Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

File:Macrocosm of Krishna in the Kauravas court.jpg

The Himalayas 
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • Yudhishthira gained skill in dice
  • god promised Yudhishthira that he would yet reign in splendor over all men.


Duryodhana and the Gandharvas
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • Karna vowed "I will never eat venison nor wash my feet until I have slain Arjuna"
  • Yudhishthira knew Karna's vow would result in deadly conflict between Arjuna and Karna

Jayadratha and Draupadi
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • Yudhishthira saved Jayadratha from being killed by Bhima.
  • Rajah of Sindhu, Jayadratha, prostrates himself before Yudhishthira as a humble menial. 

Riddles at the Lake
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • All the other brothers were foolish and drank the water and died
  • Yudhishthira answers some riddles
  • "Brahma taketh the sun to rise...Dharma taketh the sun to set"
  • "Man's unconquered enemy is anger, and his disease is covetousness; he who seekers after the good of all is holy; he who is selfishly cold is unholy."
  • Worthy of eternal torment: he who says to the brahmin he has nothing to give, he who says the Vedas are false, he who is rich and gives nothing to the poor.
  • Yudhishthira was patient and wise
  • the yaksha was "a celestial sire of Yudhishthira" and granted "his son two boons"

Preparations for War
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • Yudhishthira's heart is without anger, said Krishna. He endured great shame.
  • Balarama said Yudhishthira caused this himself by playing with Shakuni against the advice of his family. "what hath been gambled away cannot be restored in battle"
Krishna's Mission
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
  • Yud's desire is for peace
  • Krishna showed his god form
Bhagavad-Gita
Source: The Song Celestial; Or, Bhagavad-Gita, rendered into English verse by Edwin Arnold (1885).

  • Maybe read entire gita later
  • Krishna persuades Arjuna to fight his relatives and gurus






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