MAHABHARATAM

AADI PARVAM

Chilukuru Venkateswarlu
MAHABHARATAM
AADI PARVAM

© Chilukuru Venkateswarlu

Year : 2014

Copies can be had from :

SRI RAMAKRISHNA TAPOVANAM
Chennai – 600 032, Mobile : 9884708559
Website : sriramakrishnatapovanam.org
E-mail ID : chvenkateswarlu30@gmail.com

Typesetting by : R. Anuradha Raghuram, Hyderabad. (9441186831)

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 CONTENTS

1. Dedication 4

2. Between you and me 6

3. Vyasa Maharshi 8

4. Aadikavi Nannaya Bhattu 10

5. Tikkana Somayaji 16

6. Errapreggada 22

7. Aadiparvam 27

3
 Dedication

Sri Nori Sreenadha Venkata Somayazulu & Smt. Subbalakshmi

Dedicated to my brother Sree Nori Sreenadha venkata

Somayazulu and Smt. Subbalakshmi. Sree Somayazulu was born on
10-12-1922 at Thotlavalluru. He was the second son of late Sri Nori
Suryanarayana and Seetamma. He learnt Vedas from his grandfather
late Sri Nori Ramavadhani. Some how he did not showed much interest
in academic education.
In those days, education, economic background were not
considered as an important parameter for a marriage. Arshayam and
Paursheom are considered to be supreme. So he was married at a very
early age with late Smt. Subbalakshmi at her eighth year.
After marriage, he was inclined to equip himself with some
professional qualifications. In those days the country was in the heat of
independence movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In

4
his movement Gandhiji strongly felt that there must be a common
bondage to make the country united. He choose the propagation of Hindi
as a common language in the country.
Sri Somayazulu was one of the millions of youth influenced by
Gandhiji’s call and immediately jumped into the movement. He started
adult education in his house for adults in his village. With the same spirit
he started learning Hindi and Sanskrit from scholars like Sri Ramananda
Sarma, Sri Jatavallabhula Purushottam and pursued with great devotion.
In the process he acquired several degrees in Hindi such as Vidwan,
SahityaRatna from Allahabad University; B.A and Telugu Vidwan B.Ed
degrees from Andhra University, Waltair. To spread the message of
Gandhiji further he started “Netaji Hindi Vidyalaya” in Machilipatnam.
(Krishna District A.P)
Subsequently, He joined ZillaParishad (Krishna District), served
as a Hindi, Telugu Pandit and retired as A Head Master.
He helped his younger brothers Sri Ramakrishaiah,
Narayanamoorthy in building up their careers. During early sixties to
help. His youngest brother Chilukuru Venkateswarlu, a career he wrote
the biographies of ancient Telugu poets and fixed his career as a
publisher. (Subsequently, Venkateswarlu became a successful
industrialist and as a writer in Telugu and English, settled at Chennai)
He wrote many books on Vedanta such as Upanishads,
Bhagavatgeeta, Brahmasutras, Patanjali yoga sutras etc. He died on 02-
02-1997 in his own house which was fondly named as ‘Upanishad
Kuteeram’ at Tadigadapa, Vijayawada.
Srimathi Subbalakshmi his wife was born in Gollakoderu near
Kaikaluru Krishna district. They had six daughters and a son.
I feel I am privileged to dedicate Sri Mahabharatam to my brother
and sister-in-law.

- Chilukuru Venkateswarlu

5
 BETWEEN YOU AND ME

Society is rotten and stinking – It is our duty to protect and preserve

it. If our body fell sick it will not affect the society. But if the mind gets
sick, the society gets rotten. Why?
Mind is the mother of all desires.
Even the waves in a sea might stop but the
desires in a mind will not stop. Many more
desires crops up even before the first one
is fulfilled. When the desires did not fulfil,
the man gets angry. Anger breeds
hatredness. Hatredness breeds vengeance.
Vengeance gives birth to violence. Such a
person will resort to heinous crimes to
fulfill his desires. Greed overpowers mind
and encourages achieving his desires in all
unrighteous ways. The greed will not die
even if he is imprisoned. Why a man resorts
to that? Is it due to lack of love for his own
dharma and sadacharams? or does he
disregards to the laws of land? Or does he
lacks fear for the king (Constitution)? Or
is it due to the lack of devotion to the god?
In olden days people strive in
gurukulams till they attain perfect
knowledge. Our puranas reveals us that
Rama and Krishna also entered in
gurukulams for knowledge. Even a
hundred years ago the grand parents used
to make their kids to sit on their stomachs
and teach them to recite the morals from
Neeti satakams like Vemana and sumati
satakams . They inculcate devotion in their
tender minds with stories of Prahlada and
Gajendra. Thus they train their minds on
6
Ethics on one side and devotion on god on the other side. Oh! What a
great solid system that existed just before a century?
Now this system is disappeared under the guise of secularism. Even
grand parents do not know ethics and values of life. What can they teach
to their children? On the other hand they are questioning “What gain
my child benefit by learning time old morals? We want to make him an
actor or a doctor etc” In this manner even the parents themselves are
brain washing the child. While the Parents are dreaming the future of
their children they are missing natural love and affection from their
parents. As the parents are pushing their children to coaching centres
and for campus selection, in turn the children also are driving their
parents to old age homes when they are grown up. The undue growth of
old age homes should be an eye opener to the greedy parents.
Many Doctors, Layers, administrators politicians and many other
professionals are being produced in the above manner and ruling the
society. As a result ethical values are disappeared and jungle law
prevailed. There is no protection for a common man. Possession of
wealth, at any cost, is the order of the day.
These are all off shoots of mental sickness. They are not visible to
the doctors. Even Laws of the land also could not catch them. If one in a
million is caught, he is boasting without shame that he will come out
from the jail, like a cleaned pearal.
Unless the mind is controlled this disease can not be cured. If mind
becomes desireless it listens to sadbudhi. If it listens to sadbudhi, chittam
becomes pure and associates close to antahkaranam. (In fact manassu,
budhi, chittamu and Antahkaranam are all one and one and to the size
of an atom, situates in hrudayam).
Our society is built on Sanatana Dharma. Vedas are authority for
those dharmas. The great rishis took out the essence from Vedas and
framed in the form of Upanishads, sastras and puranas. Those dharmas
were further simplified in the form moral poems, devotional stories and
the grand parents were taught to their kids at a very infant age. Now
that time old tradition disappeared. But it is not a difficult task for the
almighty to put it back.
7
 In fact these thoughts are not mime. I am only an instrument, in
the hands of my guru Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Thought the society is rotten and stinking, people did not lost
devotion towards God. The unending Qs of devotees at all temples is an
evidence of their devotion towards God. This element of bhakti bhavana
is enough to retreat the lost peace and hormoney in the society. Is not a
small seed brings out a huge banian tree? Now let us came to the point.
In marketing terminology the term P.O.P (Point of Purchase)
occupies a significant place. Which means; normally a business man
keeps many more articles useful to his customers with a view of serving
him better. If a customer comes to buy an article, he buys some more
articles also useful for him. In the same way T.T.D Board also providing
several Savas to the Lord so as the devotees can avail a seva of their
choice.
For the first time I went to Tirumala to have a darshan of Lord
Venkateswara in 1945. At that time a road was laid and dedicated for
the service of devotees. In those days one bus used to come in the
morning to Tirumala and the same bus returns to Tirupati before sunset.
Devastanam used to provide us vessels freely and we used to cook our
own food. Hardly there were 2 or 3 special services were there apart
from dharma dersanam. Now the situation is different.
Devotees are waiting in Q complex between 5 to 20 hours for
darsan. Though they are confined in their comportments physically, but
their minds are not confined at the lotus feet of Lord Venkateswara.
Unless their mind is also made confined on god related matters, they
will not get Poorna Phalam.
Keeping in view of the above, and as guided by my Gurudev
I brought out 50 titles from Ramayanam, Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam
etc in an abridged from not expecting 150 pages. I made an appeal to
the Board of Trustees to distribute those epics freely who are all standing
in Q complexes jas long as they continue the scheme of annadanam. In
case the devotees develop taste in Sanatana dharmas, ethics and
Sadacharams they may go for its originals and enrich their knowledge.
8 Mahabharatam
 In fact this is a divine cause. It is the duty of the god to propagate
Sanatana dharma among the people. T.T.D has enough funds to for
Dharma Pracharam at their command. In case they need more funds,
people will stand in Q to donate for this divine cause. That is why
Mahatma Gandhi advised “Choose the right cause, means follow”.
Human mind is like a balance with two pans. As they enrich purity
of their mind by reciting these epics, the worldly desires, greed and other
impure qualities will disappear. In other words the society which is on
the verge of rotting will comeback and start practicing its time old
Sanatna dharmas.
As instructed by my Gurudev I ventured to put this proposal
before the learned T.T.D managing committee. Rest Lord Venkateswara
will take care.

- CHILUKURU VENKATESWARLU

Aadiparvam 9
 VYASA MAHARSHI

Mahabharatam is like a Kalpataru. Kalpataru is a divine tree which

provides whatever is desired. In the same manner Mahabharatam also
will provide all purushardhas of humans, which are dharma, ardha,
kaama and moksha. Vyasa Maharshi confidently said what ever one may
found outside, they are all found in Mahabharatam. But which is not
found in Mahabharatam that cannot be found anywhere outside.
Therefore Mahabharatam is said as an embodiment of Indian culture,
heritage and the true knowledge. Vyasa Maharshi is also called as
Krishna-Dwaipayana and is praised as a manifestation of Lord Vishnu.
He collected all those scattered Vedas and divided into four. In the same
manner he compiled all Puranas into eighteen. He wrote Mahabharatam
and it is applauded as the fifth veda. He is praised by all Maharishis as
“Vyaso Narayano Harihi; Vyasaya Vishnu Roopaya; Vyasa Roopaya
Vishnav”. Lord Krishna himself proclaimed in Bhagavat Geeta as
“Muneena Mapyaham Vyasaha”. Vyasa Bharatam was spread in the world
in three stages. He wrote the history of Bharata dynasty in three years
and named it as “Jaya”. Narada spread this in devalokam, Devala spread
in pitrulokam, Vysampayana spread on earth by teaching to Janamejaya.
While listening to Vysampayana, Janamejaya expressed many doubts.
Vysampayana clarified all of them within the line of Vyasa Maharishis
thoughts. In this manner, with all those additions made by Vysampayana,
the epic Jaya, has became popular as Bharatam. Ugravasu, son of Roma
Maharishi heard the epic Jaya from Vysampayana Maharishi. He retold
that it as Bharatam to Sownaka and other Maharishis in Naimisaranyam
while they were performing satra yaga for 12 years.
Again Sownaka and other Maharishis also raised several doubts.
Ugravasu clarified those doubts in accordance with the thoughts of Vyasa
Maharishi. As a result the volume of the epic has increased. With all those
additions the epic was popularly known as Mahabharatam. In other
words the epic Jaya has finally took the shape as Mahabharatam in three
stages. Mahabharatam is mainly the family history of Kings belonging
to sun and moon (Surya-Chandra) dynasties. They are all the protectors
of vedic dharmas. Normally those histories will appear in Puranas and
reveals the genecology of those kings. If those pedigrees are described

10 Mahabharatam
independently, they are called as Itihasamu (a traditional history of
heroes). In this manner Bharatam is revealing the history of Bharata
and his dynasty. But it is more classified as an independent epic than a
purana. The main story is known as a legend with historic basis.
Subsidiaries to the main stories are called as ahyanas and Upakshyanas
(connected, narrative stories, or short stories). These subsidiary stories
will help to strengthen the main story. When Bharatam is said as a big
tree, Akhyanams are its trunk, and Upakshyanas are like the branches.
While narrating many morals and dharmas, these Upakshyanas and
Akshyanams have become vital. Since Mahabharatam is a treasure of
knowledge, those stories and subsidiary tales will help in explaining them
in detail. The more it spreads with its branches it becomes dense, and
gives more shelter to relieve the humans from their fatigue. In the same
manner the morals and dharmas will relieve the mankind from distress.
The essence of a tree is preserved in its fruits and seeds. In fact the fruits
and seeds are the purpose of a tree. In the same manner Bhagavat
Geeta is the fruit for Mahabharatam. In other words Bhagavat
Geeta is the soul of Mahabharatam. Mahabharatam (in Sanskrit) contains
in 19 parvams, 100 sub- parvams, 1, 00,500 slokas. This original text has
been written independently in Telugu by Nannaya Bhattu, Tikkana
Somayazi and Errapreggada. The Andhra Mahabharatam contained into
18 parvams, 63 Aaswasams are said in 21,507 poems.

Aadiparvam 11
 AADIKAVI NANNAYA BHATTU

In Sanskrit literature Valmiki is the first poet. In the same way,

Nannaya Bhattu is the first poet in Telugu poetic Literature. Thus Andhra
Mahabharatam is the first epic in Telugu. In the same way, Nannaya
Bhattu is our Aadikavi.
Nannaya has written Aadiparvam, Sabha Parvam and a part of
Aranya Parvam during 1054-61 A.C. After him Tikkana Somayazi has
written 15 Parvams, in the 14th century from Virata Parvam to
Swargarohana Parvam. Errapreggada has written the remaining part of
Aranya Parvam in the 15th century. In this manner it took about 2 ½
centuries to complete Mahabharatam in Telugu. Though it took 2 ½
centuries for its completion, it gives an experience to the reader that as
if it was written by one single poet, at a stretch.
Nannaya Bhattu was a minister in the court of King Rajaraja
Narendra during 1022-61. He was actively associated with the King in
political, cultural and educational activities. All the enactments of the
King (government orders) were made in poetry, slokas, under the
supervision of Nannaya Bhattu.
The dynasty of east Chalukyas ruled Vengi desam in the 11th
century. Their kingdom spread from Visakhapattanam on the east upto
Nellore in south, Markapuram (Kunnoor district) and a few areas in
Telangana on the west. The entire east coast of Bay of Bengal was under
their control. Vengi was surrounded by Orians (Kalinga) on its north, on
its northwest, was ruled by Chalukyas and south Chalukyas ruled on their
southern border. In those days there were frequent battles among
themselves. Hence the political situation in the country was caught in
political disturbances during the 11th century.
Rajaraja Narendra became the King of Vengi desam in 1019 A.C.
He was also popularly known as Rajaraju. In 1053, there was a big battle
by name Koppam battle, where all the neighbouring kingdoms were
involved. In that battle the King of Chola died. He was friendly with
Rajaraju. At that critical time Nannaya with his diplomacy made a lifetime
friendship treaty with the western Chalukyas. Rajaraju thus ruled his
country firmly by withstanding all those political uncertainties and

12 Mahabharatam
shifted his capital to Rajamahendrapuram (Rajamandy) and firmly
established his rule.
Before Vyasa Maharishi undertook the writing of Mahabharatam
also, the country was in disorder due to social, communal and religious
disturbances. At that time Vyasa Maharishi wrote the great epic Jaya
and spread the message through his disciples in all parts of the country.
While Nannaya undertook the writing of Mahabharata in Telugu, the
Vengi desam and its surrounding countries also faced similar
disturbances as Vyasa Maharishi experienced. In addition to the above
Nannaya has also faced certain challenges in the field of literature. Let
us know those circumstances.
In those days, Sanskrit used to be the official language. Even
common people were conversant and comfortable in Sanskrit. The Kings
of east Chalukyas took enormous interest in developing Telugu
Literature. As a result, they introduced Telugu and Sanskrit as the official
languages. They used to issue sasanams (government orders) both in
Sanskrit and Telugu. Nannaya Bhattu was the official writer of all those
sasanams (G.O’s). Even in 11th century itself, they started writing those
sasanams in poetry with Champaka Mala, Madhyakkara, Seesam,
Tetageeti, Aataveladi, Kandamu, etc., in Telugu Chandassu. Ordinary
people used to read, digest and enjoy those sasanams in poetry. With
this we can understand the royal patronage the language commanded
in those days. All those poetry in royal sasanams appeared even before
Nannaya’s period. Hence it is presumed that Telugu poetry was prevalent
even 2/3 centuries earlier. The dynasty of east Chalukyas encouraged
the announcement of royal sasanams in Telugu poetry. Nannaya himself
expressed in his Avatarika that he ventured to write Mahabharatam in
Telugu with patronage of the King Rajaraja Narendra and also with the
encouragement of various literary scholars (Vidvatparishattulu). From
this we are able to understand that everyone can’t be a poet unless he
had the approval of Vidvatparishats.
Rajaraja Narendra:
King Rajaraja Narendra himself was a scholar . He read and
digested all Puranas, Itihasas and epics. He heard all Puranas without
any partisan attitude. Inspite of his knowledge in Puranas and Itihasas,

Aadiparvam 13
he was more attracted towards Mahabharatam because it teaches all
Purushardhas (dharma, ardha, kaama, moksha). He wanted to listened
the epic Mahabharata again and again. As a result he requested his
minister Nannaya Bhattu to write Mahabharatam in Telugu and read
out for him, but he never asked to dedicate it to him. Nannaya also did
not give a word to that extent. However he dedicated his epic to King
Rajaraja Narendra only. Thus the King Rajaraja Narendra has became
Krutibharta and Sroota also.
Nannaya is the first epic writer:
We are to feel proud that Nannaya has not only written
Mahabharatam with more competency, but also he has paved the way
for writing an epic in poetry. Thus he became the guru for the future
writers in poetry. Nannaya is not only the first writer of Telugu epic but
also he has shown many new styles for the future poets. Thus each poet
in Telugu is indebted to Nannaya. Let all Telugu speaking people give a
standing ovation to our Aadikavi. Tikkana himself applauded Nannaya’s
poetry in his Virata Parvam 1-6.
While Rajaraja Narendra requested him to write Mahabharatam
in Telugu, Nannaya has acknowledged his gratitude with all modesty in
first person (in his Aadiparvam 1-9) in the following manner. Nannaya
has introduced himself in his Avatarika as his “Kula Brahmana Mantri”.
1. His personal bio-data 2. About his literary talent.
1. Personal bio-data:
1. Nannaya is the Kula Brahmana Mantri for King Rajaraja
Narendra. Which means he is the hereditary priest- cum- minister. 2. He
is a close friend of the King. 3. He is a religious brahmin performing all
the daily rituals as prescribed in Vedas such as japam, homa etc. 4. He is
good in reciting and teaching Vedas. 5. He is eligible for receiving and
donating gifts (Danam). 6. He belongs to Aapastambha Sutra of Mudgala
Gootra. 7. Nitya Satya Vratudu. 8. He is as virtuous and brilliant as
Bruhaspati.
2. His literary talents:
1. “Vipula Sabda Sasanudu”: The poet who wants to write any epic,
original of which is in Sanskrit, must be proficient in both the languages.

14 Mahabharatam
2. “Vignana Niratudu”: unless one has extensive knowledge in all the
eighteen Puranas, Vedas and other Sastras cannot write Mahabharatam
which is the fifth Veda. 3. Lokagnudu: he must be a poet, conversant
with traditions and customs, and capable of creating characters
effectively. 4. Ubhaya Bhasha Kavya Rachanadi Sobhitudu: he who has
extensive knowledge in Sanskrit and Telugu alone can undertake the
writing of Mahabharatam in Telugu. 5. Satprabhichabhiyogyudu: means
he is not a mere translator but an original creator of the epic
Mahabharatam.
Before commencing the writing of Mahabharatam, he worshipped
Valmiki, and Vyasa Maharishi. He has praised Valmiki as the first poet
and the guru for the knowledge of poetry. He has learnt from Valmiki
that the poetry need not necessarily be a sloka but whatever that can
produce musical sounds also can be said as poetry. In this manner,
Valmiki was the first guru for writing a sloka in Sanskrit. In the same
manner Nannaya is the guru for writing an epic in Telugu, thus he became
the “Guru for the knowledge of poetry”. For all Telugu poets Nannaya is
the guru and also Aadikavi. From the style of his writing, he is applauded
as Brahma. Viswanadha Satyanarayana has described Nannaya as the
second Valmiki. Nannaya is a Jnani like Vyasa and a great poet like
Valmiki.
Andhra Mahabharatam is not a translation:
King Rajaraja Narendra has asked Nannaya to write Vyasa
Bharatam in Telugu. But he never asked him to translate as such.
Nannaya has created his epic as an original on his own way. To that
matter, the other two poets also followed Nannaya in completing Andhra
Mahabharatam as an original epic. Nannaya himself has said in his
Avatarika:
1. All the three poets have ignored the Harivamsam in Telugu,
right from Aadiparvam to Swargarohana Parvam. In Vyasa Bharatam
Krishna’s character was depicted more prominently than the story of
Pandavas, whereas Nannaya has taken Pandavas as the heroes in his
epic. Therefore it is an independent creation but not a translation.
2. Ananda Vardana, the writer of Dhwanyalokam said that Vyasa
Maharishi has given more prominence for the teaching of four

Aadiparvam 15
purushardhas based on Vedas and sastras. For which he has taken up
the history of kings in Chandra vamsam. In other words he has given
more prominence for the debate on dharmas and sastras than the main
story.
Whereas Nannaya in his Andhra Mahabharatam viewed in a
different way. Nannaya has given more prominence for the story than
dharmas and sastras. Which means he has written within the framework
of Vyasa Bharata but dealt the entire story independently. Hence it is an
independent creation and not a translation.
3. As analyzed by Ananda Vardana, Vyasa took up his Bharatam
in a spirit of peace and satva guna, whereas all the three poets in Andhra
Mahabharatam gave prominence for dharma and valour. In Andhra
Mahabharatam the sentiments and emotions are created more
prominently in addition to dharma. Hence it is an independent creation
and not a translation.
4. Vedam gives prominence for the sabdam whereas Puranas give
prominence for the ardham. Epics will deal with both in suitable
proportions. While writing Andhra Mahabharatam, all the three poets
mixed up both kavyam and Itihasam and thus made a novel experiment.
In this manner, they helped Telugu literature a new approach. Hence it
is a new creation and not a translation.
5. All the three poets of Andhra Mahabharatam have given more
importance for the nativity in dealing the story. The style of poetry of
Nannaya is a mix of sabda and guna, In Andhra Mahabharatam we find
more of nativity and mix up with a life style of the sons of the soil. In this
manner all the three poets have given importance for the nativity. Hence
it is an original creation and not a translation.
6. Even if someone argue that Andhra Mahabharatam is a
translation it is said to be as a roof on the walls of Vyasa Bharatam.
7. Vyasa Bharatam contains seven hundred slokas of Bhagavad
Geeta. But Tikkana has condensed it to seventy poems. Hence Andhra
Mahabharatam is an independent creation and not a translation.
8. The nature of Rajaraja Narendra is to listen Mahabharata. It
means he is more interested to take the essence of Mahabharata.

16 Mahabharatam
Whereas Nannaya has created Andhra Mahabharatam to please his
listener Rajaraja Narendra, by taking into consideration socio, economic
and religious aspects prevailing in those days. In this manner Andhra
Mahabharatam is an original creation and not a translation.
The grandeur of Nannaya’s poetry:
Nannaya adopted a simple and natural style in his poetry so as to
impress both the literates and illiterates. His writing is a treasure of
idioms, proverbs, dharmas and morals, etc. That is why his poetry is
remembered by people for lifetime. He himself said, “Nanaruchirardha
Sookti Nidhitwam” (Aadiparvam 1-26).
–oOo–

Aadiparvam 17
 TIKKANA SOMAYAJI

Tikkana has inherited from his ancestors intricacies in war strategy,

literary talents and political diplomacy . Ketana said in his Dasakumara
Charitra that the surname of Tikkana Somayazi as Kottarapu. The
principal person in his dynasty was Mavena. He was popularly known
as “Sumkavenggada” which means minister for finance.
The son of Mavena was Gundu Sowri. His son was Ketana. Ketana
had three sons, Gundana, Bhaskara Mantri and Maheshwara. Tikkana
was the grandson of Bhaskara Mantri, who has written Poorva
Ramayanam. He was a subordinate King of Cholaraju and ruled Gunturu
and Palanadu. He was a popular epic writer (Poorva Ramayanam) and
an efficient ruler. Tikkana in his early days was brought up by his
grandfather and thus inherited his qualities.
Bhaskara Mantri had four sons. They are Ketana, Mallana, Siddhana
and Kommana. After the death of his father, Ketana migrated to Nellore
and settled there. He became popular for his truthfulness, valour,
performing vedic karmas, and in offering oblations to the deities. Tikkana
was the son of Ketana.
Tikkana settled in Vikrama Simhapuri (Nellore). He joined the court
of King Tikkaraju. After his death, his son Manumasiddhi became the
King. Manumasiddhi was much younger than Tikkana. Hence he used to
call Tikkana as uncle.
Soorana in his Markandeya Puranam - Peethika – 10 has described
Mahakavi Tikkana as Vyasa Maharishi of Telugu.
A poet named Ketana (not the father of Tikkana) has dedicated his
poetical composition, Dasakumara Charitra to Tikkana. In his Avatarika,
he described the qualities of Tikkana as follows. “He is a scholar in
Sanskrit and Telugu in the court of Manumasiddhi. Since he has expressed
his proficiency in writing poetical compositions in Telugu and Sanskrit,
he was given the title of “Ubhaya Kavi Mithrudu”. His works were widely
appreciated by scholars in those years. He used to encourage the poets
and extend patronage to the pandits in both Telugu and Sanskrit”. Ketana
has extensively praised Tikkana for his proficiency in various fields. He

18 Mahabharatam
made extensive donations, to scholars, such as villages, cows, and
ornaments.
After Tikkaraju his son Manumasiddhi became the King. Because
of the family quarrels among his cousins, he was dethroned from his
kingdom within a short time.
While Tikkaraju was ruling the kingdom, he killed Prudheeyswara,
the King of Chola in a battle. After him, his son Rajendra Chola became
the King. He was furious on Tikkaraju and was waiting to take revenge
on his kingdom. Immediately after the death of Tikkaraju, Rajendra Chola
fought Manumasiddhi and driven him out with the help of his cousins
Akkanna and Bayyanna.
At that juncture, Tikkana took care of Manumasiddhi’s safety and
kept him in a hiding. He took his disciples with him and went to King
Ganapati Deva who was ruling Orugallu. He received Tikkana Somayazi
and worshipped him. Tikkana recited Vyasa Bharatam and pleased the
King Ganapati Deva and his courtiers. At the end, the King asked him,
“What do you want?” Tikkana explained the conditions prevailing in
Nellore and requested his help to put back the King Manumasiddhi on
his throne. Ganapati Deva was pleased to help Tikkana. He took huge
army with him and punished first the Kuloottunga Choda and kept him
under his control. After that he surrounded Nellore Mandalam from all
sides and made the towns Akkanna, Bayyanna isolated and stopped all
supplies from outside. Hence they came for a compromise with Ganapati
Deva and thus gave back the kingdom to Manumasiddhi.
In this adventure, Tikkana has exhibited an extraordinary talent
as a minister, as a diplomat, as a priest, as an ambassador, and as a
commander-in-chief. With all his overall performance he was applauded
as Chanukya. In this manner, he was able to re-establish Manumasiddhi
as the King of Nellore. During 1250 A.D, Jatavarma Sundarapandya
attacked Nellore. With the help of Tikkana’s valour, Manumasiddhi was
able to defeat him. By 1253, all political turmoils were settled and
Manumasiddhi was able to rule peacefully.
[Source: The source for the above story is taken from Siddeswara
Charitra, a Dwipada Kavyam, written by Kasye Sarvyappa and also from
Samadeva Rajeeyam written by Jaggakavi]

Aadiparvam 19
Tikkana and his poetic character:
Tikkana’s career as a poet can be said in the following two ways. 1.
As a poet of Nirvachanotara Ramayanam 2. As a poet of Bharatam.
1. Tikkana has chosen to write Nirvachanotara Ramayanam,
leaving aside its Poorva Ramayanam. However he himself justified that
since his grandfather, Bhaskara Mantri, has written Poorva Ramayanam
and hence he has chosen to write the remaining portion of Ramayanam.
2. He wanted to dedicate the same to King Manumasiddhi. Some of
his friends questioned, “How you can dedicate an epic which is a story
involving tragedy.’’ Then he made the scripture a happy ending. Another
important feature is that he has written the entire scripture in poetry
(without prose). That is how it is called as Nirvachanotara Ramayanam.
3. In those days he made several experiments in using idioms,
morals, dharmas and parables from Sanskrit and Kannada into Telugu.
He not only tried this experiment by himself but also encouraged many
writers to fall in line with him. In this regard, he was subjected to
enormous criticism from his critics as follows.
a. In Nirvachanotara Ramayanam, though Ravana was a villain,
he was depicted as a hero by projecting in the first three Aswasams. In
fact Rama was the real hero. However he was introduced in the last three
Aswasams. In this manner it is a small scripture depicting the two heroes
and not accepted as an independent epic.
- Dr. Ketavarapu Venkata Ramakoti Sastri
b. The villain is more prominently depicted than the hero in this
scripture.
- Dr. Patibandla Madhava Sarma
c. Rama’s story was depicted only from eighth Aswasam to tenth
Aswasam. For such a small story, why he has given the title as
Nirvachanotara Ramayanam?
- Sri Avantsa Somasundar
Inspite of several criticisms, Tikkana did not deter from his line of
writing. In those days, people also had shown more interest in literature.
As a result, Tikkana encouraged many young writers to bring out the
20 Mahabharatam
histories of Pampa and Basava heroes. He also encouraged the stories
of devotees of Jainism, Buddhism, Nayanars and Aalwars from Sanskrit
and Tamil Literatures.
Tikkana encouraged his disciple Soorana and prompted him to
write Markandeya Puranam. He also induced another disciple Manchana
to write Keyoorabahu Charitam. From the above we understand that his
pre- Mahabharatam period was full of revolutionary experiments in
Telugu Literature and thus he was awarded a grand title as “Kavi
Brahma”.
In the middle of the 13 th century, Tikkana made several
experiments in Telugu Literature, though he was not very successful.
But Tikkana has proved himself that a poet can sustain inspite of
unsuccessful writings. Thus he has proved in writing Mahabharatam.
The life sketch of Tikkana:
To the good fortune of Telugu people Tikkana lived a full span of
life (80-83 years), in spite of various difficulties and problems he faced
in his life.
As we have seen, Tikkaraju ruled Nellore Mandalam during 1190-
1252. After his death, his son Manumasiddhi became the King.
Manumasiddhi was deceited by his cousins and was thrown out of
power.In the power struggle, Tikkana has made use of all his experience
in diplomacy, he made Manumasiddhi back on the saddle in 1253.
Tikkana has written Nirvachanotara Ramayanam and dedicated
the same to Manumasiddhi in 1255-60. It is believed that Manumasiddhi
must have died between 1260-63.
After the death of Manumasiddhi, he might have retired from active
politics and performed a yagna and became Somayazi. After becoming
Somayazi he must have taken up the writing of Mahabharatam.
All religions and dharmas are created only for the well being of
people. When the faith turns out as a blind faith, the life of the people
will be disturbed and violence takes place. In course of time adharma
prevails over dharma. In such occasions, god himself will take birth on
earth or come with an amsa to re-establish dharma.

