Mahabharata Podcast

Episode 41 - This one covers Duryodhana reaction to the humiliation of being captured by the Gandharvas and then released by the valor of his hated cousins the Pandavas.  Unable to face his clan after the ignominious defeat, the prince resolves to sit down and starve himself to death.This decision sets off alarm bells in Hell, where the Daityas and Danavas have big plans for Duryodhana.  They summon a genie and have her deliver Duryodhana to them, and they tell him about the cosmic nature of this conflict, that powerful Asuras have already taken their places for the great war, and only he can see it through to victory.Duryodhana returns, his old attitude back, and he leads his brothers back to Hastinapur, as if they had just conquered half the world.  But the boy's ego was a fragile thing, and when Bhisma scolds him, he needs something to cheer him up.  Karna first proposes another Rajasuya, but that is limited to one per family, so they must settle for the Vaishnava ritual, which inv

Episode 40 - This one starts with some girl talk.  Draupadi and Satyabhama get bored of Markandeya's endless mythologies, and sneak off for a more private conversation.  Satyabhama wants to know how Draupadi maintains her hold over all five husbands.  Draupadi then advises us on the behaviors a woman should perform to keep her husband from straying to other women's beds.Krishna too finally gets bored of Markandeya and decides it is time to head for home.  He loads up the wife and they head out.  If he knew of the impending attack on his friends, he didn't bother to tell them.  The scene then changes to the court at Hastinapur, where Dhrtarastra is getting news of Arjun's return from heaven with the WMD and how they seem intent on waiting out their exile before taking revenge.Duryodhana overhears Dhrtarastra's lament, and calls a meeting of his cronies.  Karna suggests they go out to watch the Pandavas in their misery and laugh at them.  What ensues is the Cattle Expedit

Episode 39 - Two more stories from the Sage Markandeya.  The first is a rousing fight story, where the king of Ayodhya gets super powers from the god Vishnu and defeats a dragon.I find the second story more interesting.  Yuddistira wants to know about the specific problems that women and servants must have in following their dharma.  Markandeya replies with a story about a short-tempered Brahmin Kaushika, who encounters a particularly wise peasant woman, whose devotion to her husband grants her great wisdom and insight.  Noticing that the brahmin could use some advice on dharma, she sends him to the local butcher, who, it turns out, knows even more about dharma than the woman.We are nearly through with Markandeya.  Next episode we'll get back to the main protagonists, with a tete-a-tete between Draupadi and Krishna's wife Satyabhama.

Episode 38 - The Sage Markandeya continues with his storytelling.  He begins with his own version of the Four Ages or Yugas.  One interesting point is that in his reckoning, the Kali Yuga lasts 1,200 years in total.  Since we are told elsewhere that the Kali Yuga began for us on the death of Krishna, then the Kali Yuga must have ended centuries ago, and we happy people have made it into the next Golden Age!After an apocalyptic vision of the future, Makandeya gives us the Tale of the Frog, which culminates in a showdown between the brahmin Vamadev and a pair of stubborn kings.  The brahmin, of course, comes out the victor!There are more stories to come in the next episode, so the Markandeya Sessions will continue...

Episode 37 - While Krishna is still hanging out at the camp, the sages Narada and Markandeya show up.  After some prodding, Markandeya finally opens up and gives us his take on reincarnation, sin and the afterlife.  He follows that up with two stories about Brahmins, and then gives us his rendition of the Fish, Manu, and the Flood.I also present my theory that the five Pandavas are somehow correllated with the five extremities of the human body.  Yuddistira is clearly the head, while Bhima is associated with the right arm.  Arjuna, the "Left-Handed Archer", seems pretty clearly to be linked with the left arm, and the twins make up the pair of legs.  Since they are all incarnations of a single being-- Indra-- perhaps Indra had himself dismembered and each limb became a different Pandava. There is also something sexual about Arjun that is different from the others.  We haven't gotten to that part of the story yet, but during the year in hiding, Arjun is disguised as an hermaphrodit

