Mahabharata, by Epified on Youtube
- Dhritrashtra marries Gandhari, who blinds herself (permanently but without physically disabling herself), Pandu marries Kunti and Madri. Kunti has a secret from her past that ends up progressing the story. [I’m realizing how important flashbacks are to this story.]
- Through speaking a mantra shared with her by Durwasa, Kunti summoned Suryadeva (the Sun god) and after being bathed “in his light” was left with his child. Scared and unwed, she felt obligated to abandon the child. She placed him in a basket and on the bank of a river and asked his godly father figure to watch over him and the waves took him away to her anguish.
- While in the woods, when Pandu was hunting he mistakenly fired an arrow at a hermit couple who were in the middle of a love-making session. After misfiring, the hermit man cursed Pandu before he died since they were more than defenseless but distracted by their moment of passion. The moment Pandu has sexual relations with a woman, because of the Hermit’s curse he would die. In his devastation, he sent word that he would not return to Hastinapur and would stay in the forest forever.
- To give hope to Pandu for his despair that his brother Dhristrashra would be seated on the throne indefinitely without an heir of his own, Kunti revealed to him her gift of being able to summon a god to give her a child.
- Kunti called upon Yama first, Pandu’s first-born son Yudhishthir who would be known for being calm and collected. Kunti then ushered Vayudev, the wind god, who gave her a son as strong and quick as air—Bhima. Then she called Indra, who gave her a son who would be known as a great warrior and archer—Arjuna. [I thought the videos descriptions of these supernatural births were done very well. The PDE version of these events was more straight-forward, but the way this video set up the scenes with drawings of each character involved with the voiceover of their titles and specific characteristics made it more special.]
- Kunti, after refusing to use her mantra to have more children herself helped Pandu’s second wife Madri summon the Ashwin twins, who gave her Nakul and Sahdeva. [I thought this was especially touching that Kunti would use her own gift to give another woman a chance at motherhood. It’s almost like a strange form of adoption.]
- After being cursed with celibacy after what happened in the forest, he forced himself on Madri in a moment of weakness and succumbed to death that was awaiting this abandonment of control. Madri chose to share her husband’s fate by following him into the flames at his cremation ceremony. [It seems so sad to me that just after he was given children, he was so soon taken away before he could help raise them. Even sadder that the twins’ mother, Madri, who is their remaining parental figure would leave them orphaned. I can’t remember if the PDE mentioned guilt as a motivation for her to sacrifice herself, but I feel like given the circumstances it could have been likely.]
- Kunti adopted Madri’s children and took the twins’ and her three boys out of the forest where she had lost so much and left for Hastinapur. [In this version, her sacrifice and commitment as a mother seem especially apparent.]
- The drawn-out scene at Hastinapur with Gandari’s pregnancy and birth is a strange one. She gives birth to a lifeless mass of flesh. To bring his prophecy to life and give her the hundred sons she was promised, Ved Vyasa returned and divided the lump into a hundred pieces and soaked them in vats until it was time. The firstborn from the vats, Duryodan was sensed to be demonic to everyone but his mother who on account of her blindness did not sense. [There seems to be underlying symbolism with the parents’ lack of sight and their ability to dismiss the obvious omens that surrounded their children.]
- Duryodhan felt left out since Bhima was favored by his grandfather Bhishma, a feeling that would turn into hate. This along with his mentor Shakuni (Gandari’s brother’s) advice would be the fire behind Duryodhan’s motive to destroy the Pandava children before they could take Hastinapur from him.
- His first attempt was to put a sleep-inducing substance in the Pandava’s food, which subsequently led him to tie up Bhima’s hands and feet and pushing him into a lake. After fighting off deadly serpents, he found himself in ruler Vasuki’s realm, Naag Lok. He called him a grandson on account of their mutual relative Chief Aaryak, and he gave him a magic potion that would give him matchless strength and that he would become a hero remembered throughout history.
- Bhishma appoints the brahmin Drona as the Pandava’s teacher. Yudhisthira’s skill was as a horseman behind the reins on the battlefield, Madri’s twin’s talent was as swordsmen, Bhima was as predicted an all-around powerhouse with a mace and Arjuna wielded all weapons with utmost precision but preferred his bow and arrow and was likewise perfect in hand-to-hand combat.
- Arjuna and Ashwatthamama, Drona’s son and disciple as well, were shown the use of devastras—divine weapons that control the elements.
- The story of Ekalavya, a nishaad boy who was not a warrior, prince, or kshatriya but a simple huntsman. He claimed his teacher was Drona, but it turned out that he ,was only his teacher indirectly—through the inspiration of looking toward a figure he had formed in his image after Drona denied him as his student on account of his being only a forest dweller. This turn of events of this self-taught archer stunned both Drona and the disciples he had accepted.
- The guru put all justice and fairness aside when he asked the boy to cut his thumb off for him which he did promptly, making him physically unable to hold the title of the world's greatest archer. [This was dumbfounding, how Drona could put his principles aside and disrespect the very person who looked to him as an idol is totally demeaning of all Ekalavya’s hard work and devotion. Totally sickening and against all virtue and good consciousness.]
Author: Epified
Title: Epified: Mahabharata, Part B (Playlist)
Source: YouTube
(Screenshot by me of Kunti in Mahabharata Episode 9, Youtube)
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