Aadiparvam 21
 Tikkana understood the situation prevailing in the country. He
must have regretted with the conditions prevailing in those days. So he
wanted to advocate the adwaita theory to the people by writing
Mahabharatam in Telugu and took refuge with Hari-Hara. During 1260,
he must have started writing Mahabharatam to control and eradicate
the communal and religious violences. It is believed that he took about
30 years for him to complete 15 parvams of Mahabharatam.
Tikkana started writing Mahabharatam with Virata Parvam. By
that time, he would have been in his 50’s. The time of writing Udyoga
Parvam suggests us that Tikkana must have attained his 60’s. Because it
has exposed all his experience in politics, diplomacy and worldly
knowledge which must have helped him in writing Udyoga Parvam.
As his experience and diplomacy reached a state of full maturity at
the time of writing Santi Parvam and the remaining five Parvams, he
must have attained an age of 70-75.
After completing Mahabharatam, he must have died at an age of
75 or above. The strong desire of completing Mahabharatam alone must
have made Tikkana to enjoy a full span of life. Tikkana was a Maharishi
and made Telugu people fortunate by completing Mahabharatam.
Religious disturbances:
Either it must be a providence of god or by an accident! Whoever
has taken up the writing of Mahabharatam, started under identical
conditions of communal and religious disturbances prevailing in the
country.
While Nannaya undertook the writing of Mahabharatam, the
influence of Jainism and Buddhisms was commanding the society and
dominated the Hindu dharma. Nastikas prevailed all over the country
and Vedas had became dim. When Rajaraju provoked Nannaya to write
Mahabharatam in Telugu, Nannaya would have thought in his mind that
he could bring out the communal and religious harmony by writing
Mahabharatam.
After two centuries, identical religious and communal disturbances
prevailed between Saiva and Vyshnava communities in Andhra. Each one
started interpretating Vedas on their own. Thus Veera Saivam and Aradya
Saivam were at logger heads in the Saivam itself. In the same manner

22 Mahabharatam
Ramanuja’s Vyshnavam and other Vyshnava sects were fighting for their
supremacy. It has become a sin for a Vyshnava to pronounce a name of
Siva. In the same way it has become a sin for a Saiva to utter the name of
Vishnu and thus they started killing each other. The famous “Palanati
Yudham” also prevailed in those ages.
Tikkana was greatly distressed with the situation and prayed to
god vide Virata Parvam 1-11. Tikkana’s prayers were heard by the god.
He has introduced vedic dharmas and adwaita doctrine in
Mahabharatam. He also condemned blind faiths and fight among the
religions. He has introduced several dharmas from Vedas in
Mahabharatam. He dedicated Mahabharatam to Hari-Hara Nadha and
thus created peace and harmony in the society.
From the above we can understand the social, religious, vedic,
literary and cultural climate between 11th and 13th centuries.
Tikkana, a self made genius:
Tikkana was a self made genius. He has observed, practiced, and
preached each and every incident that he has experienced in life.
He was born and brought up in Gunturu Mandalam. He has learnt
the art of administrative skills, writing poetry from his father and
grandfather. Difficulties and the problems of Manumasiddhi made him a
perfect minister and a diplomat. When his King was deceived by his
cousins, he has countered their wicked plans efficiently. While keeping
his King in a hide out, he has learnt keeping the secrets close to his chest.
He won all the battles for his King. In sorting out the religious turmoils,
he became a worldly wise and had the blessings of Hari-Haras. By
performing yagna, he became a strong believer of vedic path and realized
the knowledge of Brahman. Thus while writing Mahabharatam, he taught
the people the knowledge of Brahman besides his poetical talents,
diplomacy, and war stratagems. In this manner he has proved himself
that he alone is eligible of writing Mahabharatam in Telugu.
He said about himself in Nirvachanotara Ramayanam (1-13) as
follows “I am an Ubhayakavi Mitra having knowledge both in Sanskrit
and Telugu. Hence whatever I write, I write with full knowledge”.
–oOo–

Aadiparvam 23
 ERRAPREGGADA
Tikkana applauded Nannaya as the Kavitva Visarada, Vidya
Dayitudu, and Mahitmatudu. He further said only a Mahitatma could write
Aranya Parvam.
Nannaya, in his life time, has written Aranya Parvam upto 142
poems. He has written Aadi, Sabha and part of Aranya Parvam in about
4/5 years and would have died a natural death between 1054-1055.
After 200 years of Nannaya’s death, Tikkana has written 15 parvams
(from Virata Parvam) in Mahabharatam. After him, Errapreggada has
completed the remaining portions of Aranya Parvam in the 14th century.
Some say that Nannaya has written Aranya Parvam also by himself.
Errapreggada might have completed a few soiled portions of Aranya
Parvam, because at the end of each aswasam, it is stated as if Nannaya
has completed it.
The ethical values of literature:
Nannaya died without completing the Aranya Parvam. However
Tikkana did not deliberately touched the remaining portion. However
he started his work from Virata Parvam. Nannaya has dedicated his
scripture to Rajaraja Narendra, whereas Tikkana has dedicated his epic
to Hari-Hara Nadha. Hence it may be understood that Tikkana could not
have taken up the remaining portion of Aranya Parvam deliberately.
Some critics also thought that Tikkana might not have touched it for
sentimental reasons.
Some critics say that Errapreggada has completed the epic and
did not liked to announce. The same as has original work. Hence he has
dedicated the remaining part of aranya parvam also to Rajaraja
Narendra.
From the above, the writing of Aranya Parvam has remained as a
great epic in the world of literature. Because, 300 years after the death
of a great poet, another poet took up the composition of the remaining
portion, not only in the same style and taste but also in the name of the
original poet. Is it not a great experience in the literary world?
Errapreggada has said what he wanted to say and kept aside modestly.
Since Errapreggada has accepted Nannaya as his guru, he conducted

24 Mahabharatam
himself same manner with all respects. Errapreggada has availed this
opportunity and proved his illustrious nature. By his noble act, he made
Nannaya’s position more respectable in keeping him in the place of a
guru.
The specialty of Aranya-Santi Parvam:
People criticize that both Aranya and Santi Parvams reduced the
speed of the story in Mahabharatam. However these two parvams are
classified by pandits as the parvams of true knowledge. Not only that, it
facilitated the mental strength for Pandavas for their forthcoming
Agnatevasam.
In the same manner, after the war, Pandavas lost all their friends
and relatives and were drowned in an ocean of grief. Dharmaraja also
became a toy in the hands of vidhi twice. However he came out of his
grief with the help of teachings from Jnanis and elders. With their
teachings of true knowledge, he withstood all the stresses and strains.
This made Dharmaraja a diplomat, an able administrator and a righteous
person and enabled him to pursue the four purushardhas. These two
parvams gave strength to Dharmaraja to withstand all the forthcoming
stresses and strains.
Dharmaraja lost all his fortune in the deceitful game of dice. Added
to that, he was badly humiliated in Kuru Sabha. Thereby they all lost
their peace of mind by the time they entered Aranyavasam. Having
entered the forest, there were lot of discussion among themselves
pertaining to various righteous matters. All these discussions comforted
them from their mental agony. In addition to their discussions Krishna
and other relatives came to the forest to give them moral boost and to
relieve them from distress. Several Mahatmas and Maharishis came to
teach the true knowledge to Dharmaraja, because only true knowledge
can relieve him from distress. They told him several parables, stories
from Puranas and Ithihasas. In fact Dharmaraja experienced as if he in a
gurukulam. They initiated mantras. They took Pandavas to pilgrimages
with them. Though they lived in forest, if helped Arjuna to equip and
posses many divine astras. This Aranya Parvam made Dharmaraja to
travel towards the victory, forgetting all his humiliation meted in Kuru
Sabha. This is the sum and substance of the Aranya Parvam.

Aadiparvam 25
 In Santi Parvam, the matter is different. Dharmaraja was victorious
but he didn’t enjoyed the pleasure of victory but deeply grieved for the
loss of kith and kin. He was also afraid for the consequent sin of killing
so many people only to gain some land from his cousins. To remove the
grief from his heart and make him a fit person to rule the country, Santhi
Parvam was introduced. This is the essence of Santi Parvam. Bheeshma
taught several teachings on dharma and cleared the doubts of
Dharmaraja.
The time and the essence of Aranyavasam:
The story part of Aranyavasam is limited, whereas the time passed
in the forest was about 12 years. Broadly speaking, during all the 12
years Bheema improved his strength; Arjuna improved the strength of
his archery and Dharmaraja became more righteous. In short, this was
a training ground for Agnatevasam and subsequently winning the battle.
-Patibandla Madhava Sarma
We can’t accept this comment. However we may agree that the
time was expended mostly in listening stories, parables and in
pilgrimages. However the poet has narrated charmful stories and
upadesams from Maharishis in the available time frame. The poet has
made use of all these three aspects. Thus this Parvam can be said as a
three phased Parvam.
In this Parvam, Dharmaraja was subjected to two major tests. One
is Nahasha Prasnalu, and the second one is Yaksha Prasnalu. He
succeeded in both the tests. These two tests made Dharmaraja well
equipped to gain the authority on dharma. Some people say that the
upadesams of Maharishis and Mahatmas also helped Dharmaraja to get
through these two tests. In this manner the purpose of this Parvam was
to equip all Pandavas to pave their future course of action. This is also
said to be as a Prasnopanishad.
Prabandha Parameswara:
Chintalapudi Ellanaryudu described Mahabharatam as a nose ring
of goddess Sarada. On this ring, Nannaya has studded some valuable
gems and the remaining gems were studded by Tikkana Somayazi.
Errapreggada has inserted a gem called “Nayaka Manisri” at the centre

26 Mahabharatam
of the nose ring. In this manner, the glory of the two poets of
Mahabharatam has enriched. If Mahabharatam is Sarada Devi,
Errapreggada who has written the remaining of Aranya Parvam is
“Nayaka Manisri”.
- Chintalapudi Ellanaryudu (Taraka Brahma Rajeeyamu)
From the above, Ellanarya praised Errapreggada also along with
Nannaya and Tikkana, with equal respect. However Errapreggada only
made the writings of Nannaya and Tikkana together. That is why he
was praised as “Prabandha Parameswara”. The dictionary meaning of
Prabandham can also be said as tying up of both ends. In both ways the
scripture of Errana deserves the praise of Ellanarya. Because of,
Errapreggada only the word Kavitrayam has remained glorious in
Telugu Literature.
The poet Jakkana praised Kavitrayam and awarded the following
titles (in his Vikramarka Charitramu 1-12-147) to Nannaya as Sabda
Sasanudu, Tikkana as Somayazi and Errapreggada as Prabandha
Parameswara.
Errapreggada himself declared that he has completed the
remaining portion of Aranya Parvam vide (Ar. Par. 7-469 and 470). As
Nannaya described his bio-data in Aadi Parvam, Errapreggada also noted
his personal details in the above two poems. The personal details of
Errapreggada are as follows.
“I was born in Gudluru village where Neelakantheswara Swami was
residing as the presiding deity. I belong to Apastambha Sootra, Sreevatsa
Gotra. I am a staunch devotee of Lord Siva. I am born to Sooranarya and
Potamamba. I am truthful and righteous. I am proud of bringing glory to
my village, where I was born”.
What provoked Errana to write (Bharatam) Aranya Parvam:
By the providence of god Errana was able to write in the style of
Nannaya. Friends and well-wishers appreciated and complimented that
he really had the gift of Nannaya’s style. The news spread all over. He
was pressurized to write some scripture or the other in the style of
Nannaya. Thus he gave a serious thought and wrote a few poems from
the remaining portion of Nannaya’s Aranya Parvam. Friends and well-

Aadiparvam 27
wishers appreciated him and said that “Nannaya was born again”. He
was also thrilled and became confident that he could complete the epic
in the same style as Nannaya. In this manner, he completed Aranya
Parvam after 2 ½ centuries. As Nannaya introduced himself in the
beginning of Aadi Parvam in first person, Errana also introduced himself
in first person.
Errapreggada has written the following four scriptures viz 1.
Ramayanam 2. Remaining portion of Aranya Parvam in Mahabharatam
3. Harivamsam 4. Nrusimha Puranam. By writing remaining portion of
Aranya Parvam, he occupies a place by the side of Nannaya and Tikkana.
Thus he attained an eternal glory as Kavitrayam in the literary world.
Comparison between Nannaya and Errana:
In Nannaya’s Aranya Parvam we find the stories, parables and
teachings of Mytreya, Bruhadaswu, Narada, and Vyasa Maharishis.
Whereas in Errana’s Aranya Parvam, we find the stories and upadesams
of Markandeya Maharishi. Broadly speaking, in Nannaya’s part of Aranya
Parvam we find more of Ithihasams, whereas in the portion of Errana,
we find Puranas.
It is a pleasant coincidence that all the three poets written
Ramayanam before the undertook the work of Mahabharatam. In the
case of Nannaya, he wrote Ragavabhudyam before he wrote
Mahabharatam. Tikkana has written Nirvachanottara Ramayanam
before he wrote Mahabharatam. Errana also written Harivamsam and
Ramayanam before he wrote Mahabharatam.
–oOo–

28 Mahabharatam
 SRI MADANDHRA MAHABHARATHAM
AADI PARVAM
Chapter 1

King Raja Raja Narendra was the son of Vimaladitya and

Kundamamba. He was an expert in archery and was as valorous as
Lord Kumaraswamy and was as pleasant as moon. He had the blessings
of Lakshmi, Parvathi, Saraswati, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. He
ruled his kingdom of Eastern Chalukya, popularly known as Vengi. His
capital city was Rajamahendrapuram, presently known as Rajamandry
in Andhra Pradesh. He was comparable with the ancient kings such as
Manuvu and Nala. He was as charitable as Karna and as compassionate
as Dharmaraja. He was keen in upkeeping and practicing the dharma as
dictated in Vedas.
He treated his subjects as his own children. He kept all his enemies
under control. All his subordinate kings paid tribute on the due dates
and thus kept cordial relations with him. He gave several villages as gifts
to the scholars. He built and maintained many temples and had lavishly
donated lands for the maintenance and upkeep of those temples.
The people of Vengi were prosperous and were leading happy and
comfortable life. He appointed learned pundits to narrate the great epics
like Ramayana, Mahabharata and many other puranas. He also built
many auditoriums to promote dance, drama and music. Even common
people used to write poetry in Telugu and Sanskrit. In those days royal
orders and royal grants were inscribed on granite slabs and on brass
sheets. Such orders were also written in the form of slokas and poetry.
He patronized several poets, artists and sculptors in his durbar.
One day while he was in his durbar, he addressed the esteemed
scholars.
King Raja Raja Narendra: ‘‘Great scholars! I have read and
listened so many puranas. I am convinced that Mahabharata alone can
teach the real state of god. Though I have read listened Mahabharatham
many times, I am not satisfied because of the noble qualities of Pandavas
and their ancestors from Chandra (moon) to Bharata. I would like to
Aadiparvam 29
listen more and more deeply the great epic. If one listens Mahabharata
only once, it is equal to donating thousands of cows. Nannaya! You render
the great epic written by Vyasa maharishi in simple Telugu. Already many
people translated the great epic into several languages. Now I would
request you to write the same in Telugu. Because the readers will benefit
of performing many yagnas.
Poet Nannaya: ‘‘King! Can any body count the stars on the sky?
Will any person can read all Vedas? Can Brahma cross the ocean? The
writing of Mahabharata is also as difficult task as that. However I obey
your orders, and make an effort with the help of my fellow poets, I am
undertaking this work only with the hope that the pundits in this durbar
will come to my help.
‘‘While saluting Lord Vishnu, Siva, Brahma, Vinayaka and many
others I prostrate at the feet of the Aadi Kavi Valmiki Maharishi before I
undertake this epic. I hope that my dearest friend Narayana Bhattu will
help me in rendering this great epic in Telugu, as lord Krishna helped
Arjuna as his charioteer in the battle of Kurukshetra,.

1. An Introduction to Mahabarata
Sownaka and many muni communities assembled at
Naimisaranyam to perform a Satra Yaga for the well being of all the
people. Satra yagas are generally performed long durations such as from
13 to 100 days and beyond. In these rituals, Sowitis would come and
praise the glories of gods at the intervals . The Sowiti was also called as
Sutudu. These Sowitis were born to a Kshatriya and a Vysya woman. They
were professionally engaged in propagating glories of gods wherever
rituals were performed.
‘‘Ugrasravasudu was the son of Romaharshana. He was popularly
known as Sowiti. The moment the maharishis saw Sowiti, they came
forward and requested him to stay with them till the end of the yaga.
Ugrasravasudu: ‘‘Maharishis! I prostrate at the feet of all of you
and seek your blessings. I am the son of Romaharshana. My father was
one of the close disciples of Vyasa Maharishi. I know many puranas and
glories of Gods. Now you tell me what story you want to listen.’’

30 Mahabharatam
 Sownaka and other Maharishis were immensely happy to hear the
words of Sowiti and requested in one voice, “You tell us such a story
which will make our minds pure, which is new, novel; which will create
suspense in us and it should be full of knowledge.
Ugrasravasudu: ‘‘Maharishis! Vedas were scattered all over the
world. Vyasa Maharishi had brought them all together and divided into
four. He chose Pailudu, Vaisampayanudu, Sumantudu and Jaimani and
instructed them to divide the Vedas into four. Thus the Vedas were
classified into four, under the supervision of Vyasa Maharish and he
was popularly known as Veda Vyasa. In the similar manner, he collected
all the puranas of various gods and divided them into eighteen puranas.
With his excellent knowledge over Vedas, Upanishad and Ithihasas, the
great saints belonging to various ages, the greatness of lord Krishna, he
wrote the stories of many glorious kings such as Pandavas.
Those who were having the knowledge of dharma claimed it as
dharma sastra. Those who had the knowledge of jeevatma-Paramatma
appreciated it as Vedanta sastra. Those who were good at morals praised
as a great kavyam. Those who were aware of the ancient stories
appreciated it as Ithihasa. Pouranikas like me, called it as Puranam. In
this manner several people were praising this epic from several angles.
This epic was popularly known as Mahabharata. It was written by Veda
Vyasa, son of Parasara and also an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Since he
was born with an a amsa of Maha Vishnu, he was popularly known as
“Vyaso Narayano Harihi”. In Baghavatam, it was said that Vyasa was one
among the 21 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The Mahabharata would
promise wellbeing of all faiths. Hence it was known as Panchama Vedam.
The Mahabharata has 18 paravams. I will let you know the chronology
of each paravams.
1. Aadi Parvam. It contains 9984 slokas, commencing from
Udanka’s episode.
2. Sabha Parvam. It contains of 4311 slokas, commencing from
Droupathi vastra apaharanam.
3. Aranya Parvam. It contains 13,664 slokas, commencing from
the killingof Kimmeera.

Aadiparvam 31
 4. Virata Parvam. It contains 6998 slokas. It entertains both the
pandits and amaras.
5. Udyoga Parvam. It contains 6998 slokas, which deals with
the compromise and averting of the war.
6. Bheeshma Parvam. It contains 5884 slokas which deals with
Bheeshma who was appointed as the commander-in-chief
and fought for 10 days at Kurukshetra.
7. Drona Parvam. It contains 10919 slokas, about Drona, as
commander-in- chief for five days.
8. Karna Parvam. It contains 4900 slokas, about Karna becoming
the Commander-in-chief for 2 days.
9. Selya Parvam. It contains 3220 slokas about King Selya
becoming as the Commander- in-chief for half a day.
10. Sowttika Parvam. It contains 2874 slokas. .
11. Stree Parvam. It contains 1775 slokas which reveals the
coronation of Dharmaraja.
12. Santhi Parvam. It contains 14525 slokas which deals with
morals and dharmas for the wellbeing of all the people.
13. Anusasanika Parvam it contains 12000 slokas wherein
Bheeshma revealed all the dharmas.
14. Aswameda Parvam. It contains 4420 slokas, which deals with
several aspects, and which is well appreciated by pundits.
15. Ashramavasa Parvam. It contains 1106 slokas with superior
stories.
16. Mowsala Parvam it contains 300 slokas.
17. Mahaprastanika Parvam. It contains 120 slokas .
18. Swargarohana Parvam. There are about 200 slokas.
2. The praise of Mahabharata:
This great epic was written by Vyasa Maharishi after a struggle
for three years. Sage Narada propagated this epic in the heaven. Saint
Devaludu propagated in the abode of ancestral parents. Suka Maharishi
spread it in the abodes of Garuda, Gandharva, Yaksha and Rakshasas.

32 Mahabharatam
 Sumantu Maharishi spread it in Naga Lokas. Vaisampayana taught
this epic to Janamejaya. While Vaisampayana was teaching to
Janamejaya, I was also there and heard this great epic. The great battle
of Kurukshetra was in no way inferior to the battle between Rama and
Ravana or the battle between Devas and Asuras. The entire battle was
fought and ended in 18 days. Bheeshma led the battle as the Commander-
in- Chief during the first 10 days. The next five days, the army was led by
Drona, thereafter Karna led for two days and Salya, for just half a day,
led the army. For the remaining half day, the battle was waged between
Duryodhana and Bheema.
Sownaka and other maharishis: ‘‘Ugrasravasu! Before you
commence the story of Mahabharata, please enlighten us what is meant
by ‘Samantaka Panchakam and Akshowhini. Tell us how many chariots,
horses and warriors in the infantry are in each Akshowhini.’’
Ugrasravasu: ‘‘During intermediate periods between Treta Yuga
and Dwapara Yuga, Parasurama made an expedition of war 21 times.
He killed all Kshatriyas on earth and made their blood into five lakes. He
had performed tarpana to his ancestral parents with their blood and
cleared their debt. The ancestral parents, who were satisfied with
Parasurama and advised him to leave anger and have peace. On hearing
their advice Parasurama became stopped fighting. Those five lakes,
formed with the blood of Kshatriyas, is known as Samantaka Panchakam.
‘‘Now I will explain you how the army was divided into different
divisions. A division contains a chariot, one elephant, three horses and
five soldiers is one patti. Three pattis form one Sena Mukham. Three
Sena Mukhams are was one Gulmam. Three Gulmams makes one Ganam.
Three Ganams make One Vahini. Three Vahinis became Prutana. Three
Prutanas would becomes one Chamuvu. Three Chamuvu formed one
Aneeki. Ten times of such Aneekis forms one Akshowhini. In other words,
an Akshowhini would consist of 21870 chariots, 21870 elephants, 65610
horses and 109350 combatants. Kouravas and Pandavas selected
Samantaka Panchakam as the place of battle field. Which became famous
as Kurukshetra.
King Janamejaya, who was the successor of Pandavas, performed
a long drawn Satra yaga for the wellbeing of mankind.

Aadiparvam 33
3. The beginning of the story of Mahabharata:
The episode of Sarama:
While Janamejaya was performing Satra yaga, a puppy casually
entered the yagasala without any wicked intentions. The pup was the
kid of Sarama, a dog belongs to devatas. Marisena, Bhemasena and
Ugrasena, the brothers of Janamejaya, saw the puppy entering yaga sala.
They chased it out of yaga sala. The puppy went to his mother, crying
bitterly. Sarama was furious of Janamejaya and said to him:
Sarama: ‘‘Janamejaya! My son is so young and pretty. Without
showing any kindness, your brothers hurled and thrown him out of yaga
sala, though he did not commited any mischief. Know it well if any one
causes harm to the poor and week limbs, he will certainly land in trouble
sooner or later. They can’t escape from the sin of teasing the weak’’.
By saying so, Sarama left the yaga sala. However Janamejaya
searched for Sarama, but he could not find. The curse of Sarama was
ringing in the ears and he was confused. Somehow he completed the
yagna and went back to Hastinapura. Even after reaching his palace, the
words of Sarama was ringing in his ears. To avert the ill effects of the
Sarama’s curse, he called priests and asked them to suggest the remedial
measures. The king went to Srutasravana and requested him, “ Maharishi!
I request you to send your son Somasravasu to do remedial acts.” The
muni agreed and sent his son to perform the remedial measures. With
the help of Somasravasu, King Janamejaya performed several yagnas.
He offered several valuable oblations to devatas, gifted many cows, lands
to Brahmins. Thus Janamejaya performed several yagnas to avert the
curse of Sarama.
4. The episode of Udanka:
Paila Maharishi was as bright as Brahma. Udanka, one of his
disciples, completed his studies, went to his guru and requested him,
“Guru Deva! I wish to offer you Gurudakshina. Please let me know what
you want “ His guru said, “ Udanka! You served me and your guru patni
During your stay in gurukulam. That is enough. I don’t want any thing
more’’. However Udanka persuaded him to ask for some gift. Then his
guru said, “My child, I don’t want anything. If you so wish, you may go to

34 Mahabharatam
your guru patni and offer her if she has anything to ask.” When he
persuaded her, she wanted the ear-rings of the queen of king Powshya.
Udanka was happy and went to secure.
On his way, he saw a divine person riding a white bull, the divine
person asked him to eat the dung of his bull. Udanka ate and reached
the palace of king Powshya. Udanka said, “King! My guru patni wants the
earrings of your queen. I request you to give those earrings and relieve
me from the debt to my guru.” King Powshya said, “Oh Udanka! You go
to my wife and take the earrings from her.” Udanka reached for the queen
the palace and did not find her. He went to the king and said that he
could not see the queen in the palace.
The king said, “Sinless Udanka! My queen is a chaste and virtuous
wife, so she would not be visible to the impure persons. Become pure
and go to her. Then only you could see her.” On hearing the king’s words,
Udanka turned to east and performed aachamana, purified himself. Then
the queen worshipped Udanka and said, “Maharishi! You became impure
since you eat the bull dung, so you could not see me. I am pleased to
give my earrings but you be careful while carrying them. Takshaka the
king of serpents wanting these earrings, since long time. If you keep
them on an impure place, he may steal them.”
Udanka took the earring and went to the king to thank him. The
king said,“ Maharishi! You be my honoured guest and bless me.” Udanka
agreed and while taking his meal, he found a hair in the food. Udanka
became impatient and said, “ You served me an impure meal, so you
become blind.” The king also became furious and cursed “You will not
have children”. Udanka was afraid and said, “King! I can’t live without
children. So you please withdraw your curse.” The king was very
adamant in his opinion and said, “Maharishi! The heart of a brahmin is
as soft and fresh as butter. However their words will be as harsh as
Indra’s Vajra. Whereas in the case of kings, it is opposite. So it is not
possible withdraw my curse. Better you withdraw your curse.”
4. Takshaka steals the earrings from Udanka:
While Udanka was going to his ashrama, he found a lake. He kept
the earrings on the shore, went into the waters and performed
aachamana, Takshaka came in his original form of a serpent, stole the

Aadiparvam 35
earrings and ran away. Udanka chased him and reached Naga Loka. He
praised Ananta, the king of serpents in several ways. He praised Vasuki
too for his noble qualities. After him, he prayed Takshaka requesting to
show pity on him. He praised all the other leading serpents in several
ways, but all his efforts became a cry in the wilderness.
At that time, he saw two women weaving a cloth with black and
white threads. He also saw six youngsters churning a giant wheel which
had twelve spokes. Nearer to them, he saw a person sitting on the back
of a horse and reciting with Vedic mantras. That person was pleased and
said, “Oh Udanka! You blow hard into the ears of this horse.” Udanka did
so. Immediately flames surrounded the Nagaloka and thousands of
serpents came out of fear.
5. Takshaka gives back the earrings:
When the entire Naga Loka was engulfed with flames all nagas
went and persuaded Takshaka to give away the earrings to Udanka.
Takshaka came in human form and returned the earrings to Udanka.
Udanka was worried since his gurupatni wanted the earrings within four
days. The divine person who understood the anxiety of sitting on the
horse Udanka and said, “You sit on the back of this horse. It will take you
to your ashrama in a twinkle of an eye.”
As instructed by the divine person, he sat on the back of the horse
and reached his ashrama in time. By that time guru patni was waiting
for him to wear the earrings and to commence vrata. Paila Maharishi
was pleased at the devotion of Udanka and said, “ Udanka! The kingdom
of Powshya is not far off from our ashrama, why you took so much time?”
Udanka said all that had happened in securing the earrings and requested
him to explain the inner meanings of those incidents.
Paila Maharishi smiled at him and said “Udanka! You are relieved
from the debt of your guru by dedicating the earrings to your guru patni.
The divine person who was sitting on a bull was- Indra. The bull was-
Iravatham. The bull dung you ate was- nectar. The two women you saw
in Naga Loka were- Dhata and Vidhata. The treads they weaving were-
the night and the day. The six youngsters who were churning the wheel
Ruthus. The twelve spokes of the wheel were- twelve months. The divine
person who was sitting on the back of the horse was- Varuna. Since you

36 Mahabharatam
have consumed nectar in the beginning itself, you were able to withstand
all the hurdles and was finally able to secure the earrings for your
gurupatni. Since you had cleared your debt to me, now I am giving you
permission to go to your house.” Udanka left gurukulam and penanced
for several years. However he wanted to take revenge on Takshaka who
gave so many troubles for no fault of his. He went to king Janamejaya
and said:
Udanka: ‘‘King Janamejaya! Takshaka deliberately did harmed
me. Besides, he had bitten your father Parikshittu and killed him. Now
you punish not only that cruel Takshaka but also on the entire nagas
and relieve from the debt of you father. You invite learned brahmins
and perform Sarpa yaga. In that homa all the serpents including Takshaka
would fall and die. King! It is not uncommon in the world that the sins of
an individual would make all his family to suffer. So you call for scholars
and arrange to perform Sarpa yaga.’’
Sownaka: ‘‘Ugrasravasu! Takshaka and those serpents are more
ferocious than Agni. Then how they fell in agni gundam?’’
Ugrasravasu: ‘‘Maharishi! Long ago there lived a brahmin by name
Bhrugu. His wife Pulooma was pregnant . While going to have a bath,
Bhrugu asked his wife Pulooma to kindle agnihotra. At that time, a
rakshasa entered the agnihotra house, saw Pulooma and fell in love with
her. Then the rakshasa asked Agni, “Oh Agni! This woman is very pretty.
Whose wife is she?” Agni was confused. If he tells her real status, Bhrugu
might curse. ‘‘If I don’t tell, I would get the sin of telling a lie.’’ Finally he
chose to have a curse from the Maharishi rather than telling a lie. So he
told him that she was Pulooma, the chaste wife of Bhrugu Maharishi.
Then rakshasa remembered that the woman was offered to him in
marriage but they went back on their word and gave her to Bhrugu
Maharishi.
Then he took the form of a pig and frightened her. While she was
running away, the child in her stomach fell on the ground. That boy was
none other than Chavana Maharishi. That boy, even at the time of his
birth, was as splendid as the sun. By the look of his brilliance, the
rakshasa was burnt to ashes. Then Pulooma picked up the child and went

Aadiparvam 37
to ashrama. When she was running with fear of rakshasa, her tears
formed a river. Brahma came and named the river as Vasudhara.
In the meanwhile, Bhrugu came and saw his son and his wife. He
understood what had happened in his absence. He became furious and
asked her, “How this rakshasa came to know that you were my wife.”
Pulooma said, “ Maharishi! He came to know about me from Agni
and started chasing me in the form of a pig. While I was running out of
fear, the boy fell down and burnt rakshasa.”
Bhrugu was annoyed and said, ‘‘ Agni! For the sin you have
committed, you become Sarva Bhakshaka.” Agni trembled with fear and
requested Bhrugu, “ Revered Maharishi! If I had not revealed the truth,
I would have the sin of telling a lie, so I told him the truth. I am
worshipped by all the three worlds and stood as saakshi . You cursed
me for no fault of mine and made me impure. Still I am not cursing you,
because It is not good to curse a brahmin, weather he was right or wrong.
‘‘I was doing good to all the Lokas, by carrying oblations offered by
brahmins in their yagas to the respective devatas. By your curse, you
made me impure which would affect all the vedic karmas on earth.
Brahmins could not perform yagas. Thereby Indra would fail to provide
timely rains on the earth.’’
While talking to the Maharishi, the brilliance of Agni became dim .
All devatas and muni communities learnt what had happened and went
to Brahma for protection. Brahma called Agni and said, “ Agni! You are
the tutelary deity for all the living beings. You are the chaitanyam of all
the movables and immovable’s. You make the men and devatas pure.
How can you withdraw chaitanyam from all the worlds? In spite of his
curse, you will be the purest of the pure, the most eligible and the most
worshipful in three worlds. You continue to be helpful to all the brahmins
in their vedic karmas.”
When Chavana, the son of Bhrugu attained youth, married the
daughter of King Saryaati. Through her, he had a son by name
Pramati,who married Ghrutachi. They had a son by name Ruru,who fell
in love with Pramadvara. One day Pramadvara was playing with her
friends and she was bitten by a serpent. Gauthama and other maharishis

38 Mahabharatam
treated her for the snake bite. Ruru could not control his grief. At that
time, a voice was heard from the skies, “ Ruru Maharishi! Nobody can
escape from the death. However if you can spare half of your longevity
to the girl, she gets back to life”. Ruru gave half his longevity and made
her alive. Afterwards, he married her and lived happily. However, he
developed vengeance on serpents. Since then, he carried a long stick
and killed serpents.
One day Ruru was about to kill a nonpoisonous snake by name
Dumdubha. Dumdubha prayed to Lord Vishnu and said, “Maharishi! You
are a superior tapasvi with many good qualities. Why you developed so
much vengeance on snakes.” By saying so, Dumdubha took the form of
a muni and said,
6. The episode of Sahasrapada:
Dumdubha: “I was in the gurukulam of Sahasrapada Maharishi.
While my fellow disciple Khagamudu was worshipping Agni, I threw a
blade of grass on him just for fun. He was annoyed and cursed me to
become a nonpoisonous snake. I requested him to withdraw his curse.
However he said, “My friend! One day Ruru maharishi will come to kill
you. That day, you will get deliverance from my curse”. Ruru! You are
born in a brahmin family and have realized Aatmajnanam. Should you
not love all living beings equally. Normally brahmins should keep
themselves away from violence. Long back Kadruva, the mother of all
the serpents cursed her children to get burnt into ashes. As a result,
they all fell in the Sarpa yaga performed by Janamejaya. Astheekudu, the
disciple of your father, went to Janamejaya and stopped Sarpa yaga.
Sownaka: “Ugrasravasu! Normally mother would condone even
the worest sin of her children. Then why Kadruva, the mother of serpents,
had cruelly cursed her own children?

Aadiparvam 39
 Chapter 2

7. The episode of Garutmantha:

Ugrasravasu: “ Sownaka! Long ago in Krutha Yuga, there lived a
great maharishi by name Kasyapa. He had two wives. They were Kadruva
and Vinatha. They were serving their husband with utmost devotion.
Kasyapa was pleased and asked them to seek a boon from him. Kadruva
asked for thousand valorous sons. Vinatha asked for two sons who might
be more valorous than the thousand sons of her co-wife. Kasyapa
performed Putra Kamana Yaga, to add divine strength to the children
of his two wives. After some time, Kadruva delivered thousand eggs. She
was advised to keep them all in a water pot and to nurse them carefully.
After some time, all those thousand eggs were hatched. They became
very venomous and powerful serpents such as Adiseshu, Vasuki, Iravatha,
Takshaka and many others.
Vinatha delivered two eggs. Those eggs did not hatch for a long
time. She became restless and broke one of them. From that egg, a bird
came out without limbs . It was called as Anurudu. Since the mother
broke before its full formation, he was annoyed with his mother and
cursed her that she would become a slave to her co-wife for five hundred
years. He cautioned his mother to be patient with the second egg, till it
grows o its full size. He also said that his brother would becomes the
most valorous person in the world and would remove her bondage from
her co-wife. Then he flew to the abode of Sun and became the charioteer
to Sun god. After several years, the second egg hatched and a big bird
came out who became the famous Garutmantha.
8. Churning of Ksheerasagara:
Long ago devatas and rakshasas desired to secure nectar. They went
under the leadership of Indra and prayed Brahma, Vishnu and
Maheswara. They assured of their help in securing nectar.
The strongest and the tallest mountain was Mt.Mandhara was
chosen as the churning stick with the consent of The moment Brahma
and Vishnu Adiseshu brought the mountain and held it on his head. To
churn Ksheerasagara, Vasuki, the king of serpents was chosen as a rope.
Devatas on one side, and danavas on the other side held Vasuki and

40 Mahabharatam
started churning. After several years Vasuki started vomiting poison,
which came in the form of fire and formed clouds of poison in all the
directions . Rakshasas held Vasuki on its head and devatas held on its
tail. In course of time, both got tired and became weak. Then lord Vishnu
infused his strength and velocity in them so that they could continue
churning.
The added strength enthusiasm, and the speed in churning
developed friction on vasuki and spilled poison, which was known as
Haalaahalan. Lord Siva swallowed Haalaahalan and held it in his throat.
Afterwards from Ksheerasagara, emerged many persons and articles
such as Jyashta devi, Moon, Lakshmi, white horse, Koustuba gem,
Danvantiri , Iravatham, and many more articles. Of these, Vishnu took
the Koustuba gem and Lakshmi. He held both of them on his chest. The
white elephant, Iravatha and the horse by name Uchaisravamu were
taken by Indra. While danavas hoodwinked the devatas and denied them
nectar . Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini and mesmerized all danavas
and recovered the pot of nectar and tactfully gave the nectar to devatas.
When the devatas were consuming nectar, a danava by name Rahu
took the form of devata and sat in the line of devatas and consumed
nectar. Before he gulped it, the Sun and Moon noticed him as a danava
and informed Vishnu, who cut his throat with his Chakrayudha. Since
the nectar touched the head, it became immortal. From that day, Rahu
developed enmity with Sun and Moon.
9. The battle between devatas and danavas:
Because of Vishnumaya, danavas did not get their shara of nectar.
With vengeance on devatas, they went to their king Bali Chakravarthi
and reported to him the injustice meted to them and provoked him for a
fight. King Bali took a large army with many chariots, horses, elephants,
infantry and invaded heaven. Devatas could not withstand the strength
of danavas. Lord Vishnu came to their rescue and cut all the heads of
danavas with his Chakrayudha. In this way, a great battle was fought on
the shores of the sea. Indra took possession of nectar and kept under
safe custody.
10. The challenge between Kadruva and Vinatha.
While churning Ksheerasagara, a great horse Uchaisravamu, came

Aadiparvam 41
out and was roaming on the shares of Ksheerasagara. At that time
Kadruva and Vinatha came for a brief walk. While they were wandering,
they saw the divine horse. Kadruva said, “Oh Sister! Look at that white
horse! How beautiful it is! What a pity in spite of its beauty, the black
spot at the end of its tail looks like a spot on the moon.’’ On hearing
Kadruva’s words, Vinatha said with a smile, “Are you awake or sleeping?
The entire horse including its tail is looking like the foam of milk. How
are you seeing a black spot on its tail?” Kadruva was furious and felt
humiliated and said, “The tail of the horse is certainly black. You look
with hundred eyes. Let us make a bet on this. If the tail of the horse is
black, you have to become my slave. If the tail is spotless and white, I
will be your slave. Do you accept by this?” Vinatha and Kadruva agreed
and were about to go nearer to clarify their disputes Kadruva said, “
Sister! Now it is the time so serve our husband who comes out from his
meditation. Let us come tomorrow and clarify.’’
Kadruva became nervous because the tail of the horse was tactually
white and spotless. She grieved to become a slave to her co-wife.
However she didn’t want to accept her defeat. She called all her sons
(snakes) and said, “My sons! Knowingly or unknowingly, I made a
challenge with my co-wife. In fact, the tail of the horse was as pure as
milk. With arrogance, I said there was a black spot on its tail. If I loose, I
may have to become a slave to my co-wife. I don’t like to be her slave. On
the contrary, I want her to be my slave. You should help me to bail me
out of this problem.” On hearing Kadruva’s words, all the serpents
shouted in one voice, ‘‘ It is immoral and unethical. Just because mother
asked for help, should we resort for an adharma. You have once again
proved that all the women are ignorant” and flatly refused to help her.
Kadruva’s eyes became red with anger and said, “Since you
disobeyed my order, you will burn to ashes in the Sarpa yaga to be
performed by Janamejaya’’.
Karkotaka, one of her-sons, shivered with fear and said to his
mother, “I will go and hang in the tail of the horse invisibly.” Next morning
both Kadruva and Vinatha went to see the horse. By the time they went
there, Karkotaka was hanging invisibly on the tail and it appeared like a
black spot. Thus Vinatha was defeated and became the slave to Kadruva.
From that day onwards, Vinatha was doing all the work entrusted by
42 Mahabharatam
Kadruva. One day the second egg hatched and a full fledged bird came
out. The parents named it as Garutmantha. It was born to achieve many
things.
11. The birth of Garutmantha
Garutmantha came out of his shell and shook of his wings. All the
mountains shivered. Looking at such a powerful son, Vinatha’s heart was
filled with joy, whereas her co-wife Kadruva was burnt with jealousy.
Garutmantha flew into the sky. He went around all over the sky and came
down to his mother Vinatha and prostrated at her feet. Looking at him,
Kadruva’s heart burnt and said “ Garutmantha! Instead of wandering
without any purpose, you better take all my children on your back and
show them all the wonders in the world. ‘’So, Garutmantha took all his
cousins, went round and showed them the wonders in the world.
One day, he took them to the abode of Sun god. There the serpents
fainted due to the excess heat of the Sun and fell on the ground. Looking
at her children, Kadruva abused Garutmantha, held him responsible for
the sickness of her children. She prayed to Indra, “Esteemed Indra! all
Suras, Asuras, Siddhas, Kimpurushas, Nagas and many others who wander
in the sky are living at your mercy and because of the fear of your Vajra
all the three worlds are surviving. Protect my children.” Indra pity and
seved them.
Garutmantha was unhappy being his mother was ill treated my
kadruva and said He could not “Mother! I can goad all the mountains to
powder, with the velocity of my wings I can reach far of places in the
sky. I am strong and valorous. Why should I am to stoop to do menial
jobs to kadruva?” Vinatha said, “My son! Long back I made a challenge
with my co-wife. But I lost. Added to that your elder brother, Anurvudu,
had cursed me to become a slave to my co-wife. Since that day, I was
silently suffering all these insults. Now you have come out, you are also
made a victim being you are my son. Why don’t you try to have
deliverance for me from this slavery?”
Garutmantha went to the serpents and said, “My dear brothers!
You are elder to me; you have better wisdom. Please tell me a way out
for my mother to be relieved from her

Aadiparvam 43
 slavery.” All the serpents deliberated among themselves and finally
said “Garutmantha! You secure nectar for us. Then your mother would
be relieved from her bondage”.
12. Garutmantha secures nectar:
Garutmantha said, “Brothers! I will secure nectar as desired by you.
But you should free my mother from her bondage.” He went to his mother
and took her blessings. He started to the heaven to secure nectar. Before
he made a start, he requested his mother for some food to gain strength
to reach heaven. Vinatha said, “My son! You go to the sea, there are some
cruel people belonging to Nishada community. They are killing the
people without any provocation. So you and eat them all. Do not eat
Brahmins, if such a brahmin is furious, he will turns out to be as a poison
on you. On the other hand, if you serve him, he would become your guru
and bless all that you want, even without asking.”
Garutmantha went to the sea and ate all the Nishadas. But he left
all those persons who dropped out from his mouth. Of all the brahmins,
one person he neither went inside nor came out like other brahmins.
Thereby his throat started burning. Then Garutmantha shouted, “If there
is any brahmin in my throat or stomach, please come out.” Then the
brahmin who was in his throat, said, “ Garutmantha! I am a brahmin but
my wife is impure and belongs to Nishada communality. So how could I
come without her?” Garutmantha said, “Scholar! An impure person also
would become pure with associating of a pure person. So you come out
with your Nishada wife.” Then the brahmin came out with his Nishada
wife and blessed Garutmantha and went on his way.
After satisfying his hunger, Garutmantha flew in to the sky. On the
way he went to his father Kasyapa Maharishi and said, “Father! I am
going to heaven to secure nectar and relieve my mother from her
bondage. I seek your blessings. As advised by my mother, I have
eaten all the Nishadas, but my hunger is not appeased. Hence you
suggest me some more food.” Kasyapa Maharishi was happy and was
pleased to know his devotion towards his mothe.
13. The episode of an elephant and a tortoise:
Long back there lived a brahmin by name Vibhaavasudu. He was

44 Mahabharatam
very prosperous and comfortable. One day his brother Supreethaka asked
his share of his ancestral properties. Vibhaavasudu became furious and
was humiliated as if he was challenging his authority. He cursed his
brother to become an elephant. Supreethaka was also annoyed and,
cursed his brother to become a tortoise. As they cursed each other
Vibhaavasudu became a huge tortoise . Supreethaka became a huge
elephant. They remembered the enmity of their previous birth. As such
whenever the elephant came to drink water in the lake, Supreethaka
who was in the form of a tortoise used to fight his brother. So you go to
that lake and catch them, while they are together and eat them.
Garutmantha caught hold of both the elephant and the tortoise and
kept them in between his legs and went in search of a tree so as to eat
them peacefully. At last, he found a mountain known as Alambam. On
that mountain, he saw a huge tree with huge branches. Garutmantha
landed on one of its branches, the branch broke with his weight. Several
Valikhiya tapasvis were hanging and doing tapasya. All those munis
consumed sunlight as food. They were hanging on the branches upside
down and do tapasya. On seeing them, Garutmantha was worried that
he might be disturbing their tapasya. Before the branch landed on the
ground, he flew fast and caught hold of the branch with his beak and
went to his father Kasyapa. Kasyapa advised all the tapasvis to leave
that branch and go to some other place. Valikhiya Munis obliged the
request of Kasyapa and went to Himalayas to continue their tapasya.
After the munis left, Garutmantha dropped that branch on he ate the
elephant and tortoise, and went to heaven.
14. The episode of Valikhiya Maharishis:
While Garutmantha landed on heaven, the devatas noticed bad
omens and Indra asked deva guru, Bruhaspathi the reason for the bad
omens.
Bruhaspathi: “ Indra! Garutmantha son of kashyapa maharshi has
landed on the heaven. He had the blessings of great Valikhiya Maharishis.
Thus he became the king of birds. His splendour, strength and valour
were incomparable. So you can’t defeat Garutmantha. Now I will tell you
the greatness of Garutmantha.

Aadiparvam 45
 “Kasyapa performed a Putrakamana yaga, for which, you also
went with other devatas to make it a success. Valikhiyas are all as small
as a thumb and acted as yazika, hota and adhvarva. Even dharba grass
was heavy from the and were struggling to bring to yagnavasika. Though
people laughed at then the cool headed maharishis, blessed Kasyapa
that one of his sons would be hundred times stronger than Indra and he
also possess all sidhis. He may even become second Indra.
On hearing these blessings of Valikhiyas, Indra became nervous
and went to Kasyapa. Kasyapa took him to Valikhiyas and pleaded with
them.
Kasyapa: “Oh Valikhiya munis! Brahma has appointed Indra to
protect all the living beings. He is performing his duties with competence.
If you create a second Indra, it will upset the arrangements made by
Brahma. However your word can’t become untrue, hence you divert your
boon by saying that the boy who was going to take birth with this yaga
would become the Indra of the birds race.’’
Bruhaspathi: “The Valikhiyas modified their boon and said he
would become an Indra of the birds race. Hence Garutmantha was born
with the blessings of Valikhiyas and you cannot defeat him. That
Garutmantha has now landed on heaven to take away nectar, so as to
remove the bondage of his mother.’’
On hearing Bruhaspathi’s words, Indra tightened security
arrangements around the place where nectar was stored. With the
velocity of his wings, all security people flew in to the air like
a piece of cotton. There was no opposition. So Garutmantha reached
the place where nectar was stored.
15. The fight between the security guards and Garutmantha:
At the sight of garutmanta, Devata gaurds rained various astras on
him, and made him wounded. He shook his wings and created a big dust
storm. In that dust security people could not see where Garutmantha
was. Indra went to the rescue of his people and showered a heavy rain
so that the dust could settle down. As soon as the visibility was improved
devatas surrounded Garutmantha and wounded him again. Garutmantha
threw them with the velocity of his wings and pierced with his nose and

46 Mahabharatam
drove them all to far off places and entered the place where nectar was
stored. There huge flames were guarding the pot of nectar. Garutmantha
went to the rivers, swallowed all the river water , came back and poured
into the flames, caught hold of the pot of nectar and travelled towards
the earth. On his way, Lord Vishnu said, “ Garutmantha! I am pleased
with your courage and dedication for the cause of your mother. I wish to
offer you a boon, you may ask.”
16: Lord Vishnu blesses Garutmantha:
Garutmantha: “Deva! You bless me with youth and immortality,
even without consuming nectar.’’
Lord Vishnu: “Garutmantha! You be my vehicle and sty on the flag
as my symbol.’’
After Lord Vishnu disappeared, Indra came and attacked with Vajra.
Garutmantha saw Vajra attacking him and said:
Garutmantha: “ Vajramaa! However powerful you might be, you
can’t harass me. You are made with the back bone of Dadheechi
Maharishi. I shall drop a feathers as a token of respect or the maharishi.
Vajramaa! Since I have respected maharishi, you go back without
touching me.
On hearing the words of Garutmantha, the divine communities
praised the bravery and courage of Garutmantha. At last, Indra also
appreciated and said:
Indra: “Garutmantha! I bless you with immortality and you would
be free from old age and disease. Hence what is the purpose of taking
nectar from heaven? Give it back to me and be contended with the boons
I have given.
Garutmantha: ‘‘Indra! My mother became a slave to her co-wife.
My brothers promised me that they would release my mother from her
bondage, provided I secured for them nectar. So I can not go without
enactor. You can take it back after my mother is discharged from
bondage.
Indra: ‘‘Garutmantha! I have seen your strength and valour.
However I want to hear something more about you, tell me.’’

Aadiparvam 47
 Garutmantha: ‘‘To praise one’s self is as big sin as that of ignoring
others valour. However since you have asked , I will let you now about
myself. You listen. I can hold all the movables and immovables on my
back. With the velocity of my wings, I can throw out of all the gems and
pearls from the bottom of the sea. I can go round all the three worlds
with a sped of mind..’’
Indra: ‘‘Garutmantha! As you are taking something from me, the
nectar, in return you be my friend for ever’’
Garutmantha: ‘‘ Indra! My brothers who are the sons of Kadruva,
humiliated my mother for several years. So make serpents to be as my
food.
Garutmantha carried nectar with him, went to his brothers and
said:
Garutmantha: My dear brothers! Indra is protecting this nectar
with thousand eyes. In spite of that, I secured it for you. Now you release
my mother from her bondage. It is your responsibility to protect nectar
from now onwards.
Garutmantha released his mother from her bondage and walked
out. All the serpents went for a bath to consume nectar. In the meanwhile,
Indra took away the pot of nectar and returned to heaven. Serpents
came back and found that the pot of nectar was missing. The Aadishesu
hated his mother and brothers for their unethical behaviour towards
their step mother. In a fit of anger he left all of them and went to
Badhirivanam, Ghokarnam, Pushkarni, Himachalam and many other
places. After serving all presiding deities, he went to Mt.Gandhamadana
and did tapasya on Brahma for several years. Brahma appeared and
blessed a boon.
17: Aadishesu holds earth on his head.
Aadishesu: Oh Deva Deva! My mother and brothers left the path
of dharma and did harm to my step mother and my cousin Garutmantha.
I can’t live with them. I want to end up my life by doing tapasya.
Brahma: Oh Sheshu! You are the most virtuous among the serpents.
You are a virtuous person. You can hold any amount of weight on you,
so you are the right person to hold the earth. Garutmantha had the grace

48 Mahabharatam
of Kasyapa and Valikhiya maharishis. Thereby he became the most
valorous and even defeated Indra. Hence you make friendship with him.
That will help you in a big way.
Aadishesu became a friend of Garutmantha. All powerful serpents
like Vasuki and others were greatly worried about the curse made by
their mother Kadruva. He assembled all his brothers and said.
Vasuki: My dear brothers! Our brother Seshu pleased Brahma and
was assigned to hold the earth on his head. He had been freed from the
curse of our mother. As far I am concerned I was chosen as a churning
rope for securing nectar. So the curse of our mother will not apply to
me. However I am worried about the damage of our race.
Oh hearing the words of Vasuki, some arrogant serpents said:
Other serpents: Brothers! King Janamejaya is a virtuous king. We
take the help of brahmins and make a representation to the king not to
perform sarpa yaga. If our pleas are not conceded, we all go and crawl
on the eatables. On looking at our presence all guests and visitors will
run away and thereby the Sarpa yaga will be shelved.
Some other serpents: ‘‘Brothers! your dream will never come true.
All the materials on the yagnavatika were purified with vedic mantras.
As such impure creatures like us can’t go anywhere near the yagnavatika.
So you stop all wicked thinking.
Elaputrudu: (younger brother of Vasuki) ‘‘Brothers! I will tell you
a secret. When our mother cursed, I was very young and was lying on
the lap of our mother. However I did not sleep. At that time I heard the
devatas conversing with Brahma. Those words I still remember and I
will let you now and please listen.
Devatas: ‘‘Brahma! Kadruva cursed her own children who were
the most venomous and vigorous. How hard- hearted is that woman. Is
there any out?
Brahma: ‘‘Devatas! All the serpents are cruel by nature. They
always do harm to the people. Since earth is overburdened with serpents,
I kept quiet. However the Vasuki’s sister will marry a maharishi by name
Jaratkaruvu. They will have a son by name Asteekudu. He will become a
great tapasvi. He will go to Janamejaya and stops sarpa yaga. Thereby
the remaining serpents will survive.’

Aadiparvam 49
 The words of Elaputrudu, made them happy and praised the young
serpent. They are all praying for Jagatkaruvu’s arrival and his marriage
with vasuki’s sister.
Jagatkaruvu, who was born in the family of Mayavura, completed
his Brahmacharya and was ready for marriage. While he was wandering
in the forest, he saw certain tapasvis who were taking sunrays as their
diet. Jagatkaruvu looked at them and said:
Jagatkaruvu: maharishis! You are all hanging upside down and
perform severe tapasya. What is it you are aspiring from this tapasya?
Maharishis: This is not a tapasya. We are all unfortunate since we
did not have sons and we are deprived of tarpanas. As such we are denied
superior lokas. We are hanging upside down. One of our ancestral
parents took pity on us and told that one day a tapasvi would be born in
our family by name Jagatkaruvu and sons, would pave way for us to go
to superior lokas. Till such time, we to pray for jagatkaruvu to marry
and have children.
Jagatkaruvu: My Ancestral parents! You are all most worshipful
for me because I am Jagatkaruvu . Till now I did not have an inclination
to marry. Now I have decided to marry.’’ All his ancestral parents felt
happy and blessed him.
18: The marriage of Jagatkaruvu.
Jagatkaruvu: Ancestral parents! Now I will search for a suitable
girl for me. As soon as I secure a girl with an identical name of mine, I
will marry her.
Vasuki was also searching for a suitable bride groom for his sister,
Jagatkari. In the meanwhile he came to know that a great tapasvi by
name Jagatkaruvu is inclined to marry for the benefit of his ancestral
parents. Then Vasuki went to Jagatkaruvu with his sister, Jagatkari and
said:
Vasuki: Jagatkaruvu! You are the most virtuous person knowing
all sastras and dharmas. You marry to benefit the ancestral parents of
both sides. My sister her name is Jagatkari.
Jagatkaruvu: Vasuki! I am pleased to marry your sister.’’ However
he said, ‘Oh Jagatgari I agree to marry you and live with you. I leave you

50 Mahabharatam
the moment you insult me. If you agree to this, our marriage will get
through.
Jagatkari agreed and married him. After a few year, she became
pregnant. While the child was in her stomach his brilliance was noticed
on her body. One day kept Jagatkaruvu his head on her lap and sleeping
till sunset. She was confused whether to wake him up or not . Since the
time running out for his daily rituals, she woke him. He became angry
for disturbing his sleep and said, “you have insult me.
So I am leaving from the house. The child you are bearing is more
splendid than the sun and Agni. Because of him, both our families will
become pure. You don’t worry about me. You go to your brother and
live happily. I am going to continue my tapasya.
After some time, Jagatkari delivered a boy by name Asteekudu.
The boy joined the gurukulam of Pramathi, a great tapasvi and son of
Chavana maharishi. He learnt Vedas, Vedangas and sastras from Pramathi
and performed a great tapasya.
King Janamejaya assembled all his ministers and said, ‘ministers!
Udanka maharishi has come and advised me” You perform sarpayaga
and take revenge on serpents who killed my father”.
19. The reasons for the death of King Pareekshittu
Minister: Oh king! Your father King Pareekshittu in a righteous
way. His father Abhaminyu was dead in the battle of Kurukshetra. While
you were still in the stomach of your mother. Lord Krishna saved you
life from brahmastra released by Aswadhaama. In this manner your life
was saved to continue the family line of Kuru dynasty.
Oh Janamejaya! Your father Pareekshittu was also very fond of
hunting as his grand father Panduraju. One day while hunting, he chased
a deer for a long distance. As he was thirsty, he went to a nearby muni
ashrama. At that time, Semeeka maharishi was in a state of Samadhi.
Your father was not aware of the state of the maharishi’s samadhi and
asked him for water. Maharishi did not reply your father as he was in
Samadhi. Your father misunderstood his silence as arrogance and picked
up a dead snake with his bow and kept around the neck of maharishi
and went away.

Aadiparvam 51
 After some time Srungi, son of Semeeka maharishi came to ashrama,
saw a dead snake around the neck of his father. He was furious for the
insult meted to his father and took water in to his hands and cursed.
“We are living in the forest having control on our sense organs and
performing tapasya. We take very little food to keep up our body. While
my father was in the state of Samadhi, this King Pareekshittu put the
dead snake around his neck and went away. On the seventh day he will
die with a snake bite of Takshaka.”
In the meanwhile, Semeeka maharishi came out of his Samadhi and
understood what had happened. He was unhappy with his son and said:
Semeeka Maharishi: My son! Are you not aware anger is our
first enemy? Anger will destroy all eight siddhis. It will destroy all our
tapasya. A tapasvi without patience and a king without dharma, will not
retain any thing as no water remains in a leaky pot. You must remember
that all our muni communities are making great tapasya, because of the
patronage given by the king. You have committed a sin by cursing a noble
king like Pareekshittu. I am more hurt by your curse than the insult
committed by our king on me.
Srungi: ‘‘Father! I cursed the king in a haste. As my words will not
go untrue, Takshaka must have started to complete his job.
On hearing the words of Srungi, Semeeka maharishi called one of
his disciples and asked him to go to the king Pareekshittu and inform
him about the harm he is going to face from Takshaka. The disciple went
to king Parikshittu and said:
Disciple: ‘‘King! I am the disciple of Semeeka maharishi. You put a
dead snake around his neck. Srungi, the son of my guru was annoyed at
you’re the insult committed on his father he cursed you that you will die
on the seventh day with the poison of Takshaka. My guru was grieved
very much for the hasty action of his son. However he asked me to convey
this information to you, so that you could be on your guard.
King Pareekshittu grieved for his sinful act and appreciated the
great restraint of maharishi. Immediately he summoned all his ministers
and built a building which would stand on a single pillar and he entered
into it. He also summoned the great snake charmers and the doctors

52 Mahabharatam
who can protect him with anti-venom medicines and mantras. By the
time Takshaka had already started and was devising a plan to bite the
king.
20. Takshaka averts Kasyapa who knows anti- venom mantras
Brahma was worried with the untimely deaths on earth due to
snake bites. To avert this, he called a brahmin by name Kasyapa and
initiated a mantra to him and its application. He instructed him to go
and save as many people as possible from the snake bites. Kasyapa came
to know that the righteous king Pareekshittu was about to die with the
bite of Takshaka. He wanted to meet King Pareekshittu and avert his
premature death with the help of mantra. He thought that he not only
get enormous wealth but also glory. Hence Kasyapa started to reach
Hastinapura. Takshaka smelt the mind of Kasyapa. Takshaka
transformed as an old brahmin and met Kasyapa on his way and said:
Takshaka: ”Oh superior brahmin! How far you are going? On what
business are you going?’’
Kasyapa: “Today Takshaka the king of serpents is going to kill our
king Pareekshittu. The king Pareekshittu is a righteous person. I want to
save the king and avert his death with the help of a mantra. So I am
going to Hastinapura’’ .
Takshaka laughed at the brahmin and said, “Oh sinless brahmin! I
am Takshaka . One may escape death from Indra’s Vajra but not from
my bite. No body can escape from death from my venom. All the mantras
and mystics will not work with my venom. Why you take so much
trouble? You go back to your place. If you want to really show the power
of your mantra, I will bite this tree. This entire tree will dry up in front of
your eyes. If you want to test your mantra, you bring it back to life. If you
succeed, you can also bring back Pareekshittu to life.
“Oh Brahmin! Brahma has decided that this king is to die with my
venom. Hence neither my poison is not killing him nor you’re your
mantra is going to save him. Know it well that it is the dictates of Brahma.
Can you or I change his will power? So we are all instruments in the
hands of god. However if you want wealth, I myself can give you. You
may go back to your place’’ On hearing these words, Kasyapa thought

Aadiparvam 53
that he could not stop the death of the king and so took the precious
stones from Takshaka and went back to his village.
“Oh Janamejaya! You may ask me how I know all these things. One
day a brahmin from Hastinapura went to the forest to pick some fruits
from a tree. At that time Takshaka bit the tree. The entire tree was burnt
along with the brahmin. However Kasyapa was there at that time and he
recited an anti-venom mantra. With that mantra, the entire tree came
back to life including Brahmin. That brahmin came to Hastinapura and
said his experience to his people.
21. The death of King Parikshittu
Takshaka made the brahmin to go back to his village and called
his subordinate serpents and instructed them
Takshaka: “My children! you all took the forms of brahmins, you
carry basket full of fruits and flowers to gift to the King. I will also come
with you in an invisible form. ‘’
All serpents went in the form of Brahmins, procured fruits and
flowers tooffer the king. They all knew that king Pareekshittu was fond
of Rigveda and Yajurveda So they started reciting the Vedas and carried
the fruits and flowers with them to the king. The king said to his
ministers:
King Pareekshittu: “Ministers! This is the seventh day after the
curse given by Srungi maharishi. In a short time, the sun is going to set.
After that the curse of Srungi will loose its power. On this happy occasion,
you all share these fruits and enjoy.
The king also took one fruit in his hand and opened it. He found a
black insect in the fruit. While looking at that, it transformed in to a big
serpent bit the king and ran away. The poison of Takshaka burnt
Pareekshittu and building. In that manner, your father died.
22. Janamejaya performs Sarpayaga
Ministers: “King Janamejaya Your father took the responsibility
of ruling the country while he was an infant. He performed several
yagnas . All the people are praised him as a virtuous king. Because Srungi
asked should Takshaka is to kill your father without looking into his

54 Mahabharatam
anticidents? You perform Sarpa yaga and punish all the serpents.
Ever since Udanka provoked King Janamejaya, dedicated to
perform Sarpa yaga and entered yagasala with his wife Vapustama.
Before commencing the yaga a Vastu Pandit said to the “Oh king!
As per the Vastu this yaga will not be completed and it will be stopped in
the middle.” However the king decided to proceed with the yaga.
As the yaga was in progress, thousands of serpents came from
nowhere and fell in the Homagundam. At that time Takshaka the king of
serpents was afraid of his own life, and he ran to Indra for protection.
In the meanwhile, Vasuki had requested his sister Jagatkari to ask
her son Astika to go to Janamejaya and persuade him to stop the Sarpa
yaga. Astika went to Janamejaya and said:
23. Astika approaches King Janamejaya
Astika: “King Janamejaya! You hail from Chandra vamsa. You are
a Rajarishi. You are as virtuous as your ancestors. The oblations that
you are offering to the fire god are all turning towards right, this is a
good omen. You listen to my prayer. I hail from the serpent’s family
through my mother. All the serpents are vanishing from this world
because of your yaga. I request you to protect the serpent’s race in the
world.’’
All the people present at the yaga supported to his request.
Janamejaya was convinced and stopped the sarpa yaga. At that time
Takshaka was hanging in the sky and was about to fall in Homagundam.
Looking at Takshaka, Astika said “ Takshaka! The sarpa yaga had been
stopped. You go back. The mantras are no more binding on you.”

Aadiparvam 55
 Chapter 3
24. Vaisampayana tells the story of Mahabaratha.
Janamejaya had suspended the sarpayaga in the middle and paid
valuable gifts to brahmins and kept them happy. One day Veda Vyasa
went to Janamejaya’s palace with his disciples. Janamejaya received
Vyasa maharishi and worshipped him.
Janamejaya: “Vyasa Baghavan! yourself Bhishma and other elders
distributed the kingdom equally to Kouravas and Pandavas. Instead of
enjoying their share of kingdoms, why such a big battle took place. Have
you not tried to stop the battle?’’
Visravasu : Oh Sownaka! At that time Vyasa maharishi did not reply
but he looked at his disciple Vaisampayana to narrate the story to the
king and went away/
25. The glory of Mahabaratha:
Vaisampayana: “Janamejaya! This story of Mahabharata will help
all those people who seek dharma, ardha, kama and moksha. It will also
wash away all the sins accumulated by mind, by speech and by action.
Now I will tell you briefly the reason for the rivalry between Pandavas
and Kauravast.
After the death of Panduraju, his sons, Pandavas were brought up
by Dhrutarashtra. Both Pandavas and kauravas served guru and learnt
archery and other martial arts. Pandavas possessed virtuous qualities.
They also established their supremacy in archery over others.
Duryodhana became jealous an pandavas and took lead in all evil acts
committed on Pandavas. Sakuni, Karna, and Dushsasana always
provoked and encouraged Duryodhana in doing such cruel acts against
Pandavas. However Pandavas maintained forbearance and used to suffer
all the hardships. One day when Bheema was sleeping on the banks of
Ganges after his swimming, Duryodhana and others fastened him with
ropes and threw him into the river. However Bheema escaped from the
death. On another occasion while Bheema was fast asleep, he was bitten
by a black cobra, sent by Duryodhana. But the venom did not enter his
body because his skin was so hard. On another day, they mixed poison
in the food and offered to Bheema, but he digested it.

56 Mahabharatam
 Duryodhana and others wanted to eliminate in several ways
Pandavas. So they made a house of wax made them to live in it and fired
it. Vidhura came to know the wicked plans of Duryodhana and dug a
tunnel for their safety which ended up in a forest.
There Bheema killed a demon by name Hidumbasura and married
his sister Hidumbi. From there they reached Ekachakrapura and took
shelter in the house of a brahmin. Bheema killed a demon, Bakhasura
who was harassing the people. From there, they entered the kingdom of
Drupada in the form of brahmins. They participated in a Swayamwara
announced for Draupadi. There Arjuna hit Maschya yentra and won
Draupadi in that Swayamwara. The kings who came to win Draupadi
were furious at Pandvas (Brahmins) and fought. Pandavas defeated all
the kings and went home with Draupadi. Kunthi and Vyasa maharishi
advised all the Pandavas to marry Draupadi. After that they lived happily
in the palace of Drupada for a year.
Dhrutarashtra came to know and called back pandavas to
Hastinapura. He gave the share of Panduraju to Pandavas and asked them
to rule from Indraprasta.
Pandavas ruled from Indraprasta for some time. During this period
Arjuna went to Dwaraka and married Subadra, the sister of Balarama
and Krishna. Arjuna had a son through her by name Abhimanyu. Arjuna
was gifted by Agni, a divine chariot, horses, a bow, Gandibam, a conch,
Devadatam and a perpetual quiver. With this, Arjuna defeated Indra and
allowed Agni to destroy Khandava vana to ashes. After that, they
summoned Mayu a danava architect to build a durbar hall which was
known as Mayasabha. Bheema killed Jarasandha to facilitate Dharmaraja
to perform Rajasuya yaga.
Duryodhana and his evil friends came to know all these glorious
deeds of Pandavas and became jealous. They invited Pandavas for a
gambling and defeated them with the help of Sakuni. As per the terms of
game, Pandavas were to live in the forests for twelve years and for one
year in Agnatha vasam. During this period, Arjuna did penance, meditated
on Siva and secured Pasupatastra. Pandavas completed thirteen years
and demanded their share of kingdom back. But Duryodhana did not
agreed. Therefore the battle of Kurukshetra had become inevitable. The

Aadiparvam 57
history that reveals about the Kouravas and Pandavas who hailed from
the King Baratha’s family line is popularly known as Baratham.
26: The episode of King Vasuvu
Vaisampayana: (continues) Before we learn the story of Vasuvu,
let us know the birth of Veda Vyasa. You all listen.
Long ago the king Vasuvu was ruling the kingdom of Chedi.. He
wanted to reties and do tapasya for rest of his life. But Indra came to
him and said, “Oh Vasuvu! You have ruled the country in a righteous
way. The country needs your rule for some more time.’’
In gratitude to Indra, he arranged to celebrate a festival for Indra.
Indra was pleased with his devotion and blessed him with five sons.
Vasuvu (Uparicharudu) gave the kingdom to all his children and became
a Rajarishi. One day, he went to the river Suktimati. There he saw
Mt.Kolahala, fell in love with river Suktimati and obstructed her way.
Looking at this Uparicharudu (Vasuvu) pushed the Mt.Kolahala with his
little finger of his foot and released Suktimati. In gratitude, Suktimati
gifted her son Pavanudu and Daughter Girika to Uparicharudu. He made
Pavanudu as his commander in chief, and married Girika and made her
as his principal queen. After some time, Girika became matured.
When Girika matured, her ancestral parents instructed him to offer
deer meat to her(Girika) the King (Uparicharudu) went to the forest to
fetch deer meet for his wife. While he was hunting, he remembered the
prettiness of his wife and his seminal fluid fell down. He preserved in a
cup made of a leaf and sent the same through a hawk to Girika. While
the hawk was traveling in the sky, another hawk attacked and they fought
each other. In the meanwhile the cup fell in a river. Where an apsaras
by name Adrika was living in the form of fish by the curse of Brahma.
Adrika consumed the sperm of the king and became pregnant. When
the fishermen spread nets, Adrika also caught in their trap. When the
fishermen cut the fish (Adrika) they found two kids, a male and a female.
The fishermen took both the kids and gave them to the king.
27. The episode of Matsyagandhi :
Brahma, while giving the deliverance to his curse, said to Adrika
that she would get back to her original abode whenever she gives birth

58 Mahabharatam
to humans. As such she returned to her abode. The boy was named as
Matsyarajanna and became King of Matsya kingdom. The female baby
who was brought up by Dasaraju was named as Matsyagandhi. She used
to go with her father to ferry the raft on the river Yamuna. One day she
was waiting for the passengers to come, Parasara Maharishi saw her
and fell in love. With his divine knowledge, he understood her
background. Maharishi was fascinated with her fish-like eyes. Though
he won the senses, on that moment he lost his control. He expressed his
desires to her and waited anxiously for her reply.
Matsyagandhi was afraid that the Maharishi may curse her, if she
refuses and said, “Pious maharishi! I am a fisher woman. All my body
smells like fish. If I lose my virginity, my father will not allow me to step
into the house. Hence, Keep up my purity.” Maharishi was happy and
blessed her that she would not lose her virginity. He explained the secret
of her birth and said she was the daughter of a Rajarishi and not a fisher
woman. He blessed her to spread fragrance to a distance of one yojana
from her body. From then she was popularly known as “Yojanagandhi”.
She also had another name as Sathyavati. At that time, maharishi blessed
her with silk garments and gold jewels. Sathyavati was feeling shy to
mate with him in public. Maharishi understood her mind and drove the
boat to an island in the river Yamuna. With his power of tapasya he
made the entire island covered with fog.
28. The birth of Vyasa
Vyasa Maharishi was born to Parasara Maharishi and Sathyavati
in an island of river Yamuna. He was as brilliant as sun, and he had
acquired knowledge of Vedas; he was virtuous. Because he was born on
an island on river Yamuna and as he was black complexioned, he was
popularly known as Krishnadypayanadu. After the birth, Vyasa said to
his mother, “Beloved mother! I am going to perform tapasya; you call
me whenever you need my assistance” and he went to the forest for
tapasya. Since he was born with an amsa a part of Brahma, he divided
Vedas into four and he was popularly known as Veda Vyasa.
29. The birth of Bheeshma
Parasurama went round the earth on a war expedition and killed
all the kshatriyas. Since all those kingdoms did not have any successor,

Aadiparvam 59
all the widows of those kings requested the superior brahmins, for a
successor for their kingdom at their menstrual times. With the blessings
of those brahmins again those kshatriya families had successors. They
protected dharma and saved the people from fear of thieves and adultery.
The kshatriyas born in this way became kings and ruled in the path of
dharma They performed many yagnas and pleased Indra and obtained
his blessings. Thereby they got timely rains and yielded crops in plenty.
As a result cruel and wicked population increased, the death rate had
decreased. Thus the burden on earth also increased. Mother earth could
not bear the load on her, went to Brahma and Vishnu for protection.
Brahma consoled her and said that Vishnu and Indra will take birth in
human form and reduce the burden on earth. In addition to that, portions
of Daithya, danavas, and Yakshas would take the form of kings and would
be born on earth. Of those kings, some of them would act as friends and
some as enemies. Those kings who were born with an amsa of devatas
will fight on behalf of Pandavas, those kings who were born with an
amsa of Rakshasas, would fight on Kauravas side. Great heroes like
Bheeshma was born and fought in the battle of Kurukshetra.
30: The story of King Yayati
Janamejaya: ‘‘Vaisampayana Maharishi! Yayati was an emperor
who ruled the entire earth. How is that he married the daughter of
Sukracharya who was a brahmin. How he married Devayani?
Vaisampayana: ‘‘Sukracharya was the priest of king Rishaparva,
a rakshasa king. In the battle of deva and danavas, many danavas died.
Sukracharya knew Mrutasanjivini vidya, with that he made all danavas
alive. Thereby devatas could not win danavas. Devatas wanted to gain
the knowledge of mrutasanjivini from Sukracharya. They sent Kacha,
the son of Bruhaspathi to learn Mruthasanjivini from Sukracharya. They
provoked Kacha to make Devayani, the daughter of Sukracharya to fall
in love with him.
As suggested by devatas Kacha went to Sukracharya and said, “
Maharishi! I am the son of Bruhaspathi.My name is Kacha. I want to
become your disciple. Kindly accept me as your disciple and bless.’’
Sukracharya was pleased with his sweet words and obedient behavior.
From then onwards, he served his guru Sukracharya and his daughter
Devayani obediently and won their affection.

