The Mahabharat
In Indian thought and culture, the Mahabharat is one of two epics that has a central and prominent role. (The other being Ramayan). I think it can be compared to the place the Bible has for Christians, or the Torah for Jews, or the Koran for Muslims. It can also be compared to the role of greek philosophy in western thought, in that “Indian philosophy” has many links to the Mahabharat. Almost everyone in India will be able to at least narrate the basic plot, and probably many of the wonderful stories that are intertwined to make up the Mahabharat. And it is referenced regularly in day-to-day conversations.
Where does the Mahabharat begin? It begins as a tale told by a sage to a distressed prince, angry and bent on revenge. What is revenge? What good does it do? Who should take revenge on whom? As the dialog deepens, the sage decides the prince must understand his family history. And that is the Mahabharat.
The history starts with the dawn of the Kuru dynasty. We will skip forward somewhat to quickly get to the heart of the story. The Mahabharat is composed of thousands of stories, many that help explain the events as they unfold. But lets focus on the central thread of the story, at least for now.
We will go somewhat quickly at the beginning, and then become more expansive as the epic continues.
The Beginning.
Shantanu is a powerful and respected king and scion of the Kuru dynasty, who rule a vast kingdom from the beautiful and shining city of Hastinapur. Shantanu falls in love with the beautiful Ganga and asked her to marry him. She agrees, but on the condition that he never, ever question what she does. Shantanu accepts, and the seeds of the great saga are sown.
Ganga then proceeds to have seven sons with Shantanu. And proceeds to drown every one of them in the river after which she is named. What can Shantanu do? He is bound by his word. Finally, when an eighth son is born, and Ganga carries him out towards the river, Shantanu breaks his word and cries in agony "Stop! You cruel woman. Why do you kill your own children?"
Why indeed? We will not deviate into that branch of history, but focus on Shantanu, and his broken word.
"You have broken your word. Our bond is broken. I will take away your son, train him to be a worthy king and return him to you when he is ready." And with those words, Ganga leaves Shantanu, and with his only son walks into the forest.
This sole survivor, the eighth son is named Devavrat (he who is devoted to the the gods). Ganga persuades Parshuram, both a sage and a legendary warrior with god-given powers (the story of Parshuram is worth reading itself) to be his guru. Under Parshuram, Devavrat becomes a great man, educated in all different spheres as well as a complete warrior. When his education is complete, Ganga presents Shantanu his son, now ready to become king.
Bhishma
A butterfly flapping its wings can cause a storm across the world. The ultimate act of selflessness can rewrite history.
Shantanu, the great king, is on a hunting expedition, and comes across a beautiful young fisher-women, who is ferrying people across a raging river in her boat. Her name is Satyavati (one who practices the truth).
Here we really must go on a little tangent. Satyavati is no ordinary women, and not truly a fisherman’s daughter. She is the abandoned daughter of a king, raised by the fisherman. As a fisherman’s daughter, she smelled strongly of fish (her alternative name is Matsya-gandha: one whose fragrance is of fish). One day, a powerful sage, Parasara, sees her and asks her to come to him. When she refuses because she is ashamed of her smell, he transforms her into one that smells of musk. She also asks that even after she comes to him, she must remain a virgin, and that any son that may result should be just as powerful as Parasara himself. The sage obliges and Satyavati comes to him. Subsequently Satyavati bears Parasara a son, who becomes the sage Vyas. Vyas is a central figure in the epic as well as the one who compiles the Mahabharat itself.
Shantanu, entranced by Satyavati, asks the fisherman for his daughter in marriage. The fisherman is wily and street-smart.
“My daughters sons will never become king, since you already have a son. Why would I allow my daughter to marry you?”, the fisherman says. Shantanu is despondent, but there is nothing he can do. When Devavrat, Shantanu’s only son, learns of this, he goes to the fisherman.
“I vow to give up my right to the throne, so your daughters sons may become king”.
The fisherman is well versed in the ways of the world. “But what of your sons? When they come of age, they will demand their rightful inheritance”.
Without hesitation, Devavrat takes a most terrible vow. “I vow to be celibate for all my life”.
At this, even the gods are stunned. This oath is the most terrible a man can take, since it will leave him to suffer for eternity after death, without the chance of rebirth via his offspring.
