Chapter 19 – Shishupala & other stories

After the Rajasuya yagna, Yudhishtra was crowned the King of Indraprastha. Then began the discussion of whom should  be given the first respect. Everyone unanimously decided that it should be Krishna. Everyone except Shishupala, King of Sedhi. 

Now wondering who is this new character? Let me give you a background.

Shishupala was born to Krishna’s cousin and  the King of Sedhi. He was born with 4 arms and 3 eyes. Immediately after his birth, a heavenly voice was heard “When the child meets his slayer, his additional organs will disappear”. All of the child’s uncles and aunts had come to bless him. When Krishna lifted the baby, his extra arms and his third eye fell off. Shishupala’s mother knew that the child will meet his end in the hands of Krishna and pleaded Krishna to forgive the child and let him live. Krishna said he will pardon 100 misdeeds of Shishupala. As years passed, Shishupala grew to be a strong person and with his strength, his enemity against Krishna also grew.

As Shishupala objected to Krishna being given the prime respect, Shishupala began speaking ill about Krishna. Krishna kept silent till he finished. But Shishupala did not stop. Krishna warned him but he paid no heed and went on to hurl abuses at Krishna. At the 101th time, Krishna called his ultimate weapon , the Sudarshan Chakra. The Chakra cut off the head of the King of Sedhi  and that was the end of Shishupala!

When in Indraprastha, Arjuna had once gone on a pilgrimage and reached Dwaraka, the city of Krishna and Balarama. He planned to stay in Dwaraka for some days and spend time with Krishna. During his stay, he happened to see Krishna’s sister Shubhadra and fell in love with her. He expressed his desire to marry her to Krishna. Krishna wanted Arjuna to win her and hinted him to abduct her and marry her. Arjuna, the following day abducted her , when she was returning back from the temple. The news soon reached the palace and Balarama was mad at Arjuna. He sent his soldiers to fight with Arjuna and bring back Shubhadra.

But Krishna told Balarama that Arjuna had kept up the Kshatriya laws. Balarama got convinced and asked his soldiers to keep peace with Arjuna and bring them back to the palace. Once they reached the palace, Balarama and Krishna married their sister to Arjuna. They had a son by name Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu turned out to be a great warrior trained by Arjuna and his uncle Krishna.

After the yagna, the Kauravas went to visit the beautiful town of Indraprastha. As the town was full of illusions, Duryodhana fell for everything. He fell into a pond which he thought was the floor, dashed into a wall thinking it was a door. Draupadi watching all these from the balcony laughed at him and said sarcastically that the son of a blind man was blind too.

Duryodhana felt insulted and was raging with the only thought of taking revenge on the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi.

The forthcoming chapters will showcase the crude enemity between the cousins. The war is not too far!

Previous Chapter 18 – The Rajasuya Yagna

Next Chapter 20 – The Game of Dice

 

Chapter 18 – The Rajasuya Yagna

Happy New Year to all my beloved Readers! We will start with chapter 18 now..

Yudhishtra became the King of Indhraprastha. One day, Sage Narada visited Indhraprastha and suggested to Yudhishtra to perform the Rajasuya Yagna. Rajasuya Yagna was a sacrifice performed by ancient kings to be declared the King of Kings. Krishna, Draupadi and other Pandavas persuaded Yudhishtra to undertake yagna and Yudhishtra agreed. The yagna required him to win all the other kingdoms either by friendship or war, including that of Jarasandha’s.

