Uttara Kumara, the Bragging Prince

by Rohit Chandwadkar

In the latest class, we learned how Arjuna defeated the Kaurava army and saved the cattle of King Virata from the Kaurava army.

While King Virata and his entire army was fighting King Susarma’s army in the south, the Kauravas attacked the northern part of the kingdom and took away King Virata’s cattle as there was no one there to stop them. Prince Uttara kumara, the only male of fighting age left in the capital, started to brag that he could defeat the Kaurava army single-handedly, if only there was an able person to drive his chariot. While he was bragging, Draupadi heard him and recommended Brihannala as his charioteer. Initially the prince rejected the idea of having a eunuch as his charioteer, but agreed later on when he learned that Brihannala was once Arjuna’s charioteer.  Brihannala pretended not to know how to wear the armor properly much to everyone’s bemusement and let the prince teach him how to put it on.

While riding to the northern side, the prince saw a big cloud of dust which he initially assumed to be a storm.  But as Brihannala drove the chariot closer, he realized that the dust cloud was caused by the marching of the colossal Kaurava army. Trembling with fear, the prince begged Brihannala to turn the chariot back, but Brihannala instead tried to persuade the prince to keep his word and fight the Kauravas like a true kshatriya. Then Uttara Kumara jumped off the chariot and started to run back towards the capital with Brihannala in hot pursuit. After Brihannala caught up with the prince, he asked the prince to become his charioteer so that he could fight the Kauravas.  At Brihannala’s direction, the prince drove the chariot towards a huge tree in a graveyard nearby. Brihannala asked the prince to climb the tree and bring down the weapons stored by the Pandavas at the end of their 12 years of exile in the forest.  Initially the prince refused to do so as the bundle of weapons appeared like a corpse to him.  But urged by Brihannala, the prince brought down the bundle from which Brihannala took the Gandiva and the quivers belonging to Arjuna and revealed his true form as Arjuna to the prince.
 
Having recognized Arjuna, Duryodhana gleefully told Dronacharya that the Pandavas would have to repeat the12 years of forest life and 1 year incognito. However Bhishma and Kripacharya confirmed that the 13th year finished the day before.  Dronacharya advised Duryodhana not to fight Arjuna and give back half the kingdom. Duryodhana angrily replied that he would not give back even a needle-point of land to the Pandavas. After waging a great battle with several Kaurava warriors including Karna, Arjuna became victorious by putting them to sleep with a special weapon. While the Kaurava army was asleep, Arjuna told the prince to cut pieces of cloth from the turbans of the warriors for his sister’s dolls as he had promised princess Uttara. But he warned the prince not to get on to Bhishma’s chariot as the weapon would not affect him. On their way back to the capital, Arjuna turned back to being Brihannala and told the prince to not tell anyone about his true identity.
 
Upon hearing that Prince Uttara Kumara was victorious against the Kauravas, Virata was very happy. However Kanaka commented that it was Brihannala’s charioteering that was the cause of Kauravas’ defeat. Virata got very angry at this and threw dice at Kanaka causing his forehead to bleed. Before a drop of Kanaka’s blood could hit the ground, Sairandhri got a cup and let the blood drip into it and bandaged the wound with a piece of her own garment. She told the king that Kanaka was a very holy man and if his blood had touched the earth, there would be 7 years of famine. The next day the Pandavas revealed their true forms to the King who was very happy that he was of service to the Pandavas. The queen apologized to Draupadi for having treated her like a maid.  King Virata then offered his daughter, Princess Uttara, in marriage to Arjuna. But Arjuna politely declined the offer and suggested that Abhimanyu, his son, would be more suited for the princess.  The King gladly agreed to this and the marriage of Uttara and Abhimanyu took place with great pomp and splendor.

In the last class we learnt about the trials and tribulations of the Pandavas in their 13^th year of exile.

