Reading Notes: Mahabharata A & B


  • Ganesha agreed to become the tribe of the Mahabharata, but only if his pencil never stopped moving
  • The story of Vyssa's birth is ~wacky
  • Devavrata (Bhishma)
    • Ganga, his goddess mother, gives him 1/8 of the power of each of the 8 Vasus
      • The king falls in love with Ganga but she makes him promise to do whatever she wants if she is to marry her, she agrees
      • She "kills" 7 of her babies (reincarnated Vasus)
      • When she tries the kill the 8th the king stops her and she leaves him 
      • She returns to give the king a son, Devavrata
  • The king wants to marry Vyssa's mother but cannot
  • But Devavrata promises not to marry or have a son if Satyatvati is given to his father as his bride
  • King Shantanu and Satyatvati have 2 sons
  • The first is an arrogant ruler and dies in battle
  • The second is young when he takes the throne
  • Bhishma wins 3 maidens for his brother ( the young king) at a contest
    • Amba, the oldest of the maidens, loves another man so she is permitted to leave
    • Amba kills herself so that she can be reincarnated as Bhishma's murderer
  • Vyassa has to produce heirs to the throne at the wish of his mother
  • One princess had a son that was born blind, Dhritarashtra
  • The other princess had a pale son, Pandu
  • A handmaiden has a son by Vysassa who is the reincarnation of a rishi
  • Pandu became king
  • Pandu marries Kunti and Madri
  • Kunti has a child with the sun god before she meets Pandu
    • This child is Karna
  • Pandu is cursed by a brahmin who he killed thinking he was a deer
  • Kunti is the mother of Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna
  • Madri is the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva 
    • The 5 Pandava Brothers
  • King Dhritarashtra became the father of hundreds of sons named the Kauravas
  • The Pandava and Kaurava brothers are reared together
  • Bhima is the most powerful brother and Duryodhana is jealous of him
  • Bhima was given the strength of the nagas
  • Karna appears at the tournament
  • Duryodhana tries to kill the pandavas and Queen Kunti but they escape
  • We meet Hidimba and Hidimbi (which is who my storybook is about)
  • Bhima slays Hidimba
  • Kunti orders Bhima to take Hidimba as his wife
  • Bhima goes to kill an Asura named Baka
  • Bhima seems to like killing people by breaking their back
  • Draupadi has a swayamvara
  • Nalayani is granted a boon for 5 husbands and is then reincarnated as Draupadi
  • Arjuna wins Draupadi
  • Kunti accidentally orders that Draupadi is married to all 5 pandava brothers
  • I think it is ironic that Arjuna leaves because "truth is his weapon" but then sleeps with a woman who is not his wife
  • Arjuna rescues five water nymphs from their curse
  • Arjuna marries Chitra and has a son
  • Arjuna steal's Krishna's sister for his wife, according to Krishna's own advice
  • Arjuna and Subhadru return to the palace
  • Draupadi is cold to Arjuna and Subhadru before deciding that she will embrace them
  • Maya builds the pandavas an ornate castle
  • Draupadi is lost as the result of a gambling match
  • Draupadi is publicly humiliated and called a slave
  • Draupadi and the Pandavas are sent into exile
Bibliography: The Mahabharata PDE
Karna made King. Web Source.


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