Week 12 Reading Diary: The Great War, the sin of Yudhishthira

In Mahabharata, we learn about the five brothers who fought for each other and who fought for their kingdom with their own blood, their brothers and family members. It was the fight between the right and wrong. Pandava brothers had a strong bond between them. However, in this week’s reading I found it amazing to read about the dispute between Yudhishthira and Arjuna. When Yudhishthira found that Karna was still alive in the war, he taunted Arjuna in anger for being a coward and saying that a better man deserves the Gandiva. Upon hearing this Arjuna drew his sword and vowed to slay Yudhishthira. Shri Krishna came as a savior and talked Arjuna out of his vow to slay the man who asks him to give Gandiva to another man. Arjuna first thinks he should kill himself for the disrespect but again with some good reasoning that Shri Krishna gives him, he vows to slay Karna.

Arjuna's Statue
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It is amazing how deep connection that these five brothers shared that you would think that it could never be broken. But, if Shri Krishna was not there at that time to consult Arjuna, there would have been a huge fight between Arjuna and Yudhishthira for the disrespect that Yudhishthira did to Arjuna, while he was angry about Karna still being alive in the battlefield.

Link to the story
Author: Annie Besant
Year: 1899

Week 11 Reading Diary: The Great War, Peace or War

In this week’s reading I found it interesting to read about the face that Shri Krishna was very positive about the power that Yudhishthira possessed. Shri Krishna wanted to stop the battle, so he wanted to visit Kurus to stop the war. Shri Krishna knew that no one could stand Yudhishthira in a battle field. Shri Krishna wanted to stop the slaying of hundreds and thousands of people if this battle between Kurus and Pandava was to happen. Shri Krishna tries to reach an agreement with Duryodhana to give the throne back to Pandava. It is amazing to learn about how hard Shri Krishna tried to stop this war between the two brothers. Shri Krishna talks with Vidura, King Dhritarashtra and even Duryodhana to stop the war and save all those innocent life that would be lost if the war was to happen. After numerous attempts to stop the war, all those attempts proves to be useless and the preparation for the war begins.

It amazes me to learn about Bhishma. Even though Pandava brothers were fighting against the Kurus with Bhishma on their side the war began with the permission of Bhishma. Yudhishthira took permission with Bhishma for to begin the war. The respect and love that Bhishma has seems untouchable. The words spoken by Bhishma while he granted permission to Karna to fight sounded wise. Bhishma asked Karna to fight with the desire of heaven. He asked Karna to fight without anger, without any guilt and with power and courage.

Shri Krishna
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Author: Annie Besant

Week 11 Reading Diary: The Great War, The Thirteen Year’s Exile

In this week’s reading I really liked the part where it talks about the time when the princes gets ready to leave Hastinapura. A crowd of people gathered around and wanted to go with the princes instead of living under Duryodhana’s rule. The most touching part is the one when they talk about associating with the good. It goes on explaining that who you become when you grow old depends on who you are while you are young. It tells us that choosing a good company during our young age would lead us to a better person when we are old. It also describes the character as a disease that we catch from other people, like smallpox. You will catch smallpox if you stay around people suffering with it. It sounds real and practical and this can be really helpful for us for a better future. Be around the people who are leading a good life and discard bad company.

The other interesting part is the when sage answered Yudhishthira with the course of conduct he should follow. The sage tells Yudhishthira to be merciful and love all the creatures, be truthful and protect the people. He also adds that mistakes made from ignorance and carelessness can be washed away by charity. The other course of conduct was to renounce pride and vanity and be in complete control of humility and good behavior. I really think this course of conduct could be very useful to us if we want to live a good life

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Author: Annie Besant
 

Good Company(Source: Link

Week 10 Reading Diary: The Great War, Part B

In today’s reading the most fascinating part for me was the story of Jarasandha.  Jarasandha had an intent to sacrifice one hundred kings. He had captured eighty six kings and was waiting to complete his sacrifice. Lord Krishna had an idea in his mind. If Jarasandha was to be stopped from his sacrifice, all the captured kings would bow down to the one who saved their life.  So Lord Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna sets on a road to stop Jarasandha. The three of them enters the kingdom of Jarasandha and picks a fight with the king, Jarasandha. The king was challenged on a fight or to free the eighty six kings that he had held captive. Jarasandha wants to fight Bhima.

The other fascinating thing in this story is the fact that it says Bhima and Jarasandha fought for fourteen days and in the end Bhima killd Jarasandha. With this all the eight six kings were set free. All of the kings who were set free and the son of Jarasandha, who was set to the throne before Jarasandha went on a battle with Bhima accepts Yudhishthira as their king/ lord paramount.

This lays the strength of the Pandava brothers in a very easy way to understand. They all do various stuffs together and by themselves for their elder brother.

Bhima Fights Jarasandha
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 Link to the story