Mahabharata - The Synopsis

MAHABHARATA

Krsna Dwaipayana Vyas’s Mahabharata is a tale that is the nearest reflection of life. The penultimate of this epic is the horrendous war between brothers, but to say that the story is based on this alone, the enmity between Pandavas and Kauravas, will be an understatement. The plot of Mahabharata resembles the ocean, where innumerable characters and stories finally merge on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Mahabharata is the karmabhoomi of the Primeval Being. God incarnated himself in the form of Krishna to construct a bridge between two yugas or ages, the Dwapar and the Kali yuga, and created characters- good and evil, who were mere puppets, to achieve this ulterior goal. The Mahabharata is thus the immortal guiding the mortals towards the predestined destination. It was Paramatma Krishna’s responsibility to transit from the rule of kshatriyas and righteousness in Dwapar Yuga to the rule by evil in Kali Yuga.

Mahabharata begins with the seed of creation. There was only darkness and non existence then. The Primeval created itself, and life was moulded. The gods and antigods, humans and animals, plants and water bodies, were fashioned simultaneously. From here the tale narrates itself and we are faced with the Kuru dynasty of Hastinapur. The glory and grandeur, the valiant and righteous samrats (kings), the luxurious life that they led, is given words. The boons and curses of previous births come to play and the story unfolds.

It is a curse that leads to the union of immortal Ganga with mortal Shantanu, the ruler of Hastinapur. And born to them are the eight cursed Vasus, seven of whom are unchained from mortal existence by Ganga at their birth. The eighth Vasu Dyaus continues his period of punishment on earth as Devavrata, the caretaker of the Kuru throne. Devavrata, the ideal and loving son gives up his right to the throne when Shantanu is love struck for a second time. Devavrata pleases his father by taking an oath of life long celibacy and becomes immortal in history as Bheeshma, the one who took an impossible oath. The marriage of Shantanu with Satyavati is not another incident in Mahabharata, but the factor that becomes the cause of upheaval and turbulence in the Kuru dynasty. Devavrata was the last legitimate heir to the throne. Those who came after only ruled the kingdom but were not upholders of the glorious family of Hastinapur. Bheeshma continues to live till the end of the Great War, but as a mere caretaker and grand old man of Hastinapur, who tries in vain to save his clan from destruction, but is vanquished.

Chitarngad and Vichitaveerya, the foster brothers of Bheeshma die young and childless. Satyavati insists but Bheeshma refuses to relent and father heirs. Satyavati summons her son Dwaipayana Vyas, born out of wedlock, to continue the Kuru lineage through Niyog. Thus are born Dhritarashtra, the blind son to kulvadhu Ambika, Pandu to Ambalika, and Vidur to a slave girl by Vyas.

Disabled Dhritarashtra is denied the throne, and Pandu is coronated the king. Vidur dwells in Hastinapur not as a brother alone but as the upholder of truth and dharma. Vidur is Dharma himself cursed by a Rishi to be born as a mortal. Thus Vidur advocates the cause of justice and is the only character in the epic who has the courage to speak against the unjust fearing nothing.

But a blind prince should have a queen. Bheeshma sends the wedding proposal to Subal, the ruler of Gandhar seeking his daughter Gandhari as Dhritarashtra’s wife. Gandhari pacifies her father that destiny has chosen Dhritarashtra for her. The devoted wife Gandhari blindfolds herself and promises to be a true ardhangini of Dhritarashtra and share the misfortune that he is born with.

But her brother Shakuni never forgives the Kuru family. He swears to be the cause of destruction of the clan that dared to insult his family and forced them to bestow their beloved daughter to a blind man because Gandhar was militarily weaker than Hastinapur.

Pandu marries Kunti, the daughter of Kuntibhoj, and Madri. Kunti becomes the motivation and sculptor of the character the Pandavas portray in the epic. Pandu proves to be the chakravarti king that Hastinapur had been dreaming of. His conquests and generosity makes him popular among the junta. Bheeshma is satisfied and dreams of a prosperous kingdom under Pandu. His dreams are faced with a rude shock when Pandu decides to retire to the forest with his wives and renounce the throne. Bheeshma unwillingly lets him go and installs blind Dhritarashtra as the king.

