Microfiction: Mahabharata Minis

6 Word Story


The Curse of Pandu

Here Lies Pandu

Loved to Death

(A Part 2)

Also Madri;

Couldn't Live Without Him

25 Word Story

Krishna Defends Draupadi's Dignity

Gambled away by her husband, Draupadi is dragged out and physically stripped in front of a crowd; by Krishna's power another sari appears on her.

Madri on Pandu's Pyre (Uncle Katha, link)

Author's Note:

I had a bunch of ideas for the 6 word story but the format really lent itself to an epitaph or tombstone. Thus, I abbreviated down the death of Pandu, who died making love to his wife Madri due to a curse placed on him by a celestial being, and then I included Madri's as well because she climbed onto his funeral pyre with him and died too. Tombstones don't really require a lot of detail, and the 6 word stories do not allow for much so I'm pleased with the way these turned out.

I was really thriving on the as-few-as-possible word count stories, so I next tried out the 25 word story. This was a very short version of Yudhishthira gambling away his brothers, himself, and finally their wife, who was indeed seized and stripped but prayed to Krishna to preserve her. This one was a little more difficult as I had to shuffle and adjust the words quite a few times to make a cohesive sentence but stay at 25 words.

Bibliography:

Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide, by Laura Gibbs (link)

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part B

• The Pandavas are still alive
• Everyone's fighting about what to do with them, but finally Dhritarashtra gives them part of his kingdom
• They build a city called Indraprastha
• The sage Narada visits the Pandavas to warn them about possible conflicts that could happen since they're sharing Draupadi as their wife
• For example, Arjuna intruded on Yudhishtira and D during the year they were exclusive (essentially,) he goes into exile for 12 years...and finds two more wives, Ulupi and Subhadra, so don't feel too bad for him
• The Dangerous Dice
• Shakuni suggests to Duryodhana that they can get revenge on the Pandavas via a game of dice
• Shakuni is really good; Yudhishthira (crowned the king of Indraprastha) is not.
• Vyasa visits the Pandavas and warns them of the bad omens incoming
• Vidura comes to invite them to Dhritarashtra's newly built Crystal Palace for a game of dice, and Yudhishthira cannot refuse the challenge so they go to Hastinapura
• Game 1
• Shakuni plays in Duryodhana's place; Yudhishthira loses everything he owns
• Vidura urges Dhrit to put a stop to the game, but it keeps going
• Yud gambles away his brothers, then himself, then their wife
• Wifey Draupadi is NOT happy about this, wanting to know how it is possible for Yud to gamble her away if he had already staked himself and lost. Plus, she is on her period and doesn't want to be seen in public
• She is dragged into the assembly hall and is ordered to undress, so she desperately prays to Krishna. As her sari si pulled off, another replaces it
• Dhritarashtra gives Draupadi a wish (why? we don't really know) so she wishes that Yud be set free. He gives her another wish which she uses to free her other 4 husbands. She declines the third wish. So Dhrit gives back all the Pandava's posessions and sends them home in peace
• Weapons from the Gods
• Krishna pays Yud a visit and promises that Dury and his allies will be punished.
• Draupadi and Yud are having a bit of a quarrel about forgiveness and patience
• Vysas teaches Yud a mantra that makes it possible to get weapons from the gods
• Also teaches it to Arjuna (who's back from his exile)
• Arjuna rejects an apsara named Urvashi who fell in love with him, so she cursed him to live among women as a eunuch. However, Indra is impressed by his self-control so she tells him his curse will be a blessing later on.
• Reading Guide for Narayan's Mahabharata Part B, Laura Gibbs (link)

The Ill-Fated Game of Dice (Wikipedia, link)

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part A

• Shantanu and Ganga
• Shantanu is the ruler of Hastinapura
• Meets a mysterious woman by the river and falls in love with her
• She agrees to marry him, but he is never allowed to question her actions
• So, she drowns their babies in a river as they're born
• He can't take anymore by the 8th child and protests, so she explains she's the river Ganga reincarnated as a woman to give birth to eight gods, the Vasus, who are now trapped as humans as punishment for stealing a cow, but by drowning them she is returning them to heaven
• Shantanu Part 2: Satyavati
• She's a fisherman's daughter
• Shantanu wants to marry her of course, but her father protests because S already has an heir (Bhishma).
• Bhishma, being a very good son, renounces his claim to the throne AND the possibility of having children
• S and S have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya
• V ends up ruling and marries Ambika and Ambalika
• But he fathers no sons
• Heirs
• Stayavati begs Bhishma to father sons with the widows, but he won't because of his vow of celibacy
• She had another son from a wild story with a rishi named Parashara, named Vyasa (...who looks weird)
• Ambika closes her eyes because he looks gross, so their son Dhritarashtra is born blind
• Ambalika blanches from fear so their son Pandu is very pale
• Then Ambalika has her maid sleep with Vyasa instead, and because she liked him and reacted to him positively, their child was born normal
• Pandu's curse
• He has two wives, Kunti and Madri
• He was out hunting and shot a deer as it was having sex
• It was actually a celestial being in disguise, so it curses Pandu so that he will also die during sex
• Kunti has a mantra to summon the gods and have children by them, so they have 5 sons, called the Pandavas
• But, Pandu thought with his little head and could no longer resist Madri, so he dies during sex with her. She climbs onto his funeral pyre with him, so Kunti is alone to raise their 5 children
• Narayan's Mahabharata Reading Guide, by Laura Gibbs (link)

Satyavati and Shantanu (Ravi Varma, link)