60 Mahabharatam
 Rakshasas did not like their guru accepting Kacha as his disciple,
because he came from the devatas who are the enemies of danavas. One
day the danavas killed Kacha while he went to forest for grazing the
cows of his guru. Since Kacha did not return even after late night,
Devayani suspected some foul play by rakshasas and requested her father
to go and search for him in the forest.
Kacha lives back with the help of Mrutasanjivini
On hearing from Devayani, Sukracharya looked for Kacha with his
divine knowledge and came to know that he was killed by rakshasas. He
ordered the Mrutasanjivini to go and bring back Kacha with life. Devayani
was happy to see Kacha alive. Kacha also expressed his gratitude to them.
On another occasion, rakshasas burnt Kacha into ashes. The ash was
mixed in the wine and offered it to their guru Sukracharya. He consumed
the wine along with the ashes of Kacha. Since Kacha did not return,
Devayani and Sukracharya were worried. He came to know that Kacha
was in his stomach. He said to Devayani:
Sukracharya: “My daughter these rakshasas underestimated me
and my sanjivini vidya. With vengeance on Kacha, they are killing him
now and then. However he will certainly reach the superior lokas.’’
On hearing his fathers words, Devayani grieved for Kacha and said:
Devayani: ‘‘Father! Why are you not grieving for the death of Kacha
and aspiring superior lokas for him? Unless you bring him back to life, I
will not touch food.
Sukracharya wanted to keep his daughter happy and decided to
bring back Kacha alive. ‘‘Since I am intoxicated and took wine, this mishap
has happened. So I am dictating to all the worlds “that from now onwards,
no brahmin should consume wine.” He had instructed Mruta Sanjivini to
make Kacha alive. Sanjivini again acted as per the wishes of Sukracharya.
Kacha came to life and remained in the stomach of Sukracharya. From
his stomach, Kacha said:
Kacha: ‘‘Sinless guru! By your grace I came back to life. Keep mercy
on me and bring me out of your stomach.’’
Sukracharya understood the mistake he had committed. ‘‘If Kacha
comes out, my stomach would be torn and I die. So I should teach this

Aadiparvam 61
mruta Sanjivini to Kacha, so that he could come out of my stomach and
make me alive with the help of the same Sanjivini.’’ Hence he taught the
Sanjivini vidya to Kacha who was living in his stomach. Then he ordered
Kacha to come out. By the time Kacha came out from his stomach,
Sukracharya was lying dead. Then Kacha ordered Sanjivini to make his
guru alive. Thereby Sukracharya also came to life. After some years,
Kacha went to his guru and expressed his desire to go back to his parents
and requested for his permission. On hearing Kacha’s words, Devayani
was grieved and said,
Devayani: “Kacha! You are a beautiful young brahmin boy, I am
also an unmarried girl. The moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. I
have decided to marry you.’’
Kacha: “Devayani! You are my guru’s daughter. That means you
are like my sister. So you should not entertain such sinful thoughts. Not
only that! All disciples of a guru are like to his sons. This is the path of
dharma. So you please erase such sinful thoughts from your mind.’’
Devayani: “Kacha! Since you have refused my love, I will curse
you that the Sanjivini vidya will not be useful to you’’
Kacha: “Devayani! Your eyes are closed with lust and chosen the
path of adharma. Since I have rejected your love, you have cursed me.
So I am also cursing you that no brahmin will marry you. You become
the wife of a Kshatriya.’’
By cursing Devayani, Kacha went back to Deva loka. After Kacha
left, Devayani went with the king’s daughter Sermista and other servant
maids for roaming in the nearby forests. There they entered a lake leaving
their cloths on the shore. While they were taking bath, a whirlwind mixed
up their cloths and thrown away. They all came out of the waters and
rushed to have their cloths. In that confusion, Sermista wore the cloths
of Devayani. But Devayani refused to wear the cloths of Sermista and
said:
Devayani: “I am the daughter of Sukracharya. I am a brahmin girl,
I am superior to you by birth, I don’t wear your impure cloths. Since you
have already wore my cloths, they also became impure.
Sermista: (with anger) “Devayani! I am the daughter of a king
Rishaparva. Your father Sukracharya is a priest in my father’s durbar. In

62 Mahabharatam
other words, he and you are the servants of my father. If you don’t like
to wear my cloths, you go and hide yourself in a pit nearby. By saying so
she pushed her into the pit.
31. King Yayati pulls out Devayani:
Yayati , the king of Nahusha, came for hunting to the forests and
was wandering for a source of water to quench his thirst. On his way, he
saw a girl lying in a pit in naked form. He asked her:
Yayati: “Who are you? Why are you wandering in this forest alone?
How you fell in to this pit?’’
Devayani: “Oh king! I saw you earlier also when you came for
hunting. I am the daughter of Sukracharya. By oversight, I fell into the
pit. I am not able to come out on my own. You pull me out and save me’’
On hearing Devayani words Yayati took the hand of Devayani and
carefully pulled her out and went back to his town. Devayani’s heart was
burning with the insult made by Sermista. She refused to enter the town
of Rishaparva. And sent word to her father. Sukracharya came running
to see his daughter and said:
Sukracharya: “My daughter! You leave your anger and pardon
Sermista. She is also a young girl. Those who will leave anger alone will
be a virtuous person. The person who leaves anger is a superior person
than who performs many yagnas with huge gifts. So you leave anger on
Sermista and come with me.’’
Devayani: ‘’Father! I will not enter the city ruled by Rishaparva.
I will go and live in some other kingdom.’’
Sukracharya: “My daughter! You are my life. I can’t live here
without you. I will also come with you. Let us live elsewhere.’’
The servants of Rishaparva heard the conversation and went
running to the king and informed that Sukracharya is leaving our
country.
32. Devayani demands Sermista to be her servant
King Rishaparva: “Gurudeva! My pranams! With the help of your
Sanjivini, I am able to overwhelm devatas and expanded my kingdom.
I am indebted to you. From now, it is not my kingdom, it is yours. You
tell me what Devayani wants. It will be done.’’

Aadiparvam 63
 Devayani: “King! I want thousand servant maids, including
Sermista.’’
The king Rishaparva happily agreed to give thousand servant maids
including Sermista and satisfied Sukracharya. Sermista accepted her
father’s order and became a servant of Devayani and started serving
her. One day Devayani took Sermista and others to the same vana and
had a bath. They saw the king Yayati coming. They worshipped the king
with flowers and perfumes. Yayati sat with them and asked to whom
they belong?
33: The marriage of Devayani and Yayati:
Devayani: “Yayati! You know me. You have pulled me out of a pit
and saved my life. This girl is Sermista, daughter of Rishaparva, the
king of this land. She always accompanies me and serves me as a
servant.
You took my right hand with you right hand and pulled me out of
that pit. Sun god is witness to it. How can I forget such a memorable
moment? raja! You marry me. Along with me, this Sermista and thousand
more servants also will serve you. By marrying me, you will be as
comfortable as Indra.’’
Yayati: “Devayani! Your desire is against dharma. Brahmins will
marry a kshatriya girl but a brahmin girl will not marry a kshatriya man.
Being a king, I should protect the varnashrama dharma and I can’t be a
party for an inter caste marriage.’’
Devayani: ‘‘Valorous king! My father is Sukracharya. He dictates
dharmas to all the worlds. If such a person orders you, will you marry
me?’’
Yayati: “If Acharya orders me, I will marry you’’.
On hearing Yayati’s words, Devayani sent word to Sukracharya.
King Yayati saluted sukracharya with folded hands.
Devayani: ‘‘Father! This king has already accepted my hand and
pulled me out from a pit. As such will anybody marries me? So Yayati is
my husband for this birth. He is hesitating to accept me since I happened
to be a brahmin girl. Now you should interfere and arrange my marriage
with him.’’

64 Mahabharatam
 Sukracharya: ‘‘King! You marry Devayani. I will assure you that
you won’t have any sin of adharma by marrying a brahmin girl. This is
my order. This is Sermista. She is the daughter of Rishaparva, the king of
rakshasas. You also take her and satisfy her with food, shelter, garments
and ointments and protect her body. You give her everything except
mating with her. I am prohibiting you mating with her.’’
Devayani married Yayati and took Sermista and other thousand
maids with her. After some time Devayani delivered two sons Yaduvu
and Durvasuvudu. After seeing those boys Sermista thought in herself:
“All my youth is getting wasted and I will die without providing
any pleasure to any man. Though I attained full youth, I still remained
unmarried. Even to get married with any one, I am imprisoned in this
palace. This Devayani must have done many superior vratas. That is why
she was able to marry and enjoy her life whereas I am rotting like this.
Since my mind is filled with king Yayati whom else could I marry? He is
also very kind and affectionate to me. The way in which Devayani loved
the king, I am also loving him. My mind is fully occupied with his thoughts
and I belong to him by speech, action and mind.

34. Yayati blesses Sermista with a son’s.

One day, Yayati came alone to have a stroll in the Ashoka vana.
There he saw Sermista sitting alone. On seeing the king she stood up
with great confusion and said with folded hands:
Sermista: “I am the servant of your queen and you have a right on
her servants also. I am assuming you as my husband. The dharma is
dictating you to comfort your wife, your servant and your son. In other
words, you have to take care of all their comforts as a matter of duty.
The moment you married Devayani, all her servants also became your
property. That way I am also your wife. Hence I would request you to
bless me with a son.’’
Yayati: ‘‘Beautiful Sermista! Sukracharya has ordered me to
provide you with all comforts except mating with you. I accepted by his
orders and married Devayani. If I disobey his orders I will have the sin
of telling a lie.’’

Aadiparvam 65
 Sermista: ‘‘One can tell a lie when his wife is in danger or when his
wealth is being stolen or to save a brahmin who is about to be hanged or
in blessing a son to a woman or to make a marriage.’’
On hearing Sermista’s words he was satisfied that he would not
get the sin of telling a lie and satisfied the desire of Sermista. Thereby
Sermista gave birth to a son. One day looking at Sermista’s son, Devayani
questioned,
Devayani: ‘‘Sermista! You are an unmarried girl. If you are
conducting yourself in the path of dharma, how suddenly you gave birth
to a son. Tell me the truth.’’
When Devayani insisted Sermista said:
Sermista: A muni who read all Vedas and Vedangas saw me when I
was mensturating and took pity on me and blessed a son.
Devayani believed her words and left the matter at that. Sermista
managed to get three sons from Yayati. They were Druhyudu, Anuvu and
Poorudu. One day Yayati was spending some time with the children of
Sermista. Devayani came and noticed that all the three sons resembled
Yayati. She asked the children whose children you are? Show me your
father and mother”. Those children showed their fingers towards Yayati
and Sermista. Devayani could not digest the insult. She couldn’t control
her anger. Immediately she went to her father.
35. Sukracharya curses Yayati:
Devayani: Father! This king has insulted you, me and dharma. He
became un-virtuous and married Sermista and gave birth to three
children. He had violated the vow made to you at the time of my marriage.
By that time Yayati came running to Sukracharya’s house to console
Devayani and to take her back to his city. However Sukracharya could
not control his anger and cursed.
Sukracharya: Oh Yayati! You lost control on your senses. You
became a slave to lust. You broke the promise made to me and did
injustice to my daughter. So you suffer with old age and related disease
from now on.

66 Mahabharatam
 Yayati: Oh superior muni If a girl at her menstrual times wants
children and if a man doesn’t concede her request, it amounts to the sin
of killing an infant child. This is what elders say. So I didn’t dared to
commit that sin. That is why I agreed to the request of chaste Sermista.
As a result, she had given birth to three children. For such a reasonable
and virtuous act, could a tapasvi like you curse me? Still I am not free
from my lust and desires of senses through your daughter Devayani, so
I can’t suffer premature old age. Please take back your curse and pardon
me.
Sukracharya: “Yayati! My words will never go untrue. Looking at
the face of my daughter and her condition, I can be lenient on my word.
Hence if any of your son is prepared to take your old age in exchange of
his youth , you can continue to enjoy your youth and rule the kingdom.
After satisfying your sense pleasures, you can take back your old age
from your son. Only such a boy will be eligible to continue your dynasty
and rule the kingdom.’’
Yayati took leave from the maharishi and went back to his city
with Devayani. The moment he entered the city, he became old and
started shivering. All his sense organs became weak. The entire body
became wrinkled, hair became white and throat was filled with phlegm.
36. Yayati curses his sons:
Yayati: ‘‘Oh my sons! I had this premature old age; still lust on my
sense pleasures had not subsided. If any one of you can exchange my
old age with your youth, I shall return your youth after satisfying my
sense pleasures.
His sons: ‘‘Father! The old age and diseases will happen due to the
fruits of the previous karmas. So nobody can escape from them. Knowing
the consequences fully, will any one take old age and diseases? However
beautiful one may be if he becomes old, will any woman likes him?
Yayati became furious and called his eldest son and cautioned him
that if you do not oblige me none of your successors would have the
right to rule. He called the second son Durvasu and cursed him that all
his successors would become kings to the tribals and interracial
communities. He called his third son Druhyu and said all his successors

Aadiparvam 67
would become kings to the small islands surrounded by water on all
sides. He called his fourth son Anuvu and cursed that all his successors
would suffer premature death. Pooruvu, the last son of Sermista, had
agreed to give his youth to his father and to take back his old age and
disease with pleasure.
Yayati complemented Pooruvu, gave his old age and diseases and
took his youth. After thousand years Yayati satisfied all his sense
pleasures. He gave back his youth to Pooruvu and made him the king of
his kingdom. All the citizens came and said to Yayati.
Citizens: ‘‘Oh King! You know all dharmas. We are not to tell you
dharma. However we wish to tell a few words to you. Yudhuvu is your
eldest son. He is a good administrator and capable person. All the more,
he is the grand son of Sukracharya. While he is alive, how can you give
the kingdom to your younger son? Not only that, Pooruvu is born to a
woman of rakshasa family which is a prohibited community. Can you
justify in making such a son as king.
Yayati: My dear citizens! My first son Yadhuvu and others insulted
me by disobeying my request. In the case of Pooruvu the moment I made
an appeal, he had accepted with pleasure and took my old age. In my
opinion, he was younger only by age, but by his virtues he was elder to
all. Hence he is eligible to rule this country. This is my final decision. Not
only that Sukracharya also asked me to give this kingdom only to such a
son who accepts my old age and gives his youth. Hence I made Pooruvu
as the king of my kingdom.
By coronating purooru asking, Yayati went to forest with Brahmins
to perform tapasya. He did penance for thirty years without taking food.
One year he consumed only air. He did tapasya sitting in between pancha
agnis (sitting in the hot sun and keeping fire all around him.) for one
year. For another year, he stood on one leg and did tapasya and reached
heaven. In heaven he was worshipped by all devarishis. From there he
went to Brahma loka and he was worshipped by Brahmarishis. He resided
there for many kalpas. From Brahma loka he came again to Indra loka.
There Indra asked him.
Indra: ‘‘Yayati! While returning the youth to your son Pooruvu,
what instructions you gave to him? ‘’

68 Mahabharatam
37. The morals that were taught to Pooruvu by Yayati.
Yayati: ‘‘Indra! I taught the following instructions to my son.
1. Read the histories of righteous people and digest those
dharmas and keep reciting every day lest you forget them.
2. Donate to the needy people in such a manner that he should
not go to another person for begging again. Not only that;
you should donate to allthose needy people who come
across and satisfy them. You should have impartial view on
all the beings.
3. When you are asked to address a public meeting, it should
not only be judicious but also palatable to the audience.
4. You should not make friendship with such people who don’t
know the art of talking in a pleasing manner and hence you
shouldn’t employ people who speak harsh words and wound
others.
5. Employ people who are pure, kind and honest, who have
control over their sense’s who are truthful, who are clean
and who keep away the arishad vargas.
These are the instructions gave to my son at the time of making
him the king. By practicing these good qualities, now he is able to rule
well.
Oh Indra! I am proud of my great tapasya. Even devatas, daityas,
Yakshas, rakshasas, humans, communities who wander in the sky and
siddhas have not done as much tapasya as I did. That is why I am able to
live in heaven for so many years.
38. Indra pushes out Yayati from heaven:
Indra: Yayati! You have insulted many elders with the pride of
your tapasya. Though you enjoyed the pleasures in heaven, pride did
not left you. Thereby your religious excellence has been exhausted. In
short your pride has become your enemy. So there is no place in heaven
for those who have pride and ego. You go back to earth.
Yayati: Indra! I can’t go back to earth. At least you consider my
stay in the abode of stars. So that I can live in friendly relations with the
stars.

Aadiparvam 69
 Then Indra conceded to his request and made him a star. Yayati
entered the Nakshatra loka. There Astakudu, Vratardhanudu and
Sumantanudu, worshipped him and asked “Who are you? From where
are you are coming? How you took a place in Nakshatra loka?”
Yayati told them in detail, about his life. On hearing Yayati’s episode,
Astaka and other stars understood him as their grandfather. Since he
had enjoyed all the lokas, they thought he must have had enormous
knowledge. Hence they asked him to enlighten on the following aspects.1.
Pindotpatti (the formation growth of a child), 2. Varnashrama dharmas,
3. The real nature of good, bad, Dharma and Adharma.
Yayati: There is no superior dharma than impartiality on all beings.
All karmas are to be performed as dictated by Vedas. All the acts which
are considered to be bad and adharma must be avoided. If one performs
a prohibited act, he would reach the inferior lokas. The prohibited things
on earth are worshipping of agni with pride, the learning of Veda with
arrogance and performing yagna without proper knowledge.
Astaka: ‘‘King Yayati! You know all dharmas. You know the art of
living in heaven. Can we have superior lokas?
Yayati affirmed them that they were all destined to superior lokas.
On hearing his words, all his grandsons were happy. Subsequently Yayati
went to all superior lokas with his grand children.

70 Mahabharatam
 Chapter 4
39. Dushyantha goes for hunting:
Matinarudu hailed from the Kuru family, made tapasya for twelve
years on the banks of river Saraswathi. He performed a satra yaga. River
Saraswathi was fascinated with his virtuous qualities, fell in love and
married him. They gave birth to Trisu. Trisu married Kalindi, and gave
birth to Elinu. Elinu gave birth to Dushyantha. Dushyantha was fond of
hunting and had special skill in catching and taming lions, tigers and
elephants.
Dushyantha by his valour and strength, ruled justly. Under his rule,
people were prosperous and lived happily. One day he took a big army
with him, went in to the forest for hunting. After some time they reached
a river.
Dushyantha chased animals without rest and tired. He was far
ahead of his ministers and purohits. He was also feeling very thirsty and
was looking for a muni ashrama to quench his thirst. He entered the
ashrama of Kanva maharishi. As he entered, he saw Sakuntala in the
ashrama. He was taken aback by looking at her beauty. At the same time,
Sakuntala was also looking at his handsome figure. She felt that he must
be Jayantha, son of Indra. She welcomed the king with respect and did
Atidhi pooja. After a while Dushyantha said:
Dushyantha: Oh beautiful girl! My name is Dushyantha. I am the
king of this land. I came for hunting. As I was very much thirsty, I came
to your ashrama. I want to have the darshan of maharishi. Can you tell
me when he is expected?
Sakuntala: Oh king I am the daughter of Kanva maharishi. He has
gone to the forest to fetch fruits and roots. You please wait. He will come
in a short time.
40. Sakuntala Reveals about her birth
Dushyantha: Oh Sakuntala! I am not able to believe that you are a
daughter of a muni . Because every body knows that Kanva Maharishi
had won the control over his sense. Hence, How you became the daughter
of Kanva maharishi, Please tell me.

Aadiparvam 71
 Sakuntala: Oh king! Long time back another maharishi asked the
same question to my father(Kanva maharishi). Now I will tell you what
my father said to that maharishi.
“Some time back Rajarishi Viswamitra was performing a severe
tapasya. Indra was afraid and sent Menaka to spoil his tapasya. Menaka
was afraid of a curse from Viswamitra and said, ‘Indra! Viswamitra is a
short-tempered maharishi. He has killed all the sons of Vasista . You
yourself is afraid of Viswamitra. Is it fair on your part to push me to such
an unkind maharishi? However you are the king of all the three worlds.
I obey your orders and do my best in distracting Viswamitra from his
tapasya’’ Menaka went to the tapovana of Viswamitra. She danced and
sang before him with her fellow apsaras. Viswamitra was provoked by
cupid and opened his eyes. He was astonished to look at a beautiful girl,
half naked and tempted his senses. He lost control and he spent a long
time with her. One day Menaka gave birth to a girl. Menaka left that child
on the banks of river Malini and went away to her deva loka. Viswamitra
also went back to his tapovana. With the power of maharishi, all the
birds in the forest came in turns and protected the baby with their wings.
Incidentally myself (Kanva maharishi) and my disciples saw this child
who was protected by the birds. Since she was protected by the birds, I
named her Sakuntala. From that day onwards, I brought her up as my
daughter.”
Elders say that each woman will have three fathers. One- who has
given birth, Second one-who has fed and brought up and the third one
was one who protected her from the fear. Whereas for men there will be
a fourth father who has perform Upanayanam. There will be a fifth father
also who teach Vedas. For a man there are about five fathers and for a
woman three fathers. From this standard, I have protected Sakuntala
from fear and thus I became her guru. Since I am feeding her, I became
her father.’’
‘‘Oh king! This story was told by my father, Kanva Maharishi, to
another maharishi.’’
41. Dushyantha proposes to marry Sakuntala.
Dushyantha: “Sakuntala! I was afraid that you must be a
munikanya. Whereas you are a Kshatriya girl. I fell in love at my first

72 Mahabharatam
sight and hence I wish to marry you. Please be my queen and enjoy all
the royal comforts instead of living in this forest. There are several ways
of marriage viz. Brahmam, daivam, aarsham, Praajapatyam, Rakshasam,
Asuram, gaandarvam, Paisacham. Among the above, for kshatriyas-
gaandarvam and rakshasa type of marriages are well accepted. Let us
not waste time, we shall marry in Gaandharva way, if you agree.’’
Sakuntala: “My father is an embodiment of dharma. He is the
kindest person among the maharishis. In a short while, he will come.
After he comes, we can marry.’’
Dushyantha: “Do you know the special features of a marriage in
Gaandarva way? In this way, the bride herself will be the relative and
her protector. Since she is offering herself, she becomes the karta. These
three are the prominent features of Gaandarva marriage.’’
Dushyantha thus convinced her in several ways and made her to
agree for the marriage with him. He also said, “You keep this marriage
in a secret way till I take you to the capital with royal honours.” Then
Sakuntala said:
Sakuntala: Oh glorious Dushyantha! If I have a son by your grace,
you promise me that child should be the crown prince of your kingdom.
If you agree to this, I shall marry you.
On hearing Sakuntala’s words, Dushyantha gladly agreed to her
condition and married her in Gaandarva way.
Dushyantha: Oh Sakuntala! I shall send my ministers with big army
to take you to my palace.
After Dushyantha left Sakuntala was afraid of her father and became
preoccupied with the thoughts of Dushyantha. In the meanwhile Kanva
Maharishi came with fruits and roots and noticed certain the changes in
Sakuntala. As she was feeling shy, he came to know everything with his
divine sight. Maharishi consoled himself that for kshatriyas, gaandarva
way of marriage is acceptable and felt happy.
42. The birth of Baratha:
Kanva Maharishi: My daughter! You have chosen a suitable person
as your husband. You both belong to kshatriyas. Added to that, you

Aadiparvam 73
became pregnant. The boy in your stomach will be the future emperor
of the entire earth. I appreciate your obedient behaviour. You may ask
for any boon.
Sakuntala: The child I give birth should have long life with good
health, strength and enormous wealth. He should bring glory to his family
line.
Maharishi blessed her with all that she asked for. One day when all
the good planets congregated Sakuntala gave birth to a boy. The boy
had a chakra in his palm which denotesd not only auspicious but also
indicates that he would become an emperor. The child was named
Bharatha.
Baratha became valorous right from his childhood. He used to pull
the elephants and lions by catching their ears and tie them to the trees
and used to play with them. Looking at the play of the child, Sakuntala
and Kanva Maharishi were amused. Unfortunately, the king did not send
his men or the ministers to take her to the capital. No married woman
will stay at her parents place for a long time.
43. Sakuntala goes to Dushyantha:
One day Kanva Maharishi sent Sakuntala to her husband. When
Sakuntala entered the palace, King Dushyantha was in his durbar. His
ministers, priests, subordinate kings and prominent citizens were
present in that durbar. Dushyantha did not show any love or affection
as he exhibited at the time of their marriage. With that her heart broke
with grief. She had a doubt whether the king remembered her or was he
pretending as if he did not know her. However she consoled herself by
thinking that the king must be preoccupied and hence there was a reason
for him to forget her. Because his looks didn’t expressed any affection,
on the contrary his looks were harsh towards her. What could be the
reason? She was confused and thought in herself.
‘‘In case they forget, someone can go and make them to remember.
If they really forget there is also another way to make them to know. But
if this king is pretending to deceit me, even Brahma can’t convince him.
Having come all the way, I didn’t want to go without achieving any thing.
So the best thing could be I shall make him to remember the past and

74 Mahabharatam
leave his son under his protection.’’ Thinking like that, she said to the
king:
Sakuntala: Oh king! Some time back you came to forest for hunting
and met me in the ashrama of Kanva Maharishi. At that time you married
me in Gaandarva way and gave me a boon. Look at the brilliance of this
boy who is none other than your son. You have promised me that you
will make him the crown prince. Now you keep up your promise.
Dushyantha: Oh pretty woman! Who are you? I never saw you
earlier. Why are you talking inconsistent words? Enough is enough. You
go back .
Sakuntala: Oh king! You are aware of every thing but you are
pretending as if you don’t know. Since there was no evidence of our
marriage you are denying the truth. Will any virtuous person speak
untruth? Oh glorious king! for our marriage Vedas, five elements, dharma,
dawn dusk, Yama, sun moon, day night and many other superior
elements stood as witnesses. No body can escape from the eyes of those
superior elements. You stop trying innocence and shower your love as
before.
‘‘Oh king! Those who had a chaste wife alone achieves the fruits
of his virtious karmas, controls his sense organs only to have glorious
son. Even to achieve dharma, ardha, kama and moksha a chaste wife
should be by his side. She will act as Guru in cultivating a good character.
She will act as a supporting stick for the growth of family line. She is the
main reason for all glorious qualities of a person. There is no substitute
for a wife to provide happiness for a man. She will follow her husband
wherever he is, however difficult situation he my face, just with the
presence of his wife all those will melt away like ice. Since wife is half of
her husband and if she dies before him, she will wait in the other world
till he comes. In case the husband dies before her, she will follow him.
To insult such a chaste wife, is not only injustice but also adharma.
‘‘The husband will enter the body of his wife and takes another
birth as son. Vedas also says “ANGAT ANGAT SAMBHAVASI” such a son
with his good character will purify both the dynasties of his father and
mother. It is like lighting from one lamp to another. The light is already
spread from your body to a superior son, took birth and shining.

Aadiparvam 75
 ‘‘Oh King! Why so many words, take your son. Embrace him. You
will not get such fragrance anywhere. You will not get such a coolness
even from the moon. Oh king! a voice was heard from the sky in the
presence of several munis at the time of the birth of your glorious son as
“This boy will not only benefit your dynasty but also will perform
hundreds of Vajayapeya yagas”. You assured me at the time of our
marriage that you will make son my as the crown prince of this land.
Such a son has come and stood before you. Why are you rejecting your
own son?
‘‘King! Instead of hundred wells fresh water, it is better to have
one lake. Instead of hundred such lakes, one yagna is better. Instead of
hundred such yagnas, one son is better. Instead of such hundred sons,one
word of truth is better.
‘‘The fruits of hundred Aswamedhas can’t be equated with one
truthful word. So all dharmas are based on truth. This is what our Rishis
say. So you keep your mind pure and remember the promise you made
to me in Kanva ashrama. You yourself will come to know the truth of it.’’
‘‘King! Had I been the daughter of Rajarishi Viswamitra and Menaka,
you accept your son. Had I been brought up by Kanva Maharishi with
good character, you accept this boy as your son. If I am virtuous and
chaste wife of yours, you accept this boy. I swear what all I said is true.’’
Dushyantha: “Oh Sakuntala! Women can tell lies to suit the
occasion in a tactful manner. This art they acquire by birth. I once again
affirm that I have not seen you earlier. I have no contact with you You
are showing this boy and claiming him as my son. Can you tell such lies
to your king in his durbar? Since he resembles me, do you want me to
accept him as my son? You stop telling stories and go back.’’
On hearing Dushyantha’s words Sakuntala grieved in herself, “The
moment I was born, I lost my father and mother. Now my husband also
rejecting me. Perhaps I did many bad karmas in my previous birth” and
cried bitterly.
44: the voice from the sky reveals the truth:
Voice from sky: “King Dushyantha! This Baratha is your son, born
to Sakuntala. You accept him as your son. Your wife Sakuntala is virtuous
and chaste. What all Sakuntala said is true’’

76 Mahabharatam
 On hearing the voice from the sky, all the people in the durbar were
astonished.
Dushyantha: “My subordinate kings, my ministers, my audience!
Yes! Now I remember! I married her in Gaandharva way. This fact is not
known to any one except myself and Sakuntala. I am afraid of the public
blame and said that I did not know her. However we all witnessed a
wonder. The voice from the sky has spelt out the truth in your presence.
By announcing, Dushyantha ran to Baratha, embraced him. He
made Sakuntala as his principal queen. After some years Baratha was
crowned as the prince. Dushyantha and Sakuntala enjoyed many
comforts for several years. Finally they made Baratha as the king and
went for tapovanas for doing tapasya. Baratha had performed several
yagnas in the plains of river Ganga and Yamuna. He gifted huge gifts to
the brahmins and made them happy.
45: Ganga
“Long ago there lived a king by name Mahabishudu of Ikshavaku
dynasty. He made thousand Aswamedhas and hundred Rajayasuyas and
pleased Indra and many other devatas. While Brahma was conducting a
conference with Indra and other devatas, river Ganga also went to that
Sabha in the form of a woman. At that time with the velocity of wind
exposed her thighs and above. All devatas turned their faces with shy,
but Mahabishudu alone looked at her with curiosity. Brahma noticed his
mischief, got annoyed and cursed him to take birth to a woman.
Mahabishudu prayed to Brahma , “Virtuous Brahma! Among the
Rajarishis king Pradeepa is the righteous person. So you bless me to be
born as his son.” Brahma agreed to his request. With the looks of
Mahabishu, Ganga also fell in love with him and could not forget even
after coming back to the earth.
Once Vasista maharishi had cursed Asta Vasuvus to take birth on
earth. While returning from Brahma loka, Asta Vasuvus revealed to her
about Vasista’s curse on them. Ganga asked them why they want to be
born to her. For which Vasuvus said:
Vasuvus: “We are all going to take birth on earth. We wish to be
born to you and get relieved from our curse. We didn’t find a purer
woman, than you. All the more, as per the curse of Brahma, Mahabishuvu
Aadiparvam 77
is taking birth on earth as king Sentanudu. So we wish to be born as your
sons.’’
Ganga was happy and said, “I am also wishing Mahabishu to be
my husband. You are also asking me the same. So I will give birth to all
of you with pleasure.”
Vasuvus: “Ganga! You help us in another way also. Moment we
are born to you, throw us into the water without any emotion. We will
sink in the water and reach our loka. That will help us in achieving twin
purposes- viz taking birth on earth as per the curse of Vasista and l not
remaining on the earth for a long time.
On hearing the words of Vasuvus Ganga said:
Ganga: “Vasuvus! I agree to do as you want. But if you leave me
and go to heaven who will live with me?’’
Vasuvus: “You throw seven of us in the water immediately after
we are born. But the last Vasuvu, Prabhasudu will remain with you on
earth for a long time.’’
46. King Pradeepa requests Ganga to be the wife of his son.
One day king Pradeepa was doing penance on the banks of Ganga.
He saw Ganga in the form of a woman. She was so pretty and beautiful.
She came and sat on his right lap. Pradeepa was astonished to see such a
beautiful woman on his lap and asked her who you are? From where
you are coming? Why you sat on my lap?’’
Ganga: “Oh king Pradeepa! I am the daughter of Jahanu maharishi.
I am known as river Ganga. I heard of your noble qualities and came
here to become your wife.’’
King Pradeepa: “Beautiful Ganga! I will not accept any other
woman into my life except my wife. Even in my mind. So remove such
thoughts from your mind. All the more, any woman seeking a man as
her husband will sit on his left lap, not on the right lap. Since you sat on
my right lap I will accept you as my daughter- in- law. So you marry my
son.’’
Ganga was happy and disappeared. After some time King Pradeepa
had a son by name Santana. On an auspicious day he made his son

78 Mahabharatam
Santana as king and went to tapovanas for tapasya. He said to his son,
“My son I saw a beautiful woman on the banks of Ganges, while I was
meditating. I told her that you are so beautiful and become a wife to my
son. So if you happen to see a woman on the banks of Ganges, you marry
her.” By saying so he went to tapovanas.
47. The meeting of Ganga and King Santana.
King Santana one day went to hunting in the forests on the banks
of Ganga. As he was tired of hunting, he went to river Ganga and took
rest on its banks. At that time he saw a beautiful woman. Immediately
he remembered his father’s advice . While he was staring at her, Ganga
came to him and looked into his eyes. They attracted to each other. King
Santana asked” who you are? And from where you are coming”?
Ganga: “If you like me I will become your wife, but on one condition
you should not object whatever I do. Some of my actions might be
unacceptable to you. Even then you should not question me. I will marry
you only on that condition.
King Santana agreed to her condition and married her. After some
time when the Vasuvus started taking birth from her, she used to throw
them into the waters. King Santana was looking at this inhuman and
horrible sight, but he could not either stop her or ask why she was doing
so. It went for seven times. When the eighth son was born, Santana
objected her killing and saved that boy.
48: Ganga narrates the story of Vasuvus to king Santana.
When the eighth child was born Santana said to Ganga:
Santana: “Ganga! Till now, you have killed all the children born to
us. All these years I did not objected to your actions. This eighth boy is
shining like brilliant sun. I don’t want to lose this boy.’’
Ganga: “Before our marriage, you gave word and married me. Now
since you have questioned me, I am breaking our marriage. Know it
well I am Ganga who makes all the people pure. Vasista Asta Vasuvus to
take birth on earth. They requested me that they would be born to me
and requested they would not live long on earth and wanted to go back
to heaven immediately after their birth; thereby they could honour the
curse of Vasista and would not stay on earth. That was the reason why I

Aadiparvam 79
gave birth to all the Vasuvus and killed them immediately after birth.
This eighth Vasuvu will live long on earth. He was born only for the
wellbeing of manking. He would teach all dharmas to the world.
Santana: “Ganga! All Vasuvus are sinless. Even devatas worship
them. How Vasista cursed. Why those seven Vasuvus went away
immediately after birth. And why this eight Vasuvu remained on earth?’’
Ganga: “Santana! Vasista was born to Varuna who was equal to
Brahma. Vasista was doing tapasya in a cave on Mt.Meru. Kamadhenu
was serving Vasista. Who was born to Baghirathi and Kasyapa. One day
the Asta Vasuvus went for a stroll on Mt.Meru and saw Vasista maharishi.
They were astonished by looking at the power of the Kamadhenu. The
wife of the eighth Vasuvu said to her husband, “Dear! By drinking the
milk of Kamadhenu, one can be free from the disease and old age. One
who possesses this Kamadhenu, is considered to be the richest person
on earth. I have a friend by name Jitavathy. I want to this Kamadhenu
to her”.
Prabhasudu, the eighth Vasuvu wanted to please his wife and took
Kamadhenu with them. Since Vasista could not find Kamadhenu, he
searched for her and finally he came to know that the Vasuvus had stolen
his Kamadhenu. Vasista cursed all the Vasuvus to live in earth. The
Vasuvus came to know about the curse of Vasista and went to him for
the deliverance from his curse.
Vasista said, ‘‘Among you Prabhasudu only became greedy and
did harm to me; all the other seven Vasuvus will take birth and will go
back to heaven immediately. However the eighth Vasuvu Prabhasudu
will live long and observe Brahmacharya vrata”.
Ganga : We name this eight Vasuvu as Devavratudu. He will be
with me till he attains youth.’ By saying so she disappeared, with
Devavratudur.
One day King Santana was wandering on the banks of River ganga.
The saw a boy was practicing archery. To facilitate his practice, he built
a dam across the Ganga with arrows and made it an island. He wondered
at his proficiency in archery and asked him, “What is your name?” In the
meanwhile Ganga came in a human form and said, “Oh Prabhu! This boy

80 Mahabharatam
is your son Gangeya alias Devavrata, He has read all Vedas and Vedangas
from Vasista and he learnt archery from Parasurama. He has realized
Aathma Gananm from Sanatkumara. Now you take him with you and
make him a statesman” and disappeared. Santana returned to
Hastinapura, and crowned Gangeya as a prince.
One day while he was hunting on the banks of river Yamuna, he
had a sweet fragrance.
49. Bheeshma pledges to be a bachelor for ever
King Santana found that the sweet fragrance was coming from a
beautiful woman. Who was navigating a ferry. He went to her and asked,
“Who are you? Whose daughter are you? Why are you navigating this
ferry”. The girl replied, “Prabhu! My name is Satyavathy. I am the
daughter of Dasaraju. Navigating this ferry and helping the people is my
father’s profession. I have learnt navigating this from my childhood.”
King Santana went to Dasaraju and said, “ Dasaraju! I wish to marry
your daughter Satyavathy.”
Dasaraju: “King! My daughter has attained the marriageable age.
I am also looking for a suitable bride groom. She is fortunate that the
king himself came forward to marry her. I am happy to give my daughter
in marriage to you, but my request is that her son only must succeed
you and rule your kingdom. If you agree to my request, you may marry
her.’’
The king could not accept to the demand because he has already
coronated Devavratudu was the crown prince. Since then his mind was
fully occupied with Sathyavathy’s thoughts. Thereby he could not attend
neither to his daily rituals nor royal duties. He became detached from
the world. His son Gangeya noticed it and said,
Gangeya: “Superior King!. At the moment there is no fear of
enemies to our kingdom. All the people are living happily without any
grief. All your subordinate kings are obedient to you. Then why are you
emaciated alarmingly?’’
Santana: “My son! You have acquired good knowledge in astras
and sastras. As you enter a battlefield you behave in a ruthless manner.
In battlefields any thing may happen. So danger follows you as a shadow.

Aadiparvam 81
As such I am afraid of your longevity. Our elders say ‘one son is no son
and one eye is no eye.’ Hence my mind is constantly telling me to have
more sons in the interest of our family and kingdom. Hence I wish to
marry. But I failed in my attempt.’’
Gangeya came to know from his ministers that his father intended
to marry Satyavathy (Yojanagandhi) the daughter of a ferry man.
Gangeya went to Dasaraju with his ministers and requested him to give
his daughter, Satyavathy to his father in marriage. He promised that she
would be the royal queen of the country.
Dasaraju: “Gangeya! The Rajarishi, who gave birth to this girl, is a
frequent visitor to heaven, He instructed me that I should give this girl
to Santana. Some time back King Devakudu also wanted to marry this
girl. I did not agree to it. So I have no objection to give my daughter to
your father, but the son who will be born to my daughter alone, should
become the king of this kingdom.
‘‘If your father marries my daughter her children might face
troubles from the children of her co –wife. Because all worlds know
that you are the most valorous person. If you are angry, even Trimoortees
can’t fight with you in a battle. Hence you yourself think over and give
me a solution”.
Gangeya in the presence of his ministers, subordinate kings and
elders, pledged, “To fulfill the desire of my father, I hereby make a pledge
that the son who is born to your daughter alone, will be crowned as the
king. We all accept him as our king. He alone will continue the Kuru
dynasty.’’
On hearing Gangeya’s declaration, Dasaraju said, ‘‘ Gangeya! You
know all dharmas. You alone can make such a pledge. What guarantee
is there that your children will respect the pledge made by you?’’.
On hearing Dasaraju’s words, Gangeya made another frightening
pledge by saying that he would not marry and remain a bachelor for
ever.
In this manner he conducted the marriage of his father with
Satyavathy and accepted Brahmacharya. For the frightening pledge he
made, they named him as Bheeshma.

82 Mahabharatam
50. Bheeshma attends Swayamwara of king of Kasi
King Santana married Satyavathy . He was pleased with the
righteous character of Bheeshma(Gangeya), gave him a boon of
Ichamaranam. King Santana had two sons. They were Chitraangada and
Vichitraveerya. King Santana died when these boys were infants.
Bheeshma took every care in bringing up his step brothers. He made
Chitraangada as the king. Chitraangada was a haughty person, as such
he used to get into trouble with devatas and gandharvas. One day
Chitraangada invited a Gandharva for a fight. The fight took place in
Kurukshetra. Since gandharvas were good at mystic wars, they killed
Chitraangada. After his death Bheeshma made Vichitraveerya as the king.
Vichitraveerya was obedient and was obedient to Bheeshma.
While Vichitraveerya was ruling the country, King of Kasi
announced a Swayamwara for his daughters Amba, Ambika, and
Ambalika. Bheeshma went to Kasi, defeated all the rivals and brought
three princesses of Kasi to Hastinapura to marry them to Vichitraveerya.
While Bheeshma was taking away the princesses of Kasi, King Salva
fought with Bheeshma.
Bheeshma killed Salva’s charioteer and horses. As Salva conceded
his defeat and went back to his city. Then Bheeshma took the three
princesses and made arrangements to marry the three princess to his
brother Vichitraveerya. Just before the marriage, Amba the eldest of the
three sisters said to Bheeshma, “King! Already King of Salva wanted to
marry me and my father also agreed to give me in marriage to him. I also
loved him. However I accompanied my sisters without any desire of
Swayamvara. Not knowing my you abducted any brought me here. Do
you think what you are doing is right. Please tell.”
On hearing the words of Amba, Bheeshma sent her back to Salva .
Bheeshma married the other two princesses to his brother. Vichitraveerya
was in full lust for newly wedded wives and enjoyed day and night with
them. Due to excessive sex, Vichitraveerya died at a very young age.
The mother and wives of Vichitraveerya were in full grief, however
Bheeshma himself ruled the country in the absence of a king. One day
Satyavathy said to Bheeshma, “ My son! You alone remained alive among
the sons of King Santana. So you have a responsibility of continuing this

Aadiparvam 83
family line and to satisfy our ancestral parents. You should also to keep
up the rule of Kuru dynasty. In short I am asking you to marry and give
successors to this throne.”
Bheeshma said, “Mother I have pledged that I shall remain a
bachelor for ever. I can’t break my promise. Sun may lose its brilliance,
Fire may lose its heat. Moon may forego his coolness. But I will remain
a bachelor. All the five elements are witnesses to my promise. However
I agree with your sentiments that our dynasty should not get disrupted.
I will suggest you an acceptable dharma for kshatriyas at critical times
like this. You also consult our priest and pundits before you decide.
“Long back Parasurama became furious on all kshatriyas since his
father was killed by a Kshatriya and went on an expedition of war on
earth for twenty three times and killed all male kshatriyas including
infants and old. In short not even a single kshatriya remained on earth.
Their entire womenfolk became widows. At that time the superior priest
and the pundits had blessed children to those widows of the deceased
kings and produced successors to those kingdoms.
51. The episode of Deerghata
Bheeshma had quoted another episode of Deerghata . Long back
there lived an ascetic by name Utarjudu. His wife was pregnant.
Bruhaspathi, the devaguru had a mating with her in Devara Nyayam. At
that time the child inside her stomach cried loudly, “ Bruhaspathi! What
you are doing is adharma.” Bruhaspathi was angry with the child and
cursed him to become blind for a long time. The child was born as blind,
he was named as Deerghatamudu. Though he was blind, the boy learnt
all Vedas, sastras and became a scholar. After some time he married
Pradveshini and gave birth to Gauthama and another ten children.
However Pradveshini used to hate and insult Deerghatamudu. One day
Deerghatamudu asked his wife, “Why are you hating me?.” His wife said,
“Since you are a blind man, I am working hard and I am feeding you.
Instead of my becoming a dependent on you, you have become a
dependent on me. So no woman on earth would love a person who is
dependent on her.” By saying so Pradveshini asked her sons to leave
that blind man at a far away place.

84 Mahabharatam
 In spite of his father being blind and well read in Vedas, they did
showed any pity on him. They tied him to a raft of few bamboos and left
him in river Ganga. He passed through several countries. One day while
a king by name Bali was taking a bath in the river Ganga, he heard
Deerghatamudu reciting Vedas in the middle of the river. He took pity
on him and brought him to the shore and took him to his house. The
king asked Deerghatamudu, “Oh superior brahmin! Who are you? From
where are you coming? Who had tied you to this raft?” Incidentally the
king had no children and requested Deerghata muni to bless children to
his queen. But his queen Sudheshana did not like to go with that blind
brahmin and deputed her servant maid Komali. Komali had eleven
children. However the muni said to the king, “King! These children were
not born in your family. They were born to your servant maid Komali.
However they will become superior. Since king Bali desired to have
successors to his family by his queen and made her to agree .
Deerghatamudu touched the body of the queen and said, “You will give
birth to a son who is a valorous person.” As muni said after some time,
she gave birth to a Rajarishi by name Angaraju.
“In this manner a superior brahmin can give children to the wife
of a superior kshatriya. There are several Kshatriya dynasties who got
their successors with the blessings of virtuous brahmins. In this manner
a superior brahmin who has control on his senses, can produce sons to
the wives of Vichitraveerya.” Bhishma.
On hearing the words of Bheeshma, Satyavathy remembered,
“While I was a virgin, Parasara Maharishi assured me that I would not
lose my virginity. However I gave birth to Vyasa Maharishi. That boy has
assured me that he would come me whenever I remember him and went
to do tapasya. My son Vyasa knows all dharmas. He is pure and pious. If
I ask him to give successors to the Kuru family, he will oblige me.”
Satyavathy remembered her son Vyasa in her mind. Immediately
he stood in front of her. After a while Satyavathy said to the muni, “My
son! He is Devavratudu, son of Ganga and king Santana. He is also known
as Gangeya. Though he has the right to rule the country, he has sacrificed
his right and embraced Brahmacharya. With that oath, he is popularly
known as Bheeshma. Now a situation has evolved that the Kuru dynasty
has come to a halt. To continue the Kuru dynasty to flourish, I need your
Aadiparvam 85
blessings through the wives of Vichitraveerya in Devara Nyayam.’’
Hearing his mother’s request, Viyasa muni said:
“Mother! This custom is time old and this dharma is accepted by
Vedas. I assure you that the wives of Vichitraveerya will have sons through
me and the Kuru dynasty will have successors’’. Then Satyavathy said,
“You take the recourse immediately. Bheeshma and myself will take care
of the children. Bheeshma will also take care of the country till they
become kings.
Then Satyavathy went to Ambika and said, “ Ambika! It is your
menstrual time. You go to Vyasa maharishi and give birth to a superior
son to rule this Baratha dynasty. This night itself the maharishi will come
to you. Incidentally he is the eldest brother of your husband. You wait
for him’’.
52. The birth of Dhrutarashtra, Panduraju, Vidura.
Ambika and Ambalika were informed by Satyavathy, that they
should get children through Vyasa Maharishi .
Satyavathy also told many virtuous qualities about Vyasa Maharishi.
As a result both Ambika and Ambalika were assumed that Vyasa
Maharishi must be a divine person and as handsome as devatas. As Vyasa
Maharishi entered Ambika’s room, she saw him, lost her enthusiasm and
closed her eyes. Maharshi informed Satyavathy “Mother!. Ambika closed
her eyes looking at my ugly stature. So she would give birth to a blind
boy”. Satyavathy was saddened with his words and requested maharishi
to bless a son to Ambalika. Here also as the maharishi went to Ambalika,
she was also shocked at his ugly stature and her face became pale. Vyasa
blessed a child and said to Satyavathy “Mother! Ambalika was also
frightened to look at me and became bloodless. So she would give birth
to a strong and valorous boy with all good qualities with a pale body.
Maharishi said to Satyavathy, that the son to whom Ambika gives
birth will have the strength of ten thousand elephants though he was
born blind. You name him as Dhrutarashtra. He could understand and
know things with his mind. He was born as a successor to the Kuru
dynasty. He also told that Ambalika would also give birth to a valorous
son who would be born in a Pandu varna. You name him as Panduraju.

86 Mahabharatam
 In view of the above Satyavathy requested Vyasa Maharishi to give
a flawless son who can rule the Kuru dynasty. Vyasa Maharishi told his
mother, “Mother! If Ambika had control on her mind, I will give one more
son to her.” This time before Vyasa entered her room, Ambika didn’t
want to look at his ugly face and hence she sent her servant maid in her
place. This time when maharishi went the servant maid worshipped him.
Maharishi was pleased and blessed her with a son. He was named as
Vidhura. Lord Yama who had a curse from Mandavya Maharishi and was
born in the form of Vidhura. As a result, Vidhura had become a virtuous
and strong person. In this manner Dhrutarashtra was born to Ambika,
Panduraju was born to Ambalika and the servant maid gave birth to
Vidhura.
Janamejaya: “Oh Vaisampayana! Lord Yama is the lord of all
dharmas. He gives the fruits for the actions for all living beings. How is
that such a virtuous lord was born as Sudra.
Vaisampayana tells the story of Mandavya Maharishi: ‘‘ Oh
Janamejaya! Long time back Mandavya Maharishi was doing tapasya.
One day some thieves stolen the jewels of the king and ran away. When
the soldiers chased them, the thieves requested protection of Mandavya
Maharishi. Since maharishi was in a Samadhi, he did not responded to
their request. To save their lives, the thieves entered the ashrama. After
a while the soldiers caught the thieves and took them to the king. They
also arrested the Maharishi. The soldiers made a case that the himself
was giving protection to the thieves. The king ordered death sentence
for all the thieves. For the Maharishi he gave a ruling that a spear should
be pierced in his stomach and ordered that he should not be provide
any food or water. Few munis who were doing tapasya in the surrounding
tapovanas took pity on Mandavya Maharishi. They came in the form of
birds and said, “Maharishi! You are a great tapasvi. How you are punished
like this?” Mandavya Maharishi replied, “Maharishis! You know the
answer for your question. ‘Humans will get the pleasures and pains
because karma phalams. So, that man alone will become Karta to
experience his karma phalams. After hearing the words of maharishi,
the soldiers went and informed the matter to the king. The king repented
for his mistake and withdrew his order. However the soldiers tried to
remove the spear from his stomach but they could not do. When they

Aadiparvam 87
pulled with all their strength, much of his body came out with the spear.
That is why they called that maharishi as Mandavayudu.
“The maharishi while wandering all lokas, he went to Yamaloka
and said to Yama. “Oh Yama! Why you gave me such a cruel punishment?
What was my crime?” Yama said, “In your childhood, you used to catch
dragon flies and pierced their bodies with a nail. For that cruel act , I
gave you this punishment.”
Mandavya was annoyed with Yama and said, “Until fourteenth year
of a person, one would be considered as a boy. In that age whatever sin
he commits, it will not be taken to his account. If any one punishes such
a boy, they will become sinners. I have already instructed the same to
all the worlds to follow. You have ignored my instruction and committed
a sin, hence you take birth on earth and be a son of a Sudra woman.”
That is how Yama was born to a Sudra woman. He became the
chief advisor to Bheeshma and he was highly valued and respected in
the durbar.

88 Mahabharatam
 Chapter 5

The story of Dhrutarashtra, Panduraju, Gaandhari and Kunthi

The marriage of Dhrutarashtra: Dhrutarashtra and Panduraju
while studying in Gurukulam they also learnt archery, horse riding and
other martial arts. Bheeshma wanted to perform the marriage of
Dhrutarashtra with Gaandhari, daughter of king Subaalu. Bheeshma said
to Vidura:
Bheeshma: “Vidura! With the provocation of Satyavathy and by
the grace of Vyasa maharishi this Kuru dynasty has revived with
Dhrutarashtra and Panduraju. My self and the entire people of this
country wanted this Kuru dynasty to flourish. Gaandhari meditated on
Lord Siva and had a boon of having hundred sons and one daughter. If
we succeed in getting her married to Dhrutarashtra, our Kuru dynasty
will flourish in leaps and bounds. I am given to understand that the king
Subaalu is also willing to give his daughter to Dhrutarashtra.’’
Subaalu informed his daughter, Gandhari that Dhrutarashtra was
born blind. Gaandhari Being a virtuous and chaste wife of Dhrutarashtra,
Gaandhari took a oath that she would not also see world what her
husband could not see. From that day onwards, she blindfolded herself.
Her brother Sakuni took her to Hastinapura with valuable gifts.
Dhrutarashtra also married ten sisters of Gaandhari. In addition to them,
he also married hundred more maids who were extraordinarily beautiful.
The story of Kunthi: Prudhu was the daughter of a Yadava king
by name Surudu. He gave her in adoption to his friend Kunthibojha and
hence she was brought up by him from her childhood. As Prudha was
more affectionate and attached to Kunthiboja, people used to call her
Kunthi. King Kunthiboja was very pious and fond of worshiping Brahmins
and rishis. One day Durvasa visited the house of Kunthiboja. He deputed
his daughter Kunthi, to serve Durvasa Maharishi as long as he stayed in
his palace. At the end, he was pleased with her services and initiated a
mantra and said,
Durvasa Maharishi: “ My daughter! This a powerful mantra. You
recite this mantra and remember in your mind which ever devata you
may like. He will come in front of you and bless you with a son.”

Aadiparvam 89
 One day she went to river Ganga and suddenly entertained a
silly thought of testing the power of that mantra. She recited mantra
and said, “Sun god! You bless me with a son, as handsome as you.”
Immediately the sun god appeared before her in human form and said,
“Oh Kunthi! I came to give a son as desired by you.” Kunthi felt shy even
to look at him and said, “Sun god! I am the daughter of Kunthiboja, people
calls me as Kunthi. One day Durvasa Maharishi came to our house and
was pleased with my services. While going he initiated me with a mantra
and explained me the power of that mantra. Out of curiosity, I wanted to
test the power of mantra and thought of you in mind. deva! I am an
unmarried girl. I can’t bear a son before marriage. So you show pity on
me and go away.”
Sun god: “Kunthi! The mantra is very powerful. If I go back without
fulfilling your desire, the maharishi will curse me. So I can’t go back
without giving you a son. You don’t have to worry about your virginity.
You will get a son by way of Sadyo garbham. That will neither affect
your virginity nor you will be blamed by the people.’’ With the grace of
sun god she gave birth to karna.
The Birth of Karna: Karna was born with a natural shield and ear
rings. Kunthi looked at the child and did not know what to do with that
boy. ‘‘If I take this boy home, all my people might blame me. At the same
time I can’t leave this child.’’ She lamented. While she was saddened, in
the meanwhile she saw a beautiful box coming in ganga waters. She
caught hold of that box and opened it. Inside the box a bed was spread,
on which a boy could comfortably sleep. She thought it was the miracle
of the Sun god and kept the boy inside the box and allowed it to go with
the stream.
After some time the box was caught by Sootudu. He opened the
box and found a beautiful boy . He took that box and the child to his
house, gave it to his wife Radha. The moment she had taken the boy to
her hands, her breasts filled with milk and fed the boy. Sootudu and his
wife Radha named the boy as Vasushenudu. Since he was born with
natural earrings, he was also became popular as Karna. As Radha had
brought him up he was also called as Radhayudu. In this manner, the
boy was growing in the house of Sootudu.

90 Mahabharatam
The marriage of Panduraju and his expedition of wars
Panduraju made expeditions of war and won many kings. On his
way, he attended the Swayamwara of Kunthi and married her. With the
permission of Bheeshma, he also married Madri. After his marriages, he
continued his expeditions of war and defeated many kings, and they are
became his subordinate kings. By his expeditions, Panduraju able to
secured enormous wealth.
The noble deeds of Panduraju: Panduraju gave away all the
wealth to Dhrutarashtra. With the permission of Bheeshma they donated
everything to the brahmins and poor people. Though Dhrutarashtra was
born blind, Panduraju made him the king and ruled under his guidance.
Kinda Maharishi curses Panduraju: One day Panduraju went
with his wives, Kunthi and Madri for hunting in the forests, south of
Mt.Himalayas. He enjoyed with his two wives. He procured many valuable
articles and sent them to his brother Dhrutarashtra . In that forest Kinda
Maharishi was also enjoying with his wife. Suddenly they took the form
of a deer and enjoying. Panduraju mistook them as real deer and shot
his arrow on the male deer. The male deer while dying took the original
form and cursed Panduraju as, “King! I am Kinda Maharishi. You have
killed me, while I was enjoying with my wife.” On hearing maharishi’s
words, Panduraju said, “Kshatriyas can be kind even at the sight of an
enemy but they will not leave, a deer. However we should not kill by a
fraudulent method. Long back Agastya maharishi used to perform
Sradhas to his ancestral parents with the flesh of a deer. And gave a ruling
that the killing of a deer will not attach any sin to a kshatriya. So you
cannot blame me. “Maharshi did not relished the words of Panduraju,
and cursed, “Since you killed me while I was in mating, you also will die,
if you make with your wife.”
Panduraju repented and took a oath as, “Though a man might born
in a superior family, however knowledge he may acquire, he can’t escape
from fate. Till now, I was living in a righteous manner. Suddenly I became
a victim of a curse. It is nothing but an act of god. Now I resolve leading
muni life treating all beings equally”.
He called Kunthi and Madri and told them, “You need not lead a
muni life like me and hence you may go to Hastinapura. You inform

Aadiparvam 91
Bheeshma, Dhrutarashtra, Vidura and others of my decision.” On hearing
the words of their husband, they were shattered and said either they
live with him or commit suicide. At last Panduraju agreed to live with
them. From then onwards they lived on roots and fruits, wearing Valkalas
and worshipping Agni.
He had given up all his wealth to brahmins and the rest gave to
Dhrutarashtra. In this manner he led a muni’s life travelled towards
north. On his way, he passed Nagasailam, Chaitraradham, and Himalayas
and settled on Mt.Gandhamadana which was the abode of devatas and
siddhas.
Panduraju’s Tapasya :
Panduraju reached the highest peak called Mt.Satasrunga, which
was the place of siddhas and Yakshas. Even siddhas and Yakshas were
surprised with the severe tapasya of Panduraju. One day thousand
Brahmarishis were passing through Mt.Satasrunga, Panduraju asked
them, “Where are you going?” They said that they were going to meet
Brahma. On hearing their words, Panduraju also accompanied them with
his wives. After some distance maharishis said, “King! Your wives are
pretty and delicate, the entire path is very rough. Please stop at that
point. Not only this, there is no entry to Brahma loka for those who don’t
have sons.’’
Panduraju understood that he could not reach Brahma loka for
the simple reason that he had no children. The Brahmarishis with their
divine knowledge, understood everything and said, “King! Don’t worry,
since you don’t have sons, in a short time Yama, Vayu, Indra and Aswini
devatas are going to bless you with sons. You will reach superior lokas.
So you pray to them.
On hearing their words, Panduraju thought in himself, “One has to
clear the debt of devatas, rishis and Pitrudevatas. Otherwise he will not
be eligible for superior lokas. I have cleared all other debts except,
Pitrurunam. Once the body is ruined, all runas will be cleared
automatically except Pitrurunam.” While thinking in that manner he said
to Kunthi:
Panduraju: “Kunthi! A man can’t attain superior lokas without a
son. One can have son in the following six ways. 1. Kshetragnudu, 2.

92 Mahabharatam
Aiurasudu 3. Dattakudu 4. Krutrimudu 5. Doodhtpnnudu 6. Apavithudu.
In addition to those six ways, there are six more ways of attaining a son
who don’t have the share in property. They are 1.Kaaneenudu
2.Sahoodhudu 3.Krethudu 4.Pownardhavudu 5.Swayamdattudu
6.Jathudu.
“Of all these twelve ways of attaining sons, Kshetragnudu is the
most superior. Hence if you secure me a son in a dharmic way, I will be
entitled for superior lokas. Long back King Kekaya did not had a son. At
that time, through his Dharmapatni, who is your sister, Sruthasena,
performed a Kumsana homa to have a son. So you accept Devara Nyayam
and produce sons for me which is accepted by sastras.’’
On hearing the words of Panduraju, Kunthi remembered about the
mantra initiated by Durvasa Maharishi and informed the same to her
husband. On hearing Kunthi’s words, Panduraju was happy and said,
“Kunthi! All lokas are based on dharma, so you keep your mind pure and
pray for Dharmudu in you mind.” Kunthi went round her husband with
folded hands, recited the mantra and prayed for dharma devata (Yama
dharma raja). Dharma devata came in human form and blessed her. With
his grace, she became pregnant and gave birth to a boy.
The birth of Dharmaraja: The moment Dharmaraja was born, a
voice was heard from the sky “stars at the time of birth of this boy are in
an exaltation state. He will become a King. His mind will be steadily fixed
on dharma. He will treat all beings equally. He will become the most
courageous king on the earth and hence he will be called as Yudhistara.”
The destruction of Gandhari’s pregnancy: Gandhari became
pregnant much before Dharmaraja was born. She wanted to give birth
earlier than Dharmaraja’s birth. Out of distress, she hit her stomach hard.
With that the premature pindam fell on ground and was broken into
several pieces. All those pieces were preserved in a pot filled with cold
water. After they were fully matured, the pindams gave birth to hundred
sons and one daughter.
Here on Mt.Satasrunga. Panduraju said to Kunthi, “Oh Kunthi! You
have given birth to a righteous person. Now you give birth to a boy who
will protect our Kuru dynasty with his strength and valour.” This time
Kunthi recited the mantra and worshipped the wind god. With his

Aadiparvam 93
blessings, she delivered a boy. Again the voice heard from the sky named
this boy as Bheemasena. The voice also said the planets at the time of
birth of that boy were in a state of exaltation.
The birth of Duryodhana and others :
On the same day Bheemasena was born on Mt.Satasrunga, in
Hastinapura, Duryodhana was born to Gaandhari . At the time of
Duryodhana’s birth, the people noticed many bad omens. On the same
day when Duryodhana was born Dhrutarashtra had another son by name
Yuyutsudu for a Vyasa woman. After him Gaandhari gave birth to one
son on each day. After she gave birth to hundred sons, the last child
being a girl and she was named as Dussala. Astrologers and superior
brahmins said to Dhrutarashtra, “King! We noticed many bad omens at
the birth time of Duryodhana. We suspect a great damage to the people
and country through him. So you better leave Duryodhana and choose
any one among the remaining ninety nine as your successor.”
Dhrutarashtra refused to leave Duryodhana.
The strength of Bheema. On the tenth day after Bheema was born,
Kunthi took him to a temple. The way was rough with sharp ups and
downs. Suddenly a tiger jumped on Bheema. Panduraju killed the tiger
with an arrow and saved Kunthi and Bheema. In that confusion Kunthi
dropped the child and he fell on the stones. But the stones were broken
into powder. Immediately Panduraju came running and picked up the
boy in his hands. On his return from the temple, they came to know
through a messenger that, Gaandhari gave birth to hundred sons and
one daughter.
The birth of Arjuna: This time Panduraju asked Kunthi to worship
Indra, so that they could have a son who can conquer all the worlds. So
Kunthi recited the mantra and worshipped Indra,who came and said, “
Kunthi you will have a son. He will win all the three worlds and will give
successors to Kuru dynasty”. After the birth of Arjuna, a voice heard
from the sky as follows. “He will be popularly known as Arjuna. He will
become more valorous than Karthaveeryarjuna. He will defeat Indra and
other devatas and allow the burning of Khandava vana. He will overcome
all the kings on earth and make Dharmaraja to perform Rajasuya yaga.
He will acquire several astras from all devatas and trounce his enemies.’’

94 Mahabharatam
While Kunthi, Panduraju and Madri were spending time merrily with
their children, one day Madri thought in herself, “Kunthi has given birth
to three children as she desired and was happy. There Gaandhari also
gave birth to hundred sons and was happy with her sons. I alone remain
without children.”
The birth of Nakula and Sahadeva: One day while she was with
her husband, she expressed her anguish to him. “If you and Kunthi are
kind to me, I will also get get sons like Kunthi.” On hearing her words,
Panduraju said, “ Madri! You leave your distress, Kunthi already said to
me the same thing’’. By saying so he called Kunthi and said the distress
of Madri.” Panduraju advised Madri, “You give birth to sons from Aswini
devatas “ As desired by her husband, Kunthi initiated the mantra to Madri.
She worshipped Aswini devatas and got two sons as handsome as sun
and moon. Again the voice heard from the sky, “You name them as Nakula
and Sahadeva.” In this manner the king Panduraju with the grace of gods
had Yudhistara, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.
Panduraju remained on Mt.Satasrunga and was engaged in severe
penance. Vasudeva the elder brother of Kunthi heard that her sister
delivered sons and sent a Brahmarishi, Kasyapa with valuable gifts.
Kasyapa stayed with them and performed Upanayanam for all the five
boys. After Upanayanam he taught them Vedas.
The death of Panduraju: It was spring. All the beings were
fascinated by the influence of spring and provoked by cupid. In his
emotion, Panduraju forgot the curse of Kinda Maharishi and had a mating
with Madri. Immediately Panduraju died on the spot. When Madri was
crying loudly, Kunthi and her children woke up and came running to
her. They cried bitterly . Kunthi said to Madri, “ Madri! I am his
dharmapatni, I can’t live without him. You take care of the children and
I go with him on the pyre.” Madri said, “ Kunthi! With the power of your
mantra, you gave birth to the successor to Kuru dynasty. As I could not
fulfill his desire in this world, I will go to the other world with him and
satisfy him. Though I know the curse of muni, I behaved in a careless
manner. As such I can’t bring up the children so you allow me to go on
salagamavam . You take care of the children.” Madri went to the pyre of
her husband. After the cremation maharishis made the children to

Aadiparvam 95
perform last rites to their father. Maharishis consoled Kunthi and her
children and said, “ Panduraju gave up his kingdom and all the wealth.
He was satisfied by doing tapasya and living here peacefully. Since he
reached heaven. Now let us take these boys and Kunthi to Hastinapura
and hand them over to their people.’’
Pandavas reach Hastinapura: All maharishis reached
Hastinapura with Kunthi and her children. The citizens of Hastinapura
wondered at the birth secret of Pandavas. People started coming in
groups to see Kunthi and her sons. Bheeshma and others saluted the
maharishis and received Pandavas and Kunthi affectionately. One of the
munis came from Mt.Satasringa and he said:
Muni: “King! Panduraju had a great tapasya. With the blessings of
Yama. Vayu, Indra and aswini devatas he had five sons. Panduraju had
passed away just fifteen days ago. His wife Madri also went with him to
heaven. We brought his Astis with us. But for children, even kunthi also
wanted to follow her husband to heaven. Now you complete the last
rites for the deceased. We Bless that the sons of Panduraju will become
glorious and enhance the prestige of Kuru dynasty. Yudhistara, Bheema,
Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva are all born with the amsa of the respective
devatas. The voice from the sky had given them the those names.
Brahmarishis who came from Vasudeva performed Upanayanam and
taught Vedas and sastras. From now onwards, you should bring them
up and look after their wellbeing.’’
Suddenly Vyasa Maharishi appeared and consoled Satyavathy and
said to her confidentially.
Vyasa maharishi: “Oh Satyavathy! The gruhasta ashrama looks
as fickle as a mirage. All these wealth and kingdoms are also temporary.
The past days are prove better than the future days. All the sons of
Dhrutarashtra are wicked and invite troubles. Because of them, the Kuru
dynasty is going to be destroyed. Since Dhrutarashtra can’t avoid this
grief, I advice you to go to tapovana and perform tapasya.” On hearing
Vyasa maharishi’s advice Satyavathy went to tapovanas with her
daughter- in- laws Ambika and Ambalika and in due course they died
one by one.

