Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
The story of Ashwatthama
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was the son of guru Dronacharya. He is one of the eight Chiranjeevins. Dronacharya loved him dearly. Rumours about his death in the Kurukshetra war led to the death of his father at the hands of Prince Dhrishtadyumna. A vengeful Ashwatthama obtained permission from the dying Duryodhana to brutally murder Dhrishtadhyumna after the war had officially ended. Ashwatthama at the end of the war promised Duryodhana that he would kill the Pandavas.
Ashwatthama was observing on the last day of the war, how an owl was attacked by crows in the day and how the owls attacked back in the night. So he surmised that under the laws of nature, a person can fight when he is strong. He, Kritavarma and Kripacharya tried to attack the camp of Pandavas and they were stopped by a demon kept by Krishna. However, Krishna also took the precaution of taking the Pandavas along with Satyaki to the river side of the Ganges.
Ashwatthama worshipped Shiva and offered his body as offering to Shiva. Shiva gave him the boon that whoever faces him that night shall die. Ashwatthama attacked the Pandava camp in the middle of the night, but by error ended up murdering the five sons of the Pandavas by Draupadi.
The Pandavas, incensed by this act, chased him resulting in his fight with Arjuna. During the fight, Ashwatthama invoked the extremely powerful Brahmashira weapon--which incidentally he had once tried to exchange with Krishna's discus without success--against Arjuna. Arjuna in response invoked the same weapon. Fearing the destruction of the world, the sages advised both to take back their weapons. While Arjuna could do so, Ashwatthama (presumably having less skill) could not and was given the option of choosing any single target to destroy. Out of spite, Ashwatthama directed the weapon to the wombs of Pandava women. Among them was Uttara, Arjuna's daughter-in-law.
At this time, Uttara was carrying the unborn Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, who upon birth would be the future heir to all the Pandava brothers. The Brahmastra weapon was successful in fatally burning the foetus, but Krishna revived the stillborn child and cursed Ashwatthama with leprosy and to roam the world for 6,000 years as an unloved castaway. In another version, it is believed that he is cursed to remain alive till the end of the Kali Yuga. It is believed that Ashwatthama migrated to the land currently known as the Arabian Peninsula. Another version goes to say that he is still on Earth in the form of cyclones and typhoons. An old fort near Burhanpur, India called Asirgarh has a Lord Shiva temple on top where it is believed that Ashwatthama offers a red rose everyday to Lord Shiva early in the morning. Another story says that Ashwatthama is still roaming in the forest of Gir, Junagadh in the Gujarat state of India.
Ashwatthama also had to surrender a valuable gem, Mani, set on his forehead, the wearer of which ceases to have any fear from weapons or disease or hunger, and ceases to have any fear of gods, Danavas and Nagas.
Ashwatthama was one of the three survivors of the Kaurava army, along with Kritavarma and Kripacharya.
The story of Babruvahana
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Babruvahana is one of the sons of Arjuna, begotten through Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur, during the period of his exile at Manipur.
Babruvahana was adopted as the son of his maternal grandfather, and reigned at Manipur as his successor. He dwelt there in a palace of great splendour, surrounded with wealth and signs of power.
When Arjuna went to Manipur with the horse intended for the Aswamedha, there was a quarrel between Arjuna and King Babhruvahana, and the latter killed his father with an arrow. Repenting of his deed, he determined to kill himself, but he obtained from his stepmother, the Naga princess Uloopi, a gem which restored Arjuna to life. He returned with his father to Hastinapura.[1]This was on account of a curse by the Vasus, on account of Arjuna's killing Bhishma (who is an incarnation of one of the Vasus) during the MahÄbhÄrata war.
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
The story of Arjuna
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Arjuna is one of the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Arjuna is a central figure in Hindu religion whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver'. Arjuna is thus "The Peerless Archer". The third of the five Pandava brothers, Arjun was one of the children borne by Kunti, first wife of Pandu.
Arjun or Partha was a master archer and played a central role in the conflict between the Pandavas and their adversaries, the sons of Dhritarashtra known as the Kauravas. To begin with, Arjun was reluctant to take part in battle because of the slaughter he knew he would cause in the enemy ranks, which included many of his own relatives. He was persuaded by his charioteer and close friend Lord Krishna, to change his mind. Their dialogue about issues involved in war—courage, a warrior’s duty, the nature of human life and the soul, and the role of Gods—forms the subject of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the key episodes in the epic MahÄbhÄrata. He also played the key role in killing Karna, his arch-rival, in reality an unknown brother, on the side of the Kauravas.
It is asserted by some sources that the legend of "Ä€rash, the Parthian Archer" in Persian mythology bears some resemblance to that of Arjuna; this is cited by some as being reminiscent of a shared Indo-Iranian heritage. However, Arjun is an integral part of the MahÄbhÄrata and one of its lead characters. The other central characters in the story are not mentioned in the story of Arash. Lastly, Indian scientists have discovered what they claim to be Dwaraka, or Krishna's city, indicating that the MahÄbhÄrata may indeed have a link to actual events in Indian history, as opposed to being a mythological tale.
He bears a total of ten names: Arjun, Phalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetvaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijaya, PÄrth, Savyasachinn (also referred as Sabyasachi), and Dhananjaya. When he is asked to say his ten names as a proof of his identity:
"My ten names are - Arjun, Phalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetvaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijaya, Parth, Savyashachee and Dhananjaya. I was called Dhanajaya when I conquered all the kings at the time of RÄjsooya Yajna and collected wealth from all of them. I always fight till the end and I always win, that is why I am called Vijaya. My horses which were given to me by Agni Dev are white, that is why I am called ShwetavÄhana. My father Indra gave me a beautiful crown when I was with Him, that is why I am called Kiriti. I have never fought by unfair means in any battle that is why I am called Jishnu. I never frighten my enemies by meanness, I can use my both hands when I shoot my arrows, that is why I am called Savyashachee. My complexion is unique like the Arjun tree, and my name is stainless, that is why I am named Arjun. I was born on the slopes of Himvaan in a place called Satsring on a day when the Nakshatra Uttara PhalgunÄ« was in ascent, that is why my name is Phaalgun. I am called Vibhatsu because I am terrible when I am angry. My mother's name is Prithaa, so I am also called Paarth. I have taken an oath that I will destroy that person (and his kinsmen) who hurts my brother Yudhishthira and spills his blood on Earth. I cannot be defeated by anyone." (Mahabharat)
Pandu was unable to sire a child. His first wife Kunti had, in her maiden days, received a boon from sage Kindamb, which enabled her to invoke any deity of her choice and beget a child by such deity. Pandu and Kunti decided to make use of this boon; Kunti invoked in turn Yama Dharmaraja, Vayu and Indra and gave birth to three sons. Arjuna was the third son, born of Indra, king of the demi gods (devas).
