The Story so Far! Kandhava Prastha was an affluent Kingdom on the banks of river Ganges and was ruled by a bold Kshatriya king Yayati. Yayati was cursed in his youth to suddenly become old, by his father-in-law, Asura guru Shukracharya, because his wife Devyani caught him red handed with the palace maid Sharmishtha. When Yayati prostrated on Shukracharya’s feet and apologized profusely, the Asuraguru relented and told him that he could regain his youth, if a young man was willing to exchange his youth for Yayati’s old age. The king had five sons and the elder four refused to help him despite being tempted by the offer of the kingdom. However the youngest son Puru embraced his father’s old age and gave away his youth. He ruled for many years as a wise and virtuous king. In ripeness of age, Yayati gave back Puru’s youth and got back his old self. Puru’s great grand son was Shantanu, who fell in love with a pretty stranger at the banks of river Ganges. This maiden of heavenly beauties was Goddess Ganga herself, who had to take birth as a mortal, because of Brahma’s curse. She remained with him as a wife for eight years and their last son was Bhishma a principal character of this epic. Many years later Shantanu fell in love with a fisher maiden Satyavathi and desired to marry her. The fisherwoman’s father was a crafty fellow who would not allow the union, unless Bhishma relinquished the throne and vowed not to marryBOOKS and beget descendants. It was a Bhishma (awesome) vow which earned him his name. He remained unmarried and acted as an uncle and godfather for Shantanu’s sons by the fisher maiden Satyavathi who was also a maiden, whose body emitted divine smells. Satyavathi bore two sons to Shantanu, Chitragandha and Vichitravirya. Chitragandha was killed in a duel with a Gandharva and Vichitravirya ascended the Throne. Bhishma, by now the grand uncle, hijacked the SwayamvaraDC of the daughters of Kashi Naresha and brought his daughters to Hastinapura to marry his nephew Vichitravirya. The two daughters of the Kashi king who married Vichitravirya were Ambika and Ambalika. The son born to Ambika was blind at birth and called Dritharashtra. Ambalika’s son was Pandu. Dharma was born as a human incarnate due to the curse of sage Mandavya as Vidura, the son of a palace maid in the Vichitravirya household. Drithrashtra married Gandhari, who was such a devout wife that she elected to tie a bandage around her eyes, so that she too perceived the world as her husband did. With the blessings of sage Durvasa, Gandhari gave birth to a hundred sons collectively called the Kauravas. Duryodhana was the eldest of the brothers. 10 The Story so Far! Ekachakra was called thus, because a dangerous Asura named Bakasura had attacked the city, and routed its forces. The defeated king had to run for his life, escaping in a chariot whose three wheels had been demolished by the terrible Rakshasa. The city of Ekachakra then reeled under the terror and tortures of the tyrant Bakasura. The residents were terrorized and sued peace with the Rakshasa. He promised to stop wanton destruction while the people agreed to look after his needs. Once a month, a bullock cart full of food would be driven to the mountain cave of Bakasura. He would gorge on the food, and finish his meal by eating the bullocks, and finally the man who drove up the cart. One unfortunate household contributed the victim each month. By an unfortunate coincidence, the Brahmin Shankara, in whose house Kunti and her sons were staying, had to send someone from his household that month. Kunti volunteered to send Bhima instead. The strong Bhima effortlessly killed Bakasura and became a darling of the population. At this time, information arrived that Drupada, the king of Panchala, was conducting a grand Swayamvara for his lovely daughter Draupadi. Drupada, the mighty emperor of Panchala had been close to Drona as a young boy, when both studied in the same Gurukula. After Drupada ascended the throne, he became arrogant and did not treat Drona respectfully, when the latter had gone to visit him. Drona never forgot the insult and later avenged it with the help of his students,BOOKS the Pandava princes. Drupada was defeated and could not bear the humiliation. Though Drupada was terribly impressed with Arjuna who had defeated him, and yet treated him with dignity, he was never able to forgive Drona. Drupada did auster penances to Brahma, and sought a boon that he would beget a son who would slay Drona and a daughter who would wed Arjuna. The son was named Drishtadyumna, and the daughter Draupadi. It was her Swayamvara, which