Dhritarashtra is the pawn king. The throne belongs not to him but to the future generation of able princes. But his ambitions and overtly love for his sons result in the calamity that he could have averted.

Pandu is cursed by a Brahman and Kunti is forced to invoke gods to bear sons for Pandu. She shares her boon with Madri and together they gift five able, righteous and unchallengeable sons to Pandu. Yudhishtira, the eldest, is born to Dharma, and becomes an epitome of righteousness and divinity. Bheema is born of Vayu Deva and thus begets strength and potency that none can challenge. Arjuna is born of Indra and grows up to be like his father- regal, brave and invincible. Nakul and Sahadeva are born to Madri by the twin Ashwins, and symbolise beauty, humility, devotion and tenderness.

Gandhari gives birth to a hundred sons (the Kauravas), but Dhritarashtra’s dream of claiming the throne for ever faces challenge as Yudhishtira, Pandu’s eldest son, is also the eldest Kuru prince. Thus is born the protagonist Yudhishtira and the antagonist Duryodhana who fuel the approaching destruction. Incidents and events turn the mutual jealousy of the Kaurava brothers to hatred and enmity between cousins. And Shakuni acts as the reason of discord instigating Duryodhana to eliminate the Pandavas. They however fail to fructify conspiracies and the Pandavas silently bear the brunt of their hatred.

The tale takes another turn with the swayamvara of Draupadi, the yagya born daughter of Drupad. Drupad in his childhood had promised to share his kingdom with bosom friend Drona, the son of Rishi Bharadwaj. Affluence and authority made Drupad forget his promise and he insulted his beggar friend Drona. Drona swore to avenge Drupad and make him realise the sacredness of a promise. Drona trains the Kuru princes and as gurudakshina, asks his pupils to defeat Drupad in war. Drona thus succeeds in getting his revenge but this defeat makes Drupad create Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadi of the yagya fire to be the cause of doom of the Kshatriya race.

Draupadi, the proud daughter of Drupad, publicly proclaims that she will not marry charioteer Karna, without realising that this bruise will have a cruel outcome. Karna, the adopted son of sarathy Adhirath and Radha, is unaware of his identity. The baby born with a golden kavach (armour) and kundal (earring) is mocked at all his life for being a charioteer’s son. The truth reveals itself when it is too late and helpless Karna has become a part of the process of annihilation because of his promise of friendship to Duryodhana. Kunti, the mother of Pandavas as a young maiden had acquired a boon from Rishi Durvasa to be able to invoke any god and have a son by him. Inquisitive Kunti had called upon Surya Deva and gave birth to his son Karna. An unwed mother tied to the norms of society, abandoned her son and became the lawfully wedded wife of Pandu. The story does not end here as all the Pandavas were not born to Pandu but were a result of this boon of Kunti. And both Karna and the Pandavas were oblivious of their relationship till the very end. Kunti’s silence and fear of being scorned by society became yet another cause of the penultimate.

Draupadi marries all the five Pandavas as had been predestined. The devoted wife never lets any bickering occur between the brothers because of her. But Queen Draupadi laughs at Duryodhana in her pride. The result is the dice game that takes away from the Pandavas all that they were masters of. Duryodhana and his brother Dussasana abuse Draupadi in open court and make Bheema swear an oath to kill them on the battlefield.

Thirteen years of exile follows and when Duryodhana ignores the advice of elders to return Pandavas’ kingdom to them, the Great Mahabharata war takes place. This war marks the end of the Dwapar Yuga and beginning of the Kali Yuga with the death of kshatriyas. The Pandavas, who survive the war, achieve nothing but a joyless blood stained victory over their relatives. In some time, they too leave the earth to attain moksha. Thus ends the narrative of Mahabharata.

One need not be a scholar to understand the gravity, importance and complexity of the epic. Anyone concerned with the dynamics of living, and views life in a way so as to question and find answers to everything, will surely be able to engross oneself and interpret the text, and further Ved Vyas’s aim of teaching humankind how to lead life, what mistakes not to commit and how to achieve one’s goal.

Diana Banik