Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Episode 8 - Princes in Training

Episode 8 - This is the last episode that covers Book 7 of the Mahabharata, called "The Origins".  Almost all of the story I have covered so far comes from Book 7.  The earlier books are much shorter, and full of geneologies and creation myths that are almost impossible to make narrative sense of, so I left a lot of that out! 
I spend some time at the beginning of this episode describing what we're up against in terms of the original Mahabharata as a source.  Then the story gets under way, where we meet the two Gurus Krpa and Drona, and find out some of the early enmities between the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas.  Duryodhana's maternal uncle Shakuni makes his debut in the role of chief conspirator, which he will maintain to his dying day! 
I think you'll also agree that the good guys are not 100% good after all-- Bhima is kind of a bully, and Arjun is a serious kiss-up to their teacher and is not above a little cheating to make sure he is unchallenged as the top student!

7 comments:

  1. I am so impressed by the Eklavya story and his true and perfected devotion. I cry every time, it's so beautiful. Definitely my favorite of the epic.

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  2. I have managed to get this far with your podcast and frankly I find it very hard going. This is not a criticism of your hard work but rather a reflection of the source material. There are an awful lot of stories with far too many characters most of whom aren't that well developed.

    It is extremely hard to have any empathy with any of the characters and as you rightly point out even the heroes don't come over that well.

    I also find a lot of the magic to be very strange. I was particularly put off by the fact that a "holy" man killed while fornicating with a deer can still have power to put a death curse on someone.

    Reading some of the other comments I suspect that my lack of understanding comes from my fairly standard western upbringing. I only came across the Mahabharata recently while doing a course on world literature so I have managed 50 odd years without knowing any of this stuff.

    If your name is any indication then, you are not of Asian descent so I am extremely impressed that you are willing to take this task on (of course if you are of Asian descent then that is just fine anyway :-)).

    Lastly how many episodes do you think it will take you to complete your survey?

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  3. Shimon; Thank you for that helpful comment. I am indeed a westerner-- an Italian-American who grew up in California. The first thing I might say is hang in there a little longer. While there are indeed many characters, the cast does settle down in the coming episodes. Not many more characters get introduced, and most of them stick around for the entirety of the story. I can't say it's easy going however!

    The next point is the magic. The way I understand this, is that the story takes place in a prior age, during which morality was eclipsed by sacrifice. I think you could also see this in the ancient religions of the west-- being "good" was not nearly as important as being obedient, and to gain spiritual power, you made certain types of sacrifices, either of your wealth, or of your well-being. A Holy Man was not necessarily a Good Man. He just was someone who had spent so much time in prayer and ritual that he acquired a certain degree of magical or spiritual power.
    One interesting aspect of this story is that it hinges on the changing of the ages, so that by the end, it is the dawn of the Kali Yuga, which is the same age we live in. In the Kali Yuga, most things are worse than in the prior ages, but one of the good things is that love and devotion are the dominant means to salvation, instead of prayer and ritual.
    So rather than finding these stories off-putting, I find them fascinating because they somehow shed light on the morality and spirituality of a truly alien age.

    As a non-Indian, I love these stories because they have survived through the millenia, so not only do we get a window on a lost time, we also have to consider that there was something special about these stories that they have been preserved all these years, and remain extremely important to the people of modern India.

    Also, if you hang in there a while longer, you'll find some of the characters, like Draupadi and Yuddhistira, and Karna, Vidur, Bhisma, come through very poignantly at times. There is a lot of depth in their characters, and it is amazing given the fact that you are reading a story that might be over three thousand years old!

    I'm grateful for your comment, because at first I was directing this series mainly at westerners who would be learning this story possibly the first time. But then the feedback I got was often by people who knew the story better than I did! So lately I've downshifted to a much more granular approach. Hopefully even listeners who grew up with the story might learn something new!

    As for future episodes, I'm at #18 and just finished the first of 18 books. Extrapolate that out and you get roughly 324! It will be a while-- its a big story...

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  4. Hi Lawrence
    I'm Ashwin, from Chennai, India. I've grown up with the stories of Mahabharatha (narrated to me by my grand parents). I find your work amazing.. I'm pursuing my final year in electrical engineering, but after listening to your podcast I feel an urge to brush up my Sanskrit to start reading my copy or atleast hit the tome in English.. Thank you for the inspiration.. Your work is greatly appreciated.. I'm hooked to your podcast, and I'll be following it till the end..
    Regards
    Ashwin

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  5. The Pandavas exhibit a dubious morality throughout much of the books. When they deluded unsuspecting locals into taking their place in the house of lac I nearly stopped reading out of repulsion. Drona's demand for the thumb is just one example, and their snobbishness towards Karna's "low-birth" another.

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  6. Dear Lawrence,
    I am Padmanaban from kanyakumari, India. I grew up listening to the substories of mahabharatha told by my grandparents but always wanted to know the whole epic. So far as I hav listened, U sir really hav done a wonderful job. Truly impeccable. I Thank you with my whole heart. I have already recommended your Android app to many of my friends and family members. I feel proud of my ancestors and the nation's great history. Thank you for showing interest in the mahabharatha and I bow down before you in respect.

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  7. I am Padmanaban from kanyakumari, India. I grew up listening to the substories of mahabharatha told by my grandparents but always wanted to know the whole epic. So far as I hav listened, U sir really hav done a wonderful job. Truly impeccable. I Thank you with my whole heart for showing interest in the great history of my nation. I have already recommended your Android app to many of my friends and family members. I bow down to you in respect. Thank you Sir.

    ReplyDelete