warned her brother Shakuni for misleading her son Duryodhana. She told them that hatred towards the Pandavas would ruin them. Unfortunately her advice went unheeded and Gandhari witnessed their destruction with agony and sorrow.

Gandhari had a good relationship with Kunti. Both of them were loving mothers. Despite the fact that they stood on opposite sides during the Kurukshetra war they supported and shared each other’s sorrow. Gandhari followed the Pativrata dharma which enabled her to attain great spiritual powers.

In the Kurukshetra war all of her sons except Duryodhana were killed. Duryodhana finally had to face Bheema and Gandhari wanted to save him. She asked him to stand before her naked and she would unfold the cloth which she covered her eyes with, and glance through his body which would give him a diamond strong body so that no one could defeat him in the war. Krishna heard about this and approached Duryodhana and chided him about appearing before his mother naked. Hence Duryodhana covered his thighs with the loins and appeared before his mother. When Gandhari removed her cloth to focus on Duryodhana’s body she was aghast that he had disobeyed her.

In the Kurukshetra war all her sons were killed. She was grief-stricken at the loss of her children. She cursed Krishna that the entire Yadava clan too would be destroyed and Krishna would also die like an ordinary man. Krishna accepted her curse gracefully. After the war Yudhishthira became the king. Dhrutarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti decided to leave Hastinapura for forest to engage themselves with this spiritual practice. In the forest they perished in the forest fire. Yudhishthira with a heavy heart performed their last rites.

Gandhari’s goodness and purity were severely tested. Her sorrow and agony on the loss of her sons touches one’s heart.

Born Of Fire: Draupadi

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. This is an old English adage. Draupadi was scorned, so she became a cause for the destruction of the Kauravas. Draupadi was the second most important female character after Kunti Devi in the Mahabharata. The most ignonimous insults that can be heaped on a woman was subjected to Draupadi.  Draupadi was most tortured, ill-treated and insulted lady character in the epic Mahabharatha.. In a way the Mahabharata starts and ends with Draupadi.

Mahabharata contains many twists and turns and the birth of Draupadi was one. She was born out of the “yagna” fire. The king of Panchala, Drupada, wanted a son who could kill Drona who had insulted him and he consulted two sages- Yaja and Upayaja to perform a suitable yajna to favour him a son. At the end of the yagna, Drupada was favoured with a son and a daughter. The boy was named Drishtadyumna and the girl was named Krishnaa and was also called Draupadi as she was Drupada’s daughter. When Draupadi grew up to a young lady,  king Drupada announced her swayamvara.  Arjuna (due to circumstances  the Pandavas were in the Brahmins’ disguise on the advice of Veda Vyasa at that time), won the hard test of archery and also won Draupadi.

Here life took a turn for Draupadi. The pandavas were very happy and when they returned home they announced to their mother Kunti who was in the kitchen. “Mother we have brought a special alm.” Kunti mistook it for eatable and said “Good. Share it equally among yourselves.” Hearing this the Pandavs were worried and they consulted Lord Krishna and many sages who told the Pandavas to fulfil their mother’s wish, even though the wish was announced by mistake. This is how Draupadi became Panchali (wife of the five pandavas).

Draupadi’s marriage didn’t end with happiness. Difficult days started as the Mahabharata had to happen. Fate decided a devious way in Draupadi’s life in such a way that good prevailed over evil. Yudishthira lost everything including Draupadi and his brothers in the deceitful game of dice. Duryodhana announced that Draupadi was his servant and asked his younger brother Dushyasana to bring Draupadi court. Dushyasana, being an evil mind,  brought her forcefully by holding her hair in spite of her opposition and disrobed her before the full court. Draupadi prayed hard to lord Krishna and he covered Draupadi by thousands of unseen sarees until dushyasana was tired. Deeply pained by this, Draupadi took an oath that till she apply the blood of kauravas to her hair and comb her hair with their bones, she will not fold her hair. Bhima, unable to control himself announced that he will fulfil her oath. This was the unseen beginning of the Kurukshetra war.

As per the agreement of the game of dice, Pandavas went to the forest and completed twelve years of their life in forest and one year of Agnyatavasa (incognito life ) and returned to Hastinapura and requested Duryodhana for their share of kingdom, but duryodhana refused to fulfil his part of the agreement. Thus the kurukshetra war became inevitable. The kurukshetra war was the ultimate game of fate where good prevailed over evil.

