Episode 56 - Amba, part 1

Episode 56 - Bhisma begins telling the story of Amba/Sikhandin-- the only person, barring the Pandavas, whom he will not fight in the coming battle.  The reason for this is that Sikhandin had once been a female.  She was not just any female at that-- she was Draupadi's sister, and in her past life, she'd had a bad run-in with Bhisma, making her his sworn enemy from beyond the grave.

We begin the story with Amba's abduction, along with her sisters Ambika and Ambalika, by Bhisma to provide wives for his brother.  When she announces her pre-arranged betrothal with Shalva, she is freed to go to him.  A comedy of errors ensues when he questions her virtue, and then she breaks from her escort, ruining her reputation.  But this is a deadly serious matter.  The girl is now unmarriageable, and her father would be unlikely to take her back.  She has died to her caste and is possibly the most vulnerable person in all of India.

Amba seeks shelter with the Brahmins & ascetics, and finally enlists Rama Jamadagni as her champion.  Bhisma is too stubborn to even allow his own guru to make him take a woman of questionable virtue into his house, so Rama kills him.  Bhisma has a near-death experience and is reminded of his past existence as one of the divine Vasus, and discovers that his holy brothers are still looking out for him.

Bhisma cannot die now, because his appointment with Destiny has already been set with the incarnation of the Primeval God, Nara Prajapati-- Arjuna Kaunteya.

Episode 55 - Cutting the Muster

Episode 55 - As if intending to seal his fate, Duryodhana warms up the Pandavas by sending over an odious gambler Uluka as a messenger to goad them into fighting.  Then Bhisma kindly gives us an inventory of the fighters who will take place in the coming battle.

There are a bunch of guys who I've never heard of, and do not seem to have any important role to play in the story, so I've left them out, trying to keep the cast of characters under control.  As for the rest, they are all rated between Rathas and Atirathas.

Finally, Bhisma assures the Kauravas that he could personally beat anyone on the opposing side, except for Arjun, but not to worry about Arjun, because he would never kill his elders or gurus.  The others he would not kill: the Pandavas, any women, and anyone who used to be a woman.   It turns out, there is one of these trannies on the Pandava side-- it's Drupad's 2nd son, Sikhandin.  Next episode, Bhisma will tell us why it is he cannot kill this particular warrior.

Episode 54 - The March on Kurukshetra

Episode 54 - Krishna returns from his mission to Hastinpur with war on his mind.  Yuddistira, having spent the last 12-14 years undergoing massive hardship to prevent this war, is reluctant to accept this truth.  He begs for more information, trying to find any way out of this situation.  So Krishna obliges by giving us the details of a few more speeches made in the Kuru court, but none of it helps.  War is truly inevitable.

So both sides round up their armies and march on Kurukshetra.  When they arrive, each side appoints a Commander in Chief.  It is Bhisma on the Kaurava side, and King Drupad on the Pandavas' side.

From this point until the end of the war, the main narrative frame of the story will be told in terms of a conversation between Sanjay and Dhrtarastra.  The Epic has so far not explained how it is that Sanjay knows what is going on at the far-off battlefield, but somehow he knows everything, and is able to relate it all to his king.  Occasionally, Dhrtarastra will interrupt with questions or react to the events, so it will be through his blind eyes that we shall perceive the coming war.

But don't be deceived that just because we are on the eve of war, that we will be soon getting to it.  The Epic always takes its time, and there will still be quite a few more episodes before the action really starts.  After al, we still need to get through the Bhagavad Gita!!!

Episode 53 - The Temptation of Karna

Episode 53 - This episode is devoted to the classic scene of the Mahabharata in which Krishna reveals to Karna his true descent.  He never was the Son of a Suta, which everyone called him with scorn.  No, he was in fact the eldest of the Pandavas-- the original Partha.  Now that the truth was out, all Karna needed to do was embrace his Dharma, join his brothers, and assume the title of King of India.

Poor Karna, always the victim of bad timing.  It was way too late for such an offer.  Perhaps if Kunti had stood up and claimed him as her son during the Pandavas' first military exhibition, he might have come around then, but now there was too much water under the bridge.  Karna had been tossed out as a baby like the day's garbage, and had been scorned as a Suta when he tried to display his Kshatriya nature.  His modest Suta parents and the evil Kauravas had been the only ones to come to his aid, and he would never give them up.

Krishna failed in turning Karna, but somehow he allowed Sanjay to know of the entire conversation, so the story of Karna's descent and temptation was made known to all the Kauravas.  Kunti caught wind of the encounter, and she made a go at turning him.  She also failed, but she at least got the promise that he would spare her other sons, and should Arjun die, Karna would take his place as her fifth son.

