R. Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 24

Pride and Mischief. A Mahabharata story.

Arjuna was in exile for a transgression of the agreement between the Pandavas about their common wife Draupadi.

During this period he wandered all over India and thus he reached Dhanushkodi in present day Tamil Nadu.

Arjuna prayed at the temple of Siva at Rameshwaram which was built by Sriram.

From there Arjuna proceeded to nearby Dhanushkodi and gazed upon the two oceans which met there.

From Dhanushkodi, faint on the horizon he could see Lanka. He also saw the remnants of the ...

A forgotten Hero. Yuyutsu from The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is unlike any other story in the world. It has an huge numbers of characters.

Just like our country which teems with people, the Mahabharata teems with so many interesting characters.

This enormous cast of characters means that many interesting characters miss out on their due.

We all know of that mesmerizing figure of the Mahabharata, Karna the tragic hero ever in search of his identity.

Karna strides across the Mahabharata as a colossus and he is a very attractive...

The curse of Mother Earth: A Karna story from the Mahabharata.

Governance is all about connecting to people and empathy with them.

In this day and age when even petty Government officials show no empathy and throw their weight around a story from ancient India which highlights the empathy of a ruler.

A retelling of a story still relevant today.

Karna had been crowned King of Anga and unlike other kings, he was an affable and accessible ruler.

Karna had been brought up by his adopted parents who were common people and not of the royalty.

Karn...

The Tale of two wives

We find many people today who take both sides depending on how the wind blows. Such people are called opportunists but they call themselves realistic and practical.

This is a story of one such man in ancient India.

In a city in the south of India lived a trader named Sukeshanthan, a very rich man who traded all over the world.

When he was young and just starting his business, his parents got him married to a young woman who was chaste, hardworking, and came from a good family.

He w...

The Golden Mongoose: A story from the Mahabharata.

The war was over, the corpses had piled up on the battlefield, mangled, cut, shredded, burnt they lay there oozing blood and gore.

Their sightless eyes seemed to mock him as Yudhister, the victor looked at the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The victory had been won at an unbearable cost. The Pandavas had lost all their children. They had killed Karna, their own eldest brother. They had killed their grand sire Bhisma

Their cousins, the Kauravas, met a brutal death at the hands of the Pandav...

The Devotee snaps up the Lord.

A Hanuman and Rama story.

Rama returned to Ayodhya with Sita after winning the war with Ravana. Vibhishana, Ravana’s brother was crowned the king of Lanka.

The citizens of Ayodhya were happy that their prince has come back and that too after a grand victory over the powerful king of Lanka.

Rama’s coronation as the King of Ayodhya was planned on a grand scale and was attended by all the kings from near and far.

The powerful vanaras, their stalwart king Sugreeva was the cynosure of al...

A lesson in humility. Garuda and Hanuman

Hanuman and Garuda are both great devotees of Vishnu. But the lord sometimes feels he has to teach his devotees a lesson.

Hanuman of course is one of the most popular Gods. He is unmatched in strength, intellect, and all the qualities. But Hanuman is self-effacing and totally devoted to Rama.

Hanuman is exemplary but Garuda gets carried away and this is a tale of how the Lord brought him back to reality.

Garuda, the king of birds, as you all know, is the vehicle of choice for Vishnu. ...

A Ramayana Folk Tale

Today is Ramnavami so let me tell you a small folktale on this auspicious day. A story of Sri Ram and the Rooster.

Ram was devastated when he came back from hunting the golden deer and found Sita missing.

Ram, as you should know was not aware of his divinity and reacted as any normal man would do.

Like all good husbands, he was attached to Sita and he could not bear finding her gone.

He cried and wailed, he blamed Lakshman for not staying back to look after her.

He could not thi...

IRUVAN, The Perfect Prince.

A folktale based on the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata, it is said, contains everything that you can think of and to a large extent that is true. It is at its core a story of human beings, their strengths, weaknesses, greed, ego, lust, relationships and how it affects their life. It is presumed there have been many stories added to the main story over a period of time. Many stories do not find themselves in the main story, as they are not considered pertinent or are uncomfortable. 

The story ...

The Art of Giving, a story from the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata is one of our greatest stories. Over the years many tales have been added to the main story of a great war fought between two factions of a family.

These tales add to the flavor of the epic and embellish the characters. This is one such story.

Arjuna was always jealous of Karna. Karna was handsome, dignified, a great warrior renowned for his valor and archery skills. But the one thing that marked Karna out was his generosity.

Karna came from a poor background and did no...