96 Mahabharatam
The childhood of Kouravas and Pandavas.
Dhrutarashtra showered his affection equally on Pandavas and
Kouravas. All the elders in the royal family were watching curiously of
all the children and enjoying their plays. Bheema always used to
establish his superiority over others. Thereby they formed in groups
and tried to tease Bheema in several ways but Bheema also teased
kauravas by holding ten boys on his shoulders and thrown there into
water. Again he used to ring them out before they are suffocated. In the
similar manner when the Kauravas climbed the trees for fruits, Bheema
used to shake holding the trunk of the tree. By that, the fruits and
Kauravas also used to fall on ground. In all the funny games, Dushsasna
and others had suffered several defeats at the hands of Bheema.
Duryodhana became jealous of Bheema and wanted to get rid of him.
They tried several ways to kill Bheema. They also thought to imprison
Yudhistara so that there would be no competitor for the kingdom. Right
from his childhood Duryodhana wanted to rule the entire Kaurava
kingdom by himself.
Duryodhana attempts to kill Bheema: Duryodhana was
consulting Dushsasna the ways and methods of killing Bheema. One day
Bheema and hundred Kauravas went for a swim in the river Ganga. After
a long time Bheema was tired and taking rest on the banks, all the
Kauravas fastened Bheema with strong creepers and threw him in the
Ganga. The moment he woke up, he understood it was the wicked plan
of his cousins and stretched his body and thereby all the creepers were
broken. Once he was free, he came to the shore.
On another day, when Bheema was fast asleep, they made him
bitten by a poisonous cobra. Since his body was harder than diamond,
the poison did not enter his body. He took the cobra in his hand and
dashed it on the ground.
On another day, Duryodhana secured poison and mixed it in the
food. This was smelt by Yuyutsudu, who had equally affectionate for both
Kauravas and Pandavas. He hinted Bheema not to eat the food offered
by Duryodhana. However Bheema ate the food and digested the poison
also and survived.

Aadiparvam 97
 In the meanwhile, Bheeshma arranged Krupacharya and
Dronacharya to teach archery to Kauravas and Pandavas.
The episode of Krupacharya and Dronacharya
Janamejaya: Vaisampayana! Who are Krupacharya and
Dronacharya? From where they came? You let me know their episodes.
Vaisampayana: Janamejaya! There lived a tapasvi by name
Gauthama. He had a son, named Saradvanthudu. Though he intelligent,
he did not show interest in learning Vedas. But he wanted to become an
archer. To learn archery, he started doing penance. Indra was afraid of
his tapasya and engaged an Apsara by name Jalavada. With the influence
of cupid Saradvantha lost his concentration and opened his eyes. He
saw a beautiful woman in front of him. He lost control on senses his
sperm came out and fell on a shrub of dharba grass. From that sperm a
boy and a girl were born. At the same time, king Santana came for hunting
and saw the boy and girl. The king also saw a bow, arrow and skin of a
deer lying there. The king thought they must have been the children of
a great archer. However he showed Kripa and took them to his house.
Since the king had no children, he brought them up as his own children.
Since he had shown Kripa on them, the boy was named as Krupudu and
the girl was named as Krupi. Since Krupacharya was a brahmin boy, he
made upanayanam and put under the pundits and taught Danur Veda.
The king himself taught archery to Krupacharya. Bheeshma came to know
about Krupacharya and asked him to teach archery to his grand children.
The episode of Dronacharya: Barathwaja Maharishi was doing
tapasya on the banks of Ganga. One day he went for a bath, he saw an
Apsara by name Ghruthaci also taking bath. By the wind. Her cloths were
thrown away and she was caught in the eyes of Barathwaja maharishi.
He lost control on senses and the sperm fell down. Maharishi made his
own hand as a Droni and preserved his own sperm and Drona was born
with an amsa of sukra.
In those days King Vrushamudu was ruling the kingdom of
Panchala. He was also doing penance in the same tapovana where
Barathwaja was performing tapasya. One day an Apsara came to the
tapovana of king Vrushamudu. On seeing her with the influence of cupid,
his sperm came out and fell down. He kept it under his foot. From that

98 Mahabharatam
with the Amsa of Maruthu a boy was born. He was named as Drupada.
The boy was also living in Barathwaja ashrama to learn Vedas and
archery. After the death of King Vrushamudu, Drupada became the king
of Panchala. With the permission of his father Barathwaja, he married
Krupi the sister of Krupacharya. Dronacharya gave birth to Aswadhama
by Krupi.
Drona came to know that Parasurama, the son of Jamadagni was
very liberal in giving gifts and donations to brahmins. Dronacharya went
to Parasurama for some financial help. On looking at Drona, Parasurama
said, “ Drona! I have given all my wealth to all brahmins. All the land to
Kasyapa maharishi. Now all that I had with me are astras and my body.
You tell me what do you want out of them. I will give you whatever you
ask.” Then Drona said, “ Gurudeva! I feel I am fortunate, if you give me
your astras and sastras.” After that Dronacharya secured all the divine
astras from Parasurama and the secrets of releasing and withdrawing
of those astras.
Dronacharya went to his childhood friend, King Drupada and said.
“Friend! I am your childhood friend, we learnt form the same guru. Do
you remember me?” My son is suffering without milk can you help me
by donating a cow ?” King Drupada was hurt and not like to entertain
Dronacharya and said:
Drupada Offends Drona :
King Drupada: “ Drona! You are an ordinary brahmin. I am the
king of this land. How can we both become friends. Will there be any
friendship between a king and a pauper? With a pundit and an illiterate?
Between a tapasvi and a hunter Between a valorous person and a
coward? The friendship should always with equals. Not only that, kings
make friendship or enmity depending on the circumstances. You tell me
being a king why should I have friendship with you. You are just a
brahmin.’’
Drona reaches Hastinapura: While Dronacharya was coming to
Hastinapura, he saw Kouravas and Pandavas were playing with a ball.
That ball fell into a well. All the boys were worried. While they were all
sad, Dronacharya went to them and said, “Princes! you are all disciples
of Krupacharya. It is not befitting for princes like you. You all look, how

Aadiparvam 99
I take it out.” By saying so, Dronacharya released his arrows connecting
one to another till they reached the ball. Finally he pulled all the arrows
like a rope and the ball also came out with arrows. He picked up the ball
and gave it to the princes. All of them went to Bheeshma and praised the
greatness of Drona. Bheeshma was happy since he had already heard
the glory of Drona and requested him to be an Acharya to his grand
children for teach archery. He went to Dronacharya and asked him, ‘‘Oh
Dronacharya! From where are you coming from? How far you are going?
Where do you want to settle down?’’
Drona said, “My name is Drona, son of Barathwaja maharishi. I
observed Brahmacharya and learnt Vedas from Agnivesya maharishi. I
learnt archery also from him. The King Drupada also learnt Vedas and
archery in the same Gurukulam. While we were in Gurukulam he used to
tell me, “Oh Drona! As soon as I become a king, you come to me, You can
share and enjoy with me all comforts.’’ After the death of king
Vrushamudu, Drupada became the king of Panchala. I married Krupi the
sister of Krupacharya. I had a son by name Aswadhama. Though I learnt
Vedas and archery, I was living in poverty. However I am living in
righteous. One day my son was playing with other boys, they were
drinking milk for milk. He used to come home and cry that he also
wanted to drink milk. As I was suffering from poverty, I could not provide
milk to my son. One day I remembered the words of my friend Drupada
and went to him with a hope that he would certainly help. With that
hope I went to him and reminded him about our olden days at
Gurukulam. He was hurt by my words and said that he will not make
friendship with a poor brahmin and asked me to get out. I didn’t want to
live in his kingdom. So I took my wife and son to settle somewhere other
than his kingdom.’’
On hearing Dronacharya’s words Bheeshma worshipped him and
gifted many valuables and made a request:
Dronacharya becomes guru of Kouravas and Pandavas:
Bheeshma called all his grandchildren and introduced them to
Dronacharya and requested him to teach them archery and other martial
arts. Dronacharya said, “I will make you experts in archery. Who will
fulfill my desire in return?” On hearing Dronacharya all Kouravas kept
silent, among the Pandavas Arjuna alone came forward and said, “I will
100 Mahabharatam
do what ever you demand”. Impressed by Arjuna’s words, Dronacharya
affectionately embraced him. From then onwards, Dronacharya was
teaching archery to Kouravas and Pandavas. Apart from Kouravas and
Pandavas, many princes of various kingdoms also came and learnt
archery from Dronacharya. Karna also was one among many who learnt
archery from Dronacharya. Karna developed vengeance against Arjuna
and became more friendly with Duryodhana. At the same time,
Aswadhama also moved close to Karna in hating Arjuna. Duryodhana
asked the cook not to serve food to Arjuna in darkness, because he might
develop the art of releasing his arrows while in darkness also. On one
night, Arjuna was taking his dinner, the lights went off due to the velocity
of the wind. However Arjuna continued eating his dinner in the darkness.
Arjuna with his dedication learnt all the tricks of archery, including art
of releasing the arrows in darkness.
Drona appreciated the dedication of Arjuna in learning archery
and he promised, “Arjuna! I will see to it that there will be no equal or
superior to you in all the worlds. I will give you all astras in archery,
dwanda yudham, Sankula yudham fighting from chariot, fighting on the
ground, fighting from the back of a horse, fighting from the back of an
elephant with Drudham, Chatram, Soustavam’’.
Drona thus taught Arjuna many ways of releasing arrows, tricks,
secrets.
Ekalavya accepts Dronacharya as his guru: Dronacharya apart
from archery taught all other martial arts such as fighting with a club,
spear, sword, tomaram, kuntham, and sakthi . On hearing the greatness
and reputation of Dronacharya, Ekalavya son of Hiranyadhanyudu, a
tribal king approached Dronacharya to learn archery from him. Since he
was a tribal boy, Dronacharya refused to accept him as his disciple.
However Ekalavya went back to his place, made an idol of Dronacharya
and started practicing archery, fixing him as his guru in mind.
One day Kauravas and Pandavas went to the nearby forest. While
they were wandering in the forest the dog that went with them, reached
Ekalavya’s hermitage and started barking. Ekalavya wanted to stop the
dog barking, so he dispatched seven arrows in a peculiar manner without
hurting the dog and made it to stop barking. The dog ran to the princes.

Aadiparvam 101
They wondered how the seven arrows around its mouth were fixed. They
went in search of the place where Ekalavya was practicing and the
princes asked him. Who are you? Who is your guru?” He replied that he
was Ekalavya, the son of Hiranyadhanyudu, a tribal king and that he was
the disciple of Dronacharya. The princes went to Dronacharya and said
about Ekalavya. Arjuna said to Dronacharya:
Arjuna: “Guru deva! You told assured me that you make me the
most superior archer in the world and you promised that there would
be none equal or superior to me. But we saw a tribal boy who was more
talented in archery than me. Therefore your promise became untrue.
All the more, he said that he was your disciple.’’
On hearing Arjunas words, Dronacharya was taken aback and went
to the forest, and met Ekalavya. On seeing Dronacharya, Ekalavya
prostrated at his feet and offered himself with all his wealth, stood with
folded hands. Looking at him, Dronacharya said, “My son! What gift do
you offer to your guru” Ekalavya – said,
Ekalavya: ‘’ Guru deva! This is my body, these people are my
servants. Of all these, you take what you like most.” Dronacharya asked
him to give his right thumb”. (Because without the thumb of right hand
, Ekalavya couldn’t develop archery. Thereby he could satisfy his dear
student Arjuna.)
Dronacharya put to test the skill of his disciples: One day
Dronacharya wanted to test his disciples in archery. He took them to a
tree and fixed an artificial bird and tied it to a branch on the tree. He
asked Dharmaraja to keep ready with his bow and arrow to strike the
bird. Before that he asked him what are all he is seeing?. He said that he
was seeing a large tree and a bird on its branch. Dronacharya said, ‘‘You
can’t hit the
bird because you don’t have clear aim at the target.’’ Then he called
Duryodhana and all others and asked same question but every body gave
similar answers. Finally he called Arjuna. He said he was seeing the
neck of the bird and nothing else. Then the guru was satisfied and allowed
Arjuna to release the arrow. Immediately the birds neck was cut and
fell on ground. Drona was satisfied and taught all the secrets of archery
to Arjuna.

102 Mahabharatam
 Arjuna rescues Dronacharya from a crocodile: One day Drona
went to Ganga to take a bath. While he was performing the rituals,
suddenly a crocodile caught hold of his leg. He shouted at his disciples
to kill the crocodile and to save him. But nobody came forward but Arjuna
alone killed the crocodile with five arrows. Dronacharya was happy at
the devotion of Arjuna and thought that he can defeat king Drupada.
Hence he had given all his divine astras exclusively to Arjuna.

Aadiparvam 103
 Chapter 6

The exposition of archery between Kouravas and Pandavas

One day Dronacharya wanted to exhibit the talent of both Kouravas
and Pandavas in the presence of the elders. Dhrutarashtra ordered Vidura
to prepare a stadium to accommodate all the royal families, to keep the
elders on one side and the public on the other side. Vyasa, Bheeshma,
Vidura, Selya, Krupa and many other dignitaries were present.
The fight between Bheema and Duryodhana with their clubs:
At the signal given by Dronacharya, Duryodhana and Bheema
entered the arena to fight with each other. The fight was as ferocious as
that of a real battle. At one point, the duel of their words exceeded the
power of their clubs. Vidura was sitting by the side of Dhrutarashtra
and provided a running commentary. When the duel of words went
beyond a point, Dronacharya deputed Aswadhama to pacify. After that
he declared the next event as Arjuna’s skills in archery. As soon as the
announcement was made, Arjuna came in the arena with his bow, arrows.
The public were praising and gossiping as, “He is the son of Indra; and a
close friend of Krishna; he is a supreme warrior among the Kouravas
and Pandavas,.” In this manner each one was telling to the other what
all they knew about Arjuna. On seeing Arjuna and overhearing the public
gossips, Kunthi was happy.
Arjuna took his bow, arrow and started exhibiting his skills in
archery. With Aagneyastra, he created violent flames, from Varunastra
he created agonizing waters from the sky, from Vayuvyastra he created
wind with great velocity, with Meghaastra he created huge clouds on
the sky, with Bhowmyastra he entered in to the earth, with Sailastra he
appeared himself as a huge mountain. With Adrushyastra he disappeared
from the arena. Suddenly by reciting a mantra, he became a dwarf, by
another mantra he became taller than a palm tree.
After exhibiting his skill in archery, he exhibited his skills with club,
sword and many such mortal weapons. While the entire public and the
distinguished guests were astonished, Karna came to the arena and
challenged that he can do better performance than Arjuna. On hearing

104 Mahabharatam
the challenge of Karna, all Pandavas went to Dronacharya, whereas
Duryodhana’s brothers ran to Karna and embraced him.
Karna questioned the skills of Arjuna: The audience and
distinguished guests were surprised to look at that handsome person,
who challenged. He was very tall. He was shining with brilliance with
his natural shield and earrings. He came to the arena and saluted to
Dronacharya and said:
Karna: “Oh King! The skills that are exhibited by Arjuna are
ordinary. Even common people can also perform such skills. I can put
up a better show than Arjuna.
The dignitaries audience were astonished. Arjuna was furious,
whereas Duryodhana was jubilant. At that juncture, Dronacharya gave
an opportunity to Karna to exhibit his talents. Karna took the opportunity
and exhibited his skills, for which all the audience applauded him.
Duryodhana and his brothers ran and embraced him and said:
Duryodhana: “Karna! I am happy with your performance. You
make friendship with me. Now you have a direct fight with Arjuna and
over power Arjuna. You will share in my royal comforts and pleasures.
On hearing Duryodhana’s words, Arjuna said:
Arjuna: “Karna! This is an exposure of talents between the princes
of our family. Not knowing this you came as an uninvited guest and
throwing challenges. It tells your sinister nature. ’’
On hearing Arjuna’s words, Karna became furious and said:
Karna: “Arjuna! Archery is nothing but a dhanur veda. Vedas are
everybody’s property. So the skill of archery is also open to all. You
exhibit your heroism in archery, rather than by these evasive words.’’
Immediately Duryodhana stood up and supported Karna, Arjuna
became furious and prepared to fight with Karna.
The fight between Karna and Arjuna: Karna released a
Meghastra and created an endless cloud. Sun god wanted to favour Karna
and dispersed the clouds around Karna with his brilliant rays. As a result,
Karna alone was outside the clouds and Arjuna was struck within the
clouds. This situation had created an alarm among the elders. In the

Aadiparvam 105
meanwhile Arjuna released Vayuvyaastra and drove away all the clouds
in a moment. At this juncture Krupacharya wanted to put an end to that
confusion and said:
Krupacharya: Karna! Arjuna was born in a royal family. He is the
son of Kunthi and Panduraju. If you want to make a fight with him, first
you name your parents and your family line. If you are equal, then I will
allow you to fight with Arjuna.
Karna was ashamed and stood silent. On looking at Karna,
Duryodhana came and said.
Duryodhana: “Acharya! You are telling that Arjuna hails from a
royal family. Any one who is strong and valorous with a big army can be
a king. Whereas, Karna is strong and valorous. All that he is missing is a
big army and a kingdom. If that is the case, now I am crowning him as
the king of Angadesa. From now onwards, he is my best friend.’’
Duryodhana crowns Karna as the king of Angadesa:
Duryodhana took permission from Bheeshma, Dhrutarashtra and
announced Karna as the king of Angadesam. Duryodhana summoned
thousand brahmins and persuaded Karna to gift them all with cows and
many other valuable gifts. Thus he made Karna equal to Arjuna. Karna
was grateful to Duryodhana and said:
Karna: “Emperor! Duryodhana! You honoured me by making a king
in the presence of several distinguished elders. I assure you that I
dedicate my life to you whenever you want and in any manner you want.’’
Bheema: “Karna! Instead of continuing your family profession of
riding the chariots for others, why you embraced a kshatriya dharma.
By making you the king of Angadesam, it looks like a pious havisis is
being eaten by a dog.’’
Karna was hurt at these of words of Bheema. Duryodhana said:
Duryodhana: “Bheema! Why you insulted Karna? Will a tiger be
born to a deer? Had you ever seen an able person like Karna in the
families of Sutas? Can ordinary people understand the secrets of birth
of great heroes like Drona, who was born in a pot? Have you not heard
that many kshatriyas were born to brahmins? I find many divine qualities

106 Mahabharatam
in Karna such as his natural shield and earrings. Perhaps he also must
have born with the grace of a divine power like you. So let us not go
deep in to the family line of Karna. I am sure he is capable of ruling all
the earth.’’
By that time the sun had set and all the people returned to their
homes.
Duryodhana and his brothers went to their palace with Karna.
Bheeshma. Drona and others went with Pandavas. Though Kunthi
understood Karna as her son, she couldn’t reveal the same for fear of
public scandal.
The expedition of war on King Drupada: Dronacharya after
completing his morning rituals, called all his disciples and asked them
to give him a Gurudakshina. All the princes saluted him and asked him
what he wanted. Then Dronacharya asked them, “Defeat King Drupada,
fasten him and bring before me.” So the faithful students led the
expedition on king Drupada. Duryodhana, Yuyutsya, Dushsasna and
others attacked the city of Panchala. Drupada defeated them with little
effort. Kouravas army could not fight the attack of king Drupada and
they ran to Pandavas. Bheema and Arjuna led the army and attacked
king Drupada
Bheema and Arjuna attack King Drupada: Bheema started
breaking the foreheads of elephants with his club. Satyajittu, the brother
of king Drupada led a big army and attacked Bheema,who killed many of
his soldiers. Drupada led a huge army and attacked Arjuna.
Arjuna fastens Drupada: At one time Drupada wanted to break
the bow of Arjuna. Before he did it, Arjuna smelt his intentions harped
on him with a sword and caught him. He chained Drupada and took him
to Hastinapura. He presented the shackled Drupada at the feet of
Dronacharya as Gurudakshina and made him happy. Dronacharya was
very much happy with Arjuna and said to Drupada:
Dronacharya: “King Drupada! I never expected that you will have
a humiliating situation like this. Now do you understand the flimsy value
of your kingdom and resources, before the anger of a brahmin?’’
By saying so, he ordered to remove all the shackles of Drupada
and asked him to leave the place.

Aadiparvam 107
 Though Drupada was released, he was still furious on Drona and
was waiting for another opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Coronation of Dharmaraja as a prince:
Bheeshma, Vidura and others advised Dhrutarashtra that
Yudhistara alone is eligible to be coronated as the crown prince. On the
advise of elders, Dhrutarashtra made him as a crown prince. After the
coronation, the remaining four Pandavas went in four directions,
defeated all the kings and brought huge wealth as gifts and tributes from
the subordinate kings and put all the wealth at the feet of Yudhistara.
Though Yudhistara was just a prince, he was shining like an emperor.
Dronacharya was pleased with Arjuna with his exemplary skills in all
martial arts and initiated the great astra by name Brahmasirasu and its
application and withdrawing.
Dronacharya: “Arjuna! This astra was prepared by Agastya
Maharishi and given to fire god Agni. Lord Agni had given it to me. Since
you are great among the heroes, I am giving it to you. Please note that
this astra should not be used on week limbs such as human beings. In
case, it is used on weaker people, it will destroy all lokas. However you
can aim it on your enemies who harass you. This will kill them. Since
you have taken this astra from me, you have to give me Gurudakshina
which is a promise that you would not use it against me.’’
Duryodhana became jealous of all Pandus. Dharmaraja’s crowning
as prince also added to his jealousy. He openly exposed his anguish to
his close mates.
The advice of Kanika, The minister of Sakuni: On hearing
Duryodhana’s words, Kanika, the minister of Sakuni, told the following
points to Duryodhana.
1. The king should rule the country in the path of dharma by using
danda neeti as a weapon. By implementing C.P.C, he should not
have any discrimination between him and others.
2. Whether the person might be his guru or even father if his
actions are deferential to the interests of nation, such person is
to be punished in the presence of people.

108 Mahabharatam
 3. One has to consult virtious people before commencing any work.
Then only those actions will yield good results.
4. The king should discharge his duties with tack. By hook or crook
she should be able to win others. By all means he should protect
himself.
5. The king should discharge his duties with the help of his
ministers depending on time and place and circumstances.
However he should have the knowledge of other’s defects
without exposing his own weakness.
6. The enemy is to be killed when he is weak. If he is given time,
gain strength with the help of his friends and becomes
impossible to kill him.
7. The king should always be vigilant in getting get the information
through his spies about his enemies and about his own
administration.
8. Before the king goes to public places such as sporting, hunting,
pleasure gardens etc, the security people are to search
thoroughly for his safety. If they found the activities of
miscreants, their weapons are to be confiscated and put them
in jail.
9. The king should not have fixed opinion on any one. He should
suspect every one, and is to take care of his own protection.
10. The king should protect all his secrets as he protects himself. If
those secrets were leaked out in advance, all his plans will be
destroyed. Even Brihaspati cannot set them right.
11. Wicked and cunning people will always submit their view
points with folded hands. They always tries to please with sweet
words. They exhibit false modesty. They often resort to making
pledges and vows.
12. Wicked people will pretend obedience till their job is done.
Once their job is done, they will spew venom.
13. People should come to know either excessive love or hate of a
king only when they experience it. It is like falling a thunderbolt
from the sky.

Aadiparvam 109
 14. Even an enemy is to be allowed to move freely tell an opportune
time comes, then he should be thrown on ground like a mud pot.
15. Though the thorn is small, when it pierces in our foot, we cannot
walk. In the similar manner, if a low person does harm we should not
leave him unpunished.
16. Even though the enemy may be a small boy but we should not
carry him on our shoulders. It is like a spark of fire destroys the
entire forest.
17. Giving protection to a person who did harm will be as foolish
as a person sleeping at the end of a tree branch.
Those who did harm is to be killed immediately by any of the
following ways ie. by sama, dana, bedha, danda upayas. ii. Either by sweet
or king words, iii. Making a vow on truth.
This is the advice of kanika, the minister of Sakuni. A sateman will
kill his enemies even though they might he his own relatives. In self
protection he should kill even his own relatives or enemies without any
delay. Duryodhana digested his advice and went to Dhrutarashtra and
said.
Duryodhana expresses his distress with Dhrutarashtra:
Duryodhana: ‘‘Father! You made Dharmaraja as the crown prince
of this country. He had taken advantage of your good nature and turned
the people to his side. He is was becoming popular day and by day he
was not giving due respect to you and Bheeshma. He is pretending as if
he is the most virtuous person. All his brothers were not only valorous
but also obedient to him. With all these, he was convincing the people
that he is the only eligible person to rule the country. In support of his
contention he was telling “That Dhrutarashtra became old and hence he
cannot rule the country for a long time. Bheeshma took a vow and hence
he will not rule the country. Since I am young I will because the king. He
is also making the people to believe that Vidura also accepting me as
king”.
I am also hearing the same story wherever I go. Whenever I heard
such words, my heart is paining. Since you are the eldest of our family,
you should also look into the interest of me and my brothers. Hence you
see to it that all Pandavas be sent out of Hastinapura as early as possible.’’
110 Mahabharatam
 Dhrutarashtra: ‘‘My son! If a successor is to be crowned, the king
must have been killed in a battle or he should have become a Rajarishi
leaving the responsibility of to his son before going to tapovanas. There
is no other way for any one to become a king. In my case, I am being a
born blind, I could not rule the country. Hence I was not eligible to be a
king. However my younger brother Panduraju was very affectionate to
me. Though I am blind he made me the king stood by my side and took
the responsibility of ruling . All the sons of Panduraju are as righteous
as his father. People are also attracted by their good qualities. Under the
these circumstances, how can I remove them?’’
Duryodhana: ‘‘Father! This kingdom is our’s since times
immemorial. Till now Panduraju ruled the country. Today if Dharmaraja
becomes the king, his son alone will be eligible for the throne. In this
manner, if Panduraju’s family line alone rules the country, we will be
forced to lose our right to rule the country. In the same manner, my
children and my family line also will be deprived of becoming the kings
of this dynasty. Whatever you may say, I can’t live as a servants under
my cousins. You take such a step that we will not be thrown at the mercy
of my cousins.
‘‘Oh Father! From the beginning this kingdom belongs to you.
However this had been ruled by Panduraju. He gained popularity in the
public by his virtues. Since they are hailing Panduraju, people want his
son Dharmaraju to be as their king. Keeping this in mind every day I am
giving donations to poor people, honouring righteous people so as to
attract the people to my side.
‘‘As a first step, you send Kunthi, Pandavas and his ministers to
Varanavatam. You see to it that they live there for some time. In the
meanwhile, I will see to it that people forget the virtuous qualities of
Dharmaraja. After some time, even if they come back, people might forgot
them and all their virtuous qualities. Then I would not face any problem
with them.’’
Pandavas sent to Varanavatam:
Dhrutarashtra: “My son! I am also thinking in the same way. But
I could not speak out for fear of Bheeshma. Vidura, Dronacharya and
others.

Aadiparvam 111
 Duryodhana: “Father! If you propose this by yourself, they all agree
out of respect for. Though they are all impartial and have equal affection
on both of us, but they have a little soft corner for me. I will tell you how.
Aswadhama is my close friend. Dronacharya will always supports his
son. Krupacharya will agree whatever Dronacharya says. Bheeshma
agrees whatever Drona and Krupa says. Thus all those three people are
in favour of us. Though Bheeshma has equal love for both of us, he will
not leave Hastinapura. So he will stay with us. Though Vidura is in favour
of Pandavas he alone can’t change your decision. So you act quickly and
allow me to live in peace. Remove the pricks from my heart and help me
in my prosperity.’’
In this manner Duryodhana was able to convince his father. After
that Duryodhana engaged some people to inspire Pandavas to narrate
the natural beauties and religious glories of Varanavatam.
Pandavas goes to Varanavatam:
Dhrutarashtra arranged a meeting with all the elders. In their
presence he remembered virtuous qualities of Panduraju and wept for
a while. And said:
Dhrutarashtra: “Dharmaraja! You go with your brothers and
mother to Varanavatam which is on the banks of Ganga and a great
religious teerdham. Take with you all your ministers, friends and
relatives. You take brahmins from here and perform rites to your father
Panduraju and donate Land, cows, gold, houses etc. so that his soul will
rest in peace. After staying there for some time, you come back.’’
A house of wax built for Pandavas at Varanavatam: Duryodhana
was happy as his father agreed to his plan. He called Purochana, a
confident servant and said:
Duryodhana: “Purochana! You are like my soul. I am entrusting
you with a most confidential job. Nobody should know about it. You go
to Varanavatam immediately. There you build a huge palace for Kunthi
and Pandavas to live. See to it that building should be very close to our
ordinance depot. The building is to be built wax and gum. All the interior
are to be decorated with highly inflammable colourful paints. You see to
it that they live in comfort and carefree. On an auspicious day you set

112 Mahabharatam
fire to that house. In other words, they all should be reduced to ashes.
After completing the work, you send word to me. The moment they all
die, I will become the king. Once I become the king, I will take care of all
your interest.’’
The message of Vidura: Purochana went to Varanavatam and built
a huge house made wax in a short time. Dhrutarashtra fixed an auspicious
day for Pandavas to go to Varanavatam. At that time Dharmaraja was
sixteen years old. Bheema was fifteen, Arjuna was fourteen, Nakula and
Sahadeva were thirteen . Many Brahmins and kshatriyas came to see off
Pandavas and wept for them and said, “Somehow this king Dhrutarashtra
is sending away all Pandavas from Hastinapuram. Even Bheeshma and
others did not objected.’’ However they all wanted to go with Dharmaraja
to Varanavatam.”
Dharmaraja consoled them and asked them to go back to
Hastinapura. Kunthi said to Dharmaraja, “ Dharmaraja! While Vidura
was teaching you, I was also there. I suspect there is some inner meaning
in his advice. Have you noticed it?” Dharmaraja said, “Mother! Vidura
said that Dhrutarashtra will appear, as if he is your well wisher. But he
always does harm to you. Hence you be careful and vigilant in your new
palace. I suspect you may have to face danger either from the poison or
from the fire. So you be careful from these two aspects and be vigilant as
long as you live there.” On hearing the words of Dharmaraja, Kunthi
understood the inner meaning of Vidura’s advice and thanked him
herself.
Pandavas reach Varanavatam: As soon as Pandavas reached
Varanavatam, the people came in a big way to see them. The entire city
was decorated. Purochana came forward and took them affectionately
to the newly built palce. Dharmaraja appreciated the beauty of that
building and said to Bheema:
Dharmaraja: “Bheema! Looking at his building I suspect that some
danger is ahead for us. All the walls look like wax. I am getting the smell
of ghee and oils. From this, I suspect there may be a danger from fire.
The house is built very close to the ordinance factory. So we must be
vigilant and move carefully every moment. Our well wisher and a
virtuous Vidura must have suspected this and contained me to be vigilant

Aadiparvam 113
while living in this house. He also said there is a danger from fire or
poison. Now I suspect it must be from fire.’’
Bheema: “Brother! When we suspect a danger in this building, Why
should we live here?”
Dharmaraja: “Bheema! Since we come to know of their evil plans,
we also presented as if we are innocent and plan to escape from it.
Thereby Purochana will not suspect us. Let us stay here. If we go out of
this building, Duryodhana may plan some other way to kill us. Instead of
giving suspicion to Purochana and Duryodhana, let us stay here. If we
burn this house there will be an open rift with Bheeshma, Vidura and
others. So let us live here, until they put on fire to it. Then we go to some
other place of safety and live there.’’
Burning the house of wax: Vidura had come to know the evil plans
of Duryodhana. He sent a messenger to inform Dharmaraja as, “ This
house was made with wax under the instructions of Duryodhana. On the
fourteenth day of new moon, Purochana is going to burn this house. So
you permit my messenger to make a tunnel for all of you to escape from
the house of wax.”
On the receipt of message from Vidura, Dharmaraja permitted the
messenger to dig a tunnel. A tunnel was dug which ended up in a forest
and informed Dharmaraja.
On the fourteenth day of new moon, Kunthi invited many brahmins
and their wives and made a feast. She gave many gifts to all those people.
Purochana appointed a woman to assist Kunthi. He instructed all her
five sons to go to their mother and inform the movements of Kunthi and
Pandavas. On that fateful day, the servant maid and her sons were fully
drunk and slept there itself. Bheema set fire to the house by himself and
said to the messenger of Vidura to inform him that they were escaping
through the tunnel. Bheema took his mother and brothers and traveled
through the tunnel and reached the forest.
After few minutes the entire house of wax was burnt to ashes. In
the same house Purochana was also burnt to ashes. Next day the people
thought that the fire broke from the nearby ordinance factory and hence
the house was burnt to ashes. They removed all the debris. And found a

114 Mahabharatam
dead body of a woman and five men. They thought that woman was
Kunthi and the men were Pandavas.
The entire people of Varanavatam wept for Kunthi and her sons.
They cursed Dhrutarashtra for his wicked plan to kill Panduraju’s sons.
The messenger of Vidura also mixed with the people and closed the
tunnel with the ashes and the burnt material so that nobody could
suspect about the tunnel. The messenger went to Hastinapura and
informed Vidura that Kunthi and Pandavas were escaped from the house
of wax. All people of Varanavatam believed that the this cruel act was
hatched by Duryodhana himself.
Dhrutarashtra Grieves: Dhrutarashtra grieved for Kunthi and
Pandavas in several ways. But Duryodhana, Sakuni and others were
happy for the death of Pandavas. However they all felt sorry for
Purochana. Bheeshma also cried for Pandavas. Though Vidura knew that
Pandavas were safe, he pretended as if he was mourning for them.
Dhrutarashtra performed the last rites for Kunthi and Pandavas in a big
way.
Pandavas Proceed towards south:
Pandavas came out of the tunnel, entered the forest and continued
their travel towards south. After traveling some distance, they found a
huge banyan tree and a lake nearby. They went to the lake, took a bath
and drank water. By that time it was sunset. Darkness spread all over.
In that darkness herds of elephants went towards the lake for water.
Kunthi and other brothers were fast asleep on the ground. Bheema
thought in himself, “Wicked Duryodhana thought of killing us. I feel it is
better to keep away from such relatives. In the same forest a rakshasa
was living by name Hidumbasura. He smelt some humans and said to
his sister, Hidumbi, “Sister! Some humans entered in this forest. For a
long time we have not eaten human flesh. You go and kill them and
prepare food for me.”
Hidumbi falls in love with Bheema:
Hidumbi went in search of them to kill. Before reaching them, she
hid behind the tree to know how many are there. But she could see only
Bheema standing and others were sleeping. The moment she saw

Aadiparvam 115
Bheema, she fell in love with him. She could not suppress her love and
went nearer him. Bheema looked at her and said, “Who are you? From
where are you coming? Why have you come in the midnight? Hidumbi
said, “ Dear! I am the sister of Hidumbasura, My name is Hidumbi. I fell in
love with you at first sight. You marry me, so that you will not get any
harm from my brother. I have decided you as my husband. If you don’t
marry me, he will kill you and your people. If you agree to marry me, I
will carry all of you to a place of safety before my brother comes.” Bheema
said, “Oh Hidumbi! I am not afraid of your brother. And for your sake, I
can’t leave my mother and brothers.” Hidumbi said, “Oh superior man!
If you wish to save your mother and brothers, immediately you runaway
from this place before my brother comes and see you.’’ Bheema said,
“Oh beautiful Hidumbi! You know only the strength of your brother but
you don’t know about my strength. So you go and send your brother.
You yourself will see what will happen to him.” In the meanwhile
Hidumbasura himself came there.
Bheema kills Hidumbasura:
Bheema: Oh rakshasa! You are killing all the innocent people. Now
I will kill you and make the people happy”. They fought ferociously. In
the meanwhile Kunthi and Pandavas woke and saw a beautiful girl
standing near them. Kunthi asked her, ‘‘Who are you?’’
Hidumbi: I am Hidumbi, sister of Hidumbasura. Now he is fighting
with your son, I fell in love with your son. I wanted to be your daughter-
in- law. I told the same to my brother; he become furious and tried to
kill me. At that time your son saved me and fighting with my brother. I
am sure that my. In this battle, your brother is going is die in the hand
sof your son.
Bheema caught hold of his right leg, spun in the air and hit on the
ground. Immediately Hidumbasura died. Hidumbi wept bitterly for some
time . Then Bheema said:
Bheema: Hidumbi! Kshatriyas do not kill women. You are a
rakshasa woman, we can’t believe rakshasas. So you don’t come with us.
You go on your own way.
Dharmaraja: Bheema! You have already killed him, who deserved
to be killed. Thus you have protected dharma, because when you kill

116 Mahabharatam
adharma the remaining thing will be dharma. If you ignore dharma again,
it will land us in adharma. So you don’t consider her as rakshasi. We
have a soft corner for her and we all feet that she is our own relative. So
you marry her.
Hidumbi prostrated at the feet of Kunthi and said,
Hidumbi: Mother! Lust is common and natural for all living beings.
For a female it will be little more. For this birth, I have chosen Bheema
as my husband. I am prepared to leave all my relatives. Since you are
accepting me, I will also reciprocate and help you at the hour of your
need. Though I am a rakshasi, I know the past, present and future. With
my knowledge, You are all going to face difficult times after some time.
At that time, if you remember me in your mind, myself or my son will
come and help you.
As you proceed, you will find a big lake and a banyan tree. Under
that tree a great maharishi by name Salihotrudu, is doing tapasya. Those
who drinks water from that lake would be free from hunger or thirst.
That Maharishi was a very kind sadhu; he will guide you the future course
of action. In a short while, the great Vyasa maharishi also would come
and guides you.
Kunthi and Pandavas were very happy with her knowledge,
simplicity and humbleness.
Bheema marries Hidumbi:
Kunthi and Dharmaraja persuaded Bheema to marry Hidumbi.
Though she was a rakshasi, she would become a virtuous wife . After
marrying you, she will leave all wicked actions and lives in the path of
dharma. So you marry her, go around these vanas and keep her happy.’’
Then Bheema said to Hidumbi, “Hidumbi! Neither I can live with
you forever nor can I take you with us. Hence I will live with you till you
gives birth to a son. After that you may live on your own”. On that
condition, Bheema married her.
Bheema and Hidumbi prostrated at the feet of Kunthi and
Dharmaraja. After that Kunthi and other Pandavas went and lived in
the ashrama of Salihotra. They used to take bath in the lake, performed
their daily rituals and living under the banyan tree. One day Vyasa
Maharishi appeared where Kunthi and her sons were living.

