Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata (Part C)

Duryodhana presents his soldiers to Drona.

Artist unknown (n.d.). Source. 

1. All will be righted with the gods’ help. Immense suffering often seems, in these epics, to be temporary. Few, if any, good people are permanently made to suffer.
2. Yudhishthira is devoted to oaths and promises. He would make an excellent sage, should he choose to remain in exile.
3. Arjuna is rather hot-headed. However, once he calms down, he’s rewarded for his devotion. Even bad actions can be forgiven in some way.
4. Even a punishment is a blessing in disguise. Although Arjuna suffers, he does so in order to help others.
5. The brothers’ exile is not simply an exile. While separated from their world or society, they receive lessons that improve them as people. What could one of the sages who visited them teach the brothers?
6. Why does Hanuman say nothing of Shudra? What could Hanuman have been doing during the years between the events of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata? How could he skew the story of the Ramayana in order to make himself seem like the main hero?
7. Duryodhana will probably be punished for breaking his vow to starve to death.
8. The Pandavas help those who need it, not just those they like.
9. Karna has likely made a huge mistake. He’s given up invincibility in order to kill one being. Defense is probably more virtuous than killing.
10. The Rajah of Sindhu gets off rather easily. Perhaps they don’t want to start a war.
11. Wisdom and cleverness ultimately save the brothers, rather than sheer physical strength. How would they have handled the riddles?
12. Anger and covetousness, like the riddle says, leads to the prince’s death. Losing one’s temper and greed often have deadly consequences.
13. Arjuna didn’t really need the weapons. What he needed were the help of the gods and mercifulness.
14. Diplomacy and the peaceful resolution of conflict are stressed in this epic. Those who seek war first are treated in a more negative light than those who use nonviolent means to end conflicts.
15. Duryodhana seems intent on what’s probably suicide. How could he remain defiant before a god? Does Duryodhana have some underlying problems with him? What previous episode could have caused this defiance?
16. Even nature seems to be waging a war itself.
17. The battle is back and forth for a while. There doesn’t seem to be a clear victor.
18. Duryodhana is arrogant. Despite the advice of Bhishma, he continues the battle.

Bibliography

Various authors. Mahabharata (public domain). Source.