Kunti is a great example of Karmic revolution. Kunti was the only one who really accepted the Sage, which he in turn rewarded her by giving her a way to summon any god she wanted. She tested it by summoning the Sun god. She was taken into his arms and in return was given a child. Except she was unmarried and she felt unworthy, so she put the son in a basket and put him into the river to float away.
Pandu took his wives into the forest for some quiet time. They were treated like gods by the forest people. Pandu was hunting one day, and carelessly, shot a hermit couple. Before he died, Pandu was cursed. The moment Pandu became intimate with a woman, he would die. He grew sad, and his wives were sorrowful. Kunti tells Pandu about her gift and he happily asks her to give Hastinapur and give them kings. Yama, the god of truth and death, was the first god who gave Kunti the first son, Yudhishthir. The wind god have the strong son named Bhima. The King of the devas gave the great warrior son and named him Arjuna. After the 3 sons, Kunti told him no more sons so Madri had twins for Pandu. The 3 sons from Kunti grew up in the care of the forest people and the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, grew up with Kunti and Madri. One day, Pandu's curse still took him as he had intimacy with Madri. Madri went with Pandu into the flames. Kunti took the 5 sons, the pandavas, back to the palace.
Gandhari, on hearing that Kunti was pregnant, needed to also have a child as the first born would inherit the throne. She suffered pain through her pregnancy. She gave birth to flesh and was devastated. Vyasa divided the flesh into 100 pieces and put it in vats. Each vat contained one son of Gandhari. Duryodhana was the eldest son. They were visually demonic, but since both parents could not see, they did not care. The people of Hastinapur were excited and happy with the sons of Pandu.
There was a big rivalry between the 2 groups of sons. The pandavas were obviously the more popular with the people. Duryodhana was very jealous and hateful, especially of Bhima. Shakuni, Gandhari's brother, became Duryodhana's mentor. So to lower the pandavas guard and trap them, Duryodhana took many measures to get rid of them. Duryodhana laced their food with sleep medicine and once asleep, he pushed Bhima into the river. Poisonous serpents bit Bhima which reversed the sleeping medicine which woke Bhima. Bhima found himself in Naag Lok. Bhima was gifted a magic potion that transformed him into a hero.
When Bhima appeared back at the palace, Duryodhana was surprised. As they grew older, Bhishma thought the sons needed to learn. Drona was brought in to teach the sons to be warriors and protectors of the land. Drona taught them skills with weapons and for war. Yudhishtir was the charioteer. The twins were the best swordsmen. Bhima was the strongest of the sons. Arjuna was the perfect warrior, he could use all weapons greatly but he chose archery.
Ekalavya was a greatly skilled archer who impressed the pandavas. His archery skill had made Arjuna very jealous as he wanted to be the best archer there was. Ekalavya said his guru was Drona yet was not personally trained by Drona, but practiced in front of Drona's image. Drona made Eklavya cut off his right thumb.
Bibliography: Epified. "The Mahabharata." Youtube, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXcitH65DQccwo3hSnsA05JV4
Pandu took his wives into the forest for some quiet time. They were treated like gods by the forest people. Pandu was hunting one day, and carelessly, shot a hermit couple. Before he died, Pandu was cursed. The moment Pandu became intimate with a woman, he would die. He grew sad, and his wives were sorrowful. Kunti tells Pandu about her gift and he happily asks her to give Hastinapur and give them kings. Yama, the god of truth and death, was the first god who gave Kunti the first son, Yudhishthir. The wind god have the strong son named Bhima. The King of the devas gave the great warrior son and named him Arjuna. After the 3 sons, Kunti told him no more sons so Madri had twins for Pandu. The 3 sons from Kunti grew up in the care of the forest people and the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, grew up with Kunti and Madri. One day, Pandu's curse still took him as he had intimacy with Madri. Madri went with Pandu into the flames. Kunti took the 5 sons, the pandavas, back to the palace.
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| (The Pandavas; Source: Wikimedia) |
Gandhari, on hearing that Kunti was pregnant, needed to also have a child as the first born would inherit the throne. She suffered pain through her pregnancy. She gave birth to flesh and was devastated. Vyasa divided the flesh into 100 pieces and put it in vats. Each vat contained one son of Gandhari. Duryodhana was the eldest son. They were visually demonic, but since both parents could not see, they did not care. The people of Hastinapur were excited and happy with the sons of Pandu.
There was a big rivalry between the 2 groups of sons. The pandavas were obviously the more popular with the people. Duryodhana was very jealous and hateful, especially of Bhima. Shakuni, Gandhari's brother, became Duryodhana's mentor. So to lower the pandavas guard and trap them, Duryodhana took many measures to get rid of them. Duryodhana laced their food with sleep medicine and once asleep, he pushed Bhima into the river. Poisonous serpents bit Bhima which reversed the sleeping medicine which woke Bhima. Bhima found himself in Naag Lok. Bhima was gifted a magic potion that transformed him into a hero.
When Bhima appeared back at the palace, Duryodhana was surprised. As they grew older, Bhishma thought the sons needed to learn. Drona was brought in to teach the sons to be warriors and protectors of the land. Drona taught them skills with weapons and for war. Yudhishtir was the charioteer. The twins were the best swordsmen. Bhima was the strongest of the sons. Arjuna was the perfect warrior, he could use all weapons greatly but he chose archery.
Ekalavya was a greatly skilled archer who impressed the pandavas. His archery skill had made Arjuna very jealous as he wanted to be the best archer there was. Ekalavya said his guru was Drona yet was not personally trained by Drona, but practiced in front of Drona's image. Drona made Eklavya cut off his right thumb.
Bibliography: Epified. "The Mahabharata." Youtube, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXcitH65DQccwo3hSnsA05JV4
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