Apasmāra

Seeing the princes enter adolescence, Bhishma began searching for a suitable teacher to tutor them in the science of warfare. One day, while the Kuru princes were playing with ball, it fell into the well. They gathered around the well to figure out a way to retrieve the ball. Drona who was on his way to meet kripa(brother-in-law), noticed the boys. Drona teased them by saying that it was shameful that the princes belonging to the Bhrata race could not retrieve the ball. He said that he would throw his ring also in the well and retrieve both the ball and the ring, using just a blade of grass, if only the princes could offer him a dinner that evening. Drona threw his ring into the dry well. He showed the princes the blades of grass he was carrying in his hand and told them that he would empower those grasses with his Mantras, make one blade of grass pierce the ball, create a chain using a few more blades and then pull up the ball. bring up the ball. He did exactly that....

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 intim...

Sage Gautama had a son named Saradwata, who was born with arrows in hand. Saradwata had a keen aptitude for learning about the weapons. He acquired many weapons by means of the austerities through which students would acquire the knowledge of the Vedas. Indra, the God of the celestials became afraid of Saradwata and sent a celestial damsel named Janapadi to entice Saradwat and distract him so that he would lose his concentration on learning. Seeing Janapadi appear before him clad only in a single piece of cloth, Saradwata was momentarily stunned. His bows and arrows slipped from his hands. Though his ascetic way of life enabled him to overcome the temptation, the feelings stirred up in him for a moment resulted in his semen falling on to a bush of weeds. He left the place quickly to avoid the damsel. The semen that fell on the bush of weeds divided the bush into two parts and two children, twins, sprang from the two parts. The presence of the twins was noticed b...

Dritarashtra wanted the Kauravas and the Pandavas to become well versed in the Science of Arms and other branches of knowledge. It was decided by the elders of the family that the 101 sons of Dhritarashtra and 5 sons of Pandu should grow under tutelage of the royal guru, Kripacharya (details of his origin will be discussed in next post M-126). With Kripa's eminence having become widely known, he sent the princes to Kripa, after consulting with Bhishma. Kripacharya was considered a Brahmin by all, thanks to his knowledge of the Vedas, and was a man with simplistic expectations in life. From the first day in his gurukul, Kripacharya knew that he was not going to raise any ordinary set of Kshatriya students but rather and entire generation of princes of Hastinapur. Education of princes was carried out differently than rest of the students of the society because they eventually had to evolve into beings whose life was meant for a bigger cause, optimistically speaking, welfare of...

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 ...

 After the birth of his five sons, Pandu again approached Kunti at the behest of Madri. Kunti said, "When I gave her the formula for invoking it once, she managed to obtain two sons. She has deceived me. If I give her the formula again, she will end up having more children than me. This is the way of wicked women. I was a fool to have not used the formula to get two children at a time. I beseech you not to command me to give the formula to Madri once again. Let this be a boon granted to me by you." One day, King Pandu was wandering about the woods with his wife Madri. It was springtime and the forest flowers were in bloom, casting their scent in all directions. Birds like the parrot, the cuckoo, the crane, and the peacock were singing sweetly, and the bees were humming. Bewildered by the atmosphere, Pandu became attracted to his wife, and forgetting the curse of the Sage Kindama, forcibly embraced her. Madri tried to resist the advances of her husband, but it was of no us...

Back in Hasthinapur, Gandhari gave birth to children. She received a benediction from Vyasa that she could have one hundred sons. Sometime thereafter, Gandhari conceived, and she bore the pregnancy for two years without delivering. When she heard that Kunti had given birth to a child whose splendor was like the morning sun, she was angered and violently hit her womb. She then gave birth to a piece of flesh that was hard like an iron ball. When she was about to throw the ball of flesh away, Vyasa appeared. Without disguising her feelings, she angrily cried, "When I heard that Kunti gave birth to a child who was radiant like the sun, I struck my womb. You have promised me a hundred sons, but here is a ball of flesh."  Vyasa replied, "My boons will always bear fruit. I have never falsified a benediction even in jest. You should now arrange that a hundred pots full of ghee be brought instantly. In the meantime sprinkle cool water over this piece of flesh". Gandhar...