8th Grade CMTC

Escape from the Wax Palace

by Bharati Ganesh and Hruday Battini

In the latest class, we picked up from when Pandu died and stopped with the Pandavas escaping into the forest from the burning wax palace.

After Pandu's death, Kunti returned to Hastinapura with all the five Pandavas at the invitation of Dhritarashtra, Bhishma and other Kuru elders. The Pandavas and Kauravas grew up together and were taught by Kripacharya all the important skills princes needed to know. Bhima, physically the strongest among all the princes, was also a big prankster. He would chase the Kauravas up the trees and then would shake the trees until they fell down like fruits.  He would holds them down under water until they gasped and choked. These childish pranks stirred feelings of hatred in the hearts of the Kauravas, especially in Duryodhana. So they fed him poisoned food, tied him up and toss him into the river Ganges. When snakes bit Bhīma, their venom counteracted the poison making Bhīma even stronger.  When Bhīma came home much to the relief of his mother and his brothers, Yudhishthira advised him to keep quiet to avoid further angering Duryodhana.  Duryodhana displayed plenty of krodha (anger), mada (arrogance), and matsarya (jealousy) because of his kama (desire) to rule Hastinapura.

Later, we learned the story of Drona who was the son of sage Bharadwaja. When he went to study at a hermitage, he and Drupada, the crown prince of Panchala, became such good friends that the young prince even promised Drona on quite a few occasions that he would give him half his kingdom! Later on they went separate ways; Drupada became the King of Panchala while Drona married Kripi, the sister of Kripacharya, and had a child. Later on when times got tougher for Drona, he decided to go to Drupada for help. But when he met Drupada, he soon found that Drupada was not the kind and loyal friend that he had known before. Consumed with power and arrogance, Drupada not only scornfully rejected Drona’s plea for help, but also insulted Drona by saying "How can a King be friends with a pauper." Drona, deeply hurt, left the palace vowing that he would teach Drupada a lesson later.

One day, when the young Pandavas and Kauravas were playing on the outskirts of Hastinapura, their ball fell into a well and they did not know how to get it out. Drona, who was passing by, saw their predicament and mocked them for not being able to get the ball out. Chanting a special mantra, Drona shot several  blades of grass at the ball creating a chain of grass blades, and then retrieved the ball to the amazement of the princes. They ran to Bhishma, who realized that the man was none other than Drona. Bhishma also thought that the princes needed more advanced training and appointed Drona as their guru. With Drona's guidance, all the princes progressed rapidly, especially Arjuna, who was able to shoot arrows in the dark and could use either hand to control his bow.

When the princes completed their training, Drona asked them to capture King Drupada alive as his guru dakshina. Kauravas tried first but were repelled by Drupada and his strong army.  However Pandavas, with Arjuna’s prowess, succeeded and brought Drupada back to Drona who let him free after teaching him a lesson in the proper treatment of friends.  Drupada filled with anger towards Drona and admiration for Arjuna, did penance to the gods and was blessed with a son (Dhrishtadyumna) who would slay Drona and a daughter (Draupadi) who would wed Arjuna.

Proud of the princes' achievements, Drona decided to hold a big event to showcase their skills. All the Kuru elders and the citizens of Hastinapura came to see this martial arts exhibition. Just as when Arjuna finished his scintillating performance, a young man with golden earrings and armor entered the arena challenging Arjuna. Kunti recognized him as her son Karna and fainted. Duryodhana offered his unconditional friendship to Karna upon seeing his skills. Just when Arjuna and Karna were about to fight, Karna's lineage was questioned, so Duryodhana crowned him as the King of Anga. An elderly man entered the arena and came up to Karna, glowing with pride. Karna immediately touched his feet and it was then realized that this man, a charioteer, was Karna's father.  Bhima then took the opportunity to mock Karna, but Duryodhana came to Karna's rescue and took him away on his chariot as the event came to a close with the sunset.

Duryodhana’s jealousy grew more and more as the people of Hastinapura began to admire Pandavas openly expressing their wish that Yudhishthira should become the next king. Duryodhana decided to get rid of the Pandavas once and for all by having a master architect called Purochana build a palace from flammable materials in the city of Varanavata where there was going to be a big festival for Lord Shiva. He disguised his true intentions when suggesting this to his father who ended up agreeing. Vidura, who had caught wind of Duryodhana's evil plan, not only forewarned the Pandavas but also sent a miner to secretly dig a tunnel under the palace in order to allow them to escape in a time of need. About a year laer,one night, Bhīma decided that it was time for all of them to leave. He set fire to the palace and the Pandavas quickly escaped through the tunnel into the woods. Sadly, the servants and Purochana perished in the flames. The townspeople tried but failed to extinguish the flames. As the charred bodies were unrecognizable, it was assumed that the Pandavas were dead. While the wicked Duryodhana was full of joy for his plan had seemingly worked, all the Kuru elders were distraught and were forced to perform last rites for the Pandavas..