|
About
Pandavas |
|
In
the Mahabharata a Hindu epic text the Pandavas are the five
acknowledged sons of Pandu, by his two wives Kunti and Madri.
Their names are Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, and
Yudhisthira. All five brothers were married to the same woman,
Draupadi. (Each brother also had multiple other wives.)
Together, the brothers fought and succeeded in a great war
against their cousins the Kauravas, which came to be known as
the Battle of Kurukshetra. However, one could say that there
were six pandavas instead of five, the eldest being Karna who
was abandoned by his mother, Kunti before her marriage. Karna
was told by Kunti that according to the ethics and laws he is
the first son of Kunti making him the eldest Pandava. The five
unknowingly fought their eldest brother Karna. |
|
| |
|
Story |
|
The
story begins with the introduction of the brothers' parents.
Among the primary enemy was Duryodhana the eldest of the
Kauravas and the Pandavas' cousin. He was the eldest of the 100
brothers known as the Kauravas, who were born to the blind king
of Hastinapura Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari (princess of
Gandhara).
The Pandavas were born to Kunti and Madri after Pandu's
voluntary renunciation of royal life to do sacrament for having
accidentally killed the sage (Rishi) Kindama and his wife. After
the death of Pandu, Kunti brought the Pandavas back to
Hastinapura. As children, the Kauravas and Pandavas often played
together. However, Bhima (one of the Pandavs) was always at odds
with the Kauravas, mainly Duryodhana who refused to accept the
Pandavas as his relative. This generally led to much tension
between the cousins. Insecure and jealous, Duryodhana harboured
extreme hatred for the five brothers throughout his childhood
and youth, and following the evil advice of his maternal uncle
Shakuni, often plotted to get rid of them to clear his path to
the lordship of the Kuru Dynasty.
This plotting took a crucial turn when Dhritarashtra had to
surrender to the will of the masses and rightfully appointed his
nephew Yudhisthira as crown prince. This went against the
personal ambitions of both father and son (Dhritarashtra and
Duryodhana), and drove Duryodhana into such an anger that he
eagerly agreed to an evil plan by Shakuni to murder Yudhisthira.
Shakuni commissioned the construction of a palace in Varnavata,
secretly built by incorporating flammable materials into the
structure, most notably lacquer, known as Lac. This palace was
known as Lakshagraha.
Duryodhana then successfully lobbied with Dhritarashtra to send
Yudhisthira to represent the royal household in Varnavata during
the celebrations of Shiva Mahotsava. The plan was to set the
palace on fire during the night while Yudhisthira would likely
be asleep. As Yudhisthira left for Varnavata, accompanied by his
four brothers and mother Kunti, luckily for the Pandavas, the
plan was discovered by their paternal uncle Vidura, who was very
loyal to them and an extremely wise man. In addition,
Yudhisthira had been warned about this plot by a solitary person
who came to him and spoke of an imminent disaster. Vidura
arranged for a tunnel to be secretly built for the Pandavs to
safely escape the wax palace as it was set afire.
After their flight from the wax palace, the five brothers lived
in the forests for some time, in the mask of Brahmins. They
heard from a group of traveling sages about a contest
(Swayamvara) being held in the Kingdom of Panchaal that offered
the princess Draupadi's hand in marriage to the winner. The
Swayamvara turned out to rely on the skills of archery, and
Arjuna, who was a superior archer, entered the competition and
won. When the brothers took Draupadi to introduce her to their
mother, they announced to Kunti that they had arrived with an
excellent "alms". Kunti was busy with some work, and replied
without turning to look at Draupadi ordering the brothers to
share the "alms" equally amongst the five of them. Even when
uttered inaccurately, their mother's word was supreme for the
Pandavas, who then agreed to "share" the princess, who was then
married to all five brothers.