Who was Jarasandha ? Jarasandha was the son of Brihadratha, the King of Magadha. Brihadratha had two wives who were childless. One day, he went to a Rishi who blessed the king with a fruit and asked him to give it to his wife so that a child will be born. Since the king had two wives , he cut the fruit into two and gave them to his wives. As each wife ate only half the fruit, they gave birth to only half a child. The wives and the king were frightened seeing the lifeless pieces and threw the pieces away. A Rakshashi named Jara was then hunting for food and had reached the spot where the pieces were thrown.She saw the lifeless pieces, lifted them in her hand. At once the two pieces joined together and came to life. Jara took the child to the king. The King was very happy and accepted the child as his son and named him Jarasandha. The child by birth had the power to join together if he was torn to two pieces. Jarasandha grew to be a valiant warrior. Once he ascended the throne, he wanted to expand his kingdom. He captured many kings but could never win Kamsa. So he married off his daughter to Kamsa and made him his son-in-law. All the kings he captured were imprisoned. After Krishna slayed Kamsa, Jarasandha vowed to revenge Kamsa’s death. Many battles were fought between Krishna and Jarasandha, but none of them were able to win against other. Tired of these continuous battles, Krishna decided to shift his Kingdom from Mathura to Dwaraka which was quite far from Magadha.

Yudhishtra sought the help of Krishna to perform the Rajasuya Yagna. Krishna said that Yudhishtra should also defeat Jarasandha to fulfill the sacrifice. Yudhishtra sent Krishna, Arjuna and Bheema to defeat Jarasandha. Krishna challenged Jarasandha and asked him to choose his opponent for the duel. Jarasandha chose Bheema who he considered his equal. First they fought with maces. They fought so fiercely that the maces could bear it no more and blasted to pieces. They fought with bare hands. Bheema tore his opponent’s body into two but it kept joining back. Then Krishna had an idea. He took a stick, broke it into two and threw the stick topsy-turvy instead of keeping straight. Bheema understood Krishna and did as he signaled. He tore Jarasandha’s body and threw one straight and another upside down and the bodies never joined.

Then Yudhishra released all the imprisoned kings. After conquering Magadha, there were no further resistance. Yudhishtra befriended all the kings and they all accepted him as a superior. Thus the Yagna was performed with grandeur.

Previous Chapter 17 – Indraprastha : The New Pandava Land

Next Chapter 19 – Shishupala & other stories

Chapter 17 – Indraprastha : The New Pandava Land

The news of the marriage of Pandavas to Draupadi spread everywhere and also reached Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra, though a little disappointed with Duryodhana and other sons for not winning Draupadi’s hand was happy for the Pandavas. He made arrangements to welcome the Pandavas and Draupadi. He also consulted with Bheeshma and Dronacharya on giving half the kingdom to Pandavas to keep both the Pandavas and Kauravas satisfied. Bheeshma and Drona agreed to this proposal as it was the fairest thing to do.The Pandavas arrived at Hastinapur and were given a royal welcome. They sought the blessings of all the elders in the family.  Dhritarashtra, Bheeshma and Drona told them that they would separate the kingdom into two and give a half of it to the Pandavas, to which the Pandavas agreed.

The Pandavas asked the help of their cousin, Krishna to help set up their capital city. In the half of the kingdom given to Pandavas, there was a piece of land called Khadavaprastha surrounded by the Khandav forest. This forest was cursed by Lord Indra to be an infertile land and was inhabited by the Nagas (snakes) and Rakshasas.The forest was under the reign of the Naga ruler, Takshaka. At the same time, Lord Agni, the Fire God reached out to Krishna and Arjuna to help him devour the forest to satisfy his hunger. They agreed to help Agni since it would be a good chance for them to set up the capital city in that land. Since it was a land cursed by Indra, they were sure that Indra would try to protect the forest. Arjuna asked Agni to hence give him proper weapons to combat with Indra easily. Agni called Varuna, the Water-God and asked him to give Arjuna, the Gandiva – the most powerful bow and an inexhaustible quiver of arrows. A chariot was also given to Arjuna which always drove in top speed.

The Khandava forest was then burnt by wildfires from Agni. Most of the inhabitants [Nagas and Rakshasas] were killed. Takshaka fled to Takshila and later on took his revenge during the war [will cover this part in detail in the war chapters ].

Indra was angry with Arjuna and Krishna for helping Agni to devour the forest and engaged in a fight with them. He used many weapons and illusions during the fight, but he was no match for Arjuna’s might and the Gandiva. Indra, in the end was pleased with Arjuna and gave him the entire forest to be set up as their Capital City – duly named as Indraprastha! Arjuna was widely called as Gandivadhari (the Wielder of the Gandiva Bow) since this famous duel with Indra.