Arjuna is depicted as a wholesome and well-rounded personality, a healthy mind in a healthy body, a person whom any mother, wife and friend would cherish and be proud of. The son of Indra, Arjuna is said to have been well-built and extremely handsome; he married four times, as detailed here. Arjuna was also true and loyal to his friends (his best friend was the great warrior Satyaki); he enjoyed a life-long rapport with his cousin and brother-in-law, Sri Krishna. He was also sensitive and thoughtful, as demonstrated by his misgivings about the Kurukshetra war, which caused Sri Krishna to impart the Gita to him. His sense of duty was acute; he once chose to go into exile rather than refuse to help a brahmin subject, a story detailed elsewhere.
It is as a warrior that Arjuna is best known. The foundation for his career as a warrior was laid young; Arjuna was an outstanding and diligent student, learning everything that his guru Dronacharya could teach him, and early attaining the status of "Maharathi" or outstanding warrior. Guru Dronacharya once decided to test his students. He hung a wooden bird from the branch of a tree and then summoned his students. One by one, he asked his students to aim for the eye of the wooden bird and be ready to shoot; then, when they were ready, he would ask the student to describe all that he was able to see. The students generally described the garden, the tree, flowers, the branch from which the bird was suspended and the bird itself. Guru Dronacharya then asked them to step aside. When asked what he could see, Arjuna told his Guru that he could only see the bird's eye. Another story says that Arjuna once noticed brother Bheema, who was a voracious eater, eating in the dark as though it was daylight, and realized that if he could practice archery in the dark he would become vastly more proficient.
His skill in archery was to have an unlikely utility; it won him the hand of Draupadi, his first wife, the daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala. A contest was held by Drupada to choose a suitable match for his daughter. A wooden fish was suspended high above a pool of water; furthermore, the fish rotated in a circle. Contestants were required to string a heavy bow and then use it to hit the eye of the rotating fish. They were allowed to take aim at the eye of the fish only by looking at its reflection in the pool of water. Many princes and noblemen vied for the hand of the princess of Panchala. Some (including Karna, another hero of the MahÄbhÄrata) were disqualified on grounds of supposedly low birth. However, although the Pandavas and their mother were in hiding at that time, Arjuna had prudently dressed as a high-caste Brahmin and was allowed to compete. This was just as well, since it was eventually Arjuna, the peerless archer, who alone was able to accomplish the set task; he won the hand of Draupadi.
All the five Pandava brothers had attended the tournament without informing Kunti, their mother, about it. They returned home in triumph, bringing the princess Draupadi with them. From outside the house, they shouted out to their mother: "Mother, you will never believe what we have got here! Make a guess!" Busy with her work, Kunti refused to be baited. "Whatever it is, share it between yourselves equally, and do not quarrel over the matter," she said. So seriously did the brothers take even this casual statement of their mother, that they resolved upon making Draupadi their common wife. It says something about the magnanimity of Arjuna that, having won his bride single-handedly, he 'shared' her with all his brothers willingly. One possible reason he took this action was to prevent any breach or jealousy arising between the brothers. However, despite marrying all five brothers, Draupadi loved Arjun the most and always favoured him. And Arjun loved Draupadi the most out of his four wives. There is another story about Draupadi, which mentions the boon she received in her previous birth of having five of the most desired men, as her husbands. Initially Draupadi's parents didn't agree to her marriage to all the Pandavas. But when he was told about this boon she had, King Drupad agreed.
The brothers agreed upon a protocol governing their relations with Draupadi, their common wife. An important point of this agreement was that no brother would disturb the couple when another brother was alone with Draupadi; the penalty for doing so was exile for a year. Once, when the Pandavas were still ruling over a prosperous Indraprastha, a brahmin came in great agitation to Arjuna and sought his help: a pack of cattle-thieves had seized his herd, he had recourse to none but Arjuna for a remedy. Arjuna was in a dilemma: his weaponry was in the room where Draupadi and Yudhishthira were alone together, and disturbing them would incur the penalty agreed upon. Arjuna hesitated for but a moment; in his mind, coming to the aid of his subject in distress, especially a brahmin, was the raison d'etre of a prince. The prospect of exile did not deter him from fulfilling the duty of aiding the brahmin; he disturbed the conjugal couple, took up his weaponry and rode forth to subdue the cattle-thieves. Upon finishing that task, he insisted, in the teeth of opposition from his entire family, including the two people whom he had disturbed, upon going away on exile.
Apart from Draupadi, Arjuna was the husband of three other ladies, namely Chitrangada, Uluchi and Subhadra. All of these events occurred during the period when he went into exile alone after having disturbed Draupadi and Yudhishthira in their private apartments.
Chitrangada: Arjuna travelled the length and breadth of India during his term of exile. His wanderings took him to ancient Manipur in the eastern Himalayas, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. Here he met the gentle Chitrangada, daughter of the king of Manipur, and was moved to seek her hand in marriage. Her father the king demurred on the plea that, according to the matrilineal customs of his people, the children born of Chitrangada were heir to Manipur; he could not allow his heirs to be taken away from Manipur by their father. Arjuna agreed to the stipulation that he would take away neither his wife Chitrangada nor any children borne by her from Manipur, and wed the princess on this premise. A son, whom they named Babruvahana, was soon born to the happy couple--he would succeed his grandfather as King of Manipur.
Uluchi: While Arjuna was in Manipur, Uluchi, a Naga princess of otherwise noble character, became infatuated of him. She caused him to be abducted after he had been intoxicated with potent concoctions; she had him conveyed to her realm in the netherworld. Here, uluchi induced an unwilling Arjuna to take her for wife. Later, the large-hearted Uluchi restored Arjuna to the lamenting Chitrangada. Uluchi later did much to further the comfort and happiness not only of Arjuna, but also of Chitrangada and the young Babruvahana. She played a very major part in the upbringing of Babruvahana; she enjoyed much influence over him, and was eventually also to restore Arjuna to life after he was slain in battle by Babruvahana.
Subhadra: Arjuna decided to spend the last portion of his term of exile in an orchard near Dwaraka, the residence of his cousins Balarama, Krishna and Subhadra, who were the children of his maternal uncle Vasudeva. Here, he and his cousin Subhadra fell in love with each other. This matter was abetted by Krishna, who had always been particularly attached to Arjuna, and wished nothing but the best for his sister Subhadra. Knowing that the entire family would view with disfavour the prospect of Subhadra becoming the fourth wife of her cousin Arjuna, Krishna facilitated the elopement of the couple and their departure for Indraprastha. In a twist to the tale, at Krishna's advice, it was Subhadra who drove the chariot from Dwaraka to Indraprastha. Krishna used this fact to persuade his family that Subhadra had not been abducted; on the contrary, it was she who had kidnapped Arjuna.