After an eventful span of 12 years in the forest, it is time for the Pandavas to prepare for the last year of icognito. They take leave of the Brahmins that are accompanying them and are blessed by Dhaumya, who gives them his blessings for their one year of disguise. Later, the Pandavas  go into a quiet part of the forest to plan for this crucial year. Arjuna says they should choose Matsya kingdom, ruled by King Virata, since he is a friend of the Pandavas and will not yield to Duryodhana’s scheming tactics.

With a heavy heart, Yudhishtira asks his brothers and Draupadi what kind of disguise each of them would like to take .He tells them that he would put on the garb of a sanyasi and ask Virata for the position of the King’s counseler and would call himself ‘Kanaka’.

Bhima, with his fondness for food opts to be ‘Valala’, the cook in the royal kitchens who would cook delicacies for the king. He would also engage in friendly wrestling matches but promises not to kill anybody.

Arjuna says that he would use the curse given to him by Urvashi to his advantage and become  a  enuch,‘Brihanala’, music and dance teacher to princess Uttara and her companions.

Nakula, with his gift of being good with horses chooses to become the stable help, ‘Dharmagranthi’ and Sahadeva becomes the cowherd ‘ Tantripala’.

Draupadi graciously agrees to become the queen’s hairdresser and companion ‘Sairandhri’.

King Virata employs all of them after learning that they had worked earlier with the Pandavas.Thus the Pandavas start leading their lives disguised as the following-

Yuddhistra- Kings counseler who is a Sanyasi (Kanaka)

Bhima- Cook and wrestler  (Valala)

Arjuna- Dancer who teaches princess as a eunuch (Brihannala)

Nakula- Stable boy (Dharmagrandha)

Sahadeva- cow herd (Tantripala)

Draupadi- Princess’ companion and hairdresser (Sairandhri) 

The Pandavas are advised by Dhaumya to be vigilant, give advice only when asked, praise king when needed, be decent and courteous to women,not to take gifts and not to reveal secrets.

King Virata’s  powerful commander-in-chief, Keechaka, was also his brother-in-law. He was the main force behind Virata’s power and this made him vain and arrogant. One day when he visits his sister, the queen, he sees ‘Sairandhri’ and is smitten by her beauty. He approaches her and tries to entice her.  However, she resists his offer. When he persists she spreads a story that her husbands are Gandharvas who would kill anyone who dishonors  her. Keechaka continues to approach her, so Draupadi complains to the queen.

Keechaka, then approaches his sister, the queen for help and both of them conspire to trap Draupadi. They organize a feast at Keechaka’s palace. The queen  then tells Draupadi to bring wine from Keechaka’s palace and despite Draupadi’s pleas to send someone else, forces her to go there. As expected, Keechaka tries to hold  Draupadi but somehow she escapes from there and comes back to the courtroom where nobody helps her. Frustrated and humiliated she goes to Bhima and tells him  about  Keechaka’s atrocities. An enraged Bhima promises Draupadi that he would take revenge and kill Keechaka even though it meant that he would be breaking his promise to Yudhishitira. The two of them come up with a smart plan to kill Keechaka.

The next day, Keechaka tries to lure Draupadi  and she agrees to meet him in the dance hall at night when everyone is sleeping. Keechaka goes to the dance hall  at night and finds a distant figure lying on a couch. He assumes it is Draupadi and goes to her. Much to his surprise, the person actually turns out to be Bhima, who wrestles and crushes Keechaka to pulp in a bout of wrestling.

Word spreads like wildfire that Keechaka is  killed and soon it reaches the ears of Duryodhna. He has a suspicion that  it is the Pandavas who killed Keechaka. Bhima was the only one capable of killing someone as powerful as Keechaka .Duryodhana  plans on invading Matsya kingdom  so the Pandavas are forced to fight  back. He teams up with King Susarma to attack  Matsya kingdom from the south and  he decides to attack the north which would be in a defenseless state . Susarma  captures  King Virata, since  he is powerless without Keechaka. Upon Yudhishtira’s request  Bhima  fights and brings King Virata back.

When Duryodhana attacks the northern part of Matsya, he takes away all the cows from that area and the people run to prince, Uttara Kumara for help, in the absence of King Virata and ask him for protection. Uttara Kumara brags in front of the ladies that he could fight for them if only he had a charioteer.

