This section of Buck’s Mahabharata is mainly focused on the
Pandavas, who are basically forced out of their house in Varanavata because
Duryodhana and Duhshasana order the minister, Purochana, to devise a fire trap
to kill the Pandavas. After hearing of these plans, the Pandavas construct a
tunnel that allows them to escape the house. They also leave six corpses to try
and fool Duryodhana and disguise themselves as Brahmins. I thought this part of
the reading was pretty intense because they were basically about to be ambushed
by a fire. Luckily, they made it out!
I enjoyed reading the part about Draupadi’s swamyavara. I
find it an entertaining section of the reading because Arjuna is my favorite
character and because he wows everyone watching with his talents. The audience
is so surprised because he is disguised as just a wandering Brahmin at the
time. I have watched the Mahabharata and this scene in the show is very intense
because it is supposed to be very difficult to string the bow and hit the
moving target. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the Mahabharata.
After winning this competition, Arjuna wins Draupadi and she ends up marrying
all five of the Pandava brothers. I still don’t understand why she marries all
five of the brothers.
This section was definitely a good read because so much
stuff is going on. I want to read more about Krishna and Arjuna’s friendship so
I hope that Buck touches on that a little more than Narayan did.
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| Arjuna at Draupadi's swamyavara; Wikipedia |
Parth, I really enjoyed the second half of this weeks readings as well. I think that Arjuna is a very interesting and fun character to read about. I am definitely never bored when I am reading about him throughout the stories. I would have to say my favorite part and the most interesting part of the second half of the readings was when Arjuna won Draupadi and then ended up marrying all five of the Pandavi brother clan. Talk about an interesting story.
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