Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata Read online

  ‘How do you know?’ asked a wide-eyed Uttara.

  ‘Because I am Arjuna, the third Pandava, son of Kunti.’ Uttara fell to his knees as he saw Arjuna standing before him holding the bow Gandiva in his hand. ‘Now we have a battle to fight and a war to win,’ said Arjuna.

  This time when the chariot entered the battlefield, the young prince was the charioteer and the eunuch was the warrior. Once again, the Kauravas laughed and blew their conch-shells until the eunuch raised his bow, released his arrows and brought down the flags of Duryodhana, Karna, Bhishma and Drona.

  ‘That’s not a eunuch,’ said Karna. ‘Look at the flag fluttering atop the chariot. It has the symbol of the monkey. And look at the bow in his hand. It looks like the Gandiva. That is without doubt Arjuna.’

  Duryodhana smiled at this revelation, ‘There, we have smoked them out. The thirteenth year of exile is not over and they have been discovered. They have to go back to the forest now.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure,’ said Bhishma. ‘The Pandavas are no fools to reveal themselves so publicly before the end of the thirteenth year. Think, Duryodhana, think. How do you calculate a year? By the movement of the sun through the twelve solar houses of the zodiac, or by the time taken for the moon to be full across twenty-seven lunar houses, or by the calendar given by astrologers? All three are different. Our astrologers add two extra months every fifth year so that their man-made calendar corresponds with the natural cycle of the sun and the moon. By that calculation, over five months have passed since the thirteenth year of the Pandava exile. Yudhishtira could have revealed himself five months earlier. But he did not want issues raised on technical grounds. So he and his brothers waited five more months to reveal themselves. So you see, they have kept their end of the agreement.’

  ‘There is merit in what Bhishma says,’ said Drona.

  ‘You always agree with the elders of the family,’ said Duryodhana. ‘As per my calendar, the thirteen years are not yet over, no matter what they argue. The Pandavas must stay in exile.’ Duryodhana then turned to Karna and Dusshasana and said, ‘Attack. Kill Arjuna and raze Matsya to the ground.’

  But before anyone could take a step forward, Arjuna released three arrows, one landed near Bhishma’s feet, another at Drona’s feet, indicating his reverence for the two of them, and the third one put the entire Kaurava army to sleep.

  Arjuna then instructed Uttara to go and collect the upper garments of Duryodhana, Karna, Drona and Bhishma. ‘When they wake up, they will know that I spared their lives. They will go away humiliated.’

  The yagna was a mobile ritual needing no permanent structure, suggesting that the followers of the Veda were primarily nomadic herdsmen. Over time, they intermingled and married people who lived more settled lives such as Naga agriculturists and Asura miners. The Mahabharata is the tale of an age when the intermingling was well on its way. But the tradition of stealing and fighting over cows had not yet waned.

  In Bhasa’s play, Pancharatra, dated 100 CE, the cattle raid is carried out on Bhishma’s instruction to teach Virata a lesson for not attending Duryodhana’s yagna. Duryodhana dares his teacher, Drona, to expose the Pandavas in five days failing which he is ready to divide his kingdom. Drona fails and Duryodhana divides the kingdom and peace follows—a total departure from the classical ending.

  Stealing cows or go-harana was the easiest method to start a fight in Vedic times. The epic states that the war was fought over thousands of cows and involved hundreds of chariots, elephants and foot soldiers from Matsya, Hastinapuri and Trigarta. The scale of the war described seems rather hyperbolic, an exaggeration of a smaller skirmish with cattle thieves.

  The story of Uttara and Brihanalla riding into the battlefield adds comic relief to the otherwise serious epic. To many, the character Brihanalla proves that men were castrated in Vedic times to serve in women’s quarters. There are those who dispute this, saying that this is a later interpolation and that the practice of castrating men and using them as servants came to India after the invasion of Central Asian warlords post 1000 CE.

  Ancient Indians were conversant with the complexities involved with measuring time. Attention was given to the movements of the sun and the moon across twelve solar constellations and twenty-seven lunar constellations while preparing a calendar. To align the twelve months of the lunar calendar with the six seasons and the movement of the sun and the moon, the notion of adhik-maas, or extra month, was created and used from time-to-time.

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  Marriage of Uttari

  When Virata returned to Matsya, having successfully retrieved his cows from Trigata with the help of his adviser, cook, horse keeper and cow herder, he was told that his son had single-handedly driven back the Kaurava army which had attacked the northern frontier. Virata beamed with pride at the news. ‘Can you believe it? Such a young boy and what a feat!’

  ‘With Brihanalla by his side, Uttara was bound to succeed,’ said Kanka. The king ignored this comment since it belittled his son’s achievement; he decided to celebrate by playing dice.

  While he was playing, he once again said beaming with pride, ‘Imagine my young boy routing all those great Kuru warriors.’

  ‘Not impossible considering Brihanalla was by his side,’ said Kanka once again. This repeated reference to a eunuch, suggesting that the prince owed his success to someone, further annoyed the king. This happened a third time; this time an irritated Virata flung the die at Kanka striking his nose so hard that it began to bleed.

  Sairandhri who was sitting nearby rushed with a cup so that not a single drop of Yudhishtira’s blood touched the ground. ‘He is an honest man,’ she explained, ‘if his blood touches the ground, there will be famine.’

  The king did not pay much attention to what was being said, as the prince entered the court at that very moment with the upper garments of senior Kuru warriors in his hand. Brihanalla coyly stood behind him. The women of the palace rushed to greet him. He was given a hero’s welcome. He tried to tell the truth but no one heard him. Nobody noticed Brihanalla walking behind the prince, smiling slyly.

  The night was spent celebrating the ‘success’ of Virata. The next day, when the king entered his court, he was shocked to find Kanka sitting on his throne with a spear in his right hand and Sairandhri seated on his left lap. Ballava, Brihanalla, Damagranthi and Tantipala stood behind him holding fierce-looking weapons of war.

  ‘What is the meaning of this? How dare you sit on a seat reserved for kings?’

  To this Brihanalla answered, ‘Because Kanka is a king. He is Yudhishtira, son of Pandu, grandson of Vichitravirya.’ The Pandavas then revealed their true identities to the king.

  Suddenly, everything made sense. Kanka’s sense of fair play, Ballava’s strength, Brihanalla’s skill, Damagranthi’s beauty, Tantipala’s intelligence and Sairandhri’s regal bearing. Virata and Sudeshna apologized for treating them as servants. ‘We were your servants,’ said the Pandavas extending a hand of friendship.

  ‘To make amends for our rudeness, committed in ignorance perhaps, I give my daughter, Uttari, to Arjuna,’ said Virata.

  ‘I spent the year teaching her dance. She is my student, like my daughter. So I accept her as a daughter-in-law. She shall marry my son, Abhimanyu.’

  Virata is so blind in his love for Uttara that he is unable to accept a truth that is evident to all. He is very much like the blind Dhritarashtra and the blindfolded Gandhari who regard Duryodhana very highly. Vyasa wonders if parents are naturally blind to shortcomings of their children like Dhritarashtra, or if they choose to be blind like Gandhari.

  There is an advice here for servants that perhaps it is wise to sometimes be quiet rather than correct. Kanka is being correct and in doing so annoying his master. Discretion here, perhaps even silence, would be more appropriate.

  In folk songs, there is a suggestion that Arjuna perhaps was secretly in love with Uttari. But since she looked upon him as a teacher, he decided to make her his daughter-in-law rather