A single son, Abhimanyu, was born to Arjuna and Subhadra. Parikshita, son of Abhimanyu and UttarÄ, born after Abhimanyu was killed in the battlefield, was destined to be the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru clan, and succeeded Yudhistra as the emperor of the Pandava kingdom
Shortly after his return to Indraprastha, Arjuna visits the Khandava forest with Krishna. There they encounter Agni, the fire-god. He has become wan from consuming too much ghee as a result of one king who is performing far too many 'yagnas' (ritual invocations with fire), and feeding ghee to Agni. He asks for Arjuna and Krishna's help in consuming the forest in its entirety to restore him to health. Takshaka the serpent-king, a friend of Indra's, resides in it and Indra thus causes rain whenever Agni tries to burn this forest. Arjuna tells him that while he has training in the divine weapons, to withstand the power of Indra's astras he must have an exceptionally powerful bow, an unbreakable one. Agni then invokes Varuna, and then gives Arjuna the Gandiva, an incredibly powerful bow, which gave its user sure victory in battle. This bow plays a great role in Arjuna's battles to come. Additionally, he also gives Arjuna a divine chariot, with powerful white horses that do not tire, and are unwounded by normal weapons.
Arjuna tells Agni to proceed, and fights a duel with his father in the process, a battle that lasts several days and nights. A voice from the sky proclaims Arjuna and Krishna the victors, and tells Indra to withdraw.
In the burning of the forest, Arjuna chose to spare one Asura, named Maya, who was a gifted architect. In his gratitude, Maya built Yudhishtra a magnificent royal hall, unparalleled in the world. It is this hall, which triggers the pinnacle of Duryodhana's envy, causing the game of dice to be played.
After Arjuna's return to Indraprastha, several crucial incidents described in the MahÄbhÄrata took place, culminating in the exile of all the five Pandava brothers and of their common wife Draupadi. Arjuna's training during this period is particularly significant in the war to come.
Pashupata: During the fifth year of their exile, Arjuna leaves the others and proceeds to the Himalayas to do tapas to Lord Shiva, to obtain the Pashupata, Shiva's personal astra (i.e. "weapon"), one so powerful as to lack any counter-astra. Arjuna performs penance for a long time. Shiva, pleased with his penance, decides to test him further. He causes an asura in the shape of a large wild boar to disturb Arjuna's penance. Incensed at the boar, Arjuna chases it, and shoots an arrow at it to kill. At the same instant, another arrow from the bow of a rude hunter (Shiva) also hits the boar. The hunter and Arjuna, with the pride of warriors, argue about whose arrow killed the boar. This leads to an intense duel between the two. The hunter soon deprives Arjuna of all his weapons. Arjuna, who feels ashamed at this defeat, turns to the Shivalinga, that he has been worshipping during his penance, and offers it some flowers in prayer, only to find that the flowers have magically appeared on the body of the hunter instead. Arjuna realizes the hunter's identity, and falls at Shiva's feet. Shiva subsequently grants him knowledge of the Pasupata.
After obtaining this astra, he then proceeds to Indraloka (heaven), spending time with his biological father Indra, and acquiring further training from the devas. Additionally, he destroys the Nivatakavachas and Kalakeyas - two powerful asura clans that resided in the skies, and menaced the gods. The clans had obtained boons from Brahma as to be undefeatable by gods. Arjuna, being a mortal man, could destroy them with his training.
Urvashi's curse: While in Indraloka, Arjuna was propositioned by the apsara (celestial danseuse) Urvashi. Urvashi had once been married to a king named Pururavas, and had borne a son named Ayus from that liaison; Ayus was a distant forbear of Arjuna, hence he regarded Urvashi as a mother. Arjuna reminded Urvashi of this connection while rejecting her advances. Another belief says that since Indra was Arjuna's father and Urvashi was an apsara in Indra's court, so Urvashi is more like a motherly figure for him. Urvashi got annoyed at this rejection, saying Arjuna has insulted by spurning her advances. Urvashi rebuked Arjuna and told him that a danseuse is not concerned with earthly relations of any sort. Yet Arjuna could not overcome his scruples; "I am a child in front of you," he said. Chagrined at this response, Urvashi cursed Arjuna with impotence. Because Indra told her to reduce the curse, she modified her curse to last only one year, and Arjuna could choose any one year of his life during which to suffer the life of a eunuch. This curse proved fortuitous; Arjuna used it as a very effective disguise for the period of one year when he, his brothers and Draupadi all lived incognito while in exile.
After spending 12 years in the forest, the Pandavas spent the thirteenth year of exile incognito, as stipulated by their agreement with the Kauravas. This year is spent by them in disguise at the court of King VirÄta. Arjuna made use of the curse put on him by the apsara Urvashi and chose this year in which to live the life of a eunuch. He assumed the name Brihannala. At the end of one year, Arjuna single-handedly defeated a Kaurava host that had invaded VirÄta's kingdom. In appreciation of this valour, and being appraised of the true identity of the Pandavas, King VirÄta offered the hand of his daughter UttarÄ to Arjuna. Arjuna demurred on grounds of age as well as that UttarÄ was like a daughter to him, owing to his having been (as a eunuch) her tutor in song and dance. He proposed that UttarÄ should marry his young son Abhimanyu. This wedding duly took place; the posthumous son born of that union was destined to be the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru clan.
In addition to the guidance of and personal attention from Krishna, Arjuna had the support of Hanuman during the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Arjuna entered the battlefield with the flag of Hanuman on his chariot. The incident that led to this was an earlier encounter between Hanuman and Arjuna; Hanuman appeared as a small talking monkey before Arjuna at Rameshwaram, where Sri Rama had built the great bridge to cross over to Lanka to rescue Sita. Upon Arjuna's wondering out aloud at Sri Rama's taking the help of "monkeys" rather than building a bridge of arrows, Hanuman (in the form of the little monkey) challenged him to build one capable of bearing him alone. Unaware of the monkey's true identity, Arjuna accepted the challenge. Hanuman then proceeded to repeatedly destroy the bridges made by Arjuna who became depressed and suicidal, and decided to take his own life. Vishnu then appeared before them both, chiding Arjuna for his vanity, and Hanuman for making the accomplished warrior Arjuna feel incompetent. As an act of 'penitence', Hanuman agreed to help Arjuna by stabilizing and strengthening his chariot during the then-likely great battle.
Upon finishing the period of their exile, the Pandavas seek the return of their kingdom from the Kauravas, who refuse to honour the terms of the agreement. War breaks out.
The Bhagavad Gita:
Krishna's elder step brother Balarama, ruler of Dwaraka, decides not to take sides in the war, as both Kauravas and Pandavas are kinsmen of the Yadavas. However, Krishna in his personal capacity decides to be near Arjuna and protect him. Krishna becomes Arjuna's personal charioteer during the 18-day war and protects Arjuna upon numerous occasions from injury and death. The term "Charioteer" in connection to Krishna is interpreted as "One who guides" or "One who shows the way"; apart from protecting Arjuna from all mishap, Krishna also showed Arjuna the righteous way by revealing the Bhagavad Gita to him in the hours immediately preceding the start of battle.
This happened thus: As the two armies fell into battle-formation and faced each other on the battlefield, Arjuna's heart grew heavy. He saw arrayed before him his own kinsfolk; the elders of his clan on whose knees he had once been dandled as a child; the very guru Dronacharya who first taught him to wield the bow all those decades ago. Will it be worthwhile, he asked himself, to annihilate his own kindred for the sake of a kingdom? Arjuna sees his spirit faltering at this crucial juncture just as the war is about to begin; he resorts to Krishna for guidance.
It is at this juncture that Lord Krishna reveals the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. This is one of the most revered of Hindu texts. In it, Krishna deems it Arjuna's duty to struggle to uphold righteousness, without consideration of personal loss, consequence or reward; the discharge of one's moral duty, he says, supersedes all other pursuits, whether spiritual and material, in life.
The Bhagavad Gita is a record of the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. The relationship between Arjuna and Krishna is representative of what is ideal for all mankind: Man guided by God. The Bhagavad Gita records the Lord comforting and guiding a mortal who is facing a terrible moral crisis, and is an important scripture in Hinduism.
The Kurukshetra war:
Thus fortified in his belief of the righteousness of his chosen course of action, Arjuna takes up arms and essays a vastly important role in the winning of the war by the Pandavas.
Arjuna killed his uterine brother Karna, another formidable warrior who was fighting in aid of the Kauravas against the Pandavas. This act of fratricide was committed by him while in ignorance of the relationship. Karna and Arjuna form a terrible rivalry when Karna seeks to revenge himself upon Arjuna's guru and the princely order for casting him out and humiliating him. Arjuna is further provoked when Karna insults Arjuna and the other Pandava's wife Draupadi and has an indirect role in the murder of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu in battle. They both bring this terrible and personal rivalry to a climactic battle of terrifying proportions. For a long, long time, powerful weapons are discharged by the two warriors at terrifying pace without relent. The prowess and courage of both is marvelled by the millions of other soldiers. Karna knowing that he cannot kill Arjuna by any means he takes out his snake arrow to kill Arjuna. He uses this snake arrow against arjuna but snake aswasena whose mother was killed by arjuna enters that arrow and tries to kill Arjuna. But the Lord Krishna saves his friend and devotee Arjuna at this crucial juncture. Then Arjuna becomes mad with anger and shame and rains innumerable arrows at Karna and wounds him .Then Arjuna is urged by Lord Krishna to kill Karna when he is attempting to raise his chariot, reminding him of Karna's own apparent lack of mercy and regard for the rules of war in the killing of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu in a terrible and brutal fashion. Arjuna thus kills Karna. In the end Karna's sins doom him, marking another instance in the MahÄbhÄrata of how an individual's actions serve to mark his destiny, and the need to lead a virtuous life.
In another memorable battle, it was Arjuna who annihilated a whole akshouhini, or hundreds of thousands (109,350) of Kaurava soldiers in one day to avenge the terrible murder of his son Abhimanyu, who was killed by all of the strongest warriors of the Kaurava Army, attacking simultaneously and especially when Abhimanyu was exhausted and deprived of weapons and trapped in a formation impossible for anyone save the Kuru general Drona, Arjuna, Krishna and Krishna's son Pradyumna to escape from. Having pledged to enter the fire if he failed to kill the Sindhu king Jayadratha, whom he held principally responsible, by the end of the day, Arjuna in the process kills an entire akshauhini, or more than hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In the climactic moment, the sun is close to setting and thousands of warriors still separate Arjuna and Jayadratha. Seeing his friend's plight, the Lord Krishna, his charioteer, raises his Sudarshana Chakra to cover the Sun, faking a sunset. The Kaurava warriors rejoice over Arjuna's defeat and imminent death, and Jayadratha is exposed in a crucial moment, where upon the Lord's urging, Arjuna sets loose a powerful arrow that decapitates Jayadratha. This note of the act of protection of Krishna of his righteous friend and disciple will be incomplete without adding that Jayadratha's father, the old and sinful king Vridhakshtra had blessed his son that anyone who caused his head to fall to the ground would cause his own head to burst. Jayadratha's head is carried by the arrow to his own father's hands, who was meditating near the battlefield; who in his shock drops the head and himself dies of his own blessing.
After the conclusion of the war, the Pandavas take charge of Hastinapura, the undivided realm of their ancestors. Their great victory, the wide support they gained for their cause and the defeat of the many kings who had supported the Kauravas, all unite to make them feel that the time is right to hazard a further venture: the performance of the Asvamedha Yagna, or "horse sacrifice", whereafter the title of Chakravarti ("Emperor") may be assumed. The sacrifice required that after preliminary rituals, a horse is let loose to wander where it will. The kings upon whose lands the horse wanders all have a choice: they may either accept the master of the horse (in this case, Yudishthira, eldest of the Pandavas) as their own leige lord and offer their submission to him, or they may offer resistance and wage war. Arjuna led the armed host which followed the horse around its random wanderings. He had occasion to receive the submission of many kings, either without or following an armed confrontation. He was thus instrumental in the expansion of the Pandava domains.
His war campaign into the Uttarapatha resulted in the reduction of over thirty tribes/Kingdoms including those of Pragjyotisha, Uluka, Modapura, Vamadeva, Sudaman, Susankula, Northern Uluka, Puru kingdom of Viswagaswa, Utsava-Sanketa, Lohita, Trigarta, Darava, Abhisara, Kokonada, Ursa, Simhapura, Suhma, Sumala, Balhika, Darada, Kamboja. Thence after reducing the robber tribes of the mountains, Arjuna landed into Transoxiana region (Sakadvipa or Scythia) and conquers the Lohas, Parama Kambojas, Northern Rishikas (or Parama Rishikas), Limpurushas, Haratakas, Gandharvas and the Uttarakurus etc.
In course of time, the Pandava brothers decide, at an advanced age, to renounce the world. They entrust the kingdom to Parikshita, the son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna. The Pandavas, including Arjuna, then retire to the Himalayas and eventually depart the world.
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
The story of Abhimanyu
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Abhimanyu is a brave and tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, the half-sister of Lord Krishna.
As an unborn child in his mother's womb, Abhimanyu learns the knowledge of entering the deadly and virtually impenetrable Chakravyuha (see Wars of Hindu Mythology) from Arjuna.The epic explains that he overheard Arjuna talking about this with his mother from the womb. Arjuna spoke about entering Chakravyuha and later Subhadra dozed to sleep. Arjuna stopped explaining Chakravyuha escape when he saw Subhadra slept while listening. As an effect, the baby Abhimanyu in womb didn't get a chance to know of coming out of it.
Abhimanyu spent his childhood in Dwaraka, his mother's city. He was trained by Pradyumna, the son of Sri Krishna and his great warrior father Arjuna and brought up under the guidance of Lord Krishna. His father arranged his marriage to Uttara, daughter of king Virata to seal an alliance between the Pandavas and the royal family of Virata, in lieu of the forthcoming Kurukshetra War. The Pandavas had been hiding in cognito to live through the final year of their exile without being discovered, in Virata's kingdom of Matsya.