Draupadi is amused by his words and she suggests the name of Brihanala as a charioteer and also tells them that he has learnt his skills from Arjuna.

In order to keep his disguise, Arjuna pretends to be an amateur but agrees to be a charioteer.

~Sahiti Sarma & Rohit Suresh

 

 

Arjuna’s quest for divine weapons

by Akshay Nagella and Akshay Shivakumar

In the latest class, we learned about Pandavas’ exile to the forest and Arjuna’s quest for divine weapons.

After Yudhishthira lost everything in a fixed game of dice to Duryodhana, the Pandavas went to the Kamyaka forest.  There Yudhishthira received the Akshaya Patra, a pot that would give them unlimited food, from the Sun god so that they could feed the many citizens of Hastinapura that followed them to the forest. Vexed by Vidura’s advice to make peace with the Pandavas, Dhritarashtra one day angrily told Vidura to go and live with the Pandavas if he thought so highly of the Pandavas. Soon after Vidura left, Dhritarashtra repented for his rash actions and sent Sanjaya to bring Vidura back to Hastinapura.

Krishna could not be in Hastinapura during the game of dice as he and the rest of the Yadavas were preoccupied in repelling the invasion of Dwaraka by King Salva. When he heard the news of the Pandavas’ exile, he along with Balarama and several other Yadava elders went to meet the Pandavas in the forest.  Krishna consoled Draupadi and vowed to be on the Pandavas’ side and promised that the side of dharma would surely win.

Sage Veda Vyasa also visited the Pandavas and told them that the war would be inevitable in which Arjuna would play a major role. He advised them to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.  As per the sage’s advice, Arjuna began his journey to the Himalayas seeking divine weapons. On his way, Arjuna came across Lord Indra who advised him to pray to Lord Shiva. One day Arjuna killed a charging boar and got into argument with a tribal who also claimed to have shot it first.  In the ensuing duel, Arjuna found that none of his arrows could inflict any damage to the tribal.  When he eventually resorted to a physical combat, he realized that the tribal was no ordinary person and prostrated before him. Then Lord Siva revealed himself and gave Arjuna a supremely special weapon, Pasupata, that could work like a drone.  Later on Lord Indra’s charioteer took Arjuna to the heavens where Gods such as Lords Agni, Varuna, and Kubera granted him several more weapons for use in the inevitable upcoming war against the Kauravas.

The Game of Dice

by Aakash Karan and Anish Durvasula

In the latest class, we learned about the “Game of Dice” that Yudisthira played with Shakuni, Duryodhana’s uncle.

At the conclusion of the the Rajasuya Yaga at Indraprastha, Sage Veda Vyasa visited the Pandavas to bless them. But he also warned them of their impending conflict with the Kauravas and troubles in the future. Yudhishthira, even though crowned as the emperor, started to worry about this.  He took a vow that he would be nice to his cousins, the Kauravas, to avoid conflict at any cost.

During the Rajasuya Yaga, Duryodhana became very jealous of the Pandavas after seeing their power and wealth. He was not only mesmerized by the beautiful and ornate palace in Indraprastha that was built by the architect Maya for the Pandavas, but also felt humiliated when he was tricked by the various illusions in the palace.  Upon returning to Hastinapura, Duryodhana, Duhsasana, Karna and Shakuni, a group called the Gang of Four, discussed various ways to take over the kingdom and the riches of the Pandavas.  Finally they agreed with Shakuni’s proposal of inviting Yudhishthira to a game of dice and winning everything through trickery. Vidura, the advisor to King Dhritarashtra, was sent to give the invitation to the Pandavas. Even though he warned the Pandavas of the evil plot of the Gang of Four, Yudhishthira agreed to play the game for 3 reasons:

            1) The Kshatriya code to never back down or refuse the challenge for a game or a duel
            2) His fondness for the game of dice
            3) His vow to be friendly towards the Kauravas
        
