By: Epified Authors
- The Mahabharata is a story of karma.
- Shantanu fell in love with Ganga, a river goddess.
- Ganga agreed to be Shantanu's wife if he never questioned her.
- Shantanu agreed.
- Ganga drowned their first seven babies.
- Shantanu did not question Ganga until the eighth baby.
- Ganga was trying to free spiritual lives that were reincarnated in the eight sons.
- Ganga was questioned so she took their last son and left.
- Shantanu found his long lost son, named Devavrat, and brought him to his palace.
- Shantanu fell in love again, but to a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati.
- Satyavati would not marry Shantanu, because her father believed that Shantanu and his first wife's children would be prioritized.
- Shantanu did not argue and went home.
- Devavrat noticed how sad his father was so he went to reason with the fisherman and his daughter, telling them he would not assume his father's throne.
- The fisherman still did not approve of marriage.
- Devavrat made a promise that shook the whole world: he vowed to never have any children. In this way, there would be no reason why Satyavati's children would not assume the throne.
- Devavrat's name turned into Bhishma (he of the terrible oath). He took Satyavati to his father, where his father felt sad about Bhishma's oath.
- However, Shantanu, for his son's kind intentions, let him decide when he should die.
- Bhishma cared for his two half brothers.
- When one of the brothers died, Bhishma looked for a wife for the other brother.
- Bhishma kidnapped three sisters/princesses for his half-brother.
- Bhishma began the cycle of his death.
- The oldest princess, Amba, pleaded with Bhishma to let her love another king. She was sure that the other king loved her back and would take her in; but, the other king would not take her.
- Amba pleaded with Bhishma to take her as his wife.
- Bhishma promised to not have any kids so he could not take her as his wife.
- Amba placed full blame on Bhishma for ruining her life. So, she seeked ways to destroy Bhishma.
- Only one, the former mentor of Bhishma, would fight Bhishma. They were so equally strong. Only when the mentor withdrew from the fight did Bhishma win.
- This did not stop Amba from wanting to ruin Bhishma.
- Bhishma's second half brother died, leaving his two wives both a widow and childless.
- Satyavati was forced to tell Bhishma of her previous relationship where she bore a miracle child.
- The miracle child, Vyass, came to marry and bore the children of the two widows.
- These two widows were scared of him for they thought he was unattractive.
- Vyass bore a child with one of the widows when she closed her eyes; therefore, their son, Dhritarashtra, was blind.
- Vyass bore a child with the other widow when she became weak and pale. Therefore, the son she bore, Pandu, was weak and pale.
- Saryavati sent Vyass to bore a child again with one of the widows. However, the widow sent a servant girl instead. This servant girl was not frightened at all, so the son she bore, Vidura, because one of the wisest in the land.
- Bhishma raised these three boys.
- A rivalry arose between Dhritarashtra and Pandu that Vidura noticed.
- There were too many contenders for the throne of Hastinapur.
- The eldest, Dhritarashtra, became king.
- Pandu ruled the armies.
- It was known that Pandu was the true ruler even though his brother was titled as "king."
- Pandu ruled with the wisdom of his brother Vidura.
- Bhisma seeked a wife for Dhritarashtra.
- One girl agreed to marry Dhritarashtra and blindfolded herself to be blind too.
- This outraged her brother, who was wise so he seeked revenge.
- Pandu also married. He had two wives, Kunti and Madri.
- Kunti had a secret which would cause more chaos.
This image shows the overall theme of the Mahabharata. It is told in the beginning of this series of videos, that Karma is the theme that people recognize within the epic when they look closely.
Bibliography: Mahabharata Videos, Part A. By Epified Authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment