Episode 95 - Krishna is dead. Balaram is dead. The city of Dwarka sinks beneath the waves, and the refugees of that once-great city are making their way to Indraprastha with only Arjun as their protector. But the influence of the Kali Yuga pervades the earth, and Arjun is not the man he once was. When the vulnerable procession is attacked by bandits, his magic quivers run out of arrows and his magical weapons no longer obey his command. Only a fragment is saved, along with Krishna's grandson Vajra, who is made King of Indraprastha.
Thanks a lot for this podcast. I have been listening to it ever since it started. Even though I am an Indian and have listened to stories from Mahabharatha right from my childhood, there are so many plots and viewpoints that surprise me today! You are doing it awesome. Looking forward to the next episode.
ReplyDeleteWith facts and appealing comments you have made this ancient epic lively for the 21st century. I have been enjoying this podcast since the beginning and would not want this rewarding journey to end. However I would like to hear the last episode to end in ‘Episode 108’. May your mind, body and soul be blessed with the knowledge of the supreme with the ultimate truth? Not all of us have the ability you have. ‘Aum tat sat’.
ReplyDeleteWhy 108 ?
THE MYSTIC NUMBER EIGHTEEN
Numbers 18, 108, 1008, 10008 are all multiples of 9 which is a mystic number. All multiples of 9 added together ultimately become number 9. This can be verified (16 x 9 = 144; 1 + 4 + 4 = 9).
The mystic number 9 is arrived at this wise:-
The universe is constituted of the three factors-time, space and causation.
The universe is constituted of the three Gunas (ingredients) – sattva, rajas and tamas
The universe is constituted of the three functions – creation, preservation and destruction
Thus this three times three making nine has become a mystic number. It exhausts the definition of the phenomenal universe.
Twice nine or eighteen makes the Mahabharata scheme complete.
The eighteen portions (Parvas) in the epic define in detail the career of man on earth.
The eighteen chapters in the Gita make yoga philosophy complete.
The eighteen days ‘warfare makes the warriors’ exploits complete.
Eighteen are the divisions of the armies of the contending parties – Pandavas and Kauravas. The one having seven divisions and the other eleven thus all the available human forces mobilized were eighteen in number.
The Mahabharata is thus an exposition of the human possibilities and achievements graded into eighteen, the first multiple of nine, a mystic number. The higher multiples of it signify further ranging into divine regions.
Thank you. I've been thinking about the numbers quite a bit lately. What brought it to my attention was the number of notebooks I've gone through in writing this podcast-- 18!
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that we are getting very close to 100 episodes. I've already written the final episode of the story, and it is #97. But I have a couple of epilogues, which takes us to #99. After that, I'm not sure. Maybe I'll go back and do the Ramayana parva that I left out from the Book of the Forest.
I was thinking that the 100th episode will be a final discussion of the epic-- taking inventory, as it were.