Being the grandson of Lord Indra, god of mystical weapons and wars responsible for killing thousands of enemy heroes and hundreds of thousands of warriors, Abhimanyu was a courageous and dashing warrior. Considered equal to his father's level owing his prodigious feats, Abhimanyu was able to hold at bay, great heroes like Drona, Karna, Duryodhana and Dushasana. He was praised for his audacious bravery and absolute loyalty to his father, his uncles and to their cause.
Abhimanyu has taken part in the war of Mahabharat and killed important personalities such as Kumara Lakshmana, the son of Duryodhana and Brihadbala, the king of Kosala belonging to Ikshwaku dynasty.
On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to break a circular battle formation known as the Chakravyuha (see Wars of Hindu Mythology).
The Pandavas accept the challenge since they know that the knowledge of how to defeat such a formation is known to Krishna and Arjuna.
However, on that day, Krishna and Arjuna are dragged into fighting a war on another front with the Samsaptakas. Since the Pandavas have accepted the challenge already, they have no choice but to attempt to use young lad Abhimanyu, who has knowledge on how to break into the formation but none whatsoever regarding how to break out of it. To make sure that Abhimanyu does not get trapped in this endeavour, the remaining Pandava brothers decide that they and their allies will also break into the formation along with Abhimanyu and assist the boy in breaking out of it. It is important to note that the plan is hatched well after Arjuna and Krishna have been distracted away by the Samsaptaka army led by Susarma.
On the fateful day, Abhimanyu uses his skills to successfully break into the formation. The Pandava brothers and allies attempt to follow him inside the formation, but they are effectively cut off by Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, who makes use of a boon from Shiva to hold off all Pandavas except Arjuna for one day only. Abhimanyu is left to fend for himself against the entire Kaurava army.
When Abhimanyu commands his charioteer to lead his chariot towards Drona, the man is not happy to do so and raises objections. He requests the sixteen-year-old to take time to think about it before he begins the battle. He points out that Abhimanyu has grown up amidst great love and comforts and he is not a master of the battle arts as Drona is. Young Abhimanyu’s answer is disturbing to the reader of the epic and it speaks loudly of his underestimation of the mighty warriors on the Kaurava side and of his overestimation of himself, of his megalomania. Laughing aloud, he tells his charioteer: “What is this Drona or even the entire world of kshatriyas to me? I can fight Indra himself, mounted on his Airavata, along with all the gods! Why, I can fight in a battle even Lord Rudra himself, to whom the entire world of beings pays homage! This battle that I am going wage today does not bewilder me in the least.†Abhimanyu’s shocking words do not stop with these either. Continuing in the same vein he says: “This entire army of enemies is not equal to one sixteenth of my power. Why, even if I find in front of me in the battlefield my father Arjuna or my uncle himself, the mighty Vishnu who has conquered the whole universe, that wouldn’t frighten me.â€
With no great joy in his mind, the poor charioteer takes his master forward. Abhimanyu breaks into the chakravyuha. In the mighty battle that follows with relentless ferocity for hours on end, he slaughters ordinary enemy warriors and mighty heroes alike, even as a whirlwind pulls up by their roots tiny bushes as well as mighty trees on its path
Abhimanyu fights valiantly single-handedly slaying several warriors who come his way including Duryodhana's son Laxman.Among the others who were killed are Karna’s younger brother, Ashmaka’s son, Shalya’s younger brother, Shalya’s son Rukmaratha, Drighalochana, Kundavedhi, Sushena, Vasatiya, Kratha and numerous other great warriors. He wounds Karna and makes him flee, makes Dushshasana faint in the battlefield so that he has to be carried off by others. Upon witnessing the death of his beloved son, Duryodhana is incensed and orders the entire Kaurava force to attack Abhimanyu. Continually frustrated in attempts to pierce Abhimanyu's armor, Karna on Dronacharya's advice shatters Abhimanyu's bow firing arrows from behind him. Thus disabled, his chariot breaks down shortly later, the charioteer and horses are killed, and all his weapons are laid to waste. He attempts then to fight off the bow wielding warriors sitting on horses, elephants at the same time with a sword and a chariot wheel as a shield. Dushasana's son engages in fierce hand to hand combat with Abhimanyu. Ignoring all codes of war, the Kauravas all fight simultaneously with him. He holds his own until his sword breaks and the remaining chariot wheel shatters into pieces. Abhimanyu gets killed shortly thereafter when Dushasana's son crushes his skull with a mace.
It is said that it is Abhimanyu's death that marks the end of the adherence to the rules of war. Krishna cites the despicable manner in which Abhimanyu was killed to incite Arjuna to kill Karna. This is cited as a reason to kill Duryodhana. Some say that this does not only apply to the particular war but marks the end of fair and nobly conducted wars.
News of the despicable acts committed on Abhimanyu reached his father Arjuna at the end of the day, who vows to kill Jayadratha the very next day by sunset, and failing to do so, commit suicide by self-immolation immediately.
The Kaurava army the next day places Jayadratha furthest away from Arjuna, and every warrior including the Samshaptakas (mercenaries to vow only to return from battle fields only upon victory else death) attempts to prevent Arjuna from reaching anywhere close to Jayadratha. Arjuna literally hacks through the Kaurava army and kills more than a hundred thousand soldiers and warriors in a single day. However, almost by sundown, Arjuna's chariot is still nowhere near Jayadratha's. Arjuna becomes despondent because he realizes that failure is imminent, and starts getting mentally prepared to self-immolate. Krishna being the almighty god uses his powers to temporarily to create an eclipse. The Kauravas and Pandavas alike believe that indeed the sun has set and the war stops according to the rules. Both sides come to watch Arjuna self-immolate. In his haste to see Arjuna's death, Jayadratha also comes to the front. Krishna sees the opportunity that he has effectively created, and the sun comes out again. Before the Kauravas can take corrective action, Krishna points out to Arjuna and asks him to pick up his Gandiva and behead Jayadratha. Arjuna's unerring arrows decapitate Jayadratha, and his vow to kill Jayadratha by sunset that day and avenge Abhimanyu's death is fulfilled. The reason for creating eclipse is also suggested at many places as a plot to save Arjuna from death, because Jayadratha had got a boon from his father that whoever would cause Jayadratha's head to fall onto earth would also die immediately. So Lord Krishna wanted everything to happen in this way so that Jayadratha would be on an easy aim. When Arjuna beheads Jayadratha, he does it so skillfully that the head falls straight into the lap of his father who was sitting under a tree. His father is shocked and stands up, causing Jayadratha's head to fall to earth. Thus his father is killed immediately.
Abhimanyu is the reincarnation of Varchas, the son of the moon god. When the moon god was asked to let his son incarnate himself on earth by the other devas, he made a pact that his son will only remain on earth for 16 years as he could not bear to be separated from him. Abhimanyu was 16 years old when he died in the war.
His son, Parikshita, born after his death, remains the sole survivor of the Kuru clan at the conclusion of the MahÄbhÄrata war, and carries on the Pandava lineage.
Abhimanyu is often thought of as a very brave warrior on the Pandava side, willingly giving up his life in war at a very young age.
