THE MAHABHARATAM : 14. Swami Advayananda Acharyaji.

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Sunday, Nay 01, 2022. 20:00.

Prelude to the Bhagavad Geeta :

Meditation on the Bhagavad Geeta.

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18 Episodes : 

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Episode 1: How the Writing Began

Episode 2: The Story of Bhishma

Episode 3: Amba Seeks Revenge on Bhishma

Episode 4: The Story of Vidhura

Episode 5: The Story of Queen Kunti

Episode 6: The Young Princes Grow Up Together 

Episode 7: The Development of Karna 

Episode 8: The “Wax Palace”

Episode 9: The Pandavas Enjoy Some Peace!

Episode 10: Draupadi’s Swayamwaram

Episode 11: The Pandavas Settle in Indraprastham

Episode 12: The “Gambling Match”

Episode 13 : The De-Robing of Draupadi 

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Episode 14: The Twelve Years in Exile :

As much as Dhritarashtra had relented and admitted his fault, given back the

Pandavas their freedom and kingdom, Duryodhana was unrelenting. Before the Pandavas

had got back to Indraprastha, he approached the King and said words that bear out the fact

that “Wickedness does not leave a wicked person.”

Duryodhana said, “With so much difficulty we got all this organized. Now you have

undone everything. If you hit a cobra once, he will always come back with renewed revenge.

Father, let us call him back for a decent game of dice. [Is there ever such a thing!] This time

there will only be one stake – the loser gets banished for twelve years and has to live

incognito in the thirteenth year.”

Dhritarashtra, who was completely ruled by the wickedness of his son, was merely a

rubber-stamp in his hands. The Pandavas had barely reached Indraprastha after such a

traumatic experience, when they received the fresh invitation

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Fate was working a double shift!

Yudhishthira went again, but not because of weakness for dice. This time it was out

of a sense of ‘resignation to Fate’. Shakuni won – his ‘dice’ obeyed him once again! The

Pandavas were destined to go into exile.

Shakuni’s Dice: There is a bit of history behind the hatred Shakuni had for the Kuru

race as a whole. A long, long time ago, when Bhishma was still a young prince, he had gone

to conquer the Gandharva kingdom, from where Gandhari (the present Queen) and her

brother Shakuni hailed. He arrested the king and all his sons and put them into a dungeon

and annexed the country. He took away Gandhari for Dhritarashtra. The arrangement for

the food of the prisoners was deplorable. Rice was thrown at them, and the quantity was

insufficient. The King said to his sons, “Look, if we all eat it, no one will survive. Let one eat –

Shakuni – and the rest of us will accept death bravely. Shakuni as survivor will revenge this

deed.” Shakuni’s whole family died. From their bones Shakuni made his ‘dice’, saying, “I will

put an end to the Kuru dynasty with this dice. It will obey me always.

Vidhura: Dhritarashtra called his brother, Vidhura, and asked him to narrate how the

Pandavas left. Vidhura reported, “Yudhishthira had his head and face covered with a cloth.

Bhima looked at his hands with impatience. Arjuna went scattering sand grains behind him.

Nakula and Sahadev were vexed with anger. Brother, people are all saying that the

Pandavas have been cheated. I say again to you that Duryodhana should be banished from

this kingdom. He is at the heart of this conflict.”

Alas! no one was prepared to listen to Vidhura’s advice. He remained the lone voice

on Dhritarashtra’s conscience. Dhritarashtra asked him to go permanently and join the

Pandavas; his first choice would have been to destroy Vidhura, but some brotherly feeling

stopped him from doing that.

The Pandavas’ Travels: Twelve long years stared the Pandavas in the face. They

were years of preparation – preparation for the inevitable war that was to come. During this

time the Pandavas travelled the country, not always together, and gained much valuable

experience. They also met great Rishis, received their blessings, received divine weapons

from them, received boons that would prepare them mentally for the war.

They began by going to Dwaraka, the kingdom of Sri Krishna, which was being

attacked by King Shalva. The Yadavas had all escaped to the forest with Krishna. In the forest

Krishna spent a few days consoling the Pandavas, especially Draupadi, who opened her

heart to Him for consolation from her bitter experience.

Bhima was itching to fight with Duryodhana, but was controlled by the others to

remain quiet. He said, “When I see Draupadi, I recall what Duhsasana has done and it makes

my blood boil.”

Veda Vyasa came to them and gave them much strength. He had predicted an

inevitable war. So his advice was that they should prepare for it. He told them where to go

to get weapons and support. He told them the important ‘Astras’ to get and from whom.

Arjuna went to the Himalayas and spent a long time there. He meditated on Lord

Shiva. In an incident involving the shooting of a wild boar simultaneously by Arjuna and Lord

Shiva, Arjuna was blessed with the Pasupati Astra from Lord Shiva. Other weapons were also

given to Arjuna by Lord 

Bhima’s Encounter with Hanuman: Meanwhile, Bhima had an interesting encounter

in meeting Hanuman, his brother. He was looking for a certain flower which Draupadi

wanted. In the search he came across a huge tail which he had to cross. The tail belonged to

Hanuman. Hanuman said, “Just jump over it.” Bhima could not do that as it was prohibited

to cross over a living being. Besides, who did this monkey think he was! Bhima threatened

him, “I have to get the Avantika flower. You had better let me cross.” He tried to pick up the

monkey’s tail but failed. He could lift a mountain, he could uproot trees but he could not lift

this monkey’s tail! He felt humiliated. Hanuman mocked at him teasingly, “What kind of a

son of Vayu are you? Come on, just lift my tail and you can go.” Then Bhima knew that this

was no ordinary monkey. Hanuman revealed who he was, “I am Hanuman, your elder

brother. I wanted to meet you.”

Bhima listened to all the glories of Lord Rama and forgot about the flowers for

Draupadi. He asked Hanuman to show him the form in which he jumped across the ocean.

Hanuman expanded himself into a huge mountain. He then suddenly took his normal form

and gave a tight hug to Bhima. Bhima found that, when he was released from Hanumanji’s

embrace, his strength had increased a hundredfold!

Hanuman then blessed Bhima and told him that he will sit in front of Bhima’s chariot

on the flag in a small form. He said that when Bhima blows his conch, he will also blow his

and that will send terror through the hearts of the enemies. He predicted that victory was

certain for the Pandavas. Hanuman then disappeared.

Bhima remembered his flowers, picked them and ran to Draupadi, narrating to her

all that had happened.

The lesson from Bhima’s experience is that difficulties will always be there in life, but

one has to bend and overcome them wisely. We must allow difficulties to polish us, so that

we can face bigger challenges.

To be continued

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