Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata A

Image result for draupadi
Arjuna

Reading through the Mahabharata, there are a lot of babies being made. So many, that the names of all the couples and the names of their children and children's children are very hard to keep track of as you read. The gist is to build up to the battle later in the book. There are essentially two sets of sons in particular who very much don't like one another. They are the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

There are only 5 Pandavas brothers, but 100 Kauravas brothers. The Kauravas are not as popular as the Pandavas, and as such, decide to trick them by building a house of joy. The Pandavas burn it down and secretly escape, successfully faking their demise.

Now in hiding, the Pandavas fight deadly Rakshasas, relying almost entirely on Bhima. Eventually, the story brings us to a competition for a bride. One of the Pandavas, Arjuna, strings a bow and hits a target, thus winning Draupadi's hand.
 But instead, Draupadi marries all five brothers.



Bibliography:
Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: R. K. Narayan
Year: 1978

Comments

  1. Laura Lee McCreeFebruary 25, 2018 at 1:27 PM

    I struggled so hard to remember who was who reading this portion! I actually wound up just downloading a Kuru family tree and referencing it with each new (or recurring) character's appearance until I got them all straight, which I still haven't accomplished. I like the picture your chose too: I can just imagine Arjuna saying "Oh yeah, watch this." (or "Hold my beer")

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