Background of the Story After the curse of sage Kindama, King Pāṇḍu lived in the forest with his two queens, Kuntī and Mādrī. Though he had renounced the kingdom, the duties of a Kṣhatriya and a householder still weighed heavily on his mind. The king pondered upon the words of the sages: “A man without progeny cannot reach the higher worlds, however many sacrifices he performs.” He requests Kunti to have children as per Dharma. 1 ...

Background of the Story After the births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura, the question of the heir to the throne of Hastināpura became a matter of concern to the elders of the Kuru race. The throne, vacant since the death of Vichitravīrya, required a ruler who could uphold dharma and preserve the might of the lineage. 1 The Story Though Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the eldest, his blindness disqualified him from royal duties that demanded vision and leadership. Vidura, wise and spotless in conduct, was passed over because he was born to a maidservant and thus considered inferior for enthronement by the law of the age. The eyes of the court naturally turned to Pāṇḍu, whose learning, valour, and humility made him the ideal choice. ...

Background of the Story - The Birth of the Kuru Princes (Kauravas) After the sudden demise of King Vicitravīrya, the Kuru dynasty faced a crisis of succession since none of the queens of Vicitravīrya had children. Through Vyāsa’s intervention, three sons were born: Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura. 1 The Story - Who should be the king of Hastinapur? Dhṛtarāṣṭra, though eldest and mighty in body, was born blind. Pāṇḍu was pale in outlook but trained into a valiant warrior and became beloved of the people. Vidura, wise and righteous, was born of a maid and thus denied royal succession. ...

Background of the story Vysampayana was narrating the story of the birth of Dhritarashtra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura to the king Janamejaya. He told Janamejaya that Yama Dharmaraja was born to a Dasi (servant maid) of Ambika and he was Vidura. Upon the request of Janamejaya, he started narrating the story of ‘Lord Yama and a sage माण्डव्य - Māṇḍavya’. 1 Story of Māṇḍavya Māṇḍavya was a sage and one day he was sitting beneath a tree in his Ashram. When he was in deep meditation, a few thieves being chased by the soldiers, entered into his Ashram and hid inside. The sage did not observe what was happening. The soldiers questioned the sage as to whether he had seen the thieves running there. The sage did not answer as he was in deep meditation. The soldiers searched inside and found the thieves as well as the stolen wealth of the thieves. They tied all the thieves and also the sage and presented them before the king. The king, without proper enquiry, imposed ‘Soola Danda’ (death sentence by thrusting over a raised trident) to all the people. The soldiers did what was ordered by the king and they felt that he was dead. ...

Background of the Story Satyavathi was married to King Santanu of Hastināpura, after a solemn vow by his son Devavrata - that he would renounce all claims to the throne and remain celibate lifelong. This terrible and noble vow earned Devavrata the name Bhishma. The throne was reserved for the progeny of Satyavathi; and Bhishma relinquished his claim to the throne. 1 The Story From her marriage to Santanu, Satyavathi had two sons: Citrāṅgada and Vicitravīrya. Citrāṅgada became king after Santanu’s passing but was soon killed in battle by a Gandharva of the same name. Vicitravīrya, still a boy, was crowned king under Bhishma’s protection. Bhishma ruled the country with Hastinapur as his capital, but he also sought the advice of Satyavathi in all matters of importance. ...

Background of the Story Bhishma, one of the most revered and powerful characters of the Mahabharata, was not born an ordinary human. His birth was divine and rooted in a celestial curse. Once, the eight Vasus-celestial beings - were cursed by Sage Vashishta for stealing his divine cow. As a result, they were fated to be born on earth. To escape prolonged earthly life, they sought Ganga Devi’s help. She agreed to be their mother and liberate them from their curse soon after birth. Meanwhile, Mahābhiṣha, a noble king of Ikshvaku dynasty, was born to Pratip Chakravarti of Kuru clan. 1 ...

Janamejaya was curious to know the story of the Kuru clan of kings, especially his immediate predecessors from Vysampayana. Daksha Prajāpati was the mānasa putra of Lord Brahma (son born out of Brahma’s vision). His son was Aditi and his son was Vivasvata (Lord Surya). Manu was the son of Surya. Manu’s son was Ila and his son was Purūrava. Nahusha was the grandson of Purūrava, and Nahusha’s son was Yayāthi. 1 ...

The story of Yayāti is very interesting in Mahabharata. It answers many questions- what are heaven and hell and how is heaven (Swarga) different from Liberation (Moksha); and why do the texts of Hinduism talk about Swargam when it is impermanent? Let us read and understand the story1. Background of the Story Yayāti was the son of emperor Nahusha, a famous mythological character of ancient India. We know from the previous episodes that Yayāti swapped his untimely old age with his youngest son Pururava and ruled the country for thousands of years. While he was a king, he performed innumerable Yagnas and amassed enormous amounts of merit (punya) that he was destined by Providence to spend thousands of years in heaven. ...

Background of the Story The Kshatriya king Yayāti married Devayani, a Brahmin on the orders of Sukracharya and Sukracharya exonerated the sin of Varna Sankara attaching to the king. Sukracharya cautioned Yayāti that he should not marry Sarmishta, the daughter of king Vrushaparva who accompanied Devayani as her Dasi (servant). 1 The Story Yayāti came back from the hermitage of Sukracharya and started ruling the country with Mahendrapuram as his capital. When Devayani attained puberty, she was blessed with a son. ...

Discussions in the Story The Story revolves around three important issues - the anger and its management, the true essence of Pāṇigrahaṇa, and finally वर्ण सांकर्यं (Varṇa sāṃkaryaṃ) and its nuances as per Sastras. Apart from this the story talks of the clash of two ego-centric characters. 1 The Story Devayani was the daughter of Sukrācārya, the family guru of daityas (also called Asuras or Demons). At that time, the king of Asuras was Vrushaparva and he had a daughter by name Sarmishta. Devayani and Sarmishta were friends and on one day they went out for a forest accompanied by a huge number of servant maids and care takers. After roaming for a while they entered a pond of water, and they were swimming with joy. It so happened that a gush wind from the bushes galvanized the area where the ladies had dropped their robes, and all the robes got mixed up. ...