Krishna called Vishwakarma, the architect of the Devas to help the Pandavas construct Indraprastha. Vishwakarma, also called Maya also built the royal palace. The palace was famous for its grandeur and illusions. The floor of the palace was built with illusions and walls were encrusted with precious stones.

The Pandavas ruled their beautiful kingdom very wisely. Yudhishtra was a just and able ruler. The kingdom flourished with peace and prosperity and the citizens were happy under the Pandava rule.

Previous Chapter 16 – Draupadi’s Swayamvara

Next Chapter 18 – The Rajasuya Yagna

Chapter 16 – Draupadi’s Swayamvara

The Pandavas reached Panchala and took shelter in a Brahmin’s house. The next day, they went to attend the Swayamvara of Draupadi, the princess of Panchala. There, they seated themselves with the Brahmins. There was a big crowd and a lot of valiant warriors, kings and princes from various kingdoms had come to try and win the hand of Draupadi. They saw Duryodhana, Sishupala, Krishna, Balarama and many other kings they know in the crowd.

Draupadi walked into the Swayamvara hall with her brother, Dhrishtadyumna in a little while. She looked as radiant as a bride. Dhrishtadyumna then got everyone’s attention away from Draupadi by announcing the start of the Swayamvara. He pointed to a revolving fish tied to a flag post above a water pond and said whoever targets and shoots five arrows to the eye of the fish by just looking at the reflection of the fish in the pond could win his sister’s hand. The Kings when they heard of the task were all initially hesitant to try the impossible task. Then slowly one by one started trying. But none could aim the target right. Then Karna stood up to try the task. Everyone knew that Karna could be the only one in the hall who can hit the target.  However, Draupadi stood up before Karna could try and refused to marry Karna who was from a low caste.

Then a Brahmin stood up in the crowd and asked if a Brahmin could try and Draupadi nodded. The Brahmin was none other than Arjuna. He went to the bow placed in the centre and aimed the 5 arrows and shot exactly in the fish’s eye by looking at the reflection. Everyone applauded the Brahmin for his feat and at the same time were equally shocked to see a Brahmin do the impossible. Draupadi garlanded Arjuna happily.

 Arjuna was then challenged by all the Kings in the hall and a fight broke out. Bhima and Arjuna easily fought all the Kings. Krishna identified the Brahmins as the Pandavas and helped them take Draupadi with them to Kunti.

When the Pandavas reached home, Yudhishtra called out to his mother and said, “Mother, Look at what we have brought today”. Kunti, thinking that they were talking about the alms, told them “Please share it among yourselves”. The Pandavas were shocked.  When Kunti turned, she saw the bride and was told that she was Arjuna’s wife. Kunti was very unhappy at what she had said. The Pandavas always obeyed every word of their mother and hence Draupadi would have to become the wife of all five brothers.

Krishna arrived at their hut by then. He told Kunti and Draupadi that in her previous life, Draupadi had worshipped Shiva to get a husband with five qualities – honesty, strength, fierce warrior, handsome and intelligence.. But Shiva had given her a boon that in her next life she would marry five men each having one quality.” On hearing this Kunti felt satisfied and Draupadi accepted to become the wife of all five Pandavas.

Dhrishtadyumna had followed the Brahmins to find their true identity. He was happy that the Brahmins were the Pandavas of Hastinapur and informed his father. Drupada was overjoyed since he had always wanted Draupadi to be married to Arjuna and now , she had been married to all the Pandavas. He immediately made preparations for the royal marriage ceremony and welcomed the Pandavas and Draupadi. The Pandavas dressed themselves as Princes and revealed their true identity to the world. The marriage took place with a great splendor.

Thus Draupadi got married to the Pandavas.

The Upcoming chapters now will get very interesting as the Great War will slowly begin.