Episode 52 - Krishna reveals Himself

Episode 52 - The peace talks break down completely.  It starts well, when no one can come up with a rebuttal to Krishna's speech.  Narada and Kanva tell a couple of parables to help with the decision making, but Duryodhana was not interested.  It seems he believed that the terms of the Dice Game were that the Pandavas were to go to the forest forever, not just 13 years.  Maybe it's true?  What if the Pandavas had indeed been banished for life, but they decided to change the rules when Krishna & Drupad offered to help them overthrow their cousins?  How would we know, since we only get the version of the story as told by the survivors of this war!?!

In any case, Duryodhana stuck to his story, and was adamant about refusing to bow to threats.  They began talking of restraining the boy and sending him in fetters to the Pandavas, and Duryodhana in turn planned on capturing Krishna. When news of this arrived at the palace, Dhrtarastra blew his top and yelled at the boy.  Then Krishna revealed his true nature, in front of the Kuru court.

The peace talks have failed.  There is nothing more to do but get ready for war.  But Krishna will stick around a little longer to meet with Kunti and then stir up some trouble by telling Karna about his true descent...

Episode 51 - Krishna comes to Town

Episode 51 - Sanjay's mission clearly did not accomplish much, so this time Krishna offers to go to Hastinapur as the Pandavas' chief negotiator.  When the Kauravas hear he is coming, Dhrtarastra plans on bribing him, while Duryodhana hopes to imprison him.

Krishna senses all the bad vibes and decides to only stay & eat with Vidur.  He also visits with the Pandavas' poor widowed mother Kunti, whom he tries to console.  Surprisingly, Kunti blames her father for all her suffering.  Kunti's father, Sura, was also Krishna's grandfather, and for some reason he gave her up for adoption to the chieftain Kuntibhoja.  It was there, while living under Kuntibhoja's roof, that she was assigned to serve the creepy saddhu Durvasas.  The result was that poor Kunti was saddled with an illegitimate baby-- young Karna.

Krishna assures his aunt that the Pandavas will soon make their comeback and all will be well.  Then he pays a visit to Duryodhana.  Duryodhana attempts to bribe him, but Krishna refuses to even eat with them.  The following day, Krishna is summoned before the court of Hastinapur, where he makes his case for a settlement with the Pandavas.

The king and his councilors really don't have much to say by way of a rebuttal, so Parashurama breaks the silence by offering to tell a couple of parables.  Next time, we'll hear these parables and then see how the negotiations turn out.

Episode 50 - The Kauravas React

Episode 50 - Sanjay returns to Hastinapur with messages and intelligence from the Pandava camp.  The king's charioteer delivers this information before the royal assembly, while Dhrarastra, Duryodhana, Bhisma and Karna argue over the significance of these threats.

Having gone a good long while since Karna last washed his feet, the mess must have started getting to him, because he finally blows his top at Bhisma and swears he will not fight until Bhisma is dead.

In the course of this debate, we get hints at some other tales that we are yet to hear about.  One of these involves Bhisma and Sikhandin.  We only get a few tantalizing hints at their back story, but we are told that this warrior is destined to kill Bhisma.  Rest assured that Bhisma will tell the full story a little later in the current book.

The other unfinished tale involves Karna's enrollment as Parashurama's student.  Again, we only get a brief summary, but we hear that Karna had lied to the old Brahmin about his birth, saying he was a fellow Brahmin in order to learn the secrets of the Brahma-head missile.  When Parashurama discovered Karna's deception, he cursed him, saying that the weapon would fail him when he needed it the most.  I'm not sure when we will get the full version of this tale, because it does not show up in the Book of the Effort, and I do not have an index for the books to follow.  It's a good story, so I hope we get to it soon!

Karna is kind of a pitiable figure.  While Arjun is getting magical weapons by the cartload heaped on him lovingly by the best of the Gods, poor Karna is forced to sacrifice his natural-born armor for a single measly arrow from Indra, and must compromise his reputation and sacrifice his spiritual tapas in order to get the Brahma-head missile.  Despite the sacrifices, both weapons are fatally flawed, since Indra's weapon cannot be used against the Pandavas, and the Brahma-head has been cursed to fail in its objective.  Poor Karna-- he never seems to be able to catch a break!

Finally, in a more private setting, Sanjay reveals that he has converted to a new religion!  Krishna and Arjun are beginning shed their human aspects and increasingly appear as divine beings.  The charioteer was quick to notice the transformation, and he appears to be an early adopter of the new cult of Krishna-worship.  With Vyasa present to endorse his newfound religious zeal, Sanjay presents the king with the first tenet of Bhakti worship.  Duryodhana remains obstinate, but the king & queen both become converts.