was announced while the Pandavas were in Ekachakra.DC Disguised in the Brahma garb, the five Pandavas left for Panchala, which was decked as a bride to welcome the valiant Kshatriya princess, who had expectantly arrived to participate in the Swayamvara ceremony. Drupada had placed a difficult test. The suitor had to string an immense bow, and shoot at the eye of a fish in the middle of a mechanical contraption, suspended from the ceiling. However the competitor had to aim only by looking at the shadow of the target in the small puddle on the floor. It was a difficult test indeed, and all the Kshatriya braves and princes failed dismally. Drupada then threw the competition open to the other visitors. Arjuna in the garb of a Brahmana won the contest, but not without some help from Indra’s spy Sadaroopaka. A few Kshtariya princes could not accept that a Brahmin lad could succeed, when 13 The Story So Far! Yudishtra was Dharmaraja or a king of ethics. He was thus true to his word, and gladly embraced the tortures, rigours and privations of the jungle life. The twelve years that the Pandavas spent in the jungles were full of hardships and troubles, but the five brothers and Draupadi had a lot of adventures in the jungle. The first of them was rescuing Duryodhana from the clutches of Gandharva Chitrasena. Karna and Duryodhana wanted to gloat over the Pandava miseries and decided to visit the forests for a purported hunting trip. The Pandavas had camped at a hermitage adjoining the dense forests where coincidentally a mighty Gandharva Chitrasena too had camped. Duryodhana’s soldiers picked up a quarrel with the Gandharva’s associates and in the final battle, Karna was defeated and had to escape in ignomy. Duryodhana was captured and tied like a common thief to the tree trunk. As the Gandharva whipped him, his loud screams echoed in the air. Though Bhima and Arjuna were pleased at their cousin’s predicament and discomfort, Yudishtra ordered them to go to their cousin’s aid. Chitrasena did not desire to fight Bhima and released Duryodhana whose pot of insults, humiliation and ignomy was full and overflowing. The Pandavas then moved southwards to the Vindhya Mountains and Dandakaranya forests. During the next twelve years, the PandavasBOOKS followed the route taken by Lord Rama during his vanavasa. During this time Hanuman Bhima’s elder brother, met him as a monkey and then blessed him by displaying his magnificent form in which he had jumped across the mighty ocean to Lanka. Arjuna was advised to travel North to Kailasha mountains, where a penance to Lord Shiva got him a divine Astra Pashupatha. Subsequently Arjuna received an invitation from his biological father Indra to visit the SwargaDC and receive an advanced training in Astras and Sastras. During this time, the celestial courtesan Oorvashi tried to seduce him, but Arjuna spurned her offer. An extremely annoyed Oorvashi cursed him with impotence, and once Indra intervened, modified the curse to remain effective only for one year! When Arjuna returned from his visit, he had become an unquestioned expert on the use of divine arms and ammunition. Towards the end of twelve years, the Pandavas faced a real crisis in which the four brothers, except Yudishtra succumbed to poisoned water from an enchanted pool. It was actually Lord Yama who was testing Yudishtra. Dharmaputra was able to answer all the complex questions put forth by the Yaksha and thus able to revive his dead brothers. The Yaksha then transformed himself to his true self of Yama and 16 182 Balarama’s Advice The Pandavas reached the lovely palace of the city of Upaplavya. After years of privations and poverty, it was indeed a joyous sensation to be back in the lap of luxury and comforts. It took them a few days to get settled. Once things were normal, Yudishtra gathered his brothers and Draupadi for a small family council to decide on the future course of their action. Yudishtra addressed Draupadi and his brothers. “We have come out of our ordeals. The time has come for us to reclaim our rights, But knowing the wickedness of Duryodhana, and anticipating the advice that he would get from the likes of Shakuni and Karna, I want to assess our friends and see to what extent would they support us against the Kauravas” Bhima who was impetuous said, BOOKS “Oh Brother! I have been counting hours and minutes. I have waited all along for this day. Now that we are freed from the bondage of our promise, I do not have any more patience left. When we know that we can not extract butter with a straight finger, we must bend it. Allow me a chance.