Micro-bharatham!

Living in a Cave -That's exactly what I feel about myself, every time I login to twitter. Oh, twitter! Why am I taking forever to adapt to you? Though I appreciate your design, I feel like am entering a forest where too many birds are chirping and I feel lost amidst all those hashtags trying desperately to catch up from where I left.

But Facebook is warm, I should say, its like entering your friend's home and relaxing with a cup of coffee listening to all their stories and telling mine. I use Pinterest too but am never bogged down by its tangled web. But twitter, sigh! I hope its a matter of time, as I have hoped many times in the past. The reason behind letting out such an alarming sigh is that I came across something so new to me, #TwitterFiction. Specifically Mahabharata in tweets. Or should I say Microbharata, as rightly mentioned elsewhere. Audacious, isn't it? This herculean task was done by Dr.Chindu Sreedharan for 1605 days through 2628 tweets. Recently, it has been published as a book by Harper collins (Look at what the description says, passing a camel through a needle's eye. Bang on!). Am overwhelmed.

Characters of Mahabharata: E

Ekalavya

The young prince of Nishada, son of Hiranyadhanus, is a well known character in Mahabharata for the guru dakshina he gave - his right thumb! 

It is said that after Dronacharya declined to take him as his student, Ekalavya learnt archery himself by making a clay idol of Dronacharya and accepting the idol as his Guru. When the Pandavas find a dog's mouth sewn up by arrows that neither harmed the dog nor let it bark, they and ultimately Dronacharya spot Ekalavya, and Dronacharya asks for his right thumb as Guru dakshina. Later, Ekalavya is killed by Lord Krishna in a battle.

There are two interesting perspectives for Ekalavya's guru bhakti. One, which glorifies Ekalavya, states that Dronacharya refused to accept him as a student as he belonged to lower caste and went on to get his right thumb as dakshina to make Arjuna, his dearest disciple the best archer in the world. 

The other perspective, though, reasons out the logic and hidden purpose for Dronacharya's act. It claims that Ekalavya's mastery in archery would not serve good purpose as he belonged to the tribal kingdom Nishada who weren't law-abiding. Also, exhibiting his skills on a dog was not considered acceptable behaviour.

Characters of Mahabharata: D

Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana, Dushsana:

Dhritarashtra, the doting father of Kauravas. One among those who could have changed Mahabharata, had he chosen to. The blind king, surely deserves respect for being an able king of Hastinapur and a brave warrior inspite of his blindness. 

Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas and the successor to throne after his father takes repeated action to rule of Pandavas from the right to the throne in vain. Even after reaching a consensus, Duryodhana is envious of the Pandavas and with his uncle Shakuni's misleading invites Pandavas for a game of dice, paving way to the fateful Kurukshetra war. On the other hand, Duryodhana is not just depicted as a negative character. His friendship with Karna and his trust on his wife Banumathi get a mention as well!

Dushasana, the second of the Kauravas, devoted brother to Duryodhana and his ally in all plots against Pandavas. He was the one to have dragged Draupadi by her hair to the court and disrobe her. He was killed by Bhima in Kurukshetra as per his oath during Draupadi's humiliation. 

Drupad, Drishtadyumna, Draupadi

Drupad, King of Paanchal and father to Draupadi. A friend of Dronacharya during his gurukul days, had assured him half his kingdom but failed in his words quoting the difference in status. Hence Drona asked for defeating Drupad as his guru dakshina. Arjuna defeated Drupad and Aswathama became the king of half the kingdom, the rest of which was returned to Drupad. Drupad repaid his vengeance by begetting Drishtadyumna through a Yagna and eventually he became the one to kill Drona in the kurukshetra war.

Draupadi, the most sung female of Mahabharata and the most ill-fated one. She was the one to break many conventional rules like being married to five husbands, having a male friend(Krishna), rejecting a suitor(Karna) in her Swayamvar and much more. She lived both a nomadic life in exile as well as the queen of the most illustrious palace of the times. She had the presence of mind to question Yudhisthra's rights to put her at stake in the gamble and the courage to challenge the righteousness of the those present in the court. Her eventful life only justified her being a witness to the the happenings at Kurukshetra war through a boon by Sage Vyasa. 

Drona

Teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas. A doting father who took his son's side and thus the Kauravas' as against his favorite student Arjuna. A biased teacher who favoured Arjuna by asking for an unjust gurudakshina from Ekalavya.

