Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Vidura was none other than Yama, the god of death, living out a curse.

Vyasa draws attention to the frailties of human laws that try to correct what nature has ordained. Satyavati’s son dies childless but by the law of niyoga he can still be a father. Thus Dhritarashtra and Pandu become the ‘sons’ of Vichitravirya even though their mothers were made pregnant by Vyasa.

For reasons never clarified, though many suspect it was because of Pandu’s inability to father a child on Kunti, a second wife was purchased for Pandu. She was Madri,

Vedic literature classifies eight different ways in which man and woman come together.

Prajapati,

Brahma,

Deva,

Rishi.

Gandharva,

A...

Rakshasa,

Pisachas

The accidental killing of Kindama seems like an elaborate afterthought to explain or cover up the sterility and/or impotency of Pandu.

Shvetaketu is believed to be the fountainhead of patriarchy. Before he introduced the law of marriage, women had full sexual freedom. In fact, a woman could go to any man and a man who refused her was deemed a eunuch. This freedom was allowed because childbirth was considered of prime importance to facilitate the re-entry of forefathers into the land of the living. Shvetaketu insisted on fidelity from women so that all children knew who their biological fathers were. If a man could not father children because he was impotent, sterile or dead, the woman was allowed to go to other men, with the permission of her husband or his family.

During his wife’s long pregnancy, Dhritarashtra had taken for his pleasure a maid. She bore

him a son called Yuyutsu.

Were the ‘gods’ who made Kunti and Madri pregnant actually Devas or simply priests performing a ritual role to compensate for the inadequacies of Pandu? This has been elaborated in Bhyrappa’s Kannada novel, Parva.

Some scholars believe that even the tale of Kunti’s premarital tryst with Surya is an attempt to hide the truth, that she was asked by her father to satisfy all the needs of the sage Durvasa in keeping with the laws of hospitality.

Kripa, Kripi and Drona are illegitimate children born after nymphs seduce ascetics and make them break their vows of celibacy.

shooting arrows at the target without depending on his sight. Because of this he became renowned as Gudakesha,

Arjuna also was able to shoot his bow using either his left or his right hand. Hence, he came to be known as Sabyasachi.

As per varna-dharma, a son is supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps. Drona therefore was supposed to be a priest like his father, or a sage, but he chooses to become a warrior, as does his son, Ashwatthama. While he breaks the varna-dharma code himself, his argument against Ekalavya bearing the bow, that encouraging lower castes to become archers would destroy the varna system of society, seems rather hypocritical.

In the Indonesian telling of the epic, Karna is born out of Kunti’s ear, hence his name Karna which means ‘ear’. This is why Kunti is still a virgin when she gets married to Pandu.

A folktale from Tamil Nadu informs us that the entire Kuru household assumed that Bhima had drowned and that his body had been washed away. So they mourned his death and even organized a funeral feast a fortnight later to mark the end of the period of mourning. On that day, after all the vegetables had been cut and spices prepared, Bhima emerged from the river to the great relief of his mother and his brothers. Not wanting the vegetables and spices to be wasted, Bhima offered to cook a special meal, something different to indicate his new life. He mixed all the vegetables and spices, added coconut milk, and prepared the famed Tamil dish known as ‘aviyal’ or the mixture. This was quite different from a typical Vedic dish where mixing of vegetables was prohibited.

During his stay with the Nagas, some folk versions of the epic state that Bhima was given a wife. From that Naga wife he bore a son who participated in the war at Kuru-kshetra. This son’s name was Bilalsen in retellings from Orissa and Barbareek in retellings from Rajasthan.

Much has been said about Kunti’s relationship with Vidura. Vidura is seen as a form of Yama, the first god called upon by Pandu to make Kunti pregnant. Yudhishtira thus is the son of Yama and finds a father figure in Vidura. Rationalists believe that Vidura perhaps, in his role as a younger brother, was the first one invited by Pandu to make his wife pregnant. This explains his soft corner for Kunti and her sons.

Barnawa, located in Meerut district, close to Hastina-puri, is identified as Varanavata, where the palace of wax was built for the Pandavas.

Among many tribes of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, such as the Konds, Bhima is seen as the one who brought civilization to earth. He is worshipped as a deity under a tree that is considered to be his wife, a tribal princess.

In Vedic times, as per ashrama-dharma, a man’s student days came to an end with marriage while his householder days came to an end when his son bore a child.

The story of Vasishtha and Parasara is consciously placed at this juncture. The Gandharva knows and does not approve of the Pandavas’ anger, howsoever justified, against the Kauravas. This anger will yield nothing but more pain and suffering.

But the woman concerned had the right to disqualify men from the tournament as Draupadi disqualifies Karna.

Dharma did allow it. Yudhishtira narrated the story of Vidula who according to the ancient chronicles had married the ten Prachetas brothers.