News Update: I've found a solution to my Book 6 translation problem!

Good news:  There will not be an interruption in the publications due to the end of the Van Buitenen translation.

I've mentioned before that the translation of the Critical Edition into English was begun, but not completed, by J.A.B van Buitenen.  I've been relying on the print edition of his translation for the bulk of this podcast.  The only complete translation is by Ganguli, and I only have that version in my iPhone! 

I can't really write my episodes while referring to a 3" iphone screen, so as we get near the end of Book 5, I was getting desperate for a solution.  Amazon carries the full Ganguli translation-- all 18 books-- for the low low price of $350 US!

I sort of threw this conundrum out there to my audience to see if anyone had any suggestions on how I might find a cheaper copy.  I guess you all are too used to "free" stuff on the internet, because I got a rather tepid response.

One listener kindly offerred to look into buying a copy in India, where it should be cheaper, but it was all rather hypothetical and time is running out.  I guess I would have drawn more attention if I'd waited until the end of Book 5, and the podcast came to a stop...

But all that is water under the bridge now.  It turns out that Amazon is selling the Kindle edition of Ganguli for $6!  All 18 books!  Kindles are running for about $189, so for the price of a Kindle, I get Ganguli nearly for free.  As long as I use the kindle for something other than Ganguli, I can at least say that I didn't blow another $200 on a podcast that nets me $0 in return.  So that's good news...

Now the Kindle is in the mail, so as long as the mail gods keep the deliveries on schedule, our podcast should continue to run on its normal schedule!

Episode 49 - Peace talks begin

Episode 49 - Now that both sides are armed to the teeth and infested with vast armies, they are ready to talk peace terms.  The Pandavas start the first round by sending Drupad's unnamed priest as their ambassador.  This priest travels to Hastinapur and asks only for the terms of the Dice Game to be fulfilled.  Dhrtarastra responds well enough, sending his Charioteer Sanjay as the returning ambassador.  Sanjay's message is also for peace, but the terms are rather unacceptable.  The Kauravas suggested that the Pandavas simply disarm, and go away.  No land, no titles, no nothing.

Yuddistira sends Sanjay back with his counter-arguments and counter-proposal.  When the charioteer returns home, it is late, so he drops in on Dhrtarastra just to let him know he's back and will be delivering the Pandavas' rejoinders in the morning.  Now the old blind king is left to stew all night.

Dhrtarastra cannot sleep, so he summons his younger brother Vidur to entertain him.  Vidur treats us to some lengthy speeches on virtue and Dharma, and by the end of the night, he is apparently channeling spirits!  We hear from the immortal sage Sanatsujata, but this guy is apparently senile, because none of his teachings make any sense!

Next time, we'll find out what the Pandavas have to say in reply to Dhrtarastra's niggardly terms.

Episode 48 - War by other means

Episode 48 - The Pandavas have come out of hiding and are demanding their lands back from the Kauravas.  Duryodhana has already indicated that he has no interest in giving these back, so it would be best to negotiate from a position of strength.  An arms race ensues, with both sides scrambling to get commitments from their allies across India and beyond.

Duryodhana wins the first couple of rounds at this game.  He rushes to Dwaraka, and gets Krishna to commit his armies to the Kaurava side.  The Pandavas get Krishna; as an unarmed advisor.  Duryodhana also plays on the generosity of the Pandavas' ally King Shalya, by providing hospitality to Shalya's army while it was on the march.  When Shalya offers a boon to his host, Duryodhana presents himself, and asks for Shalya's support in the war.  The king has no choice but to grant the request.

The king journeys on to meet with the Pandavas and tells them what had happened.  Since Duryodhana fooled them fair & square, Yuddistira accepts the fait accompli.  He only asks that Shalya do whatever he can to throw Karna off his game when the big chariot duel between Arjun & Karna takes place.

Shalya also takes the sting off a bit by telling the story of Indra's Victory.  This is a strange story in which the brahmins completely dominate the course of events.  A brahmin picks a fight with Indra, and although Indra acts in self-defense, he is nevertheless guilty of brahmin-murder, and he suffers accordingly.  The force of the punishment makes Indra sort of resign his post and go into hiding.

