M124 - Childhood of Pandavas and Kauravas

After King Pandu's demise, the  sages consulting among themselves decided to take Kunti and the five sons of Pandu to Hastinapura and hand them over to Bhishma and Drhitarashtra, Accordingly, they left for Hastinapura taking Kunti, the Pandavas. Sages were not just interested in their own salvation, but in the protection and advancement of the people in general. Knowing Pandavas to be future Kings of the earth, the great sages made arrangements for them to be placed under proper guidance.
 
Shakuni perceived Pandavas as a challenge to his dear Duryodhan’s claim to the throne and since beginning Duryodhan has been set against them re-insisting it in Duryodhan’s mind if there’s was somebody who was the legitimate heir to the throne, it was he and not the five random kids from the jungle. The elders of the Kuru family and the subjects of Hastinapur welcomed the Pandavas with affection. Duryodhan, along with his 99 brothers, saw them as weeds to be wiped out of the palace farm as soon as possible.

Bhima excelled the Kauravas in speed of action, in striking objects with accuracy of aim, in consuming food and in scattering food. He would also pull their hairs playfully and laugh when they cried out of pain. Sometimes, he would pull them by the hair and draw them along, causing injuries to their knees, heads or shoulders in the process. Sometimes, he would hold ten of them and drown them in water and release them only after they felt extremely suffocated. When a Kauravasclimbed up a tree for plucking fruits, Bhima would kick the tree with his foot, bringing down some fruits and the fruitplucker too!  Bhima tormented the Kauravas in many such childish ways but he had no malice towards them.

The bodies of the sons of Dhritarashtra would be ever sore with bruises as a result of Bhima's practical jokes. Small wonder that the sons of Dhritarashtra nursed a deep hatred for Bhima from their very infancy. Having seen and experienced the might of Bhima, Duryodhana began to develop hostility and hatred towards Pandavas.
 


The childhood of the hundred princes in the palace was, however, very different from that of the five princes who were born in the forest.
Duryodhan was grown up under the care of Shakuni, who constantly nurtured hatred in his mind against the Pandavas stating that they were the sons of the man because of whom Duryodhan’s father couldn’t become the king. 
Yudhishthir was grown up under the care of his father, Pandu, who taught him only about righteousness, serving the nation and how to be the ideal king. The eldest sons of both fathers definitely received more attention than the rest of the sons as in the eyes of the elders they would be the king.

When the princes would ask: Who’s a great king?
Shakuni to Duryodhan: A great king is the one who has his set of loyalists, who is aware of his enemies and wipes them whenever there’s an opportunity. A great king does anything in his capacity to safeguard his right to the throne.
Pandu to Yudhishthir: A great king is the one who lives for his subjects, who works for their improvement and uplift, who helps them in droughts and natural catastrophes and safeguards them in the boundary of his nation.

When the princes would ask: What is the duty of a kshatriya?
Shakuni to Duryodhan: To become a powerful warrior, the one whom everybody should be afraid of. No one should dare to raise an eyebrow against him and the one who does should not be left with an eye!
Pandu to Yudhishthir: To become a powerful warrior, so that he can save his people and their fundamental rights. A true Kshatriya acquires martial skills not to dominate but prevent domination of the weak.

Both the princes were growing to become kings but of opposite kinds. But only the wiser Bhishma and Vidura could sense the problem ahead. A kingdom could not have two kings. One thing that was common to both the princes, however, was the ultimate loyalty of their younger brothers towards them. While the ninety-nine sons of Dhritarashtra would do whatever Duryodhan would demand, the younger Pandavas would also never refute an order of Yudhishthira.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

M127 - Story of Dronacharya

Image
Sage Bharadwaja was living at the source of the river Ganga, observing rigid vows. Once when he went to the river to perform his ablutions, he met Ghritachi, a celestial woman known as an Apsara. Seeing the beautiful woman emerging from the river after taking her bath, the sage was consumed with a burning desire. On seeing her clothes coming off her body, his vital fluid came out. The sage held it in a vessel called Drona. Eventually, Drona, the child, sprang out of the fluid preserved by the sage.  The child thus born studied the Vedas and other scriptures.  Bharadwaja taught his knowledge of arms to his illustrious disciple Agnivesa, who was born from fire. Agnivesa, in turn, taught the Science of Weapons to Drona. King Prishata, a great friend of Bharadwaja had a son by name  Drupada.  Drupada, came to the hermitage of Bharadwaja to study under the sage. He was studying in the company of Drona. They became good friends. Their friendship became so intimate that at one st
Read more

M101 - Curse on Ganga and Mahabhisha by Brahma

Image
There was a king known by the name of Mahabhishak born in the race of Ikshvaku . He became the great king among all the kings on the earth, and was truthful (in speech) and of true prowess. By a thousand horse-sacrifices 'Asvametha' and 'Vajapeya' a hundred Rajasuyas he had gratified the chief of the celestials(devas) and ultimately attained to heaven. One day the celestials had assembled together and were worshiping Brahma the creator in his Court .  Ganga , the queen of rivers, also came there to pay her adoration to the Grandsire Lord Brahma . During this time, there was a sudden gust of wind which momentarily displaced her garments as white as the beams of the moon. As her skin became exposed, the celestials bowed down their heads to avoid looking at her in respect to the presence of Brahma. But Mahabhishak was immensely attracted to Ganga and started staring at her continuously. To which Ganga also reciprocated with her amorous glances. Brahma got dis
Read more

M220 - Pandu's Life in the Forest

Image
Pandu began his ascetic way of life along with his two wives, Kunti and Madri. He travelled from place to place in the mountains. By virtue of his strict adherence to austerity, he became the favorite of various groups of ascetics like the Siddhas and Charanyas living in the woods. Many Rishis (sages) also adored Pandu, some treating him as their son, some as their brother and some as their friend.  Some even treated him as a Brahmarishi, a title that could be earned only by a Brahmin. One day, Pandu lamented to the sages about his fate of having to go with no children because of the curse delivered on him by sage Kindama. He said, “Men  born in this world have four obligations or debts that they owe, one to the gods, one to the rishis, one to their ancestors and one to other men.  The gods have to be pleased by performing sacrifices; the debt owed to sages can be repaid  by doing meditation and practicing asceticism, the debt owed to the ancestors can be repaid by begetting so
Read more