Episode 36 - The Pandavas journey south, out of the Himalayas and back to the plains.  Along the way, Bhima goes hunting and finds himself captured by a giant magical snake.  The Snake takes his time and tells Bhima his life story before proceeding to eat the hero.  Meanwhile, Yuddistira sees dark omens and heads off to look for his brother on his own.  For the purposes of the later story, Arjun stays at home and Yuddistira does the rescuing.When Yuddistira gets to the scene, Bhima tells him what is going on, and that the snake is under a curse.  If Yuddistira can answer the snake's question, then all would be well.  Yuddistira is good at quiz games; the question is basically whether one is a Brahmin by birth or by behavior.The Snake and Yuddistira hit it off really well, and the two discuss questions of the Soul and Karma for a while.  Finally, the snake releases Bhima and then dies, his soul returning to heaven.  The brothers return to the camp, where the Brahmin

Episode 35 - It's deja-vu all over again, as the Pandavas move from the hermitage of Nar-Narayan to another one on the slopes of Mt Kailash, named for Arstisena.  Another flower wafts down the hill, and Draupadi again sends Bhima off in search of the source.  Bhima completely forgets Yuddistira's injunction about making trouble and he invades Kubera's kingdom, starting a war with the god's "genial leprechaun" army.There's no Hanuman this time around, but we do at least get an explanation for Kubera's toleration of Bhima's vandalism and slaughter-- it turns out that Kubera's buddy Manimat had been cursed by Agastya, and was doomed to die at the hands of a mortal.  Bhima was only fulfilling the inevitable.During the course of this adventure, the fifth year of Arjun's mission comes to an end.  He comes flying in on Indra's chariot, with a load of WMD in the back.  After a joyful reunion, Arjun tells us of his last mission for Indra.  This story is another replay.  It is basical

Episode 34 - The Pandavas resume center stage as the main characters of this episode.  They continue their trek through the mountains until the going gets too rough for Draupadi.  Bhima summons his half-Rakshasa son, Gatotkacha, who can fly, and they are carried the rest of their journey to the Ashram of Nar-Narayan. While hanging out at this heavenly retreat, Draupadi sends Bhima off to find her some special lotus blossoms.  Along the way, Bhima meets up with Hanuman, who it turns out is his brother (both are sons of the Wind God). The quest for the Lotus Blossom finally leads Bhima to Kubera's Pleasure Garden, which is guarded by hordes of Rakshasas.  Bhima makes short work of them and takes a dip in Kubera's pond.Yuddistira gets suspicious and has Gatotkacha take them to Bhima.  Kubera takes the destruction of his gardens and the death of his guards pretty lightly, and he allows the Pandavas to stay in his garden as long as they like.  We leave them there until next Episode, w

Episode 32 - Two more stories from the Book of the Forest.  The first involves another Bhrgu Brahmin with a Kshatriya wife.  The second story, about Mahdhatar, is short, but interesting in how it differs from all the other stories we've had so far from Lomasha. The first story in this series, Nala, is about a King and his very loyal wife.  The subsequent stories were by and large about Brahmins with very loyal (Kshatriya) wives.  So each story so far has the element of an obedient wife despite hardship.  Mandhatar breaks strongly from this pattern in that the boy doesn't even have a mother (he is born from his father's side), and Indra gives the boy his finger to suckle, thus the boy was entirely free from any female influence.If this lack of a woman's touch had any influence on his life and later events, we cannot say, because we are given a very stereotypical summary of his later career.  He's just another super king who conquered the world, far back in the past.

Episode 31 - The Pandavas continue their pilgrimage to all the holy sites of India.  With Lomasha as their guide & storyteller, they hear the stories of Rshyashrnga and then the story of Rama Jamadagnya, or "Battle-Axe" Rama, who cut his own mother's head off and single-handedly killed off the entire race of Kshatriyas 21 times!Also, J.A.B. Van Buitenen, our translator for most of the podcast so far, gives us a hypothesis that the story of Rshyashrnga made its way to Medieval Europe in the form of the Unicorn myth.  It is certainly interesting that it took a virgin to capture the unicorn for the king.

