Week 6 Story: I Need Some Advice

Bhima and Duryodhana (Wikimedia)

DEAR ABBY:

     I have a problem with my cousins. I am the son of a king, the eldest of one hundred. I should be the heir to the throne, but my father has named my oldest cousin his heir instead. It's not fair. My cousin doesn't deserve to be the king and neither do any of his brothers. They are the sons of gods, for one thing, not the sons of kings. Besides, even though their father used to be king, my father is older. By all rights, the kingdom should be mine! Also, all of my cousins are jerks, especially Bhima. When we were children, he would torment me and my brothers mercilessly. It was cruel. He's incredibly strong, so it was difficult to fight back. He would mock us, kick us, and laugh at us. Once, while we were training as warriors, one of his 'practical jokes' ended with the death of my best friend. Bhima never even apologized! He claims that the death wasn't his fault, even though it wouldn't have happened if Bhima hadn't been playing such a mean spirited prank. Everyone acts like my cousins are the most wonderful people, but they're cruel and selfish. I keep getting conflicting advice about what I should do, so I'm asking you. Would it be right for me to kill my cousins? They don't deserve the kingdom, and they don't deserve to live.

HOPPING MAD IN HASTINPURA

Dear HOPPING MAD:

     No, it is right for you to murder your cousins. I'm very sorry that they were cruel to you when you were children. Perhaps if you talked to them you would be able to work out your issues. Does Bhima know how much pain you felt when your friend died? You should try to work out your issues with your cousins peacefully. You may not feel that your cousin deserves to be king, but killing him wouldn't make you deserve to be king more. You should sit down and have an open and honest conversation with your family. If you show yourself to be a good man, maybe you can show your cousins how to better themselves.



Author's Note: In the Mahabharata, Duryodhana is the eldest of the Kauravas. He is the instigator in the conflict between the Kauravas and their cousins, the Pandavas. Duryodhana hates the Pandavas, especially Bhima, with a passion. He strongly believes the he should be the heir to the throne for many reasons, and is angry about the pranks that the Pandavas, especially Bhima, played on he and his brothers throughout their childhood. I wanted to express Duryodhana's point of view a little bit and try to explain some of his hatred. I created an incident in which a friend of Duryodhana's is killed during one of Bhima's childhood pranks. I thought this would help to explain the strength of Duryodhana's hatred. While reading the Mahabharata, I didn't feel that Duryodhana's hatred was sufficiently justified. I had Abby give the advice that should have been given in that situation. If the Kauravas and the Pandavas had respected each other, talked to each other, and been open with each other they might have been able to settle their differences.


Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section B

Disrobing of Draupadi (Wikimedia)

- After Yudhishthira loses all of the dice games to Sakuni, and has bet his brothers, himself, and their wife, Draupadi is dragged into the room by a Kaurava brother named Duhshasana. She resists due to the fact that it is her time of the month, and therefore cannot be around people. Also, she argues that since Yudhishthira had bet himself before betting her, that he no longer retained the right to use her as a wager. The Kauravas don't care, and proceed to humiliate and mock her.
- At one point, one of the Kauravas attempts to strip Draupadi's sari off of her. She prays for protection to Krishna. When the sari is ripped away, she remains clothed. No matter how much clothing that is pulled off of her, her original sari remains in place.
- I would like to tell the story of this incident from Draupadi's point of view. She expresses her thoughts several time, but what else is she thinking and feeling? When she was originally accosted, and dragged off by her hair, what was running through her mind? What does she think about how Krishna chooses to answer her prayer? What is she thinking about the reactions of the Pandava brothers to her predicament? What expressions does she see on their faces? All of this would be interesting to determine how she is perceiving the events, and how she expects it all to end.



Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section A

(Wikipedia)

- While reading the Mahabharata, I felt that there wasn't a good enough reason for Duryodhana and his brothers to hate the Pandava brothers so much. They are cousins, they were raised together, and the Pandava's aren't particularly cruel or lacking in virtue. The story states in various places that the Pandavas play tricks on their cousins, that the cousins are jealous of the abilities of the Pandavas, and that the Kauravas are the incarnation of pure evil. The tricks aren't reason enough for the overwhelming hatred and if jealousy alone is enough to make you murder your own cousins, then you have to be very bad people. However, there is no support for the claim that the Kauravas are evil. How and why are they evil? Their heritage and family was good, so where exactly did this evil come from? There is no reasonable explanation for it.
- Since the idea of the Kauravas being evil just to be evil doesn't have any supporting evidence, then the best possible explanation is that the "tricks" that the Pandavas played on their cousin were far more harsh and unkind than simple children's tricks would imply. Another possibility is that Duryodhana believes that one of their "tricks" resulted in a tragedy that wasn't really caused by the prank that the Pandava's played. That would be a more logical explanation for the abiding hatred.
- A story about the boy's childhoods, detailing some of the tricks and the trick that had the supposed tragic ending would flesh out the conflict between the two sets of brothers.



Bibliography: Mahabharata by Narayan. Web Source.