The gods shower the young man with flowers at his selflessness, and grant him the boon of being able to choose the time his own death. They also give Devavrat the name Bhishma (one who has taken a terrible oath).
Bhishma! The great Bhishma! A great man, the one who should have become king, both as the rightful heir, and as a person of unmatched skill in battle and strength of will. A single act of selflessness (or is it madness), a flap of the butterflys wing, and the beginning of the storm that will engulf the whole Kuru dynasty and everyone connected with it.
Niyog: The three grandsons of Satyavati
Niyog was a social custom enabling a man who cannot have children to have a family. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niyoga).
Satyavati and Shantanu are married. Satyavati is determined to produce a dynasty, and has two sons with Shantanu. The first, Chitrangada (one with great physical beauty), is proud and headstrong. The second, Vichitravirya (vichitra = weird, virya = manliness or energy or verility), is not. The name hints that the younger son is not a complete man.
King Shantanu dies, and Chitrangada ascends the throne, as promised by Bhishma. But, being headstrong, he accepts the challenge of a dual while on a hunting trip, and is killed. He does not have any children, so Vichitravirya ascends the throne, under the guidance of his older and wiser half-brother, Bhishma.
Now, the word has spread that Vichitravirya is not a fit king or husband. The king of an adjoining kingdom is holding a “swayamvar” (a contest to find a husband for his daughters). But Vichitravirya is not invited. Bhishma takes this as an insult to the family, and uses his great powers of war to ride in to the contest and single-handedly kidnap the three daughters of the king and bring them back for Vichitravirya.
The three daughters of the king are Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. The first, Amba, confesses her love for a young prince from a different kingdom, and Bhishma allows her to leave. But, the prince will not now take her, since she has been taken to another mans house. Amba comes back to Hastinapur, but Vichitravirya arrogantly turns her away. Amba now goes to Bhishma, and tells him it is his duty, as the kidnapper, to marry her. Bhishma, of course, dismisses her request. Amba is furious, and vows to take revenge, in this life or the next. We will see Amba, or at least Amba reborn, later.
Vichitravirya is unable to have children with Ambika or Ambalika. Satyavati’s hopes of being the mother of a great dynasty is in ruins. She invokes the custom of niyog and, after asking permission of Bhishma, asks her first son, Vyas, who is now a great sage, to have children with the princess’ in Vichitravirya’s name.
Vyas and Ambika have a son Dhritirashtra, who is born blind. Some stories say Ambika was so horrified by the ascetic Vyas that she closed her eyes when she was with him, resulting in a blind son.
Vyas and Ambalika have a younger son, Pandu (the pale one). Ambikala is also so horrified by Vyas that she turns pale, resulting in a pale son. In most stories, Pandu is a worthy king, a great archer, and the one who captures a large amount of land for the Kuru kingdom. In some, there may be a hint that Pandu, being pale, is not a great man, and hints at why he cannot have his own children, even though there is a different story explaining why Pandu does not father his children.
Vyas, due to a misunderstanding or a plot, also has a son with a palace maid, and the son is named Vidura. He is strong and wise, and of the three sons the most capable of being the king, but because he is born of a maid, he is ineligible to be king. He lives with the family as a guide and wise counsel.
Either way, Dhritirashtra is unfit to be king since he is physically handicapped, in spite of being the oldest son of the dynasty. He understands this, but harbors the desire to have his children ascend the throne. He is married to Gandhari. Gandhari, on discovering her husband is blind, also ties a cloth around her eyes and vows to also be blind. Why? Many stories have her as a loyal wife, trying to share her husbands world of darkness. In others, she does it in protest at being married, unknown to her, to a blind husband.
Pandu ascends the throne of Hastinapur. He undertakes a great conquest, re-establishing the superiority of the Kuru dynasty over the surrounding kingdoms.
So, the house of the Kuru dynasty now has three sons, none of whom are actual biological descendants of the Kuru clan. They are the three grandsons of Satyavati: the blind Dhritirashtra, the pale war-hero Pandu, and the half-brother Vidura, the wisest of the three sons.
In time, the five children of Pandu will be known as the Pandavs. The hundred and one children of Dhritirashtra would be known as the Kauravs. The lack of a clear biological successor would result in doubt, rivalry and eventually a great war, pitting the Pandavs and Kauravs against each other.
We now come to the end of the beginning, and the beginning of the great rivalry between the Kauravs and Pandavs.
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