Alex's Epics of India Blog

"Can I ask you something,  Yudhistira?" "Of course, Sadaheva. You are my youngest brother, and therefore you need my guidance." "Well, that's not necessarily true." "Yes it is." "Why?" "I said so." "But who put you in charge?" "Whoever wrote the Mahabharata ." "Fine. Anyways, can I ask you a question and get a serious answer?" "Of course, little brother. Why would I not be serious?" "Because you'd give me a you're-young-and-do-not-know-the-ways-of-the-world answer." "That is a serious answer. I am older than you and thus wiser." "How much older than me are you, anyway?" "I have no idea. I'm not sure anyone does." "Wise, older brother. Absolutely sage." "Are you going to ask me the question?" "Yeah, fine. What was going through you mind when you saw all o...

In this final section of the Mahabharata , a few scenes stood out to me. First, that the Pandavas continued and continued to try to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Duryodhana and his brothers surprised me. Their concession to only fie villages, one for each of them, seemed to me something easy to grant and not lose so many lives or much honor/dignity in doing so for Duryodhana. This seemed, to me, to underscore the importance of avoiding conflict and death in ancient Indian society, despite the focus of much of the Mahabharata being on battle. Karna, for most of the epic, was a simply detestable character who was like an anti-Moses, considering their similar origins. However, toward the end of the Mahabharata , Karna has the conversation with Krishna about his lineage as a Pandava and how he should defect to the Pandava's side in the upcoming war. Karna's introspection and rigid maintenance of an honorable stance with Duryodhana surprised me, and it even ...

In this section, I liked the political maneuverings after the Pandava's exile has ended. Duryodhana's inability to concede anything against an insurmountable enemy reminds me of Circe's power-hungry blindness in Game of Thrones . (Spoiler alert!) As it led to Circe's downfall at the hands of Daenerys' attack on King's Landing with her dragon (also motivated by a sort of blindness--madness), the powerhungriness of Duryodhana will lead to his downfall to a superior foe who has the power to level his city--the Pandavas who, like Daenerys, view the kingdom as their birthright. The Pandavas' Khaleesi:  Yudhishthira of the House of Pandu, First of His Name, Protector of the Realm, yadda yadda yadda... Source . Also, I was sad to see that Draupadi was raped and could not be protected by any of her husbands. Death by hug for her rapist Kichaka is darkly poetic. The roles of the brothers intrigued me, as they took servant roles to the King instead of s...