Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part B

By:Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes - Favorite Episodes:

• The House of Fire
• Prince Vidura has an interesting character.
• His mother was a slave girl
• His half-brother was a king.
• I wonder how he felt coming from both two two extremes of royalty and slavery. I wonder if he felt just as worthy as his half-brothers for the title "king."
• He played a really important role in the episode.
• Prince Vidura was the one who guessed the cruel plot discussed below of Prince Duryodhana. 
• Varanavata palace:
• had beautiful furniture and decor
• was built of wood so it would easily burn
• Prince Yudhisthira was warned by Prince Vidura of the evil plan of Prince Duryodhana. 
• Prince Yudhisthira shared with his mother what was told to him by Prince Vidura and told her that he feared that his, his brothers', and his mother's lives were in danger by living in the said palace.
• He pointed out to his mother that the palace would be set on fire that is why the furniture and tapestries were soaked in oil and the walls and roof of the palace were made of only wood. 
• Prince Vidura hired a miner to build an escape route in the form of an underground passage for the Pandavas and their mother. 
• The minder did this very sneakily as he worked at night and covered the passage with wooden planks by day. 
• Prince Bhima set the guard-house on fire which, through the wind, blew towards the palace. 
• Therefore, both the guard-house and palace were up in flames. 
• Coincidentally, a low-caste woman and her five sons came to beg for food and slept at the palace.
• Unfortunately, this woman and her sons died in the fire.
• However, the next day the people of the community believed that the low-caste woman and her five sons were Queen Kunti and the Pandavas, and that they died in the fire.
• The Burning of the Forest
• Krishna visited the Pandavas and a huge party was thrown.
• Agni, the god of fire, visited Krishna and Arjuna requesting food. 
• Agni wanted the two heroes to help him.
• The two heroes to agreed to help Agni if he got them celestial weapons.
• Agni got a bow from the god Varuna and many other weapons. 
• This ignited a battle.
• Therefore, Indra was defeated.
• A fire arose and many animals died in flames. 
• Only a few animals escaped.
• Agni, in a result, became powerful again.

Image Source

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part B  Multiple Authors from Various Sources: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore