Mahabharatha - WAR
At the wedding ceremony of Arjuna with Uttara at Virat, a large
number of Pandava allies gathered to draw out a war strategy. Emissaries were
sent to the Kauravas to demand the return of Indraprastha, the land granted by
Dhritarashtra, and developed by the Pandavas, but lost to the Kauravas during a
dice game. The attempt to settle the issue peacefully was a failure, even
though Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu and a maternal cousin of the Pandavas, went
on the mission himself. Duryodhana refused to give away as much land as was
covered by the point of a needle, let alone the five villages proposed by the
peace missions. The Kauravas also gathered their allies around them, and even
broke away a key Pandava ally - the maternal uncle of the Pandava twins - by
trickery.
The Kurukshetra War broke out. Scholars are divided in their
opinion as to when this war took place, and even the historicity of this war is
a subject of much debate. In any case, according to the Mahabharata, the
Kurukshetra War lasted for 18 days, during which most of the characters in the
epic are killed. Arguably the most famous episode in the epic,
the Bhagavat Gita , occurs here, just before the fighting begins.
Just before the war bugle was sounded, Arjuna saw arrayed before
him his relatives: his great-grandfather Bheeshma who had practically brought
him up, his teachers Kripa and Drona, his brothers the Kauravas, and, for a
moment, his resolution wavered. Krishna, the warrior par excellence, had
given up arms for this war and had elected to be Arjuna's charioteer. Arjuna requested Krishna to take him back as he can not kill these people; my father, my
brothers, my teachers, my uncles, my sons. He said he has no desire on kingdom
and kingship at the cost of many dear lives. Krishna gave his philosophical
discourse - the Bhagavad Gita explaining the impermanence of Kshathriya
(Kingly) life, and the importance of fulfilling one’s duty, and keeping on the
path of righteousness. Arjuna picked up his bow to fight.
The battle was for 18 days. The army had 18 akshauhinis, 7
on the Panadava side and 11 on the Kaurava (1 akshauhini = 21,870
chariots + 21,870 elephants + 65,610 horses + 109,350 soldiers on foot). At the end of the war, the Pandavas emerge
victorious, though the losses on both sides are almost total. Among those left lives were Duryodhana and all
of the Kauravas, all of the menfolk of Draupadi's family, including all of her
sons by the Pandavas. Karna was revealed to be a son of Kunti, before her
marriage to Pandu, and thus, the eldest Pandava and the rightful heir to the
throne. The grand old man Bheeshma lost life. Their teacher Drona was dead, also
all kinsfolk related to them either by blood or by marriage. In about 18 days,
the entire country lost almost three generations of its men. It was a war not
seen on a scale before, it was the Great Indian war, the Maha-Bharat.
The war, however, is not the end of the epic. After the war,
Yudhishthira became king of Hastinapur and Indraprastha. The Pandavas ruled for
36 years, after which they abdicated in favour of Abhimanyu's son, Parikshit.
The Pandavas and Draupadi proceeded on foot to the Himalayas, intending to live
out their last days climbing the slopes heavenwards. One by one, they fell on
this last journey and their spirits ascended to the heavens.
Years later, Parikshit's son Janmejaya, a great-grandson of
Arjuna, succeeded his father as king. He held a big snake sacrifice, at which
this entire story was recited for the first time by Vaishampayan, a disciple of
Vyasa. Since that time, this story has been retold countless times, expanded
upon, and retold again. The Mahabharata remains popular to this day
in India. It has been adapted and recast in
contemporary mode in several films and plays. Children continue to be named
after the characters in the epic. The Bhagvad Gita is one of the
holiest of Hindu scriptures. Beyond India,
the Mahabharata story is popular in south-east Asia in cultures that
were influenced by Hinduism such
as Indonesia and Malaysia.
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