The Man-God Nahusha is then nominated king of heaven (by brahmins & gods), and the brahmins give him his very own superpower.  When Nahusha turns out to be a power-hungry lecher, the brahmin priest Brhaspati advises the gods on how to get their old Indra back.  Indra is powerless at this point, so he suggests to his wife that the best way to take down Nahusha would be to get him into a fight with the brahmins.  Nahusha walks right into the trap, makes himself a brahmin-drawn chariot, and ends up offending the entire race of priests.  It's all over when he specifically annoys Agastya, and gets cursed to life as a snake for 10,000 years.  It seems that in this story the "kshatriya" gods are just pawns in a brahmin game!

Finally, the Pandavas and Kauravas have gathered their allies-- 7 grand armies for the good guys, and 11 armies for the bad guys.  Now the negotiations can commence!

Episode 47 - The Wedding

Episode 47 - The brothers formally come out of hiding, and thick-headed Virata finally realizes he has been sheltering the famous Pandavas.  To avoid any question of scandal, Virata's daughter is quickly married to Arjun's son, Abhimanyu.  The allies are summoned for the wedding, and the brothers set up a temporary headquarters at Virata's second city, Upaplavya.

This ends the book of Virata.  Next time, we'll start the Udyoga Parva-- the Book of the Effort.

Episode 46 - The Cattle Raid

Episode 46 - News of Kicaka's death reaches the neighboring kingdoms, and precipitates an attack from the Trigartas and the Kauravas.  Virata sends his entire force against the Trigartas and leaves the rest of the country open for the Kuru's sneak attack.

Kanka, Balava and the twins are all recuited into the army, but Brhannala is left at home.  Thus, it is up to the young crown prince and the eunuch to rescue the kingdom from invasion.  As they are riding out to meet the Kurus, the 13th year of exile comes to an end.  Arjun is free to reveal himself, so he retrieves his magic weapons and takes charge of the defenses.

Arjun and Karna finally get their chance to fight, but Karna's boasts don't amount to much, after all.  Arjun literally blows him off the battlefield one time, and then later, when Karna gives it another go, he shots an arrow right into Karna's chest, knocking him unconscious and off the battlefield once again.

Thanks for all your comments.  Please keep visiting my blog at www.mahabharatapodcast.com and let me know what you think!

Episode 45 - The Book of Virata

Episode 45 - The Pandavas send away their hangers-on, and enter hiding at the kingdom of the Matsyas, in the service of King Virata.  Things go well for the first 10 months, but then the king's brother-in-law gets smitten with the Queen's new serving girl.  Kicaka takes his infatuation a little too far, and Bhima ends up restoring her virtue the hard way.  By the end of this ordeal, everyone is terrified of Draupadi and her Gandharva husbands.

King Virata is so frightened of her that he sends the queen to beg her to leave town as soon as possible.

Next time we'll find out what happens as news spreads of the killing of Kicaka.

Episode 44 - Karna cuts a deal

Episode 44 - We finish off the Book of the Forest with a couple of the more famous vignettes from the epic.  The first is the classic tale in which Karna is forewarned that Indra will come to beg from him his magical armor & earrings, but Karna refuses to prevent it.  He lives up to his claim of complete generosity and literally flays the armor off of his body and hands it all over to Indra.

Since transactions with Gods usually go both ways, Karna for his part demanded the "Never-failing Spear", which he figured would be good enough to take out his nemesis Arjun.  This spear will get used, but the outcome will be quite unexpected.

The second story is probably equally famous-- Yuddistira is tested by his father, who is disguised as a yaksha pretending to be a duck.  Yuddistira passes the test with flying colors, and is granted in return the assurance that he and his brothers would not be discovered during the year in hiding.

Next episode, we'll get started on Book 4, the Book of Virata.

Episode 43 - Savitri and Rama

Episode 43 - Despite the offensive raid on their camp by Jayadratha, old Markandeya is still hanging out with the Pandavas.  Yuddistira, feeling sorry for himself and for Draupadi, goes to him for consolation.  Markandeya replies with the entire story of the Ramayana.

I've spared you the re-telling of that epic, since it would have us out on a sidetrack for possibly months, and, really, the Ramayana deserves a podcast of its own, right?

So, jumping over that chapter, we find ourselves back where we were; Yuddistira moping around feeling sorry for himself and for Draupadi.  Again, he goes to Markandeya for consolation.  This time Markandeya replies with the story of Savitri.

This time, the story apparently works, because at the end of the chapter Vaisampayana tells us that the Pandavas  spent the rest of their exile in Kanyaka "without sorrow or fear".  That's a pretty effective story!

As it turns out, this is the last of the Markandeya stories.  We are nearly at the end of the Book of the Forest, and next episode we'll get back to the main plot with one of Karna's adventures.