In the kurukshetra war, all the Kauravas were defeated and killed. Bheema as he had vowed, killed dushasana which fulfilled  Draupadi’s oath.   Draupadi’s difficult days were not over.  All her five sons called upapandavas were killed by kauravas unethically.  But the war was not completed because Ashwatthama, the son of Drona was still alive. He had a divine jewel on his head. He had it from birth. Until the jewel was removed he couldn’t be killed. Arjuna succeeded in removing the jewel and was about to kill Ashwatthama. Draupadi stopped Arjuna from killing him and said he was equal to Arjuna’s guru as he was the son of Drona, and he was the only son of Drona. Drona was already killed in the war and Ashwatthama’s mother was still alive and killing him also, causes unbearable grief to his mother.

Although Draupadi suffered unbearable insults, one can find a compassionate mind in her.

KUNTI DEVI

Kunti Devi was a model women in the history of mankind.  She stood for great ideals and practised it.  Boons and Curses are a part of the Mahabharata.  Once Kunthi served sage Durvasa with great devotion though she was very young.  Pleaed with her service,  Sage Durvasa blessed her with 5 divine manthras , on chanting each mantra, she would beget a child by the grace of the god of that mantra.  The sage taught  Kunti  the Mantras and said “Little child, if you chant these mantras and invite any of the gods they will grant you a child.. 

Kunti who acquired the power of mantras was very curious.  With her childhood curiosity   she chanted the mantra facing the Sun.  The Sun god appeared before her and placed a baby boy in her hands and disappeared.  It was a bright child with divine armour and two divine ear rings.  Kunti was very happy when she saw the child but was afraid because she was still a maiden.  She placed the baby in a box and  set the box sailed on the water of the river Ganga. The child was wearing armour and  earringson his birth , Later he became famous by the name Karna who suffered a lot  in his life though he wass the eldest among Pandavas..

In the course of time Kunti got married to prince Pandu.  One  day, the king went hunting and killed  a male deer which was spending time with a female deer. .  It was not an ordinary deer.  The deer cursed the king and said “If you touch your wife you will die”.  All were worried about the future.  Kunti remembered the divine mantras given by sage Durvasa.

Kunti thinking of Yama dharma chanted the mantra and got a child who became famous as Yudhishthira.  Then she again chanted the mantra thinking of Vayu Deva.  Thus Bheemasena was born.  Yet again she chanted the Mantra, thinking of Devendra and Arjuna was born.  King’s second wife Madri desired to have a son and Kunti initiated Madri into mantra and Madri was favoured with twins.  Nakula and Sahadeva were born.  Thus the Pandavas were born.

When the Pandavas grew up and went to Draupadi’s swayamwar and Arjuna won the task given by King Drupada and won Draupadi.  When they came back home, they told Kunti, that they have brought a specialAlms.  Kunti who was inside the house said “all of you share it equally amongst yourselves”.  She spoke these words unknowingly  and Draupadi became the wife of pancha pandavas.

As years rolled by and when the Kurukshetra war became inevitable, Kunti went to Karna and revealed the secret and said Karna was the eldest of the Pandavas and begged him to come to the side of the Pandavas.  Karna though he was happy to learn that he was a Kshatriya and not a sutaputra (low caste).  He refused to change his side and stood by Duryodana, his friend who helped him in his bad days.

During the Kurukshetra war, Kunti used to take Drutarashtra and Gandhari to the river Ganga everyday for performing Sandhya Vandana.  Kunti’s will power was amazing.  It was as strong as the Himalayas.  After the Kurukshetra war Yudhishthira became the king, Drutarashtra and Gandhari decided to leave to the forest.  Disagreeing everyone’s request Kunti accompanied them to serve them in the forest.

Kunti reached heaven when her body was consumed by wild fire.

THE LEGENDARY TEACHER: GURU DRONA

The epic Mahabharata is full of riddles and ironies. One such irony was that  guru Drona had to fight his own pet student Arjuna who was an expert in archery and  in the use of divine weapons in the kurukshetra war. A shade of tragedy is interlinked  with guru drona’s life. Drona was the son of the sage Bharadvaja. Drona studied the Vedas and shastras and became a great scholar. Drona studies archery and Agneyastra and the secrets of a number of divine weapons and mastered the art. He  had a son and a daughter. After some time he left the ashram and went to the Himalayas

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Drona and drupada studied together in the gurukula and were great friends. Drupada wass the king of Panchala.  Drupada had promised Drona, his friend during his studies in gurukula that he would share half of his kingdom when he becomes the king. Drone was very poor. After coming from the Himalayas he met Drupada who was throned as the king of Panchala.  But Drupada had changed after becoming the king and he insulted Drona. The dejected Drona went to Hastinapura and met  Bhishma.  Bhishma appointed Drona as Acharya to teach the Kuru princes the art of archery.

The kuru princes progressed well in the art of war. Arjuna excelled in archery. Drona was very well satisfied with their progress. Drona couldn’t forget the insults he suffered from Drupada. Now is the time to take revenge on drupada he thought. He explained everything to Arjuna and asked him to go on war against Drupada and defeat him and bring him as a prisoner to him. When Drupada stood as a prisoner, drona gave half the kingdom to Drupada.

