In this episode, we’re back to the Mahabharat. It’s a good idea to check out the other Mahabharat stories. But if not, here’s a short summary.
Bhisma, the crown prince of Hastinapur, gave up his right to the throne and the right to have any children, just to please his father who just wanted to marry Satyavati.
One tragedy struck after another. Satyavati’s children passed away childless. Satyavati, Bhishma, and Satyavati’s two daughters-in-law were the only surviving members of the dynasty. Along with – Vyas. The author of the Mahabharata himself was revealed to be Satyavati’s son. He helped continue the family. 3 boys were born. Pandu, Dhritarashtra, and Vidhur.
Pandu had health issues all his life. Dhritarashtra was born blind, and Vidhur was perfectly healthy, but his mother was not a princess and that ruled him out of the race for the throne.
Pandu was crowned Emperor when he grew up. And as Emperor, he got to have two Queens – Kunti and Madri, as opposed to Dhritarashtra’s wife Gandhari.
What no one knew was that Kunti had had a baby boy in secret before her wedding. A child by the Sun god – Karna would go on to play a very important role later in the Mahabharata.
The blind Dhritarashtra’s wife, Gandhari, had taken to blindfolding her eyes permanently.
This generation was now facing the same Hastinapur Curse that each of the previous 3 generations had faced. They had yet another succession problem.
Gandhari was expecting a child, no problems up to that point. It’s just that her pregnancy had gone on for 2 years, which is a little too long.
And as for Kunti and Madri? Well, Pandu had an extra curse to deal with. He’d been cursed by a rishi that he would not survive if he ever touched a woman. The rishi had cursed Pandu with his dying breath, as Pandu had accidentally just shot him with an arrow.
So that’s where we’ll continue the story today.
After 2 years of painful labor, Gandhari had just given birth to a baby that was stillborn. Her heart broke at the thought. Grief and despair overcame her and she broke down She began sobbing silently.
Dhritarashtra walked into Gandhari’s tune whistling a tune. “Happy days are here again!”
Gandhari, in anger, threw a book at him. Obviously, Dhritarashtra did not duck. He was blind, he didn’t know a book was being thrown at him. But it was not necessary to duck. Gandhari was wearing a blindfold and missed by several feet.
Dhritarashtra seemed not to understand. “So what if this baby was stillborn? You can have another can’t you.”
Gandhari would have thrown more things at her husband for this heartless remark but was saved by an interruption. The maid announced that Vyas was visiting.
Despite the state Gandhari was in, she still played her part. She welcomed her father-in-law as she would normally have done.
Vyas expressed his condolences.
“How did you know?” asked Gandhari
“I’m the author, dear. I wrote this whole epic” explained Vyas.
“Then you are to blame for my situation!” retorted Gandhari. “You promised I would have a hundred sons. This pregnancy of mine lasted 2 years, and I have nothing to show for it!”
“Well now, not nothing,” said Vyas. He pointed to the stillborn baby.
Realizing who his audience was, he explained “I’m pointing to your stillborn baby”.
He began taking out items from his briefcase. He had a recipe book that had come in handy before. A generation ago, when Pandu and Dhritarashtra’s birth. He took out an entire chemistry set. With a hundred test tubes. Immediately he started working on it.
First, he asked the maid to bring him a barrel of ghee, and a pitcher of lassi, a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, some onions, garlic, ginger, and a hundred clay pots.
Well, Vyas’s wish was command, as might be expected from the father of the Emperor.
But if people were expecting him to cook up a new dish, that’s not what he was doing. He helped to create the 100 sons he had promised Gandhari. He mixed all the ingredients and stored them in the pots.
“Take care of these pots. When you open them, you’ll find your sons”. He had come a long way since the last generation when it had taken him a lot of time and effort to get Pandu, Dhritarashtra, and Vidhur.
“How long will that take?” asked Gandhari wearily.