Characters of Mahabharata: C

Chitrangada:

A short-lived son of King Shantanu and Satyavati. Satyavati, who wanted her sons to be successors to the throne, ended up with sons who never reached anywhere near fame. 

Chitrangada:

Princess of Manipura who was married to Arjuna during his period of exile. She never left manipura due to matrilineal customs and her son Babruvahana was the successor of Manipura's throne.

Chitrasena:

A Gandharva(heavenly beings well versed in singing and dance) who was also Arjuna's teacher. During the exile of Pandavas, Arjuna went to the Himalayas to perform penance to acquire the Pashupatastra from Lord Shiva. Pleased by his devotion, Lord shiva blesses him with the divine weapon and asks him to pay a visit to his father Indra in Heaven. There, he learns singing and dancing from Chitrasena.

Chitrasena, also defeated Duryodhana, Karna and Shakuni who camped near Dwaitavana where the Pandavas were living in exile. He tied Duryodhana against his chariot and was later rescued by the Pandavas.

Characters of Mahabharata:(B contd)

Balarama

Balarama, son of Vasudeva and brother of Krishna, is the guru who taught the nuances of mace to both Duryodhana and Bhima. That being the reason, he denies to take any side in the Kurukshetra war and stays out of the battle field. It is noteworthy that Duryodhan's end came in a mace fight with Bhima.

Brihatbala

Brihatbala fights against the Pandavas and is one among those who trapped Abhimanyu in the Padmavyuham.

Babruvahana

Babruvahana is the son of Arjuna and Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur whom Arjuna married during his period of exile. He is not mentioned to be part of the Kurukshetra war. Post the war, when Yudhistra decides to perform the Ashwamedha yaga, the sacrificial horse enters Babruvahana's kingdom and a fight ensues between Babruvahana and Arjuna. Babruvahana kills Arjuna as a result of a curse by vasus against Arjuna for having killed Bhishma. Arjuna's naga wife Ulupi then brings back Arjuna to life.

Characters of Mahabharata: B

Bhishma

Son of Ganga and King Shantanu

Grandfather of Pandavas and Kauravas

Bhishma, the actual heir to Hastinapura sacrificed his throne and took the vow of celibacy to make his father's love with Satyavati materialize. And there started the contention for the kingdom generation after generation. Bhishma was the eighth vasu who abducted Nalini, the divine cow from Sage Vashista and was thus cursed to take human form. Throughout his life, he had struggled to protect Hastinapura and the princes of the clan. He got the boon of choosing when and how he would die. At kurukshetra war, Arjuna requested Bhishma himself to show him the way to slain him and as per his suggestion took Shikandi's help. Shikandi being a woman, Bhishma refrained from fighting with her. There are so many retellings of the epic from the point of views of various characters. I wish someone comes up with Bhishma's version as well :-)

Bhima

Strongest of the five pandavas in physical strength, son of Pandu and Kunti blessed by Lord Vayu, thus making Hanuman his brother. There is a mention in the epic of Bhima meeting Hanuman when Bhima went in search of Saugandhika flower as per Draupadi's wish. As a child, Bhima's strength became multifold with the blessing of Vasuki, the Naga King when he was poisoned by Duryodhana.

Bhima married Hidimba and had the famous son Ghatokacha. He was also married to Valandhara and had a son Sarvagga through her. Sutasona was his son through Draupadi.

Bhima had a ravenous appetite and was also a great cook. During the incognito exile, he spent his year as a cook at Virata kingdom.

Bhima killed Duryodhana in a mace fight at Kurukshetra war. His significant defeats include Bakasura, Jarasandha, Kichaka and Dushasana.

Bhagadatta and Bhanumathi

Bhagadatta was the son of Narakasura and the king of pragjyotisha.He married off his daughter Bhanumathi to Duryodhana. Bhagadatta along with his elephant Supratika was known for his ferocious fight in Kurukshetra. His vaishnavastra aimed at Arjuna was  intervened by Krishna and the astra turned a garland in his neck. 

Bhanumathi does not get much mention despite being the wife of powerful Duryodhana. The incident where she plays a game of dice with Karna and is being snatched by him playfully demonstrates Duryodhana's deep trust and friendship with Karna.