Previous Chapter 15 – Ekachakra

Next Chapter 17 – Indraprastha : The New Pandava Land

Chapter 15 – Ekachakra

As per the condition laid by Bheema, he left Ghatotkacha in the care of Hidimbi and started with his family. They roamed in the forest. One day, they happened to see their grandfather Vyasa. Vyasa heard about their situation and told them that they will be able to seek justice soon and will get rid of all the troubles given to them by the Kauravas. He told them about a small village nearby called Ekachakra where they could stay in peace for some days. So the Pandavas, taking the advice of Vyasa set off to Ekachakra. There they disguised themselves and stayed in a Brahmin’s house.  There they collected alms and food and also lived happily with the Brahmin family.

One day, Kunti heard the sound of cries in the house. So she went in the direction where she heard the cries and saw the Brahmin crying. She enquired what the matter was and learnt that the village was under the threat and attack of Bakasura, a bad demon. The village was highly affected by the demon and so the villagers came to a decision that every day one villager would go to the demon with a cart if food and offer himself along with the food. That day, it was the Brahmin’s turn and so he was crying.

Kunti decided to send Bhima with the cart instead of the Brahmin so that she can repay the kindness of the Brahmin family and also help the village from the hands of Bakasura. She hence revealed their true identity. The Brahmin was glad and agreed with the arrangement but Kunti requested him to keep their identity a secret. So Bheema went with the cart of food but ate all the food on his way to Bakasura’s cave. Bakasura, when he saw the empty cart got angry and started attacking Bheema.

But he was no match for Bheema. The following night Bheema dragged the dead body of Bakasura and left it in the gates of Ekachakra. The next day, everyone was surprised to see Bakasura dead but no one knew what happened. The villagers rejoiced and were very relieved.

One day, the Pandavas decided to leave the Brahmin’s house. They bid goodbye to the family and left for the forest. On their way, they met Vyasa again and learnt from him that the Swayamvara of Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada, the King of Panchala was about to be held in Panchala. Vyasa also told them that Draupadi was born to be the reason for the destruction of the Kauravas. So the Pandavas decided to attend the Swayamvara and set off on their journey to Panchala.

Previous Chapter 14 – The Birth of Ghatotkacha

Next Chapter 16 – Draupadi’s Swayamvara

Chapter 14 – The Birth of Ghatotkacha

As the Pandavas went inside the woods deeply, they reached river Ganga. They crossed the river and reached a forest names Hidimbavanam , named after a demon named Hidimba who lived in the forest with his sister Hidimbi. They always feasted on humans when they passed by. One day, when the Pandavas were roaming in the forest, Hidimba smelt the scent of humans in there. He asked his sister to check out. Hidimbi, when she went to execute her brother’s orders, saw Bhima and fell in love with him. Meanwhile Hidimba lost patience and went to find out the reason for the delay from Hidimbi.

Hidimba saw the brothers and wanted to kill them. He went near the tree they were resting under. But he before he could touch the brothers and their mother, Bhima stopped him and said, “You should cross me before touching them”. Then started a fight between two strong men, Bhima and Hidimba. The fight was a very furious one. First they fought with bare hands and then started uprooting trees and throwing stones and all sorts of heavy things around. The fight then finally ended with Hidimba dead and Bhima turned the winner.

Bhima and Hidimba fighting

After this incident, Hidimbi went to Bhima and expressed her wish of marrying him. Bhima refused as she was a demon and hence cannot marry her. But Kunti agreed because she wanted her son to marry and have a son. Bhima had no other choice but to marry her. So he married Hidimbi on one condition that he would live with her only until a child was born. They then got married in the presence of Kunti and his brothers.

A Year later, Hidimbi became pregnant and gave birth to a boy in few days. As he was part-demon and part-human, he grew very big, the next moment he was born. He looked like a Bald Pot, his ears replacing the handles and hence his parents named him Ghatotkacha (‘Ghatam’ means ‘pot’). Ghatotkacha mastered all arts of warfare very quickly from his father, Bhima. He also learnt magic and the art of creating illusions from his mother, Hidimbi.

Ghatotkacha

And that is how the great and powerful Ghatotkacha who excelled his parents in all art and war forms came into being.