Aadiparvam 117
 Vyasa Maharishi: Kunthi! You and your sons know all dharmas.
In spite of the blessings of myself and Krishna, you are facing difficulties
from cruel Duryodhana and others. From this you should understand
that nobody can escape from fate. Since you are all virtious, these
difficulties will not stay long and you will get back your kingdom. From
here you go to Ekachakrapuram. There you will have every thing good.
There you live in the form of brahmins. Your son Dharmaraja has four
brothers who are as powerful as Vishnu’s four hands. His brothers will
win over all the kings on earth and make Dharmaraja an emperor. He
will enhance the prestige of Kuru dynasty. Bheema will have a strong
son by Hidumbi, who will help all of you at times of difficulties.
The birth of Ghatothkaja: Hidumbi gave birth to a son in the form
of a rakshasa, who looked ugly. He went to Kunthi and Pandavas,
prostrated at their feet and said, “Oh parents! I go and rule the rakshasa
and Pichasa communities. Whenever you want any help, You just
remember me. Immediately I will stand before you. I will do whatever
you want.” By saying so, he flew with his mother in the northern direction.
Pandavas live in Ekachakrapuram
Pandavas took the form of brahmins and lived in the house of a
Brahmin. They took the profession of Bhikshatana from the brahmin
houses. Whatever they got, Kunthi used to make the entire food in to
two parts. One half share for Bheema and the second half for other four
brothers. Though they have chosen to live by begging, the villagers were
astonished at the shining brilliance in their faces. One day the brothers
heard loud cries from the house of a brahmin.
Kunthi: My sons! These brahmins helped us by giving food and
shelter. Now they are facing some unbearable grief. I feel it is a god given
opportunity to us to repay their debt. First I will go and enquire what
their problem was”. The Brahmins told Kunthi about the miseries, caused
by Bakhasura.
The episode of Bakhasura:
Kunthi! A rakshasa by name Bakhasura is living in the nearby
forest. He is killing and eating people and animals indiscriminately. Our
king tried his level best to give us protection but he could not succeed.

118 Mahabharatam
Finally he made an agreement with that rakshasa that he would provide
him every day with one cartful of food, two buffalos, and a man from
each house. As long as the king honours his word, he would not enter
the villages to kill people. Since a long time, we are following the kings
orders by providing food to him. We have to send a man everyday to be
eaten by Bakhasura.
‘‘Today it has come to our turn to supply the cart load of food and
buffaloes which ready. In our house we are four people, myself, my wife,
my daughter and a son. My son is too young and he should perform the
last rites to me. So I can’t send him. My daughter is also young and I
have to give her in marriage to some one. So I can’t send her. I married
my wife and promised her that I would protect her. Agni is witness for
that. So I alone to go and satisfy the rakshasa. All my people are crying
for me. Hence nobody can save us from this trouble.’’
On hearing their plight, Kunthi said, “Oh pious brahmin! All these
days you have given us food and shelter. So it is the time for us to repay
your debt. I have five sons. Even if I lose one son, still I have four sons. So
you permit me to repay my debt to your family. You stop grieving and
be happy.”
Kunthi narrated the entire episode to her sons and asked Bheema
to go and kill that rakshasa. Bheema agreed to his mother’s words and
took the cart load of food, yoked with two buffalos. On his way he thought
to himself, “ I am very hungry. The entire cart load of food is just sufficient
for me. With that added strength it will be easy for me to kill that
rakshasa.” By thinking so, he devoured all the food and went to rakshasa
with empty cart .
Looking at empty cart, the rakshasa became furious and asked
Bheema, “I am very hungry; you not only came late but also came without
food. The king had broken his promise. From now onwards, I will enter
the village and kill people as before. Before that I will eat you first and
assuage my hunger.”
Saying so, the rakshasa attacked Bheema. Before rakshasa came
nearer him Bheema pulled out a palm tree and hit at rakshasa till he was
dead. By evening he returned to the village on his bullock cart and
narrated to the brahmins how he killed the rakshasa. All the villagers
surrounded Bheema, Kunthi and her sons to express their happiness.

Aadiparvam 119
 Chapter 7

The birth of Drushtajyumna and Draupadi

One day a brahmin came to that village and conveyed the news
about Draupadi’s Swayamwara.
Brahmin: Drupada was born in a family of Barathwaja. Drupada
and Dronacharya learnt archery from a common guru by name
Agniveshya. Many many years later, Drona went to see his friend and
now the King Drupada for some help. The king insulted his childhood
friend Drona. The humiliated Dronacharya did not want to live in his
kingdom and migrated to Hastinapura. There he taught archery to
Pandavas and Kauravas. One day he asked his disciples, to defeat King
Drupada as Guru dakshina. Arjuna defeated Drupada, fastened him and
offered his guru. Drona retorted king Drupada for the humiliations he
made to him and warned him not to insult Brahmins and left. King
Drupada could not digest the insult and wanted to have a son to kill
Drona.
‘‘King Drupada dedicated to a yana for a son to kill Drona and a
daughter to offer for Arjuna as wife.
All the devatas came to receive their havisis in person. A son was
born the flames of agnigundam, from Homagundam riding a chariot with
bow, arrows and sword. He looked ferocious. After him a girl came out
born with divine splendour. At that time a voice was heard from the sky,
‘‘Oh king you name this boy as Drushtajyumna and the name the girl as
Krishna.’’
The marriage of Draupadi:
King Drupada came to know that Kunthi and Pandavas were dead
in a house of wax. With the death of Arjuna, the king was confused about
the marriage of his daughter Krishna. His priest said, “Oh king! At the
time of birth, the voice from the sky was heard that” all Pandavas will
live long”. Arjuna must be alive somewhere. So you announce
Swayamwara for Krishna.” He declared valour as the price for his
daughter and arranged a Maschya yantra. That yantra would be revolving
very fast at a height. By looking its shadow in a pool of oil kept below the
yantra, the aspirant should hit that Maschya yantra with an arrow .
120 Mahabharatam
 On hearing the Swayamwara news, Kunthi and Pandavas went to
the city of Panchaala. There Vyasa Maharishi met them on their way
and said:
Vyasa Maharishi: Kunthi! Wherever Dharmaraja is there, that land
will have all virtues. Long ago a Muni kanya did not get married for a
long time. She made tapasya by meditating on Siva, seeking a husband.
After some time Siva appeared and asked her ‘what do you want.’ She
was very much confused and puzzled by looking at Siva and out of
amazement, she asked for a good husband. But repeated it for five times.
Lord Siva smiled at her and said your desire will be fulfilled and then
disappeared. The same Muni kanya is now living in the name Krishna, as
the daughter of king Drupada. King Drupada had announced the
Swayamwara. So you go to the city of Drupada’’ and disappeared.
While Pandavas were travelling towards Panchala, they reached
the banks of River Ganga. As it was night, Arjuna lit the torch and guided
other towards the river. At that time a Gandharva by name Angavarnudu
was taking bath in the river. He heard the sounds of humans and was
annoyed for the disturbance and said:
Angavarna: Humans should not enter waters during the midnight,
dawn and dusk. Only for bhootas, rakshasas and Gandharvas are to take
bath in those times. I am a Gandharva , friend of Kubera owning the
entire land and water of Ganges. So whoever is trying to enter water is
hereby warned to go back.
Arjuna: Gandharva! We are superior kshatriyas and rulers of this
country. We have the right to go anywhere we like. God crated nature
for every body’s enjoyment”. By saying so all Pandavas entered the
waters.
The Gandharva sent several arrows on Arjuna, and in reply Arjuna
released an Aagny astra. With that the chariot of gandarva was burnt
and fell down. Arjuna caught hold of Angavarna and brought him to
Dharmaraja. The wife of Gandharva requested Dharmaraja to release
her husband. Dharmaraja ordered Arjuna to release him.
Angavarna: Arjuna! I would like to make friendship with you. As
a token of our friendship, we will exchange our astras. All gandarvas are

Aadiparvam 121
familiar with Chakshush asastra. By virtue of this, people can’t see us
even when we stand before them. I will give you my astra. In return, you
give me your aagnay astra. Since you have burnt my chariot, ‘Chitraratha’,
from today onwards I am changing my name as ‘Chitraratha’. I will also
gift you hundred horses of Gandharva pedigree to your brothers.
Gandharva advises Pandavas to have their own priest:
Dharmaraja! Though you are a tapasvi and learnt Vedas and
archery from Dronacharya, you are to achieve all purusharthas only with
the help of a priest. Your comforts in this world and the other world can
be achieved only with the help of a priest. Since you have control on
your senses and practicing Brahmacharya, you were able to defeat me.
If you have a priest of your own even the king becomes a slave and, he
can win battles. A good priest can always teach the tatwam of dharma.
So you have a priest immediately and go with him wherever you go.
‘‘Dharmaraja! Long back King Samvartana fell in love with Tapati,
the daughter of sun god. As he was expressing her love to her, she
disappeared. He could not bear her separation and cried bitterly. Tapati
was also fell in love with him and hence she spoke from the sky in an
invisible form, “ Oh king! I am under the control of my father, sun god. If
you convince him, I will be pleased to marry you.”
‘‘King Samvartana made penances by meditating on Vasista
maharishi. After some time, he appeared and asked him, “What do you
want?”. The king said, “Oh maharishi! I fell in love with Tapati, the
daughter of sun god. She also loves me. So I request you to go to sun god
and convince him and arrange our marriage.
‘‘Vasista went to sun god and explained him the virtious qualities
of Samvartana and advised him to give his daughter in marriage to the
king. The sun god was pleased with the words of Vasista Maharishi and
married his daughter, Tapati with king Samvartana.
Dharmaraja! Sun god will run three hundred and sixty four amadas
per minute. Only Vasista Maharishi alone is able to meet Surya and
arrange the marriage of Samvartana. Without the help of priest, he could
not have married her. So a king who has a priest will achieve all
auspiciousness and have prosperity. Since Samvartana had a wife of his

122 Mahabharatam
choice, he was happy in wandering all over forgetting the rule of his
country and he left dharma, thereby rains did not fell on his lands. At
that time Vasista took Samvartana with him to Hastinapura. There he
made him to perform yagas. All the people felt happy. Only at that time
king Kuru was born to Tapati and Samvartana. That king Kuru is the
origin of your Kuru dynasty. From then onwards you are all called as
Kouravas. And people also started calling as the children of Tapati.
On hearing from the Gandharva, Arjuna asked him to tell the story
of Vasista.
The episode of Vasista Gandharva :
One day, Viswamitra, a powerful king, went to forest for hunting
with a big army. Viswamitra was tired and went to Vasista’s ashrama.
Vasista received the king and wanted to give him and his army a good
feast. Vasista asked his cow, Homadhenu by name, Sabala to make
arrangements for hosting Viswamitra and his army. In a short time Sabala
fed them all. Viswamitra was astonished at the power of Sabala. “Oh
maharishi! I will give you one lakh cows, you give Sabala to me.” Vasista
said, “Oh King! With the help of Sabala and said, I was able to worship
ancestral parents and Agni. Without Sabala, I can’t do anything. She is
not merely a cow; she is as good as my daughter.” Viswamitra got annoyed
and said, “Oh Maharishi! I am a Kshatriya. If you don’t give, I will take
this cow by force. You can do whatever you can.” Vasista kept quiet.
The soldiers of Viswamitra tied Sabala and tried to take her with
them but she refused to go with them. Finally she came to Vasista and
said, “Oh father! Why are you sending me with these cruel people? What
harm did I do to you?” Vasista said to her, “Oh Sabala! I have not given
you. The king himself is themselves taking you by force. I am a poor
brahmin. I have no power to fight. If you want, you can show your power
and get rid of them.” Then Sabala produced countless soldiers from her
body, defeated Viswamitra and his soldiers. Viswamitra was humiliated
with the defeat in the hands of a cow. He made one of his sons as king
and left for long tapasya to gain more strength than Vasista. He did severe
tapasya. Ultimately he became a Brahmarishi.
Oh Chitraratha! You are our well wisher. You know everything. So
you suggest me whom can we take as priest and where he will be
available.

Aadiparvam 123
 Chitraratha said “Arjuna! Nearby there is a pious place by name
Utkacham. There you meet a brahmin by name Dhaumya. You request
him to be your priest.” Then Pandavas crossed river Ganges and went to
Utkacham
Draupadi Swayamwara
Dhaumya was a pious brahmin. He was respected by all righteous
persons. Pandavas were so happy as if they got back their kingdom.
Pandavas worshipped and requested him to be their priest and he too
agreed. After taking his blessings, Pandavas went to the city of Drupada
with Dhaumya. On their way they saw a group of brahmins. Dharmaraja
asked them, “Where are you going?” They said, “We are going to the city
of Drupada to attend the Swayamwara of his daughter Krishna. Since
she was the daughter of Drupada, she was also called as Draupadi. The
Swayamwara is going to be performed today. Many Kings are coming to
attend the Swayamwara. If you also wish to come there you come with
us.” At that time, Vyasa maharishi came in front of them. Kunthi and
Pandavas prostrated at his feet and took his blessings. He told them that
Arjuna is going to win the Swayamwara and disappeared. After reaching
Drupada’s city, they found the city was full of kings from various
countries. Drupada was worried since he did not know the where about
to Arjuna. .
Drupada announced that “The person who strikes the Maschya
yantra with five arrows will marry my daughter.”
Draupadi decorated herself with white garments and came to the
durbar where the Swayamwara took place . On seeing Draupadi each
king wanted to marry her. The prince Drushtajyumna went to
Homagundam and worshipped with flowers. He showed the Maschya
yantra to all the participants and said, “Oh kings! This Maschya yantra is
to be broke with five arrows. Whoever succeeds will marry my sister.
The yantra will be revolving fast; you show your skill and try to win my
sister.” Among the king Duryodhana and his brothers, Karna,
Aswadhama, Somadatta, Selya, sons of Virata, Akrura, Sarana and many
other were present. Except Krishna no one could identify Pandavas in
their form a brahmins. He noticed them as a spark of fire in the middle of
ash. He felt happy and said to himself that, “Arjuna alone can win
Draupadi.”

124 Mahabharatam
 All the kings tried to win the bride, but could not succeed. On the
advice of Krishna, none of the Yadava heroes participated in the
Swayamwara. Jarasandha, Sisupala, Selya, and Karna also failed to strike
at the Maschya yantra. At last Arjuna got up . All the brahmins were
surprised to look at him and blessed him stating that, “This brahmin
should win the Swayamwara”. Then Arjuna remembered his guru,
Dronacharya, worshipped him in mind and took the bow and fixed the
arrow on the string and released five arrows at a time and broke the
Maschya yantra. All the brahmins were happy and said he was not an
ordinary brahmin. Dharmaraja, Nakula and Sahadeva went to inform
their mother. Drushtajyumna went to receive Arjuna and offered a heroic
welcome.”
Draupadi slowly walked towards Arjuna with a garland in her
hand and put it around the neck of Arjuna. The kings who were defeated
could not digest the insult. Duryodhana and other kings declared a war
against king Drupada saying ‘‘You have insulted all Kshatriyas.’’ All the
brahmin community stood behind Arjuna and were ready to give a fight
with kings. There was a struggle between brahmins and kings for a while.
However the brahmins could not fight with the kings. Drupada was also
afraid at the commotion among the royal communities. But Arjuna came
out and chased all the kings with his arrows. In that battle Bheema also
joined Arjuna. The kings could not fight with Bheema and Arjuna. Krishna
was surprised and said to Balarama, “Brother! The person who is holding
that tall bow and chasing the enemies is none other than Arjuna. You
also look at the person who is uprooting the trees and fighting with the
kings is none other than Bheema. The moment Arjuna hit the Maschya
yantra, the person who left this assembly was Dharmaraja. The two
persons who accompanied him were Nakula and Sahadeva.” On hearing
Krishna’s words, Balarama said, “I am pleased to see them all here.
Somehow they escaped from the house of wax and survived”.
To satisfy Duryodhana, Karna went and fought with Arjuna. Selya
opposed Bheema. In that battle the brahmin community was astonished
to watch the battle of Karna and Arjuna. The arrows they released from
their bows covered the sky and earth. Looking at Arjuna’s fight, Karna
said, “I have seen your skill in releasing arrows. Certainly you are not a
brahmin. You tell me the truth. Are you Parasurama, or Indra or lord

Aadiparvam 125
Siva? Other than those heroes, nobody else can fight with me. I
appreciated your skill.” For which Arjuna said, “ Karna! I am neither
Indra not Siva. But I know all the tricks and skills in archery. I am ready
to defeat you. You stop talking and continue to fight.” On hearing Arjuna’s
words, Karna said “ I don’t want to fight with a Brahmin, as a mark of
respect to my guru, Parasurama” and went back. Selya fought with
Bheema and withdrew by saying “I too don’t want to fight with a
Brahmin”. All the brahmin communities praised Bheema and Arjuna for
their courage and heroic fight.
At that time Duryodhana said that Karna can win anybody other
than Parasurama, Siva and Arjuna. In the same way Selya also said that
he could defeat all except Bheema. Krishna said, “This superior brahmin
had won the Swayamwara and secured the beautiful Draupadi which
many other kings failed to do. Who could defeat this valorous Brahmin?.”
Saying so, Krishna wanted to divert their attention from Pandavas and
left the place.
Arjuna took Draupadi with him to his house
[In Mahabaratha this is the first scene where Krishna appeared in
public. In this small scene itself, he had shown diplomacy, statesmanship
and tact. Krishna was able to notice all Pandavas who were in the disguise
of brahmins . He had personally witnessed the superiority of Arjuna’s
archery. He was fully aware that Arjuna was going to participate in
Swayamwara . Hence He had dissuaded the heroes of Yadava community,
Vrushti, Bhoja, and Andhaka in participating Swayamwara. He had also
pacified Duryodhana and others to discourage the discussion of Pandavas
and see to it that they leave the Swayamwara arena.]
Kunthi was confused in her mind about her children. “All my sons
went to watch the Swayamwara and did not turn up. Duryodhana and
others also might have come from Hastinapura to participate in
Swayamwara. If they saw them, they might even kill them. Let Vyasa
maharishi and Devata communities save my children.”
At that time Dharmaraja, Nakula, Sahadeva reached home, After
sometime Arjuna, Draupadi and Bheema also went. Arjuna said Kunthi
“Mother! We secured a typical biksha.” She said you five share equally.”
After knowing that biksha was Draupadi, she repented at her thoughtless
blessings and said to Dharmaraja

126 Mahabharatam
 “My son! Unconsciously I said “You five share equally”. So far no
untruthful word came out of my mouth. But what I said was unusual in
the world. Let us presume it is the word of god’’. Even Dharmaraja also
confused in his mind and consoled his mother and said to Arjuna, “
Arjuna! You marry her keeping agni as witness.” Arjuna said. “Brother!
You are the eldest of all our brothers. Leaving you how can I marry?
Hence you accept her as your wife. We four are firm on this word.” On
seeing the beauty of Draupadi all the five brothers looked at her with
lust. Dharmaraja said, “Vyasa Maharishi must have known this situation
much in advance. As maharishi said we all accept her as our wife. So let
us not have several opinions in this matter. We shall abide by words of
Vyasa Maharishi.”
Krishna and Balarama arrive:
Krishna and Balarama were the nephews of Kunti. They came to
see their aunt’s sons. They introduced themselves as Krishna and
Balarama and saluted Kunthi and Dharmaraja, embraced Bheema,
Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. After having pleasantries, Dharmaraja said
to Krishna.
Dharmaraja: “Krishna! Though Duryodhana and others tried to
assassinate us, by the grace of god, we came out of that danger. To protect
ourselves, we are moving in the world in the disguise of brahmins. By
god’s grace, nobody had noticed us. How come you are able to know
us?’’
Krishna: “Dharmaraja! clouds may cover the sun but they can’t
cover his splendour. In the same way, though you are hiding yourselves
in the form of Brahmins, the brilliance is visible to me. In other words
your valour alone made me to know who you are. When Duryodhana
conspired to burn you in the house of wax, who else can escape other
than you. From now onwards, all good will happen to you.
Some time Krishna and Balarama left. In the palace of Drupada,
and others were confused. They knew that a brahmin had won their
daughter. But nobody knew who he was and knew his antecedents. So
he sent his son Drushtajyumna to follow them and know who they were.
Drushtajyumna went silently behind Pandavas and came to know all
about them. He went back to his father and said,

Aadiparvam 127
 Drushtajyumna: “Father! Bheema and Arjuna had prostrated at
the feet of an old woman. All the four brothers went to a brahmin’s houses
and procured Biksha and handed over the entire food to that old woman.
The old woman called Draupadi and said, “My daughter! You take one
part of the food the food brought by my sons and offer to guests, birds
and animals. Divide the remaining food, and again divide it into two
parts.
[In olden days, even the food procured by begging a portion was
kept for the guests; This way she taught her daughter- in- law, Their
family customs and time old traditions. This is the accepted duty of a
gruhasta. ]
“My daughter! You make the food into two halves. One half you
give it to Bheema. He requires more food The remaining half, you give
equally to other sons. If there is anything left by them, we both shall
eat.” All those five brothers were talking about.
Drushtajyumna: (Continueshis report) They were all talking
about the secrets various astras, their application, withdrawal and so
many other topics related to war strategies. From their converstion, I
understood either that they were superior kshatriyas or brahmins who
learnt danurveda.I tried my best to know their antecedents but couldn’t
succeed.”
On hearing the words of Drushtajyumna, Drupada was happy and
sent his priest to their house. Dharmaraja worshipped the priest at .
The and offered a seat. The priest said “Oh superior brahmin! My king is
anxious to know your antecedents and the history of your ancestors.”
On hearing the words of the priest, Dharmaraja said,
“ Your king had announced that he would give his daughter in
marriage to whoever broke the masch yayantra. This hero had broken
masch yayantra and won the princess in the presence of all kings. In
addition to this, what more your king wants from us? Even by knowing
more about us what benefit your king gain. The person who broke
maschyayantra had proved his valor by defeating many kings. Thus your
king has given his daughter to a great hero”.
On hearing the words of Dharmaraja, the priest went and informed
King what Dharmaraja said. Then Drupada said “My son! You go with
128 Mahabharatam
few chariots and also the chariot you and I use and bring them to our
palace.” Drushtajyumna went and said to Dharmaraja, “The king has sent
many chariots for you, you may board the chariot of your choice and
come to our palace”. On hearing Drushtajyumna’s words, they boarded
the chariots which was decorated with diamond, gems and gold which
were normally used by Drupada and went to the king’s palace. Drupada
gave them several valuable gifts. They however accepted the swords,
shields, bows, arrows, quiver, chariots, horses and elephants only.
Drupada rightly guessed that they belonged to a superior kshatriyas.
Drupada asks Dharmaraja: “Gentleman! Are you kshatriyas or
brahmins or are siddhas wandering in the form of humans? Did you
come to marry Draupadi from heaven?”
Dharmaraja said, “King We are kshatriyas, sons of Panduraju. I
am the eldest of my brothers. My name is Dharmaraja. They are my
brothers Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. She is Kunthi, our
mother.”
Drupada was immensely happy to hear the words from Dharmaraja
and shed tears with joy. No word came out of his mouth and he became
dumb for a while. Finally he said, “To my great fortune, you came away
safely from that house of wax and survived.”
One day while Drupada was in durbar , he said. “I am fortunate
that the son of Indra- the grandson of Vichitraveerya- and a superior
warrior Arjuna will marry my daughter. I am very fortunate . Arjuna
broke the masch yayantra and won my daughter and he is going to marry
my daughter.” Dharmaraja said, “King! First I will marry your daughter,
then Bheema will marry her.” Drupada said, “If that is the case, you marry
her first.”
Then Dharmaraja said, “King! All my brothers will marry your
daughter. This is my mother’s desire. We never disobey her words.”
On hearing Dharmaraja’s words king Drupada was astonished. “
Dharmaraja! Sometimes one man can marry many women. But one
woman will not marry many men. This is not the accepted dharma of
this world. Even in puranas, it is unheard of. Dharmaraja! You know to
all sadachaarams. However this subject we shall discuss at length

Aadiparvam 129
tomorrow with your mother, your brothers, myself and my son
Drushtajyumna.
While they were all debating, Vyasa Maharishi appeared there. All
welcomed him and worshipped. Drupada said, “ Maharishi! Dharmaraja
and all his brothers want to marry my daughter. You know all dharmas
and traditions in the world. You please guide us; what is the right course
for us? We shall obey your orders.” Dharmaraja said, “King! my mind
will always fix an dharma. What I said is the right course. You give your
daughter Draupadi to me and my brothers. Not only that, earlier Jatila
with the power of her tapasya married seven rishis. Another muni kanya
by name Dakshayani became wife of ten people. Not only that our mother
is guru. So we obey our mother’s order.” Then Drupada said:
Drupada “ Maharishi! We do not know the subtle nature of
dharma”. Hence we obey your orders.” Then Vyasa Maharishi said, “
Dharmaraja knows all the tatwam of dharma. He will never deviate from
the path of dharma even for the sake of fun. In the same way, Kunthi also
had divine virtues. No untruth word will come out from her mouth. In
short, what they are telling is the opinion of all devatas. So you don’t
confuse your mind. Give your daughter in marriage to all the five
brothers. I will tell you the story behind it. You listen.”
Long ago there lived a great tapasvi by name Moudhgaludu.
Indrasena was his wife and she was serving her husband with patience
though he was old and suffering from leprosy. One day the maharishi
took pity on her and asked, “What do you want?” She said to her husband
that she wished to enjoy her sexual life in five ways. He satisfied her lust
with the power of his tapasya. However as she was not satisfied. She
was born as the daughter of king of Kasi and remained unmarried for a
long time. She was vexed in life, went for tapasy and meditated on Siva.
When the Lord Siva appeared and asked her, “What do you want?” In a
perplexed mind, she said, “ I want a good husband” and repeated it five
times. Then she understood her mistake and requested the Lord, “ Lord
! Though I may live with five husbands, my virginity should be intact. I
should be pure towards each of my husband, and should be chaste and
virtuous. My sensual desires should be fresh like any one. I should not
lose any of my husbands .” While she was talking to Lord Siva; Yama,

130 Mahabharatam
Vayu, Indra and Aswini devatas appeared and said so “We will marries
you”.
At the request of Brahma- Yama, Vayu, Indra and aswini devatas
gave birth with their amsas to Dharma, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and
Sahadeva forms respectively. He also requested Vishnu to take the form
of Balarama and Krishna. Of the two, Krishna would always help these
five brothers. Draupadi did tapasya and took the amsa of Lakshmi and
born from the yagnagundam in the name of Krishna.
‘‘ Drupada! To make you understand better I will give you the divine
sight, by which you can see all that I said.” Drupada had the vision and
saw every thing with his own eyes and was surprised. Again Vyasa
Maharishi said, “ Drupada! In olden days also such marriages had
happened. Hence you perform the marriage of Draupadi to all five
Pandavas. And Vyasa Maharishi said to Dharmaraja, “ Dharmaraja! Today
is an auspicious day, all of you marry Draupadi today itself.” On hearing
the words of Vyasa Maharishi, Drupada was happy and conducted the
marriage of his daughter with all the five brothers.