Vyasa never clarifies why Kunti does not retract her statement when she realizes that what Arjuna is referring to is a woman and not a thing. Kunti knows that the only strength she has is the unity of her sons. She insists they marry the same woman because she fears if Draupadi marries only Arjuna, sexual jealousy will cause a rift between the brothers. There are a few tribes in India such as the Todas in the south and the hill tribes of Uttaranchal where polyandry is followed to prevent division of property. The household always has one kitchen and one daughter-in-law. The sons have the freedom to either share the wife or become ascetics or find pleasure elsewhere with mistresses and prostitutes, who have no legal right over the family property.

farmer-god. Krishna holds a cartwheel that is pulled by oxen and horses. Balarama holds a plough. In time, the cartwheel becomes the famous Sudarshan Chakra or discus of Vishnu and the plough becomes Vishnu’s club or gada known as Kaumodaki.

The story of Krishna stealing clothes of women needs to be compared and contrasted with the disrobing of Draupadi which occurs later in the epic. In both, women are deprived of clothes but while there is romance and joyousness in Krishna’s teasing of the gopis, there is humiliation and horror in Draupadi’s tale. Ultimately, it is not about behaviour alone; it is about intent.

Ranchor-rai, the deserter.

To secure this new island-home of the Yadavas, Krishna married many women from surrounding kingdoms. One of them was Rukmini, princess of Vidarbha, who had appealed to Krishna to save her from the loveless marriage that her brother was forcing her into. Rukmini’s brother, Rukmi, had arranged for her to wed Shishupala, king of Chedi. Krishna abducted her right from under Shishupala’s nose.

Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, identified Krishna with the Greek hero Heracles.

The practice of using marriage to forge political alliances was common in Vedic times. The Pandavas had no power until Draupadi came into their lives. With the powerful Drupada as their father-in-law, they were in a position to negotiate. Krishna makes them aware of this.

Since the Mahabharata talks about cousins who divide the family property between themselves, it is never read inside a traditional Hindu household. In fact, it is considered inauspicious. People prefer the Ramayana where brothers selflessly surrender their inheritance to each other.

Draupadi had forbidden the very capable Karna from participating in her swayamvara on grounds that he was raised by charioteers. Through this display of caste prejudice, she inadvertently rejected Krishna who was raised by lowly cowherds.

‘When your needs are met and before you fall prey to greed. Knowing when to stop is the hallmark of a good king,’

Devas and Asuras had great architects who built vast citadels based on the principles of Vastu-shastra. Devas had Vishwakarma while Asuras had Maya. That Pandavas take the help of Maya indicates that the Asuras, though feared as demons, were also seen as allies under suitable conditions.

Indra-prastha is believed to have been located on the banks of the Yamuna not far from modern Delhi. Hastina-puri was located further north on the banks of the Ganga. Kuru-kshetra is a barren stretch of land in what is now the state of Haryana.

Besides Draupadi, each Pandava had other wives. Yudhishtira married Devika, the daughter of Govasana of the Saivya tribe, and begat upon her a son called Yaudheya. Bhima married Valandhara, the daughter of the king of Kashi, and begat upon her a son named Sarvaga. Nakula married Karenumati, the princess of Chedi, and begat upon her a son named Niramitra. Sahadeva obtained Vijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra, and begat upon her a son named Suhotra.

There is a Punjabi folklore connecting Draupadi’s conjugal arrangements with the reason why dogs copulate in public. A Pandava would always leave his footwear outside Draupadi’s chamber to let the other brothers know of his presence. A dog stole Yudhishtira’s footwear and so Arjuna assumed Draupadi was alone when he entered her chamber in search of his bow. Draupadi, embarrassed, cursed the dog that since its actions caused her intimate moments to be known to another, all dogs in the future would copulate only in full view of the public, stripped of all shame.

In Tamil tradition, Draupadi is a goddess and one Muttal Ravuttan is her royal guard and gatekeeper. He is said to be a king whose daughter married Yudhishtira. It was known that Draupadi would not let any of her five husbands’ other wives stay in the palace. So that she makes an exception to his daughter, Muttal offers to become Draupadi’s servant for all eternity.

The story of Gaya who creates conflict between Arjuna and Krishna is performed by the Yakshagana folk theatre in Karnataka. It was written by Halemakki Rama in the 17th century. It is not part of the classical Sanskrit narrative.

In popular belief, men have vestigial nipples as a mark of the feminine within them. Arjuna had only one nipple, not two, because he was more man than others. Krishna had no nipples because he was a purna-purusha, a full man.

A Rajasuya yagna granted kingdoms their sovereignty. To achieve this status, the ruler of the kingdom had to prove his military might so that other kings of the land accepted him as an equal. By performing a Rajasuya, Yudhishtira was formally breaking all ties with his uncle and telling the world that his kingdom was autonomous.