Bakasura

The asura who was killed by Bhima when the pandavas were disguised as brahmanas living in ekachakra post the wax palace incident. The village made an arrangement with the asura that large quantities of food will be delivered to him in turns by the villagers which the asura consumed along with the persob who delivered them. Kunti offered to send Bhima in place of their landlord's son when it was their turn and thus came the end of the asura.

Brihannala

Arjuna disguised as eunuch Brihannala during the incognito thirteenth year of the exile. During their exile, Arjuna had a chance to visit Indra's court and was cursed by Urvashi that he will spend an year as eunuch when he turned down Urvashi's love for him. He learnt dancing from Chitrasena at Indraloka and taught dancing to Uttara, the princess of Virata during his disguise as eunuch.

Characters of Mahabharata: A(contd.)

Abhimanyu

• Son of Arjuna and Subhadra
• Husband to Uttara. Arjuna, as an eunuch, taught dancing to Uttara during his incognito exile and was offered her hand when his identity was revealed. Arjuna, instead took her as his daughter-in-law.
• Father of Parikshit, the heir to Hastinapura throne post Kurukshetra war. Abhimanyu died even before the birth of Parikshith.

The widely known and most memorable fact about Abhimanyu is that he learnt the nuances of Padmavyuham, a war strategy when in womb as Arjuna explained it to Subhadra. As destiny would have it, Subadhra dozed off before Arjuna could explain how to come out of the battle formation thus leading to his death in Kurukshetra.

Abhimanyu was the most valiant and notable of warriors of his generation. None of the sons of other Pandavas or Kauravas were as glorified as him. On this note, it may be noted that he was brought up under the tutelage of Vasudeva himself(sons of Draupadi grew up at her father and brother's palace).

Abhimanyu was ordered by Yudhistra to break the Padmavyuha as Arjuna was caught up in another fight. He was promised to be followed by other Pandavas and their army but was prevented to do so by Jayadratha. Abhimanyu who managed to cause great destruction to the Kaurava army single-handedly, was trapped with great efforts  by veterans such as Drona, Bhishma, Duryodhana and Karna. Even after being deprived of weapons one after the other, the brave-heart continued fighting with a broken wheel of his chariot. It was the son of Dushasana, who finally killed Abhimanyu with his mace and still, it is Abhimanyu's name that is remembered by history for his valour.

Aswathama

Son of Drona and Kripi(Kripacharya's sister). 

Aswathama begins his life as a humble son of poor Drona who fakes his desire to drink milk with a paste of flour and water, triggering the events that turns friends Drona and Drupad into foes. Aswathama becomes an ally of Duryodhana in the gurukul and goes on to become one of the few survivors of kurukshetra war. He vows vengeance to dying Duryodhana and sets fire to the pandavas camp at night killing Draupadi's father, brother and sons. This, being an act against codes of war, he does against the warnings of Kripacharya and Kritavarma. He quotes, as justification, the breach of war code by pandavas to kill his father. He is finally captured by the Pandavas and the jewel that he wears on his forehead to ward off fear of snakes, demon and such adorns the throne of Yudhistra. He is cursed by Lord Krishna that he will roam without companion and compassion from others for 3000 years.

Amba, Ambica and Ambalika:

Daughters of the King of Kasi.

Ambica and Ambalika were married to Vichitraviriya and begetted Dhritarashtra and Pandu respectively. 

Bhishma won over the suitors at the swayamvara of the trio on behalf of Vichitravirya but Amba refused as she was in love with King Salva only to end up being rejected by Salva as well. Furious Amba vowed to kill Bhishma in her next birth and was reborn as Shikandi, sister of Draupadi. It is with the help of Shikandi that Arjuna killed Bhishma.

Ambica and Ambalika were subjected to Njyoga, the arrangement of bearing a son with help from a revered person. It is through this act, Vyasa helps them conceive Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

Agastya and Ashtavakra:

Stories of Agastya and Ashtavakra are part of the Mahabharat in the form of narration to the Pandavas on their yatra during exile. It is noteworthy that Ashtavakra, meaning eight deformities, was born with the deformations owing to  his distress(causing the womb to squirm) caused by errors in his father's recital of vedas. Ashtavakra and Abhimanyu indicate that what an expectant mother feels, hears and see have a direct effect on the baby in the womb. On a similar note, Ambica closed her eyes during the act thus making Dhritarashtra blind and Ambalika turns pale resulting in a pale-complexioned Pandu. 

