Mahabharata Chapter 17

Welcome to Episode 17 of Bhagavad Gita: Mahabharata.
In this series I outline the epic of the Mahabharata. The events that happened before and after the Bhagavad Gita.

For those that have not watched my Bhagavad Gita series you can find it on https://youtu.be/ZRr0tmRqGgc

For this series I have drawn inspiration from the works of
Sudipta Bhawmik and Avi Ziv in their series “Stories of the Mahabharata” https://shows.acast.com/thestoriesofmahabharata as well as the illustrated “Mahabharata” by Manoj Publications www.manojpublications.com.

Many images are from the visually stunning Mahabharat by StarPlus available on Youtube

Music by ShidenBeatsMusic from Pixabay

Chapter 17 – Daughter of Fire

When the Pandavas heard the story of the spectacular birth of King Drupads daughter, they were greatly intrigued. Drupad had scheduled a Swayamvara – a groom choosing ceremony – for his daughter.

Many of the Brahmins of Ekachakra were going to the Kingdom of Panchala to attend the festival event. The Pandava’s and Kunti joined in the trip. It would be good to see the spectacular kingdom of Panchala again.
When they got to Panchala after some sight-seeing Kunti rested at the rented home while the Pandava brothers attended the Swayamvara like many hundreds of others from far and wide. At the stadium the people were divided according to their caste (the division of roles in society). The Pandavas were disguised as Brahmins (the class of Priests) so they sat with the other Priests.

The Kshatriya (The class of warriors and leaders, such as kings and Princes) all sat on the opposite side of the stadium. Among these Kings and Princes sat the enemies of the Pandavas, Duryodhana and Karna of the kuru empire.

Dhrishtadyumna led his sister Draupadi onto the great stage. The people marveled at her beauty and the Pandava brothers were no exception.
This groom choosing ceremony was unusual. It involved an exceptionally difficult challenge. A golden fish with a glass eye rotated at the top of a tall pole. A reflective surface was positioned at the bottom of the pole. To win the hand of Draupadi the suiter would need to lift an incredibly heavy bow, string it and then shoot an arrow to hit the eye of the golden fish at the top of the pole. But they would have to take aim and fire the arrow while looking at their target in the reflective surface below.

King Drupad had specifically designed such a difficult task because secretly he desired a son-in-law like the great warrior Arjuna. But as far as everyone knew Arjuna had perished with the rest of his family in the burning house of Varnavat. So, he would settle for a suiter who could at least come close to matching the skill of Arjun.

The potential suiters in the stadium grumbled at the ridiculous difficulty of the task presented – it seemed impossible. Nevertheless, many of the Princes, Kings and great warriors assembled made their attempts. One by one they failed hopelessly.

Eventually Karna the close friend of Duryodhan made his way to arena to make his attempt. The people mumbled amongst themselves. Although Duryodhan had gifted Karna a kingdom, Karna was the adopted son a charioteer which made him of the class of laborers – the Shudra.

Karna picked up the bow but before he could make his attempt, Draupadi called out loudly and clearly – “ I will not wed a Shudra”. Karna grimaced as his blood boiled at the insult. The sun itself seems to reflect his anger. But he held his composure and put down the bow without making his attempt.
Then when it seemed that no one remained who was brave or foolish enough to make any further attempts a young Brahmin made his way to arena to try his hand. The people were shocked, a Brahmin attempting to achieve something that no Kshatriya could do? It was ridiculous.

The young man was Arjuna in disguise.

Видео Mahabharata Chapter 17 канала Arjuna Avatar