When Dhritarashtra heard that the five brothers were alive, he
invited them back to the kingdom. However, in their absence,
Duryodhana had succeeded in being made the crown prince. Upon
the return of the Pandavas, the issue of returning Yudhisthira's
crown to him was raised. Dhritarashtra led the subsequent
discussions into ambiguity and agreed to a partition of the
kingdom "to do justice to both crown princes".
He retained the developed Hastinapura for himself and Duryodhana,
and gave the barren, arid and hostile lands of Khandavaprastha
to the Pandavas. The Pandavas successfully developed their land
and built a lavish and great city which was considered
comparable to the heavens, and thus came to be known as
Indraprastha.
Reeling under the loss of half the lands of his future kingdom,
Duryodhana's jealousy and rage were further fueled by the
Pandavas' success and prosperity. Eventually, Shakuni sired yet
another ploy and got Duryodhana to invite the Pandavas over to
his court for a game of dice (gambling). Shakuni was a master at
gambling and owned a pair of dice which magically did his
bidding and produced numbers desired by him. Owing to this, bet
after bet, Yudhisthira lost all of his wealth and finally his
kingdom in the game. He was then enticed by Duryodhana and
Shakuni to place his brothers as bets. Yudhisthira fell for it
and put his brothers on stake, losing them too. He then placed
himself as a bet and lost again. Duryodhana now played another
trick and told Yudhisthira that he still had his wife Draupadi
to place as a bet, and if Yudhisthira won, he would return
everything to the Pandavas.
Yudhisthira fell for the ruse and bet Draupadi, losing her too.
At this point Duryodhan ordered that Draupadi, who was now a
slave to him, be brought to the court. Duryodhana's younger
brother Dushasana dragged Draupadi to the royal court, pulling
her by her hair, insulting her dignity and asserting that she,
like the Pandava brothers, was now their servant. This caused
huge anguish to all the great warriors seated in the court, but
each of them, namely, Bhishma (the grandsire of the clan),
Dronacharya (the teacher/guru of Kauravas and Pandavas) and
others like Kripacharya and Vidura remained silent.
Duryodhana then ordered Dushasana to undress Draupadi before
everyone as a slave girl has no human rights. The elders and
warriors in audience were shocked but did not intervene. As
Dushasana began pulling Draupadi's sari off, she silently prayed
to Krishna to protect her honour, and amazingly, regardless of
how much of it Dushasana pulled off, Draupadi's sari kept
growing in length as if the fabric had no end. Thus Krishna
saved Draupadi. Finally as the blind king Dhrithrasthra realized
that this embarrassment could prompt Draupadi to curse his sons,
he intervened, apologizing to Draupadi for the behavior of his
sons and turned the winnings of the dice game back over to the
Pandava brothers, releasing them from the bondage of slavery.
Incensed at the loss of all that he had won, Duryodhana
threatened suicide and persuaded his father into inviting the
Pandavas for one last round of gambling, the terms of which were
that the loser would be condemned to 12 years of exile into
forests, and a 13th year to be spent secretly and if the cover
be blown during the 13th year, another cycle of 13 years would
follow. Obeying their uncle's orders, the Pandavas played the
round, and again lost to Shakuni's cheating. However, this time,
their patience had been nearly pushed to its edge. During the 12
years of exile in the forest, they prepared for war.
Arjuna performed sacrament and won the whole gamut of celestial
weapons (Divyasatras) as boons from the Gods. The 13th year was
spent masquerading as peasants in the servitude of the royal
family of Virata, the king of Matsya. Upon completion of the
terms of the last bet, the Pandavas returned and demand their
kingdom to be rightfully returned to them. Duryodhana refused to
turn Indraprastha over. For the sake of peace, and to prevent a
disastrous war, Krishna proposed that if Hastinapura agrees to
give the Pandavas only five villages, they would be satisfied
and would make no more demands. Duryodhana violently refused,
commenting that he shall not part even with land as much as the
point of a needle. Thus, the stage was set for the great war,
for which the epic of Mahabharata is known most of all. |
|
| |
|
The War of Mahabharata |
|
The
war was intense and was fought for 18 days over the course of
which both parties worked around, bent, and even broke rules of
fighting. At the end all 100 Kaurava brothers and their entire
army was slain, with only four surviving on their side. The
Pandavas too lost several partners but the 5 brothers survived.
