Tales from Mahabharata

Tales of Mahabharata

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Vaishampanaya narrates the tale of a remarkable brahmin and minister from Mahabharata whose valuable advice to Dhritarashtra went unheard The story goes that the worried father and distressed King saw his dream of getting Duryodhana installed as king of Hastinapur fading as he found the Pandavas growing from strength to strength.

Their superior skills were particularly evident after they defeated the powerful ruler of Panchal, King Drupada. Dhritrashtra grew suspicious of them and summoned his finest minister Kanika for his advice. Kanika an expert political counsel responded with an animal fable that is reminiscent of the tales from Panchtantra and Hitopadesa.

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Rule with a vigilant eye and incapacitate your enemy with conciliation, money, discord and punishment. We are all familiar with Draupadi as the heroine of the epic Mahabharata but, there is another Draupadi, a raging and fierce goddess, who lives in folk tales and myths in parts of south India and in Rajasthan. Alf Hiletbeitel who has studied the cult of Draupadi in great detail speaks of how she is seen as a caste goddess Konar caste in the Melacceri-Gingee region.

She is worshipped in these places in a pure, virginal and fiery form. One such story about Draupadi as the goddess of the forests goes thus. The Pandavas were in exile, eking out a living from the forest. Draupadi was with them and during the day, was by their side, sharing their sufferings and joys in equal measure. However as night fell, she would disappear and for a long time, her flight from her tent went unnoticed as no one dared to look in on her, without her wish. Night after night, this was the story until one day Bhima saw her leaving the campsite.

He was perturbed and asked Krishna about it who, of course, knew the whole story. He warned Bhima that he should not try and stop her, for if he did, she would devour him. But Krishna also told him that would need to devise a way to keep Draupadi confined to her tent at night. For the form that she took every night as she went out into the forest, Krishna said, was a danger to all of them. Draupadi was another form of the goddess Bhadra Kali, Celiyamman and such others , said Krishna, and every night she went into the forest as she sought the sacrifices due to her.

She raided the forest for animals and birds and when she was satiated, she resumed her day-time form as the wife of the Pandavas. There was only one way to stop her Krishna told Bhima and that would be to lock her up within her palm leaf hut and not let her out until she promised to give up her nocturnal adventures.

There could be many interpretations as to why Draupadi takes on such a form, but what is striking is the depiction of a heroine from epic as a strong and violent goddess, who is feared by all, even the brave Pandavas. The Cult of Draupadi: Love stories are quite an integral part of the Mahabharat, although not all of them are popular, some lie buried in the deep recesses of the epic, like this one.

The story of Parikshit and Sushobhana has many versions, with different interpretations.

It is referred to as a story where love leads to transformation. Sushobhana would mask her identity, and get close to the man of her choice and live with him till she got tired of him, and leave under some pretext. The men would be forced to undertake a vow that they would never speak about the dalliance and thus the matter was never known to anybody, except her maid, Subinita and the king.

Subinita on her part had tried her best to stop the princess from her philandering ways, but Sushobhana was not one to listen. She felt her beauty and charm gave her the means to live a life of her choice. Her father could not convince her otherwise either. Sushobhana met the handsome King Parikshit of the Ikshvaku dynasty and taken in by his looks, she drew him into a relationship.

She hid her identity. Parikshit took the unknown lady to his palace and the two spent a long and enjoyable time together. A time came when Parikshit wanted to marry her, but Sushobhana true to her nature saw that as an entrapment. At the beginning of the relationship, she had made Parikshit take a vow that he would never take her near a water-body. Over a period of time, Parikshit had forgotten about it.

When a shocked Parikshit probed further, she feigned a curse. At that moment Parikshit decided to hold her in a tight embrace, daring the curse to take effect. And then Sushobhana felt that this man was different, and something changed, but she could not accept that this was love. She managed to escape from there.

While she was leaving, Parikshit noticed a spy watching them from a distance and from his attire, realised that he was from the Mandukya kingdom. The King met Parikshit and told him the whole story. Another version says that while escaping, she swam into the water-body never to emerge from it. Parikshit ordered the water to be drained, only to find a frog in it. He ordered to frog to be killed, and just when the soldiers tried to put it to death, the frog showed itself as the King of the Frog-kingdom, who told Parikshit the whole story of his daughter.

When Sushobhana came to know about it, she was depressed that her truth was out in the open and the shame would be too much for her or her father. At that moment she decided to commit suicide. Just when she was about to gulp down the cup of poison, her maid Subinita told her that Parikshit was waiting for her in his tent. Sushobhana was surprised to know that the prince wanted to marriage despite everything? Why would any man want a woman whose ways were so wanton? Sushobhana realised the power of love and that changed her, much to the delight of her maid and her father, the princess gave up her fears and transformed herself.

Utkarsh Patel Text Source: Mahabharata , Vana Parva: July 15, by admin. May 6, by admin. Pan India Image source: February 4, by admin. November 5, by admin. That way he would have to keep changing parties till everyone got killed. Krishna then asked for his head in charity because the battlefield must be purified before battle by sacrificing the head of the bravest kshatriya. That is how Krishna saved the Pandavas from losing the battle. So let's rewind the story a little bit. First, there was King Shantanu, who married Ganga, who gave birth to eight sons who were all actually Devas cursed to be born on Earth.

1. First things first, Duryodhana's real name was Suyodhana.

So Ganga managed to kill the first seven, freeing them from their curse. King Shantanu intervened as she was about to kill the eighth one, saving the only remaining son, who we know as Bhishma. When Devavrata was a young man, his father Shantanu went on a hunt, and fell in love with a local fisherwoman, Satyavati. However, Satyavati's father lay down a tough condition - he would only let him marry her if her sons became heirs to his throne. Shantanu returned to his kingdom heartbroken. Devavrata, unable to see his father in this sad state went to persuade Satyavati to marry his father, offering to step aside as the heir.

Satyavati was not satisfied. Even if he steps down, she argued, his sons may claim the throne later.

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So, Devavrata took a vow never to marry or reproduce and came to be known as Bhishma Terrible. Yes, yes, we all know that there was no one writer who put the Mahabharata together. Soon after, Satyavati gave birth on an island in Yamuna. This son was called Krishna-Dwaipayana, later known as Vyasa - compiler of the Vedas and author of the Puranas and the Mahabharata. So Bhishma pledged that he will never have children. Now here's the thing, Satyavati's two sons with Shantanu died too early.

10 Interesting Lesser Known Stories From The Mahabharata That You Should Know About

So, Satyavati was left with their two childless widows, Bhishma, and an empty throne. Satyavati called her other son Vyasa, the same Krishna-Dwaipayana-Vyasa who wrote the Mahabharata to impregnate her two widowed daughter-in-laws. Ambika gave birth to Dhritarashtra, and Ambalika gave birth to Pandu. This article was inspired by a Quora post. We'd like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates. You can manage them any time from your browser settings.

Thank you for Subscribing to ScoopWhoop Notification. Life sucks, we know. Once you are 18 we promise to show you this content but not till then! Dec 18, at First things first, Duryodhana's real name was Suyodhana. There is a reason why Duryodhana did not participate in Draupadi's swayamvara.

2. There is a reason why Duryodhana did not participate in Draupadi's swayamvara.

Not all Kauravas were against the Pandavas in the war.

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