“2 years,” said Vyas. Then, looking at Gandhari’s face, which was less than enthusiastic, he added that Gandhari and Dhritarashtra probably needed that time anyway to set up a hundred nurseries, a hundred playrooms, and to hire a hundred nannies.
But Gandhari was still not very happy. Upon pressing, she revealed the reason. “I have a hundred sons, but not a single daughter? What kind of a message am I sending to future generations?”
“That Vyas is great at granting wishes! In fact, Gandhari, do you think I should advise my services on some podcast or the other?”
Gandhari would rather not say. For fear of revealing that she had no idea what a podcast was.
But Vyas had an idea. He took all of the remaining leftovers and managed to store them in a 101st pot. He assured Gandhari that the infant that would emerge from this pot would be a female baby.
Exactly 2 years later, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra were ready to open the pots. They were well aware that the first pot they opened would be the oldest of their children. The moment they did, simultaneously they heard all kinds of noises all at once. In the distance, jackals howled, donkeys brayed and vultures screeched. And if all that was not enough, the baby, who was named Duryodhan, cried. Of these Duryodhan’s cries, though loudest, were least worrisome for the parents.
Gandhari and Dhritarashtra had both been repeatedly warned by various astrologers that jackals, vultures, and donkeys crying a child’s birth is not a good omen.
“It’s a bad sign. Not just for us, for the whole Empire. There could be trouble” reminded Gandhari
“Trouble?!” asked Dhritarashtra and chuckled. “How can it get any worse? I was born blind, my wife is blind by choice. My brother Pandu is everyone’s favorite. We had 4 years of waiting for our first baby, Pandu got to be Emperor, and his son will want to be emperor, even though we’ll have a hundred children”
“One hundred and one,” said Gandhari.
“You’re right you should count Yuyutsu too”. Dhritarashtra reminded Gandhari of her stepson, whom Dhritarashtra had fathered with Gandhari’s maid.
“That’s not whom I had in mind,” said Gandhari. She felt her way to where the final pot was stored, and opened it to reveal a baby girl, Dushala.
And as Vyas had promised earlier in the episode, Gandhari had a hundred sons.
Things were not as bleak as Dhritarashtra had outlined. For one thing, Dhritarashtra was Emperor.
Ever since Pandu had unwittingly killed a Rishi in deer form, he had lived a life of misery.
Thanks to the Rishi’s curse, Pandu could never be friendly with his wives again. If he so much as touched them, it would mean his end.
This thought depressed Pandu. Frankly, he was even surprised that his wives Kunti and Madri had insisted on giving up palace life and joining him in his self-imposed exile.
Still, their presence did not help if he wasn’t even allowed to interact with them. What’s a guy to do if you can’t be friends with your only two companions. And no means of entertainment exist in the wild jungle. His one passion – deer hunting was unpleasant now, after his incident.
He figured the only right way for him to ascend to heaven. If he could make it there.
First, he would have to perform some kind of penance. To apologize for all the harm he had caused. And to reserve his spot in heaven, before the gods looked too closely into records of his time spent on Earth
Pandu did try to enter heaven but was refused entry on the grounds that he wasn’t done with worldly duties. To an ex-emperor like Pandu, that meant his failing was that he had no children to succeed him to the throne.
As he sat brooding one day, Kunti finally approached him with a plan
“It’s like this. We both want children, we totally agree, right?” she asked him.
When Pandu nodded, Kunti finally revealed her dark secret. “I can have children through this trick that Durvasa taught me”
“Durvasa?! No, don’t do it.” said Pandu instantly. “That man is a menace. If it’s Durvas who showed you what to do, it must be a nasty trick indeed”
But Kunti assured Pandu that it was certainly not Durvasa playing a prank on them all.
“How do you know that?” asked Pandu.
“Because I’ve tried it before and I had a baby boy whom I had to abandon” Kunti almost retorted but chose not to. She wasn’t yet ready to reveal everything.
“What do we have to lose anyway?”
Pandu meditated on this for a bit and finally agreed. He recommended that they start with the Sun god. “He’s responsible for all life on Earth.” and he seems generous, I think he’ll mind the least.