The story of Ahilawati
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Ahilawati was a female character in the famous epic Mahabharata. She was a Nag Kanya meaning a snake girl and was married to Bhima's son Ghatotkacha. Prior to her marriage she was referred to as Maurvi. She was won by Ghatotkacha after passing a difficult exam. She asked him various questions but he succeeded in answering all of them. She was the mother of Barbareek who is better known as Khatushyamji. She taught the lesson to Barbareek to support the losers and because of that he got famous with name of Hare Ka Sahara.
The story of Amba
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Amba was the eldest daughter of King of Kashi in the Hindu epic of the Mahabharata.
Along with her sisters Ambika and Ambalika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya, the king of Hastinapura.
Vichitravirya married only her sisters and rejected Amba since she had already given her heart to another. When Amba went to see her beloved, he rejected her as well in shame of losing the combat against Bhishma at the Swayamvara. Amba then returned to Bhishma and demanded that he marry her. He declined since he had already taken a vow of bachelorhood. Enraged that she was going to be an unmarriageable women, she swore to kill him, at least in her next life, and died.
She was re-born as Shikhandi the son of Drupada. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Shikhandi was instrumental in Bhishma's death.
The story of Ambalika
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Ambalika was the daughter of King of Kashi and the wife of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapur.
Along with her sisters Amba and Ambika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled kings and princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya.
After Vichitravirya's death, his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son. Ambalika was instructed by Satyavati to keep her eyes open lest she would bear a blind son like Ambika (Dhritarashtra). She did keep her eyes open but she became pale after seeing the formidable form of the Sage. Hence her son, Pandu the father of the Pandavas, was born sickly.
The story of Ambika
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata
Ambika was the daughter of King of Kashi and wife of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapur.
Along with her sisters Amba and Ambalika, she was taken by force by Bhishma from their Swayamvara. (Bhishma challenged the assembled Kings and Princes and defeated them.) He presented them to Satyavati for marriage to Vichitravirya.
After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Rishi Veda Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them each a son. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his very dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas, was born blind.
After Dhritarashtra's birth, when Satyavati requested Vyasa to visit Ambika for the 2nd time, she dared not go and sent her maid instead. So the maid gave birth to a son Vidura, who was raised as a brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Stories from Mahabharata
Story of King Shibi
Stories from Mahabharata
The king Shibi, a descendant of king Bharata of lunor dynasty, was famous for his truthfulness, justice, and keeping his word. The king of righteousness, Dharmaraj, himself decided to test the strength of character of Shibi Rana.
Once when the king was alone on the terrace of his palace, he saw one dove coming towards him with great speed. An eagle was after him, and to escape from the clutches of the chasing eagle the dove made frantic effort to hide some where. Seeing the king on the terrace, the frightened dove took shelter in his lap. The dove said, "O king, save my life, I have come under your shelter."
The king had vowed to protect anyone who took his shelter. Thus the weak and deprived could not be exploited by the rich and strong. However, this was a new experience for Shibi Rana. Was he in any way obliged to protect a bird who seeks his refuge? Contemplating for a while, the king decided that even tress, animals, and birds require protection and help as do human beings.
Therefore, the king said, "Have no fear my son. That eagle would not be able to touch even your feather. Relax in peace, have no worries." So saying the king readied himself to face the rapidly approaching eagle. The eagle landed in front of the king and said, "O king, you have hidden my prey. Please release him so that I can appease my hunger."
The righteous king saw the point in eagle's demand. He faced a peculiar dilemma of protecting the dove, and at the same time not to deprive the eagle of his rightful prey! He decided to resolve the issue by offering the eagle equal amount of meat from his kitchen. But the eagle insisted on having his prey -the dove - as his food. After some discussion the eagle agreed to set the dove free on two conditions.
The eagle said, "O King, I shall let the dove go, if equal weight of flesh from your body is offered to me as food."
Shibi Rana was quite pleased with the adjustment. He thought that a pound (or two) of flesh from his body would not kill him and the life of the dove in his shelter would also be saved.
Thus he was happy that he was saved from a great sin of 'inability to protect the weak'.
The eagle then put his second condition, saying, "O king, if a single tear drops from your eye I shall be constrained to accept you flesh as my food."
The king agreed and called for the knives and the balance. In one pan of the balance the dove was kept and on the other side a large chunk of flesh from the right thigh of Shibi Rana. But strange as it might seem, the pan with the dove always weighed more even as additional flesh was added! Thus almost whole of the right half of the king's body was cut. Still the weight could not be equaled.
At this juncture a drop of tear appeared in the left eye of the king. The eagle objected to this saying, "O king, I cannot accept the food given in distress. The tear in your eye shows that you are unhappy. So give me my prey back and you shall regain your normal health."
With a faint smile on his lips, Shibi Rana said, "Behold, O eagle, the left eye is not crying out of grief; this is a tear of joy. Now my left half of the body will also be used to honour the word I have given to you. Otherwise, if only right had satisfied you, the left half of the body would have been denied this great opportunity of sacrifice! Therefore, my dear friend, the left eye cries out of joy!"
This ultimate sacrifice of Shibi Rana was unparalleled in the history. The eagle and the dove disappeared and in their places stood the King of righteousness -Dharmaraj and the king of heavens --the Indra. Gods from the heavens showered flowers, perfumes, and praise on the king. They granted many boons to this noble king.
The king Shibi had passed the ultimate test to uphold Dharma, a true duty of every king. It is said that this king ruled for many years and after his death went directly to heaven to enjoy the fruits of his righteous karma.
Story of Shakuntala & Dushyanta.
Stories from Mahabharata
In Hindu mythology Shakuntala is considered to be the mother of Emperor Bharata and the wife of Dushyanta who was the founder of the Paurav vansha (Paurav Dynasty). Shakuntala was born of Vishvamitra and Menaka. Rishi Kanva found her in the forest surrounded and protected by birds (Shakunton in Sanskrit), so she was named Shakuntala.
Once, while out on a hunt with his army, Dushyanta passed through a forest full of bilv, ark, khadir, kapith, dahv etc. trees. The forest undulated with interspered rocky hillocks and extended over several yojanas and there was no trace of any man. It was full of wildlife.
Dushyanta, along with his powerful army, happened to pass through extensive desert after which he reached a good forest. This forest was full of ashramas (hermitages) and there were fruit-bearing trees but no xerophytic trees. Here Dushyanta came across the ashrama of Rishi Kanva, the son of Kashyapa Rishi. It was surrounded by the Malini River.
Menaka had come at the behest of the King of the Gods Indra to distract the great sage Vishvamitra from his deep meditations. She succeeded in distracting him, and sired a child by him. Vishwamitra, angered by the loss of the virtue gained through his many hard years of strict ascetism, distanced himself from the child and mother to return to his work. Realizing that she could not leave the child with him, and having to return to the heavenly realms, Menaka left Shakuntala, just after birth, on the banks of the Malini River on the peaks of the Himalayas. As stated above, Rishi Kanva found the newly born girl in the forest surrounded and protected by birds and thus named her Shakuntala. According to a source Titwala, a small town near Kalyan in Maharashtra, is considered to be the site of the hermitage where Shakuntala was born.
