Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata Read online

  Next, Vyasa went to Ambalika. She grew pale on seeing Vyasa. The child thus conceived in her womb would be a pale weakling called Pandu.

  ‘Go to Ambika again. This time she will not shut her eyes,’ said Satyavati, disappointed by the birth of imperfect grandsons.

  Vyasa did as he was told. But on the bed lay not Ambika but her maid who made love to him fearlessly. The child she conceived would be healthy and wise. He would be named Vidura. Though fit to be king, he would never be allowed to wear the crown as he was born of a maid.

  Vidura was none other than Yama, the god of death, living out a curse. This is how it happened.

  Once, a group of thieves took refuge in the hermitage of sage Mandavya who was at that time lost in meditation, totally unaware of their presence. When they were discovered by the king’s guards, Mandavya was accused of aiding them and as punishment was tortured and impaled. When he appeared before Yama, ruler of the dead, he demanded an explanation for his suffering for he had hurt no living creature in his life. ‘Yes, you have. When you were a child, you took delight in impaling tiny insects on a straw,’ said Yama. ‘Your suffering was repayment for the karmic debt incurred then.’ Mandavya protested that being punished for crimes committed in childhood, when one is innocent, was not fair. ‘That is the law of karma,’ replied a dispassionate Yama. A furious Mandavya then cursed Yama that he would take birth as a man and suffer the fate of never being a king despite having all the qualities of the perfect ruler. And so was born Vidura.

  Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were raised by Bhishma as if they were his own sons. The irony of the situation was evident to all. Bhishma, who had sworn never to beget a family of his own, was entrapped by the family of his father, which included a stepmother, two widowed sisters-in-law, their maid and three nephews.

  Bhishma is the last of the Kuru bloodline. The sons his father bears on Satyavati die childless. Children of the royal family thereafter are not true Kurus; they are children of the daughters-in-law of the household by other men.

  Vyasa draws attention to the frailties of human laws that try to correct what nature has ordained. Satyavati’s son dies childless but by the law of niyoga he can still be a father. Thus Dhritarashtra and Pandu become the ‘sons’ of Vichitravirya even though their mothers were made pregnant by Vyasa.

  The laws say that only children of the lawfully wedded wife are the true sons, not the children of concubines. Thus only Pandu and Dhritarashtra can be kings, not Vidura, even though Vidura is the most worthy.

  The story of Vidura’s past life is an attempt to explain why bad things happen to good people. In a further elaboration of the law of karma, it informs that even acts performed in ignorance or innocence have repercussions that one is obliged to experience either in this life or the next.

  Yama, god of death, is also known as Dharma, god of order. A dispassionate god who oversees death and destiny, he ensures that the law of karma is followed meticulously.

  Book Three

  Birth

  ‘Janamejaya, in your family, sterile men became fathers by asking gods to visit their wives.’

  13

  Satyavati’s grand-daughters-in-law

  South of Hastina-puri, on the banks of the river Yamuna, the Yadava council ruled the prosperous city of Mathura. One of the members of the Yadava council, Surasena, had a daughter called Pritha who was adopted by his cousin, Kuntibhoja, who renamed her Kunti.

  When Kunti was of marriageable age, a swayamvara was organized where, from among the assembled guests, she chose Pandu as her husband.

  Around the same time, the princess of Gandhara, Gandhari, was brought to Hastina-puri and given in marriage to Dhritarashtra. She did not know at the time of her wedding that she was marrying a blind man. When she learnt this, she decided to blindfold herself to share her husband’s suffering.

  For reasons never clarified, though many suspect it was because of Pandu’s inability to father a child on Kunti, a second wife was purchased for Pandu. She was Madri, sister of Shalya, king of Madra. Second wives were usually purchased when the first wife was suspected of being infertile. But Kunti had proof of fertility: she had secretly borne a child before marriage. Perhaps rumours of her premarital liaisons stained her reputation and provided reason enough for getting a second wife.

  Though elder, since Dhritarashtra was born blind, he was forbidden from sitting on the throne. Pandu was made king instead, superseding Dhritarashtra just as Shantanu had superseded Devapi. This decision caused great heartburn in the blind prince, but he never voiced his protest for he was well versed with the quirks of laws. While some laws made him the legitimate son of Vichitravirya, there were others which prevented him from becoming king. At night, in bed, the blind prince whispered to his wife, ‘Let us make a son quickly, Gandhari, before Pandu makes one, so that he can reclaim what should rightfully be mine.’

  Vedic literature classifies eight different ways in which man and woman come together. 1. If a woman is given away as charity to help a needy man, as Gandhari is, it is the way of Prajapati, father of all creatures. 2. If a bride is accepted more for her dowry than for herself, it is the way of Brahma, the creator who is entrapped by his own creation. 3. If a daughter is given as a fee for services rendered to the father, it is the way of the Deva, the sky-gods. 4. If a daughter is given for ritual purposes along with a cow and a bull, it is the way of the Rishi. 5. If a woman chooses her husband freely, as Shakuntala and Kunti do, it is the way of the Gandharva, the celestial musicians. 6. If a woman is purchased, as Madri is, it is the way of the Asura, the subterranean hoarders of wealth. 7. If a woman is abducted, as Ambika and Ambalika are, it is the way of the Rakshasa, the forest-dwelling barbarians. 8. If a woman is raped, it is the way of the Pisachas or vampires.

  By blindfolding herself to share her husband’s blindness, Gandhari attains the status of ‘sati’ or the perfect wife. Later in the epic, her sacrifice grants her magical powers. Playwrights suggest that Gandhari blindfolded herself in outrage to protest against her marriage to a blind man. Rather than being exploited, she disables herself.

  In the Bhil Bharata of the Doongri Bhils of Gujarat, there is a story connecting Kunti and Gandhari to the mother-goddess, Shakti. Once seven sages were busy performing tapasya. Intrigued, Shiva and Shakti paid them a visit in the form of eagles. But pushed by the winds, the female eagle got impaled on the trident of the sages. When the sages saw this, they were so upset that they decided to use their magical powers to bring life into the dead bird. Two women emerged from the dead bird: Gandhari from the skeletons and Kunti from the flesh.

  The laws say that only a physically fit man can be king. So Dhritarashtra who is blind is bypassed and his younger brother, Pandu, is made king. Ironically, even Pandu is physically unfit; his disability (sterility or impotency) is not as evident as blindness.

  14

  Birth of Kunti’s children

  One day, not long after his second marriage, Pandu went on a hunt, perhaps to vent his frustration at being unable to give even the highly fertile Madri a child. Would he die, like his father, leaving two childless widows behind?

  Pandu’s arrow struck an antelope. When Pandu came closer, he realized he had killed the antelope while he was mating with a doe. To make matters worse, the antelope turned out to be a sage called Kindama and the doe turned out to be his wife. They had used magical powers to turn themselves into animals so that they could make love freely in the open.

  Before dying, Kindama cursed Pandu, ‘You, who have so violently stopped a man from making love to a woman, may you never know the pleasure of lovemaking. If you ever touch a woman, you will die instantly.’

  A distraught Pandu felt that a man who cannot father a child is unfit to be king. So he refused to return to Hastina-puri. He decided to live the life of a hermit in the forest of Satasringa along with the Rishis there.

  When news of Pandu’s decision to become a hermit reached Hastina-puri, his wives rushed to be with him. They