Characters of Mahabharata : A

Arjuna

It is indeed befitting that this series of Mahabharata characters starts off with someone as heroic as Arjuna. 

• Son of Pandu and Kunti(through invocation of Lord Indra)
• Winner of Draupadi's hand, Husband to Subadhra(Krishna's sister), Chitrangada and Ulupi
• Father of Shrutakirti, Abhimanyu, Babruvahana and Iravan respectively
• Grand father of Parikshit, the sole survivor for the throne of Hastinapur post kurukshetrawar
• Favorite and devoted student of Drona
• Converser of the Bhagavad Gita 

It seems to me that the universe or the fate, if I could say so, was hell bent on making Arjuna what he was(compare with the ill fated Karna). First, it was Guru Drona who asked for an unfair guru dakshina from Ekalavya to ensure Arjuna's supremacy in Archery. Then it was Kripacharya and others who prevented Arjuna from fighting with Karna quoting Karna's lineage. Then it was at the swayamvara of Draupadi where Karna, who was then a King was denied a chance(lineage, again) whereas Arjuna disguised as Brahmana was allowed. Then there was Krishna all the time from removing his doubts and hesitations to faking a sunset to kill Jayadratha, slayer of his son Abhimanyu to pushing him to attack Karna at an inappropriate time. Then there was Chitrangada who brought back Arjuna to life when he was killed in war by his own son Babruvahana. Then there were the gods who presented him with divine weapons on many occasions. Even the curse by Urvashi turned out in his favour as he spends the thirteenth year of exile as Eunuch by the name Brihanalla. 

On a different note, Arjuna was blessed with Darshan of Shiva(through penance at Himalayas during the period of exile) and Vishnu(Cosmic form of Lord Krishna at Kurukshetra). However his pride, not tamed even by his encounter with Hanuman becomes the reason for his not attaining the Heavens in mortal form.

More on alphabet A to be continued...

Mahabharat

Whatever is here, is found elsewhere. But what is not here, is nowhere else.

So says the Mahabharata.

As a kid, I enjoyed the stories of Mahabharata but they did not mean anything more to me than the obvious. As I read and re-read, I think am getting an idea of what a great epic it is! So, here I am, trying to read as much as possible on Mahabharata and to inspire myself to do so, am going to do a series of posts related to it. Currently am reading Mahabharata by C.Rajagopalachari. It is more of a compilation of stories than a retelling or translation. The Mahabharata by Ramesh Menon (My next read) is a modern rendering in two volumes. A sneak peak into it makes me want to read it. 

There are so many resources on Mahabharata. Below are the ones that kindle my interest.

• The blog recommendbooks lists a lot of interesting books on the Mahabharata. 
• Mythologist Devdutt pattanaik has a handful of articles in addition to his book Jaya.
• English translation from original sanskrit text by Kisari Mohan Ganguli is available in Project Gutenburg. Also available is the play Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore based on Chitrangada. 
• There is Ashok Banker's MBA series
• There are few books that offer Mahabharata from the point of view of various characters. The famous among them being The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni, from Draupadi's point of view. A translation of Bhim's point of view available for download here. 
• I found a podcast here and I am planning to listen to that as well
• Then there is The Difficulty of being Good by Gurucharan Das, an analysis of Mahabharata.

Obviously, there is never going to be an end to this list. Hoping to read as much as possible!

ABCs of Mahabharatham(BM #24)

We are just few days away from completing this marathon. And I loved it throughout. Most of the days, I will keep contemplating about the subject for the post during the day and by end of day, I will do a post. I don't want this to end and I have taken it upon myself to carry on with the marathon. 

On a different note, I just completed reading The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakurani recently. I am loving the depth and complexity of the characters in Mahabharatham and I want to read more on this epic.

So,

• Starting February am going to do a A to Z post on Mahabharatham. 
• Since I have not read more on the epic yet, February will be a A-Z on Mahabharatham characters, that is I will pick a character with name starting with A, say Arjuna, Abhimanyu and so on. Am just planning to put down my thoughts about the character.
• March will be a A-Z on emotions depicted in Mahabharatham say F for Friendship, R for Remorse and so on.
• I hope I will do more reading this way and will have something to think about during the day :)
• Since there are only 26 alphabets :-P, I will take off from blogging on random days ;-)

For now, this is my plan. Let me test my perseverance, dedication and reading skills. An 'epic' task, truly!