“Not again!” said Kunti. She quickly added, “I mean, I see the Sun every day in the sky. I am not looking forward to meeting him again up close. And can you imagine how hot he will be up close. Look I’m already sweating at the thought of it”. She was right. She was sweating, but not for the reason she said. It was because she was afraid that Pandu might discover her previous tryst with Surya. Especially if Surya were to show up and casually ask how their baby Karna was.
Pandu seemed to buy that explanation.
“How about Yama instead?” She asked.
Pandu wasn’t convinced immediately, “I don’t know. The god of death. He can’t have a very sunny personality. All the people whom he meets, I bet most of them are far from cheerful”
But Kunti pointed out that was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth. “He’s the god of death but also of justice. We can expect him to be fundamentally fair”
“Is there justice in the world though? I mean look at me, my parents and my grandparents have always had a succession problem. I have had health issues all my life. My brother was born blind. I killed a rishi totally by accident and yet, I’m paying such a huge price for it. And to top it all, my parents always loved Dhritarashtra more than me. How is life fair?”
Kunti had no answer to this other than to point out that things could have been much worse! “We’re together, aren’t we? And we’re going to come out fine. We’ll raise fine children, who could be emperors”
With Pandu’s reluctant approval, Kunti called on Yama.
Pandu need not have worried. Yama was the opposite of what he had expected.
Yama was wearing a party hat and scattered confetti all around. He addressed Kunti
“Ho, ho, ho, congratulations on your entry to the afterlife! Here’s a welcome kit, make sure you start with the “So you’re dead. What’s next?” pamphlet. And here’s a personalized name tag. We have ice-cream socials with all the new arrivals every day at 5 pm… And don’t worry about being alone. Your husband will soon join you too. I’ve seen Pandu’s name further down the list”
Kunti interrupted him quickly. “I’m not dying. It’s not that kind of a call”
Yama’s cheerful face changed into a grimace. Then he said, “of course, of course. Now it makes sense”. He picked up his phone and talked to his secretary. “That’s the third time this week you handed me the wrong code. Kunti wasn’t looking to join us, she just wanted me for the other thing. You know the mantra Durvasa taught her”
Off the phone, he said “Sorry Kunti. It was a clerical error. Normally my staff sees the name Durvasa and they automatically go into initiation mode. Anyway, now onto the reason you’ve called me for. I assume you’re familiar with this, seeing as you’ve tried…”
Kunti hastily interrupted to avoid Yama revealing everything to Pandu. “Yes, yes. I’m familiar with this. Let’s begin”
Not long after, Kunti gave birth to Yudhisthir, the eldest of the Pandavas. Technically not the eldest but you know, Pandu didn’t know that so I guess you could say that Karna was not a Pandav. Yudhishthir seemed promising emperor material. Not something that was easy to tell at the very young age of just two weeks, but Kunti saw an emperor in him, and that’s what mattered.
Over time, Kunti felt that Yudhishthira by himself would not cut the mustard. Not for a lack of faith in his abilities, but she felt an Emperor must have a support system. Brothers who obey him. I mean look at Ram from the Ramayana. Laxman was utterly devoted to him and gave up his own comfortable life to be with his brother. Yudhishthir needed others like Laxman. Pandu agreed and this time Kunti involved the God of Wind, Vayu. The child that was born to Kunti was Bhima.
Bhima was born with superhuman strength. The way his parents discovered it was accidental.
Kunti had been sitting outside their little hut in the jungle, with the infant Bhima on her lap. Suddenly out of nowhere, a Tiger jumped in front and startled her.
Besides jumping about a foot in the air, it had the unfortunate side effect of Bhima falling out of her lap and onto a huge rock. The effect was unfortunate indeed, but for the rock. Not for Bhima.
The moment Bhima fell on it, the rock shattered into a thousand pieces. And just to be clear, the thousand fragments of rock did not harm Bhima either. The boy clearly had superhuman powers.