Dushyanta, pursuing a male deer wounded by his arrow into the ashrama, saw Shakuntala nursing the deer, her pet, and fell in love with her. He profusely begged her forgiveness for harming the deer and spent some time at the ashrama. They fell in love and Dushyanta married Shakuntala there in the ashrama. Having to leave after some time due to unrest in the capital city, Dushyanta gave Shakuntala a royal ring as a sign of their love, promising her that he would return for her.
Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband and was often distracted by her daydreams. One day, a powerful rishi, Durvasa, came to the ashram but, lost in her thoughts about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly. Incensed by this slight, the rishi cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether. As he departed in a rage, one of Shakuntala's friends quickly explained to him the reason for her friend's distraction. The rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not warranted, modified his curse saying that the person who had forgotten Shakuntala would remember everything again if she showed him a personal token that had been given to her.
Time passed, and Shakuntala, wondering why Dushyanta did not return for her, finally set out for the capital city with her father and some of her companions. On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring slipped off her finger without her realizing it.
Arriving at Dushyanta's court, Shakuntala was hurt and surprised when her husband did not recognize her, nor recollected anything about her. Humiliated, Shakuntala returned to the forests and, collecting her son, settled in a wild part of the forest by herself. Here she spent her days as Bharat, her son, grew older. Surrounded only by wild animals, Bharat grew to be a strong youth and made a sport of opening the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth!
Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in the belly of a fish he had caught. Recognizing the royal seal, he took the ring to the palace and, upon seeing his ring, Dushyanta's memories of his lovely bride came rushing back to him. He immediately set out to find her and, arriving at her father's ashram, discovered that she was no longer there. He continued deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising scene in the forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a lion and was busy counting its teeth! The king greeted the boy, amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He was surprised when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to Shakuntala, and thus the family was reunited.
In the Mahabharata, a slightly different version of this tale is told, where Dushyanta's failure to recognise Shakuntala is in fact a ploy to have his subjects accept her as his true wife, since he had feared rumors might otherwise have arisen as to the propriety of the marriage.
Stories from Mahabharata
Story of Nala & Damayanti : Part 1
Stories from Mahabharata
Nala was the ruler of Nishada. He was a very capable king and his country prospered under his rule. However, despite being one of the most handsome men of his time, he was still unmarried. One day a brahmin came to his court. On learning of his bachelor status he suggested the name of Damayanti, the daughter of the King of Vidarbh. He painted such an impressive picture of the princess that Nala fell in love with her without seeing her.
At that it was uncustomary for a man to present his suit. He had to wait for the woman, or her father, to make the first move. Nala pined for Damayanti and began to neglect his state duties. He spent long hours in the garden of his palace dreaming about her. A group of swans lived in the lakes in the garden. They daily observed the despondent king wasting his time. One day the leader of the swans approached the king and asked him what the matter was. The king informed the swan that he was in love with Damayanti but was unable to press his suit. He did not even know if Damayanti was in love with someone else. Custom prevented him from going to Vidarbh himself and this was too delicate a mission to entrust to someone else.
"If you think fit I can deliver your message," said the swan. Nala lighted up. At last there was an end to his immediate problems. And there could be no more romantic way to woo a maiden. That night the swan left for Vidarbh. Every morning and evening Nala would go to his garden to see if the swan had returned and would be disappointed. After a week he found the swan waiting for him. The news was good. Damayanti too had heard of him and had fallen in love with him. Now that she knew he reciprocated her love she would arrange for her swayamvara. A swayamvara was a ceremony in which the maiden chose her husband from a gathering of suitors present. She asked Nala to immediately come to Vidarbh as soon as her swayamvara was announced.
Getting a swayamvara arranged was not as easy as Damayanti thought. It would be highly improper of her to approach her parents directly. She began to drop hints by eating less and losing weight, by pretending to forget things, by looking lost and gloomy and other such things. At last her mother noticed that Damayanti was not her former self and told the king about it. The king immediately ordered the royal physicians to find out what sickness was troubling her daughter. It was only after the physicians drew a blank that the king realised that his daughter was now a grown-up maiden and it was time for her to get married.
The swayamvara was announced. Nala left immediately. Since he was an excellent equestrian he made good progress. The news of the swayamvara had reached the heavens as well. Four of the demi-Gods, Indra, Agni, Varun, and Yama, had also descended to the earth for the swayamvara. They accosted Nala as he was nearing Vidarbh. Indra told Nala that he would have to do them a favour. Nala protested that he needed to know what was being asked of him before he could commit. Indra got angry. "Humans consider it an honour when we ask them to do something. But you are creating a fuss. Don't you know our power? We can make you disappear and not reach the swayamvara at all," he thundered. Nala meekly acquiesced. Indra then told him to approach Damayanti and plead with her to choose from the four demi-Gods. Nala was aghast. "How can I act against my own interest," he pleaded. The threat of dire consequences was repeated. Nala tried a different route. "We are allowed in the palace only on the day of the swayamvara and that too only where the swayamvara is to be held," he said, "How will I access Damayanti?" Indra reminded Nala that he was the king of the demi-Gods and would arrange the meeting.
A day before the swayamvara Indra transported Nala to Damayanti's chamber using his divine powers. The two recognised each other instantaneously. After a long embrace Nala stated the purpose of his visit. Damayanti told him not to worry. He had kept the promise made to the demi-Gods and nothing could dissuade Damayanti from garlanding Nala in the swayamvara ceremony. Nala faithfully repeated the conversation to Indra. "You have kept your word only in letter and not in spirit," Indra stated, "Now I will do what has to be done."
A galaxy of princes was gathered at the swayamvara. Nala sat in one corner so as to avoid the demi-Gods, but they sought him out and sat next to him. At the appointed time Damayanti entered the hall. To her amazement she saw five people exactly like Nala sitting in a corner. She realised that the demi-Gods were trying to trick her but was confident that her love would prevail. After watching the five for a few minutes she realised that four stared at her with unblinking eyes while the fifth was blinking regularly. She garlanded the fifth person. The four demi-Gods assumed their true form and blessed the bride and groom and went back to heaven.
On the way the met Dwapar and Kali, two other demi-Gods. These presided over two of the four Yugas that make up one cycle of time between Creation and Destruction. Indra told them that the swayamvara was over and in any event it was a mere formality because Damayanti has already made up her mind. Dwapar and Kali felt that they had been cheated and swore that they would make life hell for Nala and Damayanti.
Story of Nala & Damayanti : Part 2
Stories from Mahabharata
No sooner than Nala and Damayanti had settled down in their newly married life, Kali and Dwapar started their mischief. Kali entered the mind of Nala's brother, Pushkar, and exhorted him to challenge Nala to a game of dice. Though Nala was a weak player he accepted the challenge assuming it will be friendly game. But Pushkar was being driven by Kali and the dice was being driven by Dwapar. What began with the stake of a ring ended up with Nala losing everything he owned, including his kingdom. Then Pushkar asked Nala to stake his wife. "If you win I will return everything you have lost so far," he added as an incentive. Nala thought for a while but in the end declined the offer. Pushkar made them leave the country on foot. Nala wore only a loincloth and Damayanti only a sari.