Episode 30 - The four Pandavas who were left in the forest set off on a tour of the sacred sites of Ancient India, with the Sage Lomasha as their guide.  At a stopover near the historic hermitage that once belonged to Agastya, we are treated to one of the stories about this fabled hermit.I have to confess to skipping a second story, because I simply couldn't make much sense of it.  While it tangentially involved Agastya, it also involved King Sagara, whose wife gave birth to a pumpkin and he was advised to put the seeds each in a vat of warm ghee, and each seed turned into a baby boy.  The king had 1,000 sons from this pumpkin.  The story then veers off to the draining of the ocean, and how the Ganga was drawn out of the heavens to re-fill the ocean, and how Shiva caught the stream in his dreadlocks.  I guess I'll leave that bit for the unabridged podcast!Next time, we'll get the story of Rshyashrnga, who was born from a deer!

Episode 29 - We finish the story of Nala.  Brhadashva suggested that this story would cheer up the Pandavas, since there was indeed a king who had it worse than they.  But shortly after hearing the story, they get news that Arjun was up on a mountain top starving himself and they were once again plunged into depression and hopelessness.  At least Yuddistira learned Nala's dicing secrets, so he need not worry about another match with Shakuni. The story of Nala as it is told in the Mahabharata has some significant discrepancies in the storyline.  They are too obvious and numerous to list out in full, but an example would be that Damayanti remained in hiding in her aunt's palace even though she could have told the queen the truth at any time, and could go home at any time.  Stranger still, the queen mother does not recognize her neice, because the girl was covered in mud all the time and so her famous mole was concealed by the dried muck.On the other hand, the scenes are very dramat

Episode 28 - While Arjun remains in heaven, relaxing with his father Indra, news reaches the Kaurava court of Arjun's exploits.  Dhrtarastra then has one of his bouts of regret while Sanjay scolds him for being so stupid.  We then cut over to the rest of the Pandavas, who are still living off the dirt in the foothills of Dehra Dun.  Bhima is ready to chop off some heads and he takes his frustration out on his elder brother. The sage Brhadashva then shows up with a story of a king who actually had it worse off then even the Pandavas; he recites the story of Nala and his clever wife Damayanti.It is interesting to think how this story would have been told in different cultures.  If this had been an ancient Greek story, it would have been Indra/Zeus who was the offended one and cursed Nala, rather than a more obscure god.  And if this story had been told in Medieval Europe, then the Five World Guardians would have been human noblemen, and Nala & Damayanti would have been from the

Episode 27 - We follow Arjun's journey into the Himalayas and beyond.  This episode includes Arjun's famous battle with the Mountain Man.  He doesn't come out of the fight very well-- Shiva crushes him into a meatball and ends the fight.  I like to think that he killed Arjun and then revived him and sent him on to Heaven, but the text is a bit vague; did he just get crushed, lose his eyesight and cease breathing?  Or did he go all the way and die on us?  Either way, he's sent off to his dad's kingdom up in Heaven where he acquires WMD in preparation for the big battle.Meanwhile, the remaining brothers and their angry wife are left waiting in the jungle, swatting flies, while Arjun spends five years in paradise with Indra.  After Arjun has learned all the secrets of Indra's weapons, he is sent to Citrasena to learn the arts of music & dance.  Indra dispatches the sage Lomasha to visit the other Pandavas and tell them to tour the pilgrimage sites while Arjun finishes