The Pandavas went to Hastinapura where the game was played in a gambling hall specially built for this event.  Shakuni, with his magical dice, won every bet by Yudhishthira who lost his gold, horses, elephants, palaces, army, and kingdom. Later he bet and lost his brothers one by one, then himself, and finally Draupadi. At Duryodhana’s command, Duhsasana dragged Draupadi by her hair from her chambers to the gambling hall. Much to the humiliation of the Pandavas, he started to undress Draupadi in front of all the Kuru elders and teachers. Hearing Draupadi’s cry for help, Lord Krishna protected Draupadi’s honor by supplying an endless sari. Duhsasana finally gave up with utter fatigue. With a feeling of guilt and remorse, Dhritarashtra sent the Pandavas back to Indraprastha with all their belongings. 

Duryodhana again persuaded his father to invite the Pandavas for a second game of dice. Yudhishthira came back to play for the same 3 reasons. However this time the game was played with the condition that the losers would have to live in the forest for 12 years and incognito for 1 year. During the incognito year, if someone found out their identity, they would have to repeat the 12 plus 1 years of exile. After losing again, the Pandavas along with Kunti and Draupadi began their journey to the forest.  

Bakasura and Draupadi Swayamvara

After the Pandavas and Kunti escape from the Wax Palace in Varanavatha, they dress in simple clothes like Brahmins and go to a village called Ekachakra. There, they stay with a potter named Kumha and his family. During their stay, the Pandavas go around the village daily to collect food for themselves since the potter could not afford to feed all of them. The entire village contributed in adding food to the pot they took with them. When they went back to the potter's house, Kunti would split the food into two halves and give one whole half to Bhima and split the rest equally among the rest of them. 

     The Pandavas and Kunti lived like this for sometime. One day, after the Pandavas  left home to bring food, Kunti heard weeping coming from the other room. She listened in and heard distinct conversation. The members of the family were arguing amongst themselves about who would go to the demon's lair with the food. Hearing this, she was very confused and asked them what the problem was.They shared their dilemma and told her about the atrocities caused by a demon named Bakasura.

    Bakasura was a giant demon who had captured their village and ousted their ruler. He would go about Ekachakra, indiscriminately destroying or eating everything in his path. Frustrated with all the destruction to the lives and property, the villagers made a deal with him stating that they would bring him a cart full of food from the entire village, two bullocks and a man and in return he would have to stop the killing and destruction. Every week, it was a different family's turn to send one member of their family and this week it was Kumha's turn to go. Kunti wished to help the potter in exchange for his hospitality and offered to send Bhima. She convinces them that Bhima would kill the demon, since he was very strong.

     So, the villagers send Bhima with two bullocks and a cart of food. As he reaches the demon’s cave, he feels hungry and starts to eat all the food. Bakasura gets impatient and comes out of the cave and sees Bhima finishing all the food meant for him. Enraged, Bakasura uproots a nearby tree and attacks Bhima with it. Bhima, feeling strengthened, fights back fiercely and ultimately destroys him. He then drags the demon’s body to the outskirts of the village. The villagers delighted with Bakasura’s death applaud Bhima’s strength and there is much rejoicing in the village.

 

     After a while, the village hears of Draupadi's Swayamvara. Draupadi is the princess of Panchala and is also known as Panchali. The Pandavas go dressed as Brahmins. King Drupada arranges a contest for his daughter’s suitors and the winning prince will be married to Draupadi. The challenge is for them to shoot a fish in the eye that is revolving above them five times in succession, using only reflection in a pool of water underneath. Some tried and could not pick up the bow, some could not even pull the string. When Karna tries, he misses the target very narrowly. Finally, Arjuna accomplishes the task of shooting the target five times in a row. Draupadi adorns him with the garland and chooses him as her husband. 

     When return to Ekachakra, the Pandavas tell Kunti to come outside and see what they brought for her. Not knowing what it is, Kunti replies saying that whatever it is, to share it equally amongst themselves. Being the obedient sons of Kunti, the Pandavas agree and thus, Draupadi is married to all five of the Pandavas.

 

 

Written by Thejasvi Venkatachalam

 

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..

Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas

by Manasi Gulati & Rishabh Midha (Section 1)

In the latest Balavihar class, we learned about the Law of Karma (action) which can be summarized as follows.

1)     Everyone performs actions all the time.
2)     Every action has a result/consequence (karma-phala).
3)     The doer gains punya (benefit) or papa (sin) due to his/her actions.
                                                                                              
The Law of Karma teaches us to take control of our actions and always do the right thing with the right goal in mind.

We continued with the story King Shantanu’s children. Vichitraveerya died before he could have kids. So Satyavati called her son Veda Vyasa to bless Ambika and Ambalika to have children. Ambika disgraced the sage by closing her eyes, so in punishment, her child was born blind. Ambalika also disrespected the king, and in return, her son was born an albino. Satyavati, being very concerned about the kingdom now, begged the sage to give Ambika one more chance. However Ambika, fearful of the sage, sent her maid who served the sage with great devotion.  As a result, the maid then has a son named Vidura.  The story of these three births clearly illustrates the Law of Karma.

Bhishma was in a big dilemma. Should he make the elder but blind Dhritarashtra as the king or the younger Pandu who was a very skilled warrior? Bhishma eventually crowned Pandu as the king.  Later on when Dhritarashtra was ready to be wed, Bhishma found a bride named Gandhari, the eldest princessof the Kingdom of Gandhara. Gandhari took a vow that she would not have the pleasures her husband could not, and so she blindfolded herself forever.  Pandu first married princess Kunti in a Swayamvara, and later married Madri, the princess of Madra kingdom.

We also learned about the story of Kunti before her marriage to Pandu. King Sura, Krishna’s grandfather, gave his daughter Pritha to his cousin Kuntibhoja who had no children of his own.  As a result Pritha came to be known as Kunti. When she was 16 years old, sage Durvasa came to the palace and asked Kuntibhoja for assistance in doing a very special pooja for one full year. Kuntibhoja immediately appointed Kunti who served the short-tempered sage with patience and devotion.  Pleased with her service, sage Durvasa taught her a special mantra that would get her a child from any God that she invokes. Out of curiosity Kunti decided to test the mantra and invoked Lord Surya who appeared before her to grant her a baby. Shocked by this unexpected turn of events, Kunti begged Surya to go back as she did not want to have a child before marriage and bring shame to her father and his kingdom.  Lord Surya, bound by the mantra, granted Kunti a beautiful baby boy with golden armor and ear-rings.  With great sorrow, Kunti simply put him in a basket and let it float down the river. Fortunately the basket was found by a charioteer and his wife who named him Karna.

One day, Pandu went hunting and killed a deer which turned out to the wife of a sage who also took the form of deer to mate with his wife. The sage cursed Pandu that if he ever mated with one of his wives, he would die. Depressed, Pandu went to the forest with his wives and started to live like an ascetic. After several years, when Pandu was desperately longing for a son, Kunti told him about the mantra she received from Sage Durvasa. With Pandu’s permission, Kunti invoked Lord Yama (Dharma,) to have a baby boy named Yudhishthira.  The news reached Hastinapura causing jealousy in Gandhari who was also pregnant.  As per Pandu’s advice, Kunti invoked Lord Vayu (Wind,) to have a second son Bhima. Out of impatience Gandhari aborted her fetus which shattered into 101 pieces. Under Sage Vyasa’s instructions, the pieces were put in separate jars and cared for. Eventually they became the Kauravas: 100 sons and 1 daughter. A year later Kunti called upon Lord Indra and had Arjuna as her third child. At Pandu’s request, Kunti taught the mantra to Madri who invoked Ashwini Devas (the celestial physicians) and gave birth to twins: Nakula and Sahadeva. That was how the Pandavas and Kauravas came to be born.

      
In one beautiful spring season, Pandu and Madri succumbed to the physical desires resulting in Pandu’s death.  Repenting for her actions, Madri also ended her life by jumping into the funeral pyre.  Kunti returned to Hastinapura to bring up Pandavas under the care of Kuru elders such as Bhishma, Dhritarashtra and Vidura.