Week 9 Reading Notes: The Princes of Elephant City - Part A

 This is a retold version of the Mahabharata, which emphasizes mainly on the Pandava brothers. 

King Bharata reigned over Hastinapura, which was replaced by King Vichitravirya. King Vichitravirya died and passed along his DNA to two sons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra was the oldest between the two and also blind. His brother Pandu becomes king and gives rise to five sons: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. When Pandu passed away, his blind brother took over the kingdom and had a hundred sons. Duryodhana, an important character in the Mahabharata, is the oldest of all the sons. Duryodhana and his 99 brothers are called the Kauravas. 

Drona is the teacher of all the sons from both the kings. The story emphasizes how excellent of students the Pandavas are, which causes Duryodhana to envy them. In fact, Duryodhana's father names Yudhisthira as his heir, so Duryodhana plans on killing the Pandavas in a fire. Vidura is able to advice the Pandavas of the upcoming plan, so the Pandavas are able to escape the house. There were other persons present during the fire, which lost their life. Duryodhana thought he had accomplished his mission, thus rejoices. 

This version of the Mahabharata also includes the story of Bhima and Hidimba. Hidimba wanted to eat the Pandavas, therefore he used trickery with his sister to fool them. Although, the sister, Hidimbi, fell in love with Bhima. Thus the sister is able to warn Bhima in time. Bhima and Hidimba fight and Bhima eventually kills him. 

Next, the kings travel to the kingdom of Panchala to win the hand of Draupadi, daughter of Drupada. Arjuna was disguised as a brahmin and was able to win the archery contest with his excellent archery skills. The royal suitors fight Bhima and Arjuna of jealousy, but they lose anyways. Arjuna finally arrives home with Draupadi, but his mother Kunti, not knowing what Arjuna has brought back with him, commands Arjuna to share whatever he is so proud of. Therefore, Draupadi was shared amongst the five brothers, as a wife. All five weddings take place back to back.

The story continues with Arjuna's adventures. He walks into a room uninvited. Draupadi and Yudhishthira occupied the room, thus sending Arjuna into a self-imposed exile. During his time in exile, he marries a water-nymph, Ulupi. He also encounters a fire-god, Agni, in a dream, which commands Arjuna to burn the Khandava forest. Arjuna is gifted a celestial bow and arrows from the sea-god Varuna. Arjuna burns the forest down. He then travels to Dwarka and marries Subhadra, sister of Krishna. 

The story continues and the Pandavas experience the gambling match with Shakuni. Yudhishtra loses everything for the brothers, including Draupadi. Draupadi was humiliated just like PDE Mahabharata. She was still protected by a god, which would replace all the clothes immediately after being ripped off by Dushashana. Duryodhana's blind father, King Dhritarashtra grants Draupadi boons, which frees all of the brothers. Another match was arranged since Duryodhana pleaded to his father for another match. The Pandavas lost again. But, this time they have lost a match that causes them to go into exile for 12 years and one year in disguise. 

Draupadi being disrobed after Yudhisthira loses the gambling matches. Image from Wikipedia. 

Bibliography: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City by C. A. Kincaid. 1921