Episode 26 - We begin this episode with the tale of Krishna's adventures when he might otherwise have helped his friends in their distress.  At least he got a few good fight scenes out of it, including his son Pradyumna performing heroic feats defending Dwarka, and a ground-to-air battle with a flying city!When Krishna is done with his exciting tale, the allies pack up and head for home.  The tacit understanding seems to be that they will wait until the 13 years are up and only then will they come up with a plan for action.  You can imagine Draupadi stewing as all this goes on.  Things only get worse after the allies leave, and the Brahmins move back in.  They surround their beloved ascetic king and praise him for his meekness and self-control.  The Brahmins re-iterate how important it is for a king to keep lots and lots of Brahmins around at all times.This is finally too much for poor Draupadi.  She finally gets fed up and starts berating her husband.  The two beg

Episode 25 - The continuing adventures of the Pandavas in the forest.  The story picks up with Maitreya's curse and angry departure from the court at Hastinapur.  Dhrtarastra, apparently tired of all the dire predictions decides it is time for a fight scene, and asks Vidur to tell the story of Bhima and Kirmira.  Vidur then recites the battle scene as Bhima kills another Rakshasa. We then move back to the forest where a meeting of the Pandavas' allies is taking place, Krishna among them.  Krishna and Arjun enjoy a brief love fest, telling each other how wonderful they were and such close friends.  Draupadi finally gets fed up with it and demands to know why the outrages perpetrated against her have still not been avenged, yet she is surrounded by the greatest heroes on the earth.She points out that if Krishna were so great as everyone keeps saying, then how did this calamity even take place?  Krishna's reply is rather surprising.  There is none of the mystical teachings

Episode 24 - The Pandavas are now settled into their forest encampment and receive a surprise visitor.  The Kauravas plot to kill the Pandavas while they are defenseless in the forest.  Vyasa himself steps in to put a stop to this outrage, and he then introduces the sage Maitreya, who scolds Duryodhana, and then finally curses him to be struck in the "thigh" by Bhima.If you ever felt uncomfortable about the fact that Bhima had to cheat and hit Duryodhana below the belt in their final battle, you can now rest assured that it wasn't Bhima's fault.  Maitreya made him do it!

Episode 23 -This episode covers the Pandava's departure for the forest and the initial fears of theKauravas as they considered what they had done.  As things washed out, only the five brothers, Draupadi and a gaggle of Brahmins went into the forest.  Yuddistira did some yoga and some austerities and memorized the 108 names of Surya, and was able to get the Sun God to give him the ability to magically feed everyone while they were in the forest.Please leave comments at iTunes.  The more the better!  Thanks!

Episode 22 - At the end of the First Dice Game, it really seemed like King Dhritarastra had put everything back the way it was.  He restored the Pandava's freedom, titles and wealth.  Unfortunately, Bhima had sworn some pretty serious oaths to kill his cousins, and cousin Duryodhana was too filled with hate and fear to allow things to be left the way they were.The blind king then ordered Yuddistira to return for one final round of dice.  The loser would give up his possessions and retire to the forest for 12 years.  The 13th year would be a year of hiding during which, if they were caught, they would be sent back to the forest for another 12 years.Since Shakuni once again had control of the dice, you can imagine the outcome...  This ends Book 2 of the Mahabharata.  Next time we'll pick up with Book 3!I put out another appeal to please visit iTunes and comment or rate my podcast.  I hope it will make this more available for other listeners to find it and tune in!  T

Episode 21 - This is a big one; this episode covers the tangled details of the incident that sets off the rest of the story.  At the heart of it, it is about Duryodhana and Shakuni cheating at dice to win from the Pandavas all their possessions and even their freedom.  That much is clear, and the match culminates in the deliberate humiliation of Draupadi before the court.  Bhima swears oaths to kill both Duryodhana and his younger brother Dushasan, and the future conflict all arises from the fears and hatred born from this moment.In detail however, many facts are quite confounding.  For instance, Shakuni says Yuddistira is addicted to dicing but is not good at it.  Where did this come from?  There is no detail either before or after this story that would lead anyone to believe this about Yuddistira.   Then there is the question of Yuddistira's determination to lose everything in the match.  While he may be excused for going forward with the dice game ("for tha