Reading Notes: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu Part A

 

Picture Information: Author: Mahavir Prasad Mishra, Date: Unknown, Desc: Pandavas/Kedarnath, Link

Reading Source: Author: Richard Wilson, Title: The Indian Story Book: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu, Date: 1914, Link 

    For this weeks' reading assignment, I wanted to change it up and write my notes on a different version of the Mahabharata. Wilson's version of the epic focuses completely on the five sons, there are no gods involved in his storytelling.

Section 1: The Young Princes

    In this section, we are introduced to Pandu, the father of the 5 princes; Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. The section goes through the part where Pandu dies and Dhritarashtra takes over. We learn about how much Duryodhana hates the five brothers. The princes are taught how to fight and the story skips to when they are older. Karna challenges Arjuna and a charioteer comes in randomly. Everybody realizes that Karna is a warrior that has a lot of skill

Section 2: Draupadi's Swayamvara

    Duryodhana is angry that Yudhisthira is crowned the heir to the throne. He tries to kill the brothers by burning down their house, but they escape and disguise themselves as hermits. The brothers end up meeting Draupadi and try to enter the contest to win her into marriage. Arjuna succeeds and brings her home to the family. However, in this version, Draupadi is only Yudhishthira's bride.

Section 3: King Yudhisthira

    Duryodhana takes the richer part of the kingdom and gives the western riverside to the brothers. They end up decorating their part and making it look really nice. A lot of people attend Yudhishthira's crowning and Shishupala gets beheaded because he got mad. 

Section 4: Gambling Match

    Duryodhana is still mad at the brothers and gets even angrier because Yudhisthira is now a king. He decides to try to trick the brothers in a dice game. Yudhisthira loses everything in the wager, including his brothers. Because he lost, he decides that all of the brothers will go into exile as their punishment. This is different than the first version because this happens in the first gambling match rather than the second one. Dhritarashtra grants Draupadi her wish to go get exiled along with the brothers. 

Section 5: Exile

    Duryodhana tries to mock the brothers, but he ends up needing their help. Their help makes him hate the brothers even more. Jayadratha tries to kidnap Draupadi, but the brothers end up saving her in time. They then disguise themselves in King Virata's court. Duryodhana ends up stealing King Virata's cattle and the brothers prepare themselves to fight Duryodhana and take the cattle. 

Section 6: End of Exile

    Uttara sees the weapons that the brothers use and is intrigued. Arjuna reveals the brothers' identities. Duryodhana escapes the brothers but ends up leaving behind the cattle. The scene is then set up to represent the journey that is to come.

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