Previous Chapter 13 – Palace of Lac

Next Chapter 15 – Ekachakra

Chapter 13 – Palace of Lac

As the enmity between the Pandavas and the Kauravas grew, Kauravas planned to kill the Pandavas now and then. Once they built a palace made of lac, oil and other inflammable things in a place called Varnavadham. It was built by Purochana, an evil friend of Duryodhana. Then Duryodhana, with the permission of Dhritarashtra sent the Pandavas and their Mother Kunti to Varnavadham to attend a Pooja on behalf of their entire family and also have them stay in the Palace built specially for them.

The Pandavas agreed to go to Varnavadham and necessary arrangements were for made for their travel. When they started, Vidhura called Yudhishtra and cautioned him indirectly that the palace could be burnt. He also hinted that “no tunnels would be unknown to them”. Yudhishtra understood the hint and proceeded to Varnavadham with his mother and brothers, bidding good bye to all the citizens of Hastinapur.

The Pandavas after a long journey reached Varnavadham and attended the Pooja. Once the Pooja got completed, they went to stay in the “Lac” Palace built for them. When they entered the palace, they could smell the aroma of ghee, lac, oil etc.. They spent a few days there, but they remained very alert during the night. During that time, Vidhura had sent an expert in digging tunnels to Varnavadham. In a few days, the expert completed the work.

On one stormy day, the Pandavas decided to escape from the palace. They went in search of a tunnel and found one ( dug by Vidhura’s expert ) that led outside the palace. They escaped through the tunnel and also set fire to the palace. Purochana was roaming about in the palace that day and there were also five hunter brothers and their mother who had come to the palace to take shelter due to the heavy storm outside. The fire set by the Pandavas burnt Purochana and the hunter family.

Duryodhana learnt about the fire accident and mistook the dead hunter family for Pandavas and Kunti and  happily rejoiced the death of their enemies. Dhritarashtra became sad hearing the news about his brother’s family and performed the last rites of Pandavas and Kunti. Only Vidhura knew the real story but remained silent.

Pandavas and Kunti however had reached the woods safely through the tunnel and were far from danger.

Thus the Pandavas had made an escape from one another trap of Duryodhana and his brothers.

Previous Chapter 12 – Death of Kamsa

Next Chapter 14 – The Birth of Ghatotkacha

Chapter 12 – Death of Kamsa

Kamsa thought of many ways to kill Krishna but all in vain. So Narad Muni came to Kamsa and told him to invite Krishna and Balarama to his palace and kill them both there itself. Kamsa agreed and sent Akrurar, Kamsa’s loyal minister to bring them. Krishna and Balarama also agreed to come. When they arrived at Mathura, Qualapeedam – Kamsa’s royal elephant was blocking the entrance to Kamsa’s palace ready to kill them both. But at last they killed the elephant.

They then entered the palace where they saw many people around and Kamsa on the throne. Kamsa told them to fight with Chanura and Mushtika, the powerful wrestlers of Mathura. After a long fight, Krishna and Balarama killed Chanura and Mushtika.

Kamsa then ordered his soldiers to kill Krishna’s parents – Devaki and Vasudeva. But Krishna pounced on him and killed him.

He then revealed his true form of Lord Vishnu.

Then Krishna released Ukrasena and made him the King of Mathura. He released his parents who were overjoyed to see their sons – Balarama and Krishna for the first time.

Balarama & Krishna shifted their kingdom to Dwaraka. After this, many incidents took place showing Krishna’s divine powers.

Previous Chapter 11 – Krishna Leela

Next Chapter 13 – Palace of Lac

Chapter 11 – Krishna Leela

I take this opportunity to Thank #Talk Media ( Vadapalani Talk ) to have published my Mahabharat blog and helped reach out to a wider audience.

Back to Krishna’s story – At Gokulam, everyone was celebrating the birth of Krishna. Meanwhile Kamsa ordered all the Rakshashas to kill the eighth child of Devaki.