Drona’s school was meant only for the kshatriya princes. When ekalavya who wasn’t a Kshatriya approached drona and requested him to accept him as his shishya  but drona rejected his request. Ekalavya made an idol of dronaacharya and placed it on a pedestal and began to learn lessons in archery with full of devotion and became an expert in archery. Dronacharya was informed about this by the kuru princes. Dronacahrya came face to face with Ekalavya and asked his right thumb as gurudakshina. Ekalavya didn’t hesitate even for a second and cut off his thumb and placed it on the feet of Dronacharya. This episode was a riddle, irony and tragedy in the life of dronacharya.

Before the kurukshetra war Yudishtira approached Dronacharya to side with the pandavas in the war but the great teacher said  he was bound by Duryodhana’s hospitality and was obliged to Duryodhana. Then Yudhistira asked Guru drona as to how he could beat him in the war and asked him the secret of defeating him. Dronacharya said that he would lay down his arms when he hears something from a person whom he believes the most.

In the war Krishna made Yudhistira to declare ‘Ashwatthamohataha  Kunjaraha’, an elephant named Ashwathama was dead.  But by the time he announced kunjaraha meaning elephant, Krishna sounded his Panchajanya so that Dronacharya could not hear that and Drona understood that his son Ashwathama was dead.  As soon as dronacharya heard this, he laid down his arms and Arjuna using this opportunity killed his teacher.

Indeed, dronacharya’s life was a mixture of tragedy, irony and riddle.

ICCHAMARANI: BHISHMA PITAMAHA

Every day thousands of people die but none of us know when the end comes to us. We don’t have the will power to decide the time of thee end of our life.. We, Hindus believe that one’s span of life is in the hands of god. However there was one man in the epic, Mahabharata, who was ‘Icchamarani’. That was Bhishma Pitamaha. This boon was given to Bhishma by his father Shantanu. Death wouldn’t approach Bhishma until he himself gave consent to death.  Bhishma was the second most important character in Mahabharata after Krishna.

Shantanu, the emperor, was enjoying the beauty of the holy Ganga, where he saw a young heavenly maiden. Instantly Shantanu approached her with a marriage proposal. She agreed to Shantanu’s proposal on one condition that the king shouldn’t object to anything she does. If there were to be any objection she says she would leave the king. The king agreed to this condition.

Years rolled by. The queen gave birth to a handsome boy. The queen took the child to the river  Ganga and threw the baby into the river.In this way the queen threw seven children into the river. Then the queen gave birth to her eighth child which also a boy. She took the child to the river. Shantanu couldn’t withstand this anymore. He shouted ‘Stop your cruelty’. Then the queen said ‘The time has come for me to go for you have broken your vow’. She revealed herself that she was Ganga Devi and disappeared. The survived eighth child was Bhishma.

After Several years  Shantanu made Bhishma (Devavrata) as his heir (Yuvraja) to the throne. At this juncture, life took another turn for Bhishma. Shantanu went hunting. And while returning back he saw a beautiful lady and became mad after her. He wanted to marry her. Her name was Satyavati.  Shantanu didn’t express his desire to anyone. Devavrata understood his father’s worry. Then he met Satyavati’s father to marry his daughter to king Shantanu. But Satyavati’s father put a condition that Satyavati’s children should become heirs to the throne. Devavrata readily agreed and also made a vow that he would remain unmarried. Satyavati gave birth to two boys-Chitrangadha and Vichitraveerya. Shantanu passed away. The elder son Chitrangadha became the king but in a war, Chitrangadha was killed. Hence after Vichitraveerya became the king. Bhishma wanted to perform his marriage and went to Kashi where the Kashi king had arranged for a swayamvara. Here life took another fateful turn for Bhishma. Amba, Ambika, Ambalika the three daughters of the king of Kashi  were taken away by Bhishma after defeating the other ambitious kings  who had attended the  the swayamvara with the aim of marrying the princesses.. Ambika and Ambalika married the king Vichitraveerya. Amba the eldest daughter, vowed to take revenge on Bhishma and went away to do tapas and turned herself into Shikandi (transgender) who ultimately became the reason for the downfall of Bhishma in the kurukshetra war.

Arjuna took shikandi with him on his chariot to fight Bhishma who flatly refused to fight with a Shikandi. Arjuna took this opportunity and showered arrows at Bhishma. Bhishma rolled down on the ground but Arjuna made a bed of arrows for Bhishma to lay down, without touching the ground. Bhishma spent 58 nights on the bed of arrows to wait for Uttarayana to set in.

The only icchamarani in the mankind and a matchless warrior, Bhishma Pitamaha chose his time in Uttarayana to breathe his last.