After having won the war, they returned to Hastinapura and
Dhritarashtra surrendered the kingdom. |
|
|
|
|
Pandavas Journey to Heaven |
|
Yudhisthira was crowned, and after ruling peacefully for
many years, the Pandava brothers and their wife departed
for the heavens, taking a long journey through the
Himalayas.
On this journey, one by one, Draupadi and the four younger
brothers fell to their deaths, due to their various
shortcomings. Only Yudhisthira, who had never discarded
sacredness and had always upheld his Dharma (in fact, some
people say only thumb of Yudhisthira fell down, because he
lied just once to Drona in the battlefield) completed the
journey. Nevertheless, after completing a disciplinary
separation, the four brothers and Draupadi were join up
with Yudhisthira in the heavens. |
|
|
|
|
Parents of the Pandavas |
|
The
first three of the Pandavas were the sons of Kunti,( Pandu's
first wife) and the younger two were the sons of Madri (Pandu's
second wife). Since Pandu had been cursed to die if ever he had
intercourse with a woman, the actual fatherhood of the children
is traditionally attributed to various gods, in virtue of a boon
that Kunti had received from Durvaasa and had transferred to
Madri. Thus, Yudhisthira was the son of Dharma, the god of
righteousness; Bhima the son of Vayu, the wind-god; Arjuna the
son of Indra, the sky-god; and Nakula and Sahadeva the sons of
the Ashwini Gods. Karna was also born of Kunti Devi, and was the
son of Surya, the Sun God. |
|
|
|
|
Pandavas description as per wife Draupadi |
|
The
Pandava brothers were collectively married to Draupadi. On one
occasion, Draupadi was kidnapped and kidnapped from a hermitage
in the forest by the immoral king Jayadratha. When her husbands
learned of the crime, they came in hot pursuit. Seeing them
approach, Jayadratha asked Draupadi to describe them. Angrily,
Draupadi told the king his time was up, and that the knowledge
would do him no good. She then proceeded to give the
description.
Yudhisthira
According to Draupadi, Yudhisthira possessed a "complexion like
that of pure gold, possessed of a prominent nose and large eyes,
and endued with a slender make." Master of the spear. He was
just, had a correct sense of morality, and was compassionate to
surrendering rivals. Draupadi adviced Jayadratha to run to
Yudhisthira and to beg for forgiveness.
Bhima
Draupadi described Bhima as tall and long-armed. In a display of
cruelty, he was "biting his lips, and contracting his forehead
so as to bring the two eyebrows together." The master of the
mace, his superhuman feats had earned him great renown.
Arjuna
Arjuna she admired as the greatest of archers, intelligent,
second to none "with senses under complete control." Neither
desire nor fear nor anger could make him forsake virtue. Though
capable of withstanding any enemy, he would never commit an act
of cruelty.
Nakula
Nakula, said Draupadi, was "the most handsome person in the
whole world." A talented master swordsman, he was also "versed
in every question of morality and profit" and "endued with high
wisdom." He was courageously devoted to his brothers, who in
turn regarded him as more valuable than their own lives. The
name Nakula generally means full of love and the male
characteristics implied by the name are: Intelligence,
Handsomeness, Attractiveness, Focus, Hard-Work, Health, Success,
Popularity, Respect, and unconditional Love.
Sahadeva
Finally, Sahadeva was the youngest of the brothers, and like the
others formidable in war and observant of morality. Master of
the swords "Heroic, intelligent, wise and ever wrathful, there
is not another man equal unto him in intelligence or in
expressiveness amid assemblies of the wise." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chat