One day, a beautiful lady came to Gokulam when Krishna was an infant. She was actually a Rakshashi named Bhoodhagi who tried to kill Krishna with poisoned milk, but Krishna killed her in turn. Similarly many Rakshashas came to Gokulam in different forms. They were Sakadasura, who came in the form of a cart; Thirunavardhan who came in the form of a storm and Thenugasuran who came in the form of a donkey. But Krishna killed them all with his magical powers.

Krishna and Balarama grew up together in Gokulam. Krishna was a good shepherd who loved eating butter and playing flute. The entire village loved his music and were drawn by his tunes. There are a lot of stories of Krishna and his mischiefs at Gokulam. However everyone loved Krishna at Gokulam.

One day, everyone was celebrating a thanksgiving festival for Indra, Lord of the Devas , who always gave them rains. But Krishna stopped them and told them to worship the Govardhan mountain, which provided them with their livelihood. Then, when everyone did as they were told, Lord Indra got angry and sent heavy rains which flooded the village. But Krishna lifted the whole mountain and gave shelter to all people. After a long time, Indra revealed himself before Krishna and asked him for forgiveness. This story got Krishna the name , Govardhanadhari.

There was a big lake in Gokulam where a snake named Kalinga lived which ate the humans and animals that passed by. One day, even though stopped by his friends, Krishna entered the lake. Kalinga trapped Krishna. But Krishna overpowered Kalinga and told him to vacate the lake immediately. And out came Krishna, dancing on the snake’s head and the whole village saw its beauty. This dance is popularly called Kalinganarthanam.

Such was the childhood of Krishna at Gokulam.

Previous Chapter 10 – Birth of Krishna

Next Chapter 12 – Death of Kamsa

 

Chapter 10 – Birth of Krishna

Hello Readers, I am back from a month long Annual Vacation and hence this long break. We are now in the 10^th chapter and here I introduce, Lord Krishna – the MOST important character in Mahabharata, the strategist behind every scene. He is the 9^th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and was born as a God in disguise.

The next few chapters will be on the birth of Krishna, his divine powers even as an infant and his entry into Mahabharata.

With Prayers to Lord Krishna, will now pen down the story behind Krishna’s birth.

The King of Mathura, Surasena had a daughter named Devaki. Ukrasena, the brother of Surasena had a son named Kamsa. Kamsa imprisoned the King and became the ruler of Mathura. He was a very cruel king. Devaki, his sister was married to Vasudeva. Kamsa loved his sister a lot. One day, when Kamsa was riding a chariot with Devaki and Vasudeva, they heard a heavenly voice. “The eighth child of Devaki and Vasudeva will be Kamsa’s Destroyer”.

Kamsa got angry and put both Devaki and Vasudeva behind bars. He ruthlessly killed the first six children one by one when they were born. But when the 7^th child was in Devaki’s womb, Lord Vishnu ordered Yogamaya to shift the child to Rohini’s womb, the second wife of Nandagopala (the Chief of Gokulam village). The child was named Balarama. Kamsa was informed that the child was still-born.

When the 8^th child was born, the guards fell unconscious and the prison gates opened themselves. A divine voice spoke to Vasudeva to exchange the child with the girl child born to Yashoda, the wife of Nandagopala. So Vasudeva took the child in a basket and went to Gokulam. On the way to Gokulam, when he was crossing Yamuna River, as it was raining heavily, Shesha Nag, The Snake God protected the child with its hood like an umbrella. Vasudeva crossed the river safely and placed the child next to Yashoda and carried her child to Mathura’s prison.

 

 

The next morning, Kamsa was informed of the birth of the 8^th child. He went to the prison to kill the child. But the child rose up high and transformed into a form of Goddess Shakti. The Goddess told that the 8^th child was already born and was safe elsewhere and that Kamsa’s death was sure to be at the hands of this child and then disappeared.

Krishna was safe and sound at Gokulam.

The next chapter will showcase His magical powers and the sheer divinity of the Lord.

Previous Chapter 9 – Drona and Drupada

Next Chapter 11 – Krishna Leela