Mahabharata – 74

By

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                            AadivamsavataranaParva

Pandavas married Krishnaa or Draupadi the daughter of king Drupad.They lived in the kingdom of Drupad for one year.In no time their identities were disclosed. And they went back home at Hastinapur.King Dhritarastra along with the great sire Bhisma advised them to migrate to Khandavaprastha & settle there.Thus the quarrel between Duryodhana & his brothers,& the Pandavas could be avoided. Accordingly the Pandavas went with all their friends & follwers to Khandavaprastha.They lived there for many years .   And they brought by force of their arms many a prince under their rule.They focussed their hearts on virtue.They firmly adhered to truth.They were calm in their affluence.They put down numerous evils. Thus the Pandavas gradually rose to power & eminence. And Bhima of great reputation conquered the kingdoms in the east.Arjuna  conquered the kingdoms in the north .Nakula  conquered the kingdoms in the west .And Sahadeva the slayer of enemies conquered the kingdoms of the south. Naturally the fame of the Pandavas & the sphere of their influence were spread all over the globe. And the Pandavas,each looked like the Sun. And the earth seemed to have six Suns. The five brothers were five human suns, the sixth sun is that of the skies.

Then for some reason Yudhisthira sent his brother Arjuna who was dearer to him than his life itself into the woods.Arjuna the great virtuous soul lived in the forest for twelve years.Then he went to Dwarka to meet Krishna.There Arjuna married Subhadra the sister of Krishna.Thus another dynastic marriage was clinched up.

The Fire god Agni requested Arjuna to burn the forest of Khandava.Arjuna complied with the request of the Fire god & burnt the forest Khandava.The Fire god was very happy.He gave away an excellent bow named Gandiva,two inexhaustible quivers & a chariot bearing the image of Sri Hanuman to Arjuna.Thus a friendship between Arjuna & the Fire god took place.

While putting the Khandava forest into flames, Arjuna did not hurt the demon Maya who was the denizen of Khandava forest.The demon was very grateful to Arjuna for that. He was a great architect.Consequently,out of gratitude he built for the Pandavas a celestial courtyard decked with every kind of jewels & precious stones.

The wicked Duryodhana saw the great work of architecture forged by the demon Maya & became aburning with jealousy.He wanted to dispossess the Pandavas of their wealth.Counselled by Sakuni he arranged a play of dice,between Sakuni the representative of the Kauravas & Yudhishthira the eldest of the Pandavas.Sakuni defeated the Pandavas through fraud.Being defeated in the game of dice the Pandavas were dispossessed of their material wealth.They had to set out for the woods for twelve years. In addition they must remain incognito for one year.

On the fourteenth year the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur & claimed their property.They did not get it.Then a war between the Pandavas & Duryodhana & his party lay in the logic of affairs. The allies of Duryodhana & the allies of Pandavas joined in the war.And it was indeed a global war of the Mahabharata era.The ksyatryas or the warrior class all over the globe participated in the  war & there was a mayhem of the warrior class. Duryodhana was finally killed.All passions spent there was the calm of mind.

The King Dhritharatra went to heaven.Vidura also passed away.Countless Kings died.The Pandavas observed the funeral rites to invoke peace upon all the dead souls. Krishna was the god of gods who had put on mortal robes.He also passed away & went back to his celestial abode Vaikuntha.Later the Pandavas also attained heaven.

That is the history of the Pandavas.Thus Vaisampayana ended his speech.