Aadiparvam 131
 Chapter 8

Pandavas live in the palace of Drupada

After the marriage, Pandavas and Draupadi were living happily in
the palace of Drupada. One day Kunthi said to Draupadi, “Oh Draupadi!
You happily live with all my five sons. You worships gurus, elders, pious
and just people. You treat all living beings equally. You are associate in
performing Rajasuya and other yagas with your husbands. With the
grace of all the people, you worship and with the blessings of your
husbands you give birth to valorous sons and grand sons”.
While Pandavas were living happily in the palace of Draupada,
Krishna and Balarama sent several valuable gifts to them. After some
time, Duryodhana and his friends sent spies to know about pandavas.
Those spies came and said, “Oh king! The person who broke the masch
yayantra was none other than Arjuna. The valorous person who drove
all the kings was no other than Bheema. All the five brothers married
Draupadi and are living happily in the palace of Drupada.’’
On hearing the news of Pandavas, Duryodhana was unhappy since
Pandavas escaped unhurt from the house of wax. He also grieved for the
premature death of Purochana.
Duryodhana was seriously thinking to isolate Pandavas and to
deprive any help from other kings. ‘‘Since Pandavas became relatives to
Drupada, it is difficult to separate them. Krishna was more sympathetic
towards Pandavas. So we can’t separate him from Yadavas. However he
wanted to create a division among yadavas by attracting Sisupala to his
side. Though ’’, Vidura lives in my house he always thinks about the
wellbeing of Pandavas only.
Duryodhana went to Dhrutarashtra and said that Pandavas
married Draupadi in a Swayamwara. Vidura said, “Oh king! Draupadi
was born from a homagundam. Pandavas not only won Draupadi in a
Swayamwara but also defeated all the kings who were present at that
time.”
The words of Vidura, irritated Duryodhana and waited till he left
the house and said to Dhrutarashtra “Father! You not only spend all
your time with Vidura but also lend your ears to him. You are not at all
132 Mahabharatam
kind for your own children. Because of Vidura, we rarely get an
opportunity to talk to you with an open mind. Now since he has left, I
would like to talk to you frankly’’.
Dhrutarashtra: ‘‘My son! I always pretend as if I have a great love
for Pandavas. I won’t take them to my heart. But what all Vidura says . I
always conceal my inner feeling from him. In short, I also think ill of
Pandavas like you. But I do not expose that is why you have feeling that
I am depriving your welfare. Unfortunately the Pandavas have divine
blessings.’’ What can we do for that? Now you tell me what do you
want me to do?
Duryodhana: “Oh King! Now Drupada is giving shelter to Pandavas.
They should be separated from him. If they continue to live there, they
may become stronger in a short time. With the help of Krishna and
Balarama, they may even secure an alliance with Yadavas also. If that
goes well, it is very difficult for us to keep them under your thumb. So it
is our first and foremost duty is to separate them from king Draupada.
If they are in front of you, you can watch their movements closely and
check them. Once they come here, we shall try to bring a rift among the
five brothers, because they are all living with one woman. We can use
her as a pawn to create difference of opinions among them selves. If she
can make a small gap between pandavas, you can make it bigger. Firstly,
if we are able to kill Bheema, we can eliminate other four without any
difficulty. If Bheema and Arjuna are together, even devatas can’t defeat
them. So first let us eliminate Bheema. Then Arjuna alone can’t do much
damage. Even if Arjuna raises his head, Karna will kill to him. Now we
have to act in choose the best way to get faster and better results.’’
Karna: “Duryodhana! Your plan will not succeed, because Drupada
is strong by himself and he has a stronger son who is obedient to him.
Drupada has many subordinate kings and strong kshatriyas under him.
Pandavas also proved their valour in Swayamwara. Under these
circumstances, Drupada may not agree to send back Pandavas to
Hastinapura. One can’t create any rift between Draupadi and Pandavas,
because she is chaste and virtuous . Not only that till now all attempts
you made to kill Bheema have become futile. So there is no guarantee
that we can kill Bheema in future also. So the only course open to you is
nothing but declare a war on Drupada and eliminate all in one stroke.’’
Aadiparvam 133
 “Indra has won all the three worlds by his valour. Long ago
Baratha ruled the entire earth only with his valour. If one wants to be
glorious, he should go on an expedition of war to win the entire earth.
So we shall declare a war on Drupada, we defeat him and bring Pandavas
as our captives”.
Dhrutarashtra appreciated what Karna said. However he didn’t
want to take an independent decision without consulting Bheeshma,
Drona and others. Hence he sent world to Bheeshma and others. They
came and discussed everything in detail. Then Bheeshma said:
Bheeshma: “Oh King! For me the children of Dhrutarashtra and
the children of Panduraju are same. Both are strong, brave, courageous
and valorous. They acquired several glorious qualities and proved
superior warriors. Hence I will not agree any war with Pandavas.
Because the kingdom had come our ancestors, from times immemorial.
Pandavas also have a share in ruling this country. So you give them half
of the kingdom and allow them to rule independently. This is reasonable
and a righteous path. This is an acceptable way legally, morally and also
spiritually . It will be appreciated by all people. Otherwise if we don’t
give their share, we will become inglorious in the eyes of everybody.
Living without glory is as good as death. Duryodhana! give their share
to Pandavas and become glorious in this world and other worlds also. “
Hearing this sound advice of Bheeshma, Dronacharya counseled
Duryodhana as follows:
Dronacharya: ‘‘Duryodhana! You accept your grandfather’s
worlds. All people in the world will respect his words. I also advice you
to give their half share.
You don’t lend your ears to Karna and Sakuni. Don’t try to have
any battle with Pandavas. You both teem as friends. Righteous people,
elders, people of wisdom and impartial people will leave anger and hate
before they take any right decision. You understand Pandavas are shining
only because of their virtuous and truthful actions. So you give their
half of the kingdom to them. All of us thought that Pandavas were dead,
but they came back with life. Is it not a matter to be celebrated? But
don’t entertain waging a war against your cousins. Even Indra cannot
win them. Oh Dhrutarashtra! You send new cloths and gifts to king

134 Mahabharatam
Drupada. You bring Pandavas to Hastinapura. You send Dushsasana and
Karna to bring them here.’’
Karna: ‘‘Dronacharya! You became old. Because of your old age,
you think you can talk what all you like and think that itself is dharma.
But you don’t tell what the king gains from your advice. Pandavas are
natural enemies of Kauravas. How can they co-exist in a friendly manner?
How you call it a dharma. Is it not against the rule of justice? Ministers
can talk any thing they like, but the king alone should take what is good
to him. The king should leave bad and accept the good only. Long back
the king Nitantnu couldn’t rule the country since he became old. At that
time the minister took the entire country, control in his hands and
became king by himself. In course of time the king was driven out. Hence
the ministers may give advice under the mask as a well wisher with
ulterior motives but internally they do harm only.
Dronacharya: (Furious at Karna) ‘‘Karna! You are developing the
enimity between the brothers and claiming yourself as a friend. Where
as you are protecting me and Bheeshma as the enemies to the king and
kingdom. Whereas you are asking them to fight each other and claim
yourself as a friend.
Vidura: ‘‘Dhrutarashtra! Bheeshma and Drona are pious and
virtuous people. Whatever they advice will leads you in the virtious path.
That alone with good to you. Dushsasana, Karna and Sakuni are all
politically immature and ignorant. They don’t know the difference
between dharma and adharma. They are all war mongers. Their thinking
is not pure. So you don’t take their words in to your heart. You invite
Pandavas immediately and give them half the kingdom. Pandavas are
strong by themselves and now they became relatives to king Drupada
and become stronger. Drushtajyumna is also as strong as Pandavas.
Balarama, Krishna and Satyaki are more friendly with Pandavas. Not
only that Pandavas have the divine grace as well as the human strength
. To be frank Pandavas have more respect, love and affection for you,
than your own children. Tell me, are they not your sons? Is it fair on
your part to throw them away?’’
“Oh King! You please listen to my words. Arjuna is more powerful
than Indra. If Bheema enters battlefield, he fights with the strength of

Aadiparvam 135
thousand elephants. When they are in the battle field, who can fight with
them? Dharmaraja also equally courageous apart from he has the
virtious character. They already exhibited their valour of the time of
swayamvara. If any body advises you to develop enmity and to fight
them, they are only your enemies in the mask of a friend. By your
kindness and by the grace of god, they came out from the kernel of death.
Oh king! You became inglorious by engaging Purochana to build a house
of wax. Now you wash away that sin by calling them in to your fold and
giving half kingdom to them. I told you several times that Duryodhana
will be the public enemy. Now you act as per the advice of Bheeshma
and Drona.
Dhrutarashtra: “ Oh Vidura! What yourself, Bheeshma and Drona
are virtious people. What all of you say will be judicious. Though I don’t
have eyes, I am not ignorant. I respect your advice and do partition to
our country and give half the kingdom to them. Oh Vidura! you go to
king Drupada and bring Pandavas.’’
On hearing Dhrutarashtra’s words Vidura went to Drupada’s city
to bring Pandavas with him. There he saw Krishna also with them and
said:
Vidura: “Drupada! These are the gems, diamonds and other
valuables presented to you by our king. Dhrutarashtra, Bheeshma and
Drona and other elders were happy to have relationship with you. Oh
king! Drupada! My king Dhrutarashtra and the people of our country
were very much grieved for Pandavas as they were separated from us.
My king wants Pandavas to come back to Hastinapura. If you permit, I
shall go with them. ‘’
Drupada: “Vidura! Since virtuous Dhrutarashtra wanted them,
Pandavas will certainly obey his orders. Not only that, yourself and
Krishna are the well wishers of Pandavas. Whatever you, Dhrutarashtra,
Bheeshma, Dronacharya and other elders decide, that will be for
Pandavas’s well being only. But I have some doubts”
Krishna: “King Drupada! As long as this Vidura is there, nobody
can do any harm to Pandavas. So you don’t worry much about the
wellbeing of Pandavas. From now onwards what all Pandavas wanted,
they will get .

136 Mahabharatam
 Dharmaraja: “Oh Vidura! All these elders wish the well being of
our Kuru dynasty.King Drupada is one among them . Besides Krishna
who is there to guide and help us. He is the greatest source of strength.’’
So long we have their blessings, we will be safe and happy.
Pandavas reach Hastinapura:
Vidura and Pandavas reached Hastinapura. Krishna and
Drushtajyumna also accompanied them with huge army. Dhrutarashtra
deputed Dronacharya and Krupacharya and others to arrange a warm
welcome to Pandavas. As Pandavas were entering Hastinapura, all the
people lined up on both the sides of the road and praised Panduraju and
Pandavas. On seeing Pandavas, they felt as if Panduraju himself came
back to life. As they entered the palace, they prostrated at the feet of
Bheeshma, Dhrutarashtra and other elders. After that, Pandavas met
many leading citizens and enquired about their welfare and made them
happy. They also met Duryodhana and his brothers and moved as very
affectionately as before.
After a few days, Dhrutarashtra convened an assembly of all the
elders and subordinate kings and made a declaration of dividing the
country and said to Pandavas:
Dhrutarashtra: ‘‘Sons of Panduraju! In the presence of Krishna,
with the permission of elders from the Kuru dynasty and in the presence
of all our subordinate kings I am giving you half of our kingdom with
pleasure. You receive it and live happily. Oh Dharmaraja! From now
onwards, you make Khandavaprasta as your capital city and rule your
kingdom. You continue to have good relations with us and our people’’.
By saying so, Dhrutarashtra gave the royal seal to Dharmaraja as a
mark of his authority. All the elders blessed Pandavas. Dharmaraja went
to Khandavaprasta with his mother, brothers and Krishna.
Pandavas in Khandavaprasta
As soon as they reached Khandavaprasta, Krishna ordered
Viswakarma to build a capital city for Pandavas which should be as
glorious as Amaravathi, the capital city of Indra. Dhaumya and others
identified a suitable land for building a new capital city. Then
Viswakarma, build the city as per vastu. It was comparable to beautiful

Aadiparvam 137
capital cities of Kubera and Varuna. Since the city was built by Indra’s
architect, it was named as Indraprasta.
With the blessings of Krishna and Dhaumya Dharmaraja ruled from
Indraprasta. In the rule of Dharmaraja there were no thieves, no fear of
enemies, diseases or premature deaths. One day Krishna took leave of
them and went to Dwaraka. Before going he said, “Shortly Narada will
comes to advice you, and you follow as per his advice.”
Narada visits to advice Pandavas:
One day the wandering sage, Narada arrived at Indraprasta.
Dharmaraja and his brothers worshipped with traditional honours and
offered a superior Aasana. Dharmaraja said, “We are all blessed with
your presence.” When they were talking, Draupadi was also with them,
when Draupadi went out to bring tasty dishes, he called all the five
brothers and advised them confidentially.
Narada: “Dharmaraja! You and your brothers are well read,
virtuous and have the knowledge of all dharmas. You are all respected
by all the kings. However for all of you, Draupadi is your common wife.
I don’t know whether it is against the sastras or not; but it is certainly
against the normal practice in this world. It is known to one and all that
she is the most beautiful woman in this world. So in future, you should
not have any misunderstanding or any difference of opinion on account
of Draupadi. Long ago two demons by name Sunda and Upasunda fought
with each other and dead on account of a woman.
On hearing from Narada, Dharmaraja wanted to know the story of
Sunda and Upasunda.
Story of Sunda and Upasunda
Narada: “Long ago there were two brothers by name Sunda and
Upasunda in the family of Hiranyakasipa. They made a severe tapasya
meditating on Brahma. Several devatas tried to distract their
concentration but they could not succeed. Brahma appeared before them
and asked, “What do you want?” They prostrated at the feet of Brahma
and requested him.
“Oh Deva! We should be able to assume any form that we wish and
we must be able to reach any place we wish. All mayas should be in our
possession and we want immortality.
138 Mahabharatam
 Brahma: Sunda and Upasunda! Each being that is created must
perish. So I will give you all other boons that you wanted, except
immortality.
The moment they got the boons from Brahma, they wanted to
celebrate and keep all their people happy; so he arranged a festival by
name Kaumadi festival. But that was not the right time to perform that
kind of festival. However they thought all times are good for praising
god and hence they performed the festival. With the boons from Brahma,
they started harassing devatas, Garudas and humans. They killed munis
in their tapovanas. They killed people in villages and towns. One day all
brahmins and devatas went to Brahma and narrated the atrocities of
Sunda and Upasunda. Brahma heard their miseries and assured that he
will do the needful. He called Viswakarma and asked him to create a
beautiful woman. He named her as Tilottama and took that doll to
Brahma. Brahma gave life to that doll and instructed her to develop a
rift among Sunda and Upasunda and see that they kill each other.
Tilottama went and started playing in front of Sunda and Upasunda. They
were fascinated by her beauty and both fell in love with her. Prior to
seeing Tilottama, they were so united that they used to eat from the
same plate and used to sleep on the same cot. There were no differences
among themselves on any matter. Nobody had saw them separately. As
they were fully influenced by cupid now they started fighting with each
other that she should be his wife. After a short while, their emotions
reached the peak and started fighting each other. They went and asked
her to whom she belonged. She said, ‘‘I love the most powerful and strong
man.’’ That provoked them to fight vehemently and finally they killed
each other.
‘‘So Dharmaraja! However strong, valorous and righteous one
may be, there is every possibility that they may get in to quarrel on
account of a woman. Keeping in view of this, you better have a suitable
arrangement among yourselves and follow the same so as to avoid any
trouble at a future date.
[In all epics and puranas, Narada appears. As a creator of troubles.
Whereas in this context, he had behaved contrary to his reputation. From
this one can understand that Pandavas have the blessings of gods.]

Aadiparvam 139
 A matter of salvation: After Narada, left all brothers sat together
and gave a good thought to the advice of Narada and came to an
understanding. That was each one would live with Draupadi for one full
year in an orderly way. In case anybody violates, he must to go on a
pilgrimage for one year, as a matter of corrective measure. All of them
agreed and implemented at once.
One day a brahmin came and requested, “ Arjuna! Thieves took
away my cow and without that cow, I can not perform my homa and
other daily rituals. Please restore my cow to me.” On hearing the appeal
Arjuna thought it would be sin if he didn’t go to the rescue of a brahmin.
But his bow, arrow and other weapons were stored at a place where he
had to pass the house of Dharmaraja. At that time, Draupadi was living
in the house of Dharmaraja. If he went to take his bow and arrows, it
would amount to the violation of their understanding; he was confused
the brahmin started crying again and again for his cow. However Arjuna
took his bow and arrows, violating their understanding. He killed the
thief and gave back the cow to the brahmin. After that Arjuna went to
Dharmaraja and said that he to be the vow and hence he wanted to go
on a pilgrimage. Then Dharmaraja tried to pacify him that since he had
broke the vow only to help Brahmin. Hence so no sin would befall on
you for braking the vow.’’
[ Whenever there is a clash between two dharmas, one has to follow
subtle dharma and take refuge in it. It is our understanding that we
should not violate the vow made by us. Since you have violated to give
relief to a brahmin no sin will attach with you. This is the subtle dharma
what Dharmaraja has suggested.]
Dharmaraja: ‘‘Arjuna! Since you have killed those thieves and
restored the cow to Brahmin, the fruits of it would be as much as that of
performing an Aswameda. Had you left the thief and did not help the
Brahmin, your sin would have been as much as that of killing a child,
while it was in her mothers stomach. So why should you resort to perform
a reparation.’’
Arjuna: ‘‘Dharmaraja! Even at a later date, we may have to face a
public blame. Why should we take shelter under one dharma or the
other?

140 Mahabharatam
 Arjuna goes on a pilgrimage: Arjuna took leave from Dharmaraja
and other elders and started for a pilgrimage. He reached river Ganga.
There he spent some days taking bath in Ganga and performing tarpanas,
pinda pradanam for his ancestral parents. One day, a nagakanya saw
Arjuna and fell in love with her. She fastened him and took him to
Nagaloka. By the time Arjuna opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful naga
kanya smiling at him.
Arjuna: ‘‘Oh pretty girl! Who are you? What is your name? Whose
daughter are you? Why you have fastened and brought me here?
Uluchi: ‘‘Arjuna! My name is Uluchi. I am a nagakanya. I fell in love
with you at my first sight. I want to marry you and hence I brought you
to my house. I know all your antecedents. You stand first in helping
others. We in nagaloka sing and praise your glories. The moment I saw
you I fell in love with you.
Arjuna: ‘‘Uluchi! As per my vow I am observing Brahmacharya for
twelve months. Hence how can I fulfill your desire?’’
Uluchi: ‘‘Arjuna! I know the vow you made in connection with your
wife Draupadi. And also I am aware that you have undertaken a
pilgrimage as a matter of repentance. You may perform any vratas and
you may visit many teerthas but it will not be equal to saving a life. So
you don’t be discourteous and reject my desire. I am burning with
kamagni. I am being burnt with the fever of cupid. If you don’t oblige
me I am sure I will die. You alone can save me from my death. Hence
save my life which will not stand in your way.’’
Arjuna convinced with her pleadings and blessed her with a son.
He is named as Iravantudu. Before the sunrise she left Arjuna back on
the banks of Ganga. He told what has happened to all the brahmins. They
were all astonished.
From there, Arjuna visited several kshetras on Himalayas and finally
reached Bindu kshetram. There he performed a yagna From there he
travelled towards east and reached Naimisaranyam and from there he
travelled towards the south and worshipped Bhemeshvaram on the
banks of Godavari. From there he went to Srisailam. He travelled further
south and had sacred bath in Cuavery.

Aadiparvam 141
 On the thirteenth month of his pilgrimage, Arjuna reached the
city of Manipuram. The king Chitravahana was ruling the country. He
was very much pleased to see Arjuna and made him his guest. At that
time, he fell in love with Chitrangada. Gave his daughter to Arjuna in
marriage Chitravahana.
From Manipuram Arjuna reached Sowbadhra theertham. Arjuna
was about to get in to the sea for taking a bath. The munis living there
cautioned Arjuna not to get in to the waters for fear of ferocious
crocodiles. Arjuna said to them, “Oh maharishis! I was travelling several
Kshetras only to take bath in several teerdhams. Since there are some
crocodiles, how can I go without taking a bath?” By saying so, Arjuna
entered the water. The moment he put his leg in the water, a crocodile
caught hold of his leg. Arjuna caught hold of that crocodile and threw it
on the shores. Immediately a beautiful devakanya emerged from that
crocodile. On seeing her, Arjuna asked:
Arjuna:‘‘ Who are you? Why are you living in the form of a
crocodile? How is that you took the form of a girl as soon as I threw you
out on the shore?’’
Divine girl: ‘‘My name is Vanda. I am the daughter of a Yaksha
who is a friend of Kubera. Myself and four more friends of mine were
also living in the form of crocodiles in nearby four other teerdhams. You
help them also from their curse.’’ Arjuna, saved those four Yaksha girls
also.
Vanda: “Arjuna! While wandering we have seen the cities of all
dikpalakas and reached earth. Here in a forest, we saw a muni doing
tapasya. We thought of making a fun. We disturbed his tapasya with
our sang and dance. The muni was unaware of our presence. We thought
he was ignoring us. We did some mischief with him. He opened his eyes
and cursed all of us to become crocodiles. Then we prayed him for the
deliverance from the curse. The tapasvi took pity on us and said, “If any
person catches and throws you on the shore, that day you would get
your original form.” Since then we are waiting for such a person. One
day Narada was going this way. We went and Narada told us that Arjuna,
the son of Panduraju would pass this way on his pilgrimage. The moment
you catch his leg, he would redeem you from the curse. Today you made
us fortunate. Thus Vanda told him about their curse.

142 Mahabharatam
 While he was enjoying with his wife Chitrangada he had a son. He
was named as name Babruvahana. Later he succeeded his grandfather
Chitravanaha. From there he went to Gokarna. From Gokarna he went
to the western seas. There he came to know that Dwaraka was nearby
and he went there to see his childhood friend Krishna. He also heard the
prettiness of Subhadra, the sister of Krishna. He loved her and wanted
to marry her, with the blessings of Krishna. So he went to Dwaraka.
Before he entered Dwaraka, he changed his from as a yateeswara,
because all yadavas are devoted to sadhoos. So he took that figure and
entered Dwaraka. He remembered Krishna in his mind and prayed for
his blessings before he entered Dwaraka. The moment Arjuna
remembered Krishna appeared there in Prabhasa teertham.
Arjuna reaches Dwaraka: Arjuna was astonished at the presence
of Krishna, because he thought of him just now. His eyes swelled with
tears and saluted with devotion and said.
Arjuna: “Krishna! I have completed twelve months in making
pilgrimages for breaking the vow. I have went round many places,
mountains like Himalayas, great rivers like Ganga and many religious
places. Now I could able to see you and destroyed all my sins and became
pure.’’
Krishna embraced Arjuna and enquired about the wellbeing of
people in Indraprasta. Krishna took him to Mt.Raivataka and asked him
to sit under a tree. Krishna went into the city and announced that a
Sanyasi came and ordered to stationed on Mt.Raivataka. He ordered
the people to go and worship him and also Mt.Raivataka. Many yadava
heroes went with their wives to see the Sanyasi.
In the meanwhile Subhadra also came there to worship the
mountain. There she prayed the Mt. Raivataka to fix Arjuna as her
husband. On seeing Subhadra, Arjuna fell in love with her. Krishna looked
at him with a smile and said, “ Munindra! Is it not prohibited for sanyasi
to look at women with lust? Arjuna! I know you have a liking for
Subhadra. I will convince my parents, and see to it that they agree for
your marriage with subhadra”.
At the same time he sent word to Dharmaraja informing that Arjuna
was safe in Dwaraka. In the meanwhile all prominent yadavas came and

Aadiparvam 143
saw Arjuna in muni form and prostrated at his feet with devotion. Since
it was rainy season, they requested him to perform his chaturmaasya
vrata in Dwaraka.
They took Arjuna to their palace and deputed Subhadra to serve
him. However Krishna said to Rukmini and Satyabama that the hero who
was in the form of Yateeswara was Arjuna. One day, while serving the
Yateeswara, Subhadra said, “ Munindra! You keep visiting many places.
Did you ever visited Indraprasta? Did you meet the sons of Panduraju?
Is my aunt Kunthi safe? Did the great hero and valorous person, Arjuna,
returned from his pilgrimage?. You please tell me more about the glories
of Arjuna”.
Arjuna was happy to know that subhadra is also liking him.
Arjuna: ‘‘Subhadra! I am Arjuna. Krishna who is all-pervading
parabrahman met me in Prabhasa tirtham and brought me here. I am
fortunate I am able to see you. Subhadra! Gandharva and rakshasa types
of marriages suits for kshatriyas. I wish to marry you in Gandharva way.
Subhadra lowered her head and said in a low voice, “All our elders
are willing for our marriage. They themselves will invite you and
perform our marriage.” By saying these words, she ran away. Krishna
understood that Subhadra and Arjuna were liking each other. Then he
called Prajyumna, Samba, Sankarshana, Sarana, Satyaki and said that
the yateeswara living in their palace was none other than Arjuna. All of
them went and informed the fact to Devaki and Vasudeva. However he
did not informed Balarama. On the pretext of celebrations for lord Siva,
he ordered all yadava families to move to Antardwepa. Subhadra
remembered Krishna in her mind and at the same time Arjuna
remembered Indra. Indra came to Dwaraka with asta dikpalakas, Narada
and other maharishis. They came to Dwaraka to perform their marriage.
Kasyapa Prajapathi acted as the priest. Arundathi, Sasidevi , Rukmani
and Satyabama were present in the marriage of Subhadra and Arjuna.
Krishna was happy for completing the marriage without any interruption.
He arranged a chariot and asked them to proceed to Indraprasta.
On their way, the security people obstructed Arjuna and gave a fight.
Arjuna defeated them and left Dwaraka. Balarama came to know about
the marriage and became furious. He ordered Krishna to declare a war

144 Mahabharatam
on Pandavas. Krishna pacified Balarama and said, “Brother! Arjuna is
none other than our aunt’s son. Subhadra also wanted to marry him.
Now there is no meaning to declare a war on Pandavas’’
Before Arjuna reached Indraprasta he said, “ Subhadra! If we go
together Draupadi may get annoyed. She is a chaste wife of mine. First
you go and take her blessings. I will join you latter.” Accordingly Subhadra
alone went to the palace and prostrated at the feet of Kunthi and took
her blessings. Then she went and prostrated at the feet of Draupadi.
Draupadi said, “ Subhadra! Now since you became the wife of Arjuna, I
bless you to become the mother of a hero. Who should kill all our
enemies.” After some time Arjuna came. He prostrated at the feet of
Kunthi and embraced all other brothers. Krishna, Balarama and others
came to present gifts to the newly married.
Krishna, Balarama and others present valuable gifts to Arjuna:
On hearing the arrival of Balarama, Krishna and others, Dharmaraja went
forward and invited them with royal honors. Dharmaraja worshipped
Vasudeva and other elders. Balarama and Krishna and other yadava
elders worshipped Kunthi and Dharmaraja and presented valuable
diamonds as gift.
After some time, Subhadra delivered a boy. The astrologers,
predicted him as valorous as emperor Prudhu. He was named as
Abhimanyu. Upanayana karmas were performed and put him in
Gurukulam to learn Vedas, archery from his father Arjuna, who taught
him all the strategies of a war.
Draupadi also had five sons who were popularly known as Upa-
pandavas. She gave birth to Prativindyudu for Dharmaraja, Srutasomudu
for Bheema, Srutakeerthi for Arjuna, sataaneekudu for Nakula,
Srutasenudu for Sahadeva.
Khandavavana dahanam: One day Krishna and Arjuna went for
hunting. While wandering in Khandavavana vana, Agni took the form of
an old brahmin and came to Krishnarjuna and said, “ King! I am very
hungry, provide me some food.” Arjuna asked, “What type of food you
like?” The Brahmin said, “ Krishnarjunas! I am Agni . I want to burn
Khandava Vana but Indra is not allowing me. The moment I try to burn
it, he starts poring heavy rains. People say that Indra engaged Takshaka

Aadiparvam 145
in the forest to protect nectar. If you both drive away the clouds with
your astras, it will be easy for me to born the forest”.
On hearing Agni’s words Arjuna said,
Arjuna said I did not come with my bow and arrows. I don’t have
a chariot also to go round the forest and to fight. If you can provide me
bow, arrows and a chariot, I can defeat even Indra”.
On hearing Arjunas words, agni remembered Varuna and prayed
for him. “Varuna! Some time back I kept with you my bow, arrows and a
chariot yoked with Gandharva horses. You please give them to Arjuna.
You also give Krishna a chakra and a club.” Immediately Varuna gave a
tall bow by name Gandibam and a quiver of everlasting arrows. A chariot
yoked with divine horses was kept before Arjuna. He also gave a chakra
by name Sudarshana and a club by name Kowmodi to Krishna. The chariot
had a flag with an image of kepi ( Hanuma). Agni said, “Oh Arjuna! this
bow Gandibam is as powerful as Vajra. The horses yoked to this chariot
have the speed of mind. Krishna! this Sudarshana chakra will remove
the head of your enemy and it will come back to you.’’
Krishna and Arjuna boarded the chariot and said to Agni. “ Agni!
you start burning this Khandavavana. Even Indra cannot stop you”.
With the help of Krishna and Arjuna, Agni speed its flames in to
the forest and the flames touched the sky. The animals, birds and other
creatures burnt to ashes. The servants of Indra who were protecting
the forest speed rain bearing clouds from all sides to extinguish the fire.
But they could not fight with the sharp arrows of Arjuna and died on the
spot. Agni took the help of Vayu and made it a pralayagni. With the flames,
Agni burnt all the medicinal plants swallowed.
All devatas guarding the Vana went to Indra that Agni is razing at
Khandava vana. Takshaka the king of serpents was also living in that
forest. Indra was more worried for Takshaka. He wanted to protect
Takshaka, and poured rain all over the forest. Indra dispatched more
powerful clouds and pored rain. As Arjunas arrows covered the sky with
arrows and not even a drop of water fell into the forest. Takshaka’s son
Aswasena, a serpent tried to save his mother, put her on his tail and flew
in to the sky. Arjuna saw him and cut his tail with an arrow. With that

146 Mahabharatam
the mother of Aswasena fell in to the fire and burnt. While Arjuna tried
to hit Aswasena also with another arrow, Indra came to his rescue and
saved him with a mystic by name Mohini. Thereby Indra was able to
save Aswasena but not his mother. Indra and others were afraid that
Takshaka could have been killed in the fire.
Indra came to know that agni was blazing the Vana with the support
by Krishna and Arjuna. So he ordered Suras, garudas, nagas, asuras,
siddhas, and Gandharvas to fight with Krishna and Arjuna. But none of
them could succeed and Agni burnt the entire Khandava vana
successfully. At that time a voice was heard from the sky, “Oh Indra!
This Krishna and Arjuna are none other than Nara and Narayana who
have taken human forms. To purify the yadava and Kuru dynasties. So
you can’t win them. You don’t worry about the safety of Takshaka. He
went to Kurukshetra on some other work long time back. This Vana was
burnt at the dictates of Brahma. You leave your fury and go back.’’
On hearing the words from the sky, Indra and others went to their
abodes. They were happy to know that Takshaka was safe.
The episode of Mandapala Maharishi:
Janamejaya: Oh Vaisampayana! From that huge davaagni Mayu
and Aswasena survived, but how the sons of Mandapala survived, that I
can’t understand. You tell me.
Vaisampayana: Oh Janamejaya! Long ago Mandapala Maharishi
observed Brahmacharya vrata and performed a severe tapasya. By yoga
he left his body and reached heaven. There devatas did not give him an
entry. Mandapala said, “Oh devatas! I have done enough tapasya to attain
superior lokas. Why are you stopping me?’’ Devatas said, “Oh Munindra!
However great tapasya you might perform, if you don’t have sons you
will not be permitted in to heaven. Don’t you know this much?.” Then
Mandapala came back to earth and tried various ways to have a son. He
thought, of all the creatures, birds will have children faster than any other
creature. Immediately he took the form of a male Lavuka and chose a
female Lavuka as a companion. With that female Lavuka bird, he had
four sons who were Brahma gnanis. They are Genitali, Sarisprukka,
Sthambamitra and Drona.

Aadiparvam 147
 He left all his sons and wife in Khandava vana and he went out
with his second wife Lapita to far away places from Khandava vana. While
Khandava vana was burning he prayed Agni, “ Agni! You are pure, you
are dharma murthy. All my sons are in the forest. You protect them.”
Agni was pleased at Mandapala and saved his children. I will tell you
how it happened. The mother bird worried in herself that none of her
children had developed wings. I am alone, how can I save all of them?’’
In this manner the female bird Genita was grieving. “My sons! nearby
there is a hole in the earth. I will carry you and keep you all in that hole.
I will close the entry so that the fire may not enter the hole, if you are
lucky.” Then they said to their mother, “ Mother! you don’t worry for us.
If you put us in the tunnel, the rats may eat all of us. In any case, death is
inevitable. Instead of dying by the rats, we prefer to die in the hands of
Agni. Not only that if we are lucky and destined to live the wind god may
change the direction of the fire and keep the fire away from us. By that
way also we may survive.”
Those four sons, who were Brahma gnanis prayed Brahma and
Agni, requesting them to save their lives. Earlier to their prayers,
Mandapala also prayed to Agni to save his sons. So Agni burnt all other
trees leaving that tree alone unburnt. By looking at the providence of
god, Genita also felt happy. “ Munisahwara! In my presence you prayed
agni! He will certainly protect your children. Now you are worried about
your second wife Genita. It is a full fledged bird with strong wings. It can
fly away to safety and protect herself. Why are you grieving for your
second wife?” Then Mandapala said with a smile, “ Though Arundathi
was also as great tapasvini as that of Vasista, she was envious of her co-
wife. This is natural for woman.” by saying so, he left Lapita and flew to
Khandava vana. He was happy to see that his wife Genita and his sons
were safe . Agni burnt all the medicinal plants and his long-standing
ailment was cured and became healthy. He thanked and blessed Krishna
and Arjuna and appreciated their vigour and valour in fighting with Indra.
He had given Aagnaya astra, Varuna astra and Vayu astra to Arjuna. He
also requested Krishna to be always with Arjuna and be friendly with
himand took leave of him.

148 Mahabharatam
 Glossary
aachamana sip water thrice as a religious rite
aadi kavi Valmiki; The first Poet
Aathma Gananm knowledge of the soul
Acharya Guru or teacher
adharma unrighteousness
agnigundam sacred fire
Agnihotras sacred fire
ahimsa Nonviolence
Amada measuring distance equal to 10 miles
amsa part
Antardwepa inter continent
arishad vargas six internal enemies such as pride,
anger, lust, greed, ignorance and
jealousy
asta dikpalakas gods who guard eight directions
Asta Vasuvus Aapudu, Druva, Somu, Adharvu, Anilu, Prathyushu,
Analu and Prabhasu
Astis ashes from the pyre
Athiradha An athi-radha is capable of protecting his charioteer,
chariot, horses, his bow, flag and the flag post
Bartha Husband
Bharya wife
Bhikshatana begging
Brahma gnanis One who attained the knowledge of supreme spirit
Brahmacharya bachelor
cahturmasya vrata every year from the month Ashadam (august) to
karthikam (November) rainy season. Sanyasis will not
move from one place to another place as they wander in
rest of eight months.
chakra A wheel or a weapon of Lord Vishnu
Chatram Umbrella
dakshina a gift.
darmica virtuous, pious, a just man

Aadiparvam 149
darshan a vision
Devara Nayam the rule of getting children by the younger brother of her
husband to continue the family line.
dharma prescribed course of conduct,
dharmapatni wife married in Vedic way
Droni a water kettle
Drudham a weapon
durbar a hall of audience
dwanda yudham direct fight, one to one
dwapara yuga the third of the four yugas
endamavalu mirage
Gruhasta a house holder
gurudakshina gift to a teacher
gurukulam stay in the house of a teacher; a disciple
gurupatni Wife of Guru
havisis Oblations
homadhenu worshiped celestial cow
Ichamaranam death at will
Ithihasas history or traditional account
Japa repeating prayers in undertone.
Jataka karmas ceremony performed by Dwijas at the time of birth of
a child (Dwijas means: Brahmin, kshatriyas, Vaysya)
jeevatma the individual soul enshrined in a human body
kamagni Passion
karta one who has the right to perform a religious rite.
kavyam poem, epic
kiratakas barbarian; one of the names of Lord Siva.
kshatriya a man of second cast
Maharishi A great sage
maschya yentra a figure of a mystical nature in the form of a fish
mrutasanjivini a medicinal plant supposed to have the power of
reviving the dead.
muni Inspired saint
munikanya daughter of a muni

150 Mahabharatam
Naimisaranyam a sacred place
Panchama Vedamu Mahabaratha (5th veda)
Pandu varna (Pale body)
Paramatma the supreme spirit
parava chapters
Pitru Runam the debt of parents
Pouranikas one versed in puranas
pralayagni fire at the time of destruction of the whole world
at the end of kalpa.
pundits Scholars
puranas Ancient history, legendry, tradition
Purusharthas The principal object of human life and pursuit of which
four are enumerated. Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha.
Sabha an assembly
Sanjivini A herb that is supposed to revive
Sankula yudham a confused fight in a war
sarvabhakshaka eater of every object / Agni
Satra yaga a kind of yaga
siddhis Accomplishment
Soustavam a weapon
Sowiti teller of epics
Sradhas funeral rite in honour of the departed spirits
Sudra backward caste
Sudras backward caste
Swayamvara the selection of a husband by a princess or daughter of a
kshatriya at a public assembly of suitors held for the
purpose.
Tali a small piece of gold tied by the bride groom
at the time of marriage
tarpana a religious rite to the deceased
tirthas a holy place or holy water
treta yuga The second of the yugas
Upanayanam Initiation of a youth of any of the first three
castes in to the sacred study.
Upanishad the logical part of the veda

Aadiparvam 151
upapandavas sons of Pandavas
Vajra the weapon of Indra
Valkalas A hermits garb made of bark.
varnashrama Duties of principal four casts viz. Brahmin, kshatriya,
dharma Vaysya, Sudra.
Veda Divine knowledge
Vedaadhayanam learning of vedas; One of the six duties of a brahmin.
Vedadyanamu learning of vedas; One of the six duties of a brahmin.
Vedangas sciences regarded as auxiliary to Vedas
Vedanta sastra based up on the major Upanishads
Vedas Divine knowledge
Vidhi sacred percept or a rule
vrata religious vow
yaga an act of worship
yaga sala The prescribed place for offering oblations in a sacrifice.
yagagni sacred fire from a yaga
yagna an act of worship
yateeswara a sanyasi, a fourth ashrama in four ashramas

152 Mahabharatam