Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Jaya, Part H

Story Source: Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik (2010).

Reconstruction: Yudhishthira's Coronation

Pandavas bittersweet because their children are dead
"Dharma is not about winning. It is about empathy and growth. Yudhishthira knows the pain of losing a child. He can empathize with his enemy rather than gloat on their defeat. In empathy, there is wisdom" (309)

Bed of Arrows

Bhishma on his deathbed told Yudhishthira that life is like a river and to never fight it because it will always flow its own way (310)

Merit creates fortune, demerits create misfortune, merits bring joy, demerits bring sorrow. Karma binds us to the material world (312)
Both Ramayana and Mahabharata ask people to share their wisdom before they die so it is not lost forever

Death and Rebirth

Horse Sacrifice

Babruvahana

Babruvahana, prince of Manipur, is Arjuna's son by Chitrangada
Arjuna was shot in the heart by him
Ganga, river-goddess, cursed Arjuna to die at the hands of his own son because Arjuna killed Bhishma who was like a father to him (318)
Ulupi healed Arjuna with a magical gem because she loves him
Arjuna cleansed of his demerit from killing Bhishma

Start of Kali Yuga

Renunciation: Elders Renounce the Kingdom

Bhima bragged to Kaurava parents about how they killed each of the Kauravas
Dhritarashtra suffered his humiliation silently
Vidura's story made Dhritarashtra realize that he was attached to palace comforts and finally left with Gandhari and Vidura, and Kunti went too saying it was time for her generation to go
The elders wandered in the woods
Vidura died while meditating
Gandhari had a vision of those killed in battle dressed in white, smiling, with no sorrow or anger
the forest caught on fire and the elders of the Kuru clan burned in the fire

End of the Yadus

Death of Krishna

Balarma died after seeing this tragedy
Krishna was shot in the foot by a hunter and died
"While all the Yadavas crossed the Vaitarni and entered the land of the dead awaiting rebirth, Krishna returned to the heaven known as Vaikuntha, located even above Swarga, and took his place as Vishnu, God who sustains the universe." (329)

Fall of Dwaraka

Arjuna realized that he caused the fall of Dwaraka because of the gambling match
Baby on leaf after destruction of Dwaraka

Renunciation of the Pandavas

Pandavas retire and Parikshit becomes ruler of Hastina-puri
Yudhishthira: "If we have truly upheld dharma in our lives, then our bodies will not die. We will enter the realm of the gods with this flesh." (332)
Draupadi slipped and fell and nobody helped her, then Sahadeva, then Nakula, then Arjuna, then Bhima. Yudhishthira kept going
Yudhishthira refused to turn and help anyone because he renounced everything. He figured Yama did not find them worthy enough to enter Swarga with their mortal bodies.

Draupadi preferred Arjuna despite her orders to love all husbands equally, desired Karna, and manipulated Bhima
Sahadeva's knowledge made him smug
Nakula's beauty made him insensitive
Arjuna envious of all other archers
Bhima was a glutton

In this version, Yudhishthira didn't know there was a dog with him, but recognized the dog that made it the entire journey from Hastina-puri (333)
"I refuse paradise for the sake of justice" (333)

Kauravas in Swarga

Yudhishthira: "How did these warmongers reach Amravati?" angrily (335)
"Yudhishthira's rising rage"
Family in Naraka, realm of misery
Yudhishthira wondered why Karna was there. He was paying for breaking Duryodhana's trust
"Yudhishthira felt everyone's pain and started to weep" (335)
Yudhishthira chose to stay, Devas mocked him saying they thought he renounced everything (336)
Yudhishthira: "How can Amravati open its gates to the Kauravas, those murderers, and not to my family which has always followed the path of righteous conduct? Even Krishna fought against the Kauravas!" (337)
"Surely, his family who had established dharma on earth did not deserve this. This was so unfair." (337)
"You cling to your anger, Yudhishthira. You still distinguish between friend and foe." (337)
Yudhishthira realized he was not the great man he thought he was. "Only when there is undiluted compassion for everyone, even our worst enemies, is ego truly conquered." (337)
Jaya! a shout of victory for when Yudhishthira got the ultimate victory over himself
He would ascend to a heaven higher than Swarga: Vaikuntha, the abode of God and stay there forever (337)

Epilogue: Snake Sacrifice

Q: Who is the hero? Who is the villain?
A: There are no heroes or villains, just people struggling with life, responding to crises, making mistakes, repeating mistakes, in innocence or ignorance, while trying to make their lives meaningful and worthwhile (341)
Two kinds of victory in this world: Viyaja and Jaya. Vijaya is material victory where there is a loser. Jaya is spiritual victory where there are no losers.
When Yudhishthira overcame his rage and forgave the Kauravas unconditionally, there was Jaya. (341)
"In the book of accounts, measured at the end of a lifetime, the Kauravas had been cleansed of all demerit by being defeated on a sacred land, while the Pandavas fell short on merit as the war had not purged them of their prejudices." (342)
"The point of existence is not to accumulate merit, but to attain wisdom." (342)
Pandavas defeating Kauravas was for the good of the world, no impact on their own merit
"conflict comes from rage, rage comes from fear, and fear comes from lack of faith."

The Ideal Called Dharma

Humans can choose to reject the law of the jungle
selflessness is exclusive to humans
Adharma is an eternal temptation, dharma is an endless work in progress that validates our humanity (346)

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