They roamed around in this manner for a few days eating roots and fruits. One night Nala saw a bird and decided to trap it. He took off his loincloth to snare it but the bird flew off with the cloth. They now had to hide during the day and move at night. Damayanti wrapped one end of the garment around Nala whenever they were near people. Totally exhausted they reached within striking distance of the capital of King Bhim, Damayanti's father. Nala pleaded with Damayanti that she return to her father's palace, but his wife did not comply.
That night while Damayanti slept Nala decided to leave her. He thought that she would return to her home after he deserted her. He tore off an end from her sari, just sufficient to cover the bare minimum, and quietly slinked away. Some distance away he saw that a snake was trapped in a burning bush. He doused the fire and freed the snake. As soon as he was freed the snake bit him and turned into a celestial being. "Do not worry," he told Nala. "The poison will disfigure and discolour you but you need to remain incognito for some time. Whenever you feel that you have to return to your original self just wrap this garment around you. Travel in the south direction for five days. You will reach the kingdom of Rituparna. Win his confidence and take the opportunities as they come." He handed Nala the magic cloth and went his way.
The poison had taken its effect. Nala's skin had darkened and his body had shrunk and in all his appearance was more than hideous. He reached Rituparna's kingdom and with some difficulty got an audience with the king and work in his stables. His prowess with horses soon reached the king's ears. He began to choose and groom the horses for the king's personal use. He also began to drive the king's chariot on a regular basis. When he had gained sufficient familiarity with the king he requested that he would like to prepare a meal for the king. The meal was a big hit and Nala became the head of the stables and the kitchen and the king's confidante.
Meanwhile Damayanti had reached the palace of the king of Chedi. When she found herself alone on that fateful night, she moved away from her father's kingdom searching for Nala. The next night she was protected by a band of celestial beings, who put her with a caravan of merchants. However a herd of mad elephants destroyed a large portion of the caravan, and Damayanti because of her single garment and dishevelled state was immediately branded as a witch responsible for the tragedy. Many in the caravan wanted to stone her to death but the leader took pity on her. "We will be passing the city of Chedi tomorrow and I will drop you in the marketplace there. After that you are on your own," he warned. It was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire. The shopkeepers pushed her away fearing that she would bring bad luck. The pimps passed lewd comments and offered to take her to the brothel. One even threw a bad of coins at her. Some children thought she was being stoned and began to pelt her.
The king's soldiers heard the commotion and intervened. They took her to the king, who immediately ordered that she be put in his mother's care. For the first time since her exile Damayanti took a bath. After being given a meal Damayanti was presented before the Queen Mother. She thanked her for the hospitality but refused to disclose her identity. All she said was that she was searching for her husband. She looked for an opportunity to escape from the palace and continue with her search. But the palace was well guarded and her every attempt was thwarted.
Nala too had reached a dead end. He did not know how to proceed to look for Damayanti or to get back his kingdom. Both husband and wife were separately waiting for Fate to make the next move.
Story of Nala & Damayanti : Part 3
Stories from Mahabharata
Fate came to the rescue in the form of Damayanti's father. After learning of the fate of his daughter and son-in-law he sent out emissaries in all directions in order to locate the couple. One messenger ultimately reached Chedi, where he learnt that a mad woman found in the market place was living in the palace of the Queen mother. He asked to see this woman and recognised her. Thus Damayanti was sent to her father's kingdom.
Damayanti then sent emissaries to search for Nala. Since her father's emissaries had found no trace of him she realised that he could be in disguise for some reason. She gave her men a question to ask anyone they thought could be Nala and to bring back the answer. The question was, "How much of a man is a person who not only deserts his wife in the middle of the night but also steals half her clothes?"
A few weeks later one of the emissaries reported, "King Rituparna has a new aide who is skilled in horsemanship and cooking, both areas in which King Nala is proficient. I sought out this man. Unfortunately he turned out be dwarfish and ugly and not like the King. However as per your instructions I asked him the question and he replied that if a person did that in order to make his obstinate wife return to her father then he was a man."
Everything apart from the description fit. Damayanti had to meet this man. She announced another Swayamvara since Nala was missing for a long time and could now be presumed dead. She kept the notice so short that only the fastest riders would be able to make it. Rituparna heard of the Swayamvara and decided to participate. Nala assembled the team of his best horses and set off with Rituparna to Vidarbh. On the way Rituparna's scarf flew off and he wanted to retrieve it. Nala made a quick calculation of the horses' speed and estimated the distance they had covered since then. He told the king that if they returned for the scarf they would miss the Swayamvara. Later they passed a row of fig trees. Rituparna said that he could look at the fallen leaves and predict the number of leaves on the tree. Since they were nearing Vidarbh and were ahead of time Nala decided to test the king. To his surprise Rituparna was successful. On the final leg of the journey Rituparna told Nala that he was a fantastic gambler. Nala had not seen him play because no one was willing to play with him.
Damayanti was waiting on her balcony listening to the hoof beats as the carriages passed her palace. She immediately recognised the pattern of the hoof beats of the chariot being driven by Nala. She sent a maid to inquire who had arrived in the chariot and was informed that it was King Rituparna and his chariot driver. She was also informed that the king had refused the hospitality of Vidarbh and was asking his chariot driver to prepare his meal. Damayanti then asked the maid to smuggle some item of food. The taste was identical to her husband's cooking. Throwing all decorum to the winds she ran down to meet the chariot driver and was stunned to meet a dark, short and deformed man instead of a fair, tall and handsome Nala. She asked, "Why does a man want to send his dutiful wife back to her father's home?" The man replied, "Because he has lost his kingdom and cannot support his wife in the manner she was accustomed to before their marriage." He then put on the magic garments and was returned to his original form.
Rituparna congratulated Damayanti and told her that she had found her husband but he would lose not only his best horseman and best cook but also his best friend. Nala had a proposal for Rituparna. "I will stay with you for a while and teach you all that I know of horsemanship if you teach me all that you know of gambling." He added that he was not interested in playing regularly but just one time in order to win his kingdom back. Nala and Damayanti moved to Rituparna's kingdom. Soon Rituparna was an adept horseman and Nala an adept gambler.
Nala sent a challenge to his brother. He was willing to stake Damayanti if Pushkar staked the entire kingdom. Pushkar still felt that the victory was incomplete without his brother's wife and readily accepted the challenge. This time Kali and Dwapar were not there to aid him and Nala had become an expert player. Pushkar lost everything back to Nala. Nala had half a mind to send Pushkar out in a loincloth, but he was a large-hearted man. He gave Pushkar a part of the kingdom and suggested that he mend his ways.
Nala and Damayanti then lived happily thereafter and they did not forget the swan who had so sportingly taken their messages of love.
