Mahabharatham : ( 08/06/2013. )

"O BRAHMANAS, we have been deceived by the sons of Dhritarashtra, cheated out of our kingdom and reduced to poverty. Still we have passed these years cheerfully with joy in the forest. The thirteenth year of exile has come, and with it the time for us to part from you. For we have to spend the next twelve months undiscovered by the spies of Duryodhana. God knows when the day will dawn which will see us together again, without fear or concealment. Now, bless us before we go. And may we escape the notice of those who may wish to betray us to the sons of Dhritarashtra, either through fear or hope of reward." So spoke Yudhishthira to the brahmanas who were living with the Pandavas till then. His voice shook with emotion as he spoke these words. Dhaumya consoled him. He said: "Parting, is hard, and the dangers are many and great. But you are too wise and learned to be shaken or daunted. You must disguise yourselves. Indra, the Lord of gods

THE stipulated period of twelve years was drawing to a close. One day, a deer was rubbing itself against a poor brahmana's fire-kindling mortar and as it turned to go, the mortar got entangled in its horns and the affrighted animal fled wildly with it into the forest. In those days matches were unknown and fire was kindled with pieces of wood by mechanical friction. "Alas! The deer is running away with my fire-kindler. How can I perform the fire sacrifice?" shouted the brahmana and rushed towards the Pandavas for help in his extremity. The Pandavas pursued the animal but it was a magic deer, which sped in great leaps and bounds, decoying the Pandavas far into the forest and then disappeared. Worn out by the futile chase, the Pandavas sat in great dejection under a banyan tree. Nakula sighed: "We cannot render even this trifling service to the brahmana. How we have degenerated!" said he sadly. Bhima said: "Quite s

WHILE the Pandavas were dwelling in the forest, Duryodhana celebrated a great sacrifice with much pomp and splendor. He wanted to perform the Rajasuya sacrifice, but the brahmanas told him that he could not do that while Yudhishthira and Dhritarashtra were alive and advised him to perform the sacrifice known as the Vaishnava instead. He accepted this advice and celebrated the Vaishnava with great splendor. But when the ceremony was over, the citizens began to talk among themselves that Duryodhana's sacrifice had not come up to even a sixteenth part of Yudhishthira's Rajasuya in magnificence. The friends of Duryodhana, on the other performed by Yayati, Mandhata, Bharata and others. Court flatterers were not sparing with their praise. Karna told Duryodhana that his Rajasuya had been only postponed till the Pandavas should be defeated and slain in battle and repeated that his part would be the slaying of Arjuna. "Till I have slain Arj

THE Kauravas reached Dwaitavana with a great army and many followers. Duryodhana and Karna went with unconcealed joy at the very thought of being able to gloat on the sad plight of the Pandavas. They themselves camped in luxurious rest houses in a place four miles off the abode of the Pandavas. They inspected the herds of cows and took stock of them. After counting the cows, bulls and calves, they enjoyed the dance, the hunt, the sylvan sports and other entertainment’s arranged for them. While hunting, Duryodhana and his party reached an attractive pond near the hermitage of the Pandavas and ordered a camp to be put on its bank. Chitrasena, the king of the Gandharvas, and his attendants had already encamped in the neighborhood of the pool and they prevented Duryodhana's men from putting up their camp. They returned to Duryodhana and represented that some petty prince who was there with his followers was giving them trouble. Duryod

MANY brahmanas visited the Pandavas during their exile. And one such, returning to Hastinapura, went to see Dhritarashtra, who received him with due honor. The brahmana told him how the Pandavas, born princes, were, by unkind destiny, at the mercy of the wind and the sun and suffered great privations. Dhritarashtra was probably sorry to hear this. But what troubled him most were the consequences to his own sons. Could Yudhishthira continue to hold the justly wrathful Bhima in check? Dhritarashtra feared that the anger of the Pandavas, long pent up, might one day break its bounds and overflow in a devastating flood. The king anxiously pondered thus: "Arjuna and Bhima will certainly try to punish us. Sakuni, Karna, Duryodhana and the short-sighted Duhsasana are perched precariously up a tree in search of a honeycomb while below is the abyss of Bhima's anger yawning to receive them to their destruction." The blind king pursued his th

ONCE the sage Markandeya came to see the Pandavas. Yudhishthira happened to talk of the virtues of the fair sex and said: "What greater wonder is there in this world than the patience and the chastity of woman? She gives birth to a child after cherishing it in her womb as dearer than life itself. She brings it into the world inpain and anxiety and thence forward her one thought is for its health and happiness. Large hearted and forgiving, a woman forgives and continues to love even a wicked husband who neglects and hates and subjects her to all sorts of miseries. How strange!" Hearing this Markandeya told him a sacred story. There was once a brahmana, named Kausika who observed his vow of brahmacharya. with great steadfastness and devotion. One  day, he sat under a tree reciting the Vedas. A crane, perched on the top of the tree, defiled his head with its droppings. He looked up at it, and his angry look killed the bird and it fell down d

DRAUPADI used to complain frequently: "This Kamyaka forest is not beautiful without Arjuna. I find no joy in life in the absence of Arjuna." The other Pandavas shared Draupadi's wretchedness at separation from Arjuna, who had gone to the Himalayas in quest of divine weapons. Bhimasena told Draupadi: "Blessed lady, I myself feel the same about Arjuna and what you say makes me thrill with love and sympathy. Bereft of Arjuna, this beautiful forest seems desolate. My mind can know no peace without seeing Arjuna. Sahadeva, how do you feel?" Sahadeva said: "This hermitage seems to be empty without Arjuna. We shall try whether a change of scene will help us to bear the pain of separation better." Yudhishthira addressing his priest Dhaumya said: "I have sent my younger brother Arjuna to win divine weapons. That dauntless and dexterous hero has not yet returned. We have sent him to the Himalayas to get from Indr

WHILE the Pandavas were wandering among holy places in the forest, they came one day to the hermitage of the personages immortalized in the Upanishads. Lomasa told Yudhishthira the story of that place. Udalaka, a great sage and teacher of Vedanta, had a disciple named Kagola, who was virtuous and devoted but had no great learning. So, the other disciples used to laugh and mock at him. Uddalaka, however, attached no great weight to his disciple's lack of erudition but really appreciated his virtues, devotion and good conduct and gave his daughter Sujata in marriage to him. The couple was blessed with a son. A child generally inherits the characteristics of both the parents. But fortunately the grandson of Uddalaka took after his grandfather rather than his father and knew the Vedas even while he was in his mother's womb. When Kagola made mistakes, as he often did in reciting the Vedas, the child in the womb would twist his body with pain,

KING Brihadyumna, a disciple of the sage Raibhya, performed a great sacrifice at which he requested his teacher to let his two sons Paravasu and Arvavasu officiate. With the permission of their father, both of them went joyfully to the capital of the king. While arrangements were being made for the sacrifice, Paravasu desired one day to go and see his wife and, walking alone all night, he reached his hermitage before dawn. Near the hermitage, he saw in the twilight, what seemed to him a beast of prey crouching for a spring and, hurling his weapon at it, killed it. But to his horror and grief, he discovered that he had killed his own father clad in skins, mistaking him for a wild denizen of the forest. He realised that the fatal mistake was the effect of the curse of Bharadwaja. When he had hastily performed the funeral rites of his father, he went to Arvavasu and told him the doleful tale. He said: "But this mishap should not interfere with th