Still, Kunti was not comfortable with Pandu using the baby Bhima as a tool to do miscellaneous house repairs. She had to remind him more than once not to use Bhima to hammer in for nails, for example.
Both Yudhishthira and Bhima were born before Gandhari and Dhritarashtra had opened the first pot and discovered Duryodhana.
After a while, Pandu thought it might be a good idea to try and have another baby. Just as a backup. And this time, Kunti could invoke Indra himself. Indra was the chief of the devs. He was happy to oblige.
The child that was born was another boy. Pandu and Kunti named the baby Arjun.
Observing all this from a distance Madri was a bit envious. Talking to Kunti and Pandu, she managed to convince the pair to share Durvasa’s trick so that she could have babies too.
Kunti gave it a shot. She invoked the twin Gods – the Ashwins. And as you might expect Madri soon had twins – Nakul and Sahadev.
That bit of news made Kunti feel a little envious in turn. And when Madri requested that Kunti help invoke another God, Kunti flat out refused. She was worried that if Madri had another pair of twins, Madri’s children would outnumber her own.
And Kunti need not have a monopoly but she certainly wanted her children to have the controlling stake.
All was going well and the babies were slowly turning into toddlers.
That’s when tragedy struck again!
Despite Madri’s best attempts not to, Pandu ended up being friendlier than usual with her. I guess things like sharing a joke, playing board games together also qualified.
Instantly, Pandu passed away just as Kindama had predicted in Episode 108 – Mahabharata – Oh deer!.
Madri was racked by guilt for something that was not at all her fault. She still refused to continue in the circumstances. Eventually, she went the same way as her husband. But not before leaving Nakul and Sahadev upto Kunti to take care of.
That’s how Kunti ended up with 5 very young children to manage.
She tried to run things by herself for a while. But it soon became apparent that this would not work. Kunit needed help.
She decided that the easiest way was to go back to Hastinapur. Pandu had been in self-exile. But since he passed away it totally made sense to bring up her children, the Pandavs, back to the Empire that Yudhishthir would one day rule.
We’ll leave it here. When we come back to the Mahabharat we’ll talk about the growing up that Kunti’s and Gandhari’s children had to do.
We’ll leave it here.
Some notes on the show
Today’s episode illustrates the chief problem that caused the conflict in the rest of the Mahabharat.
The conflict over the question of who was the rightful ruler of Hastinapur.
Should it be Duryodhan, because he was the eldest son of the current Emperor?
Or Yudhishthir who was older, but who was also the eldest son of the last strong Emperor who was not simply on auto-pilot mode?
Technically, both Dhritarashtra and Pandu had been emperors at some point or the other. Who was to say which faction was right in supporting their prince?
This happens often in the Mahabharata; there are no easy conclusions to draw. There are gray areas almost everywhere.
Previous Mahabharat Episodes are here:
Episode 59 – River of Dreams
Episode 60 – Down By The River
Episode 68 – Waiting
Episode 69 – Father and Son
Episode 70 – The Art of the Deal
Episode 83 – Mahabharata – The Groom Reveal Party
Episode 84 – Mahabharat – A Princess Scorned
Episode 91 – Mahabharat – Amba
Episode 96 – Mahabharat – Vyas Ex Machina
Episode 105 – Mahabharat – Four Weddings and a Birth
Episode 108 – Mahabharat – Oh, deer!
Check out these other Mahabharat Episodes too, some of which are peripherally linked to the main storyline, including
Episode 27 – The Rise of Shukra
Episode 28 – His Girl Friday
Episode 37 – A Fishy Engagement
Durvasa has featured in a few episodes before, besides Episode 105 – Mahabharat – Four Weddings and a Birth and Episode 37 – A Fishy Engagement mentioned above, he also caused the events of Episode 51 – Oceans Rising, Episode 52 – Oceans Rising Higher and Episode 53 – Open the Quantum Gate!
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll do a couple more stories of Akbar and Birbal. We’ll see Birbal answer more tricky questions. Again.