Notebook for
Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata
Pattanaik, Devdutt
Citation (APA): Pattanaik, D. (2010). Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata [Kindle Android version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Author’s Note: What Ganesha Wrote
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His name was Krishna Dwaipayana which means the dark child who was born on a river island. His father was Parasara, grandson of the great Vasishtha, one of the seven Rishis who heard the Veda first. In time, Krishna Dwaipayana became known as Veda Vyasa, compiler of the books of wisdom.
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Bhima’s son, Barbareek, who was worshipped in Rajasthan as Khatu Shyamji.
Prologue: The Start of the Snake Sacrifice
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‘Do not be distracted by the plots. Within the maze of stories flows the river of wisdom. That is your true inheritance.’
Jaya
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In time, the Chandra- vamsis would forget the gender ambiguity of both Budh and Ila. They would mock it when it would become manifest in Arjuna’s brother- in- law, Shikhandi. They would stop him from entering the battlefield. Such is the nature of man- made laws: ignorant of the past and insensitive to the present.
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The obsessive passion of Pururava for Urvashi that led to his downfall would become manifest generations later in Shantanu, not once but twice, first in his love for Ganga and then his love for Satyavati, with the same disastrous consequences. Because human memory is short, and history always repeats itself.
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Kalidasa’s Shakuntala is very conscious of social stigma while Mahabharata’s Shakuntala is indifferent to it. This perhaps is a reflection of change in social values over time.
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Were the ‘gods’ who made Kunti and Madri pregnant actually Devas or simply priests performing a ritual role to compensate for the inadequacies of Pandu? This has been elaborated in Bhyrappa’s Kannada novel, Parva.
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Because of this he became renowned as Gudakesha, he who has conquered sleep. Arjuna also was able to shoot his bow using either his left or his right hand. Hence, he came to be known as Sabyasachi.
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Not wanting the vegetables and spices to be wasted, Bhima offered to cook a special meal, something different to indicate his new life. He mixed all the vegetables and spices, added coconut milk, and prepared the famed Tamil dish known as ‘aviyal’ or the mixture. This was quite different from a typical Vedic dish where mixing of vegetables was prohibited.
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Sudyumna, who became the woman, Ila. Thus will she be the cause of Bhishma’s death,’ said the oracles, who also divined that Drupada’s daughter was Amba reborn.
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From the flames emerged two children: a man called Dhrishtadyumna who would kill Drona and a woman called Draupadi who would marry into the Kuru household and divide it.
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But the eighteenth time, Jarasandha’s army was led by one Kalayavan who was destined to destroy the city of Mathura.
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Dwaraka was ruled by one Revata. Long ago, he had gone to the abode of Brahma, father of all living creatures, to find out who would be a suitable groom for his daughter, Revati. Unfortunately, he had not realized that a day with Brahma is equal to a thousand years on earth. When he returned with his daughter, all human beings had shrunk in size and no man was ready to marry his giant of a daughter.
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The name Kalayavan means ‘the black Greek’ suggesting Indo- Greek roots. Following the invasion of Alexander of Macedonia, the Indo- Greeks played an important role in the history of North India, from 300 BCE to 300 CE, about the same time that the Mahabharata was reaching its final form. Krishna lore is closely associated with many things Greek. Like a Greek hero, Krishna escapes death as a child and comes back as a youth to avenge the wrong done to his family. Mathura, with its ruling council, and aversion for monarchy, was clearly influenced by the Greek political system. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, identified Krishna with the Greek hero Heracles.
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Dhritarashtra gave the Pandavas the forest of Khandava- prastha.
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Draupadi bore the Pandavas five sons. They were: Prativindhya, son of Yudhishtira; Satsoma, son of Bhima; Shurtakirti, son of Arjuna; Shatanika, son of Nakula; and Shrutasena, son of Sahadeva.
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quivering
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preordained. To protect her son, Shishupala’s mother gets from Krishna a boon that he will forgive a hundred crimes of her son. But she does not bother to warn her son never to commit a crime. Thus Vyasa draws attention to a peculiar human trait of trying to solve a problem through external means without bringing about any internal transformation.
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The aim of his narrative is to remind all not to judge people without knowing their story. Even the worst of villains has a story that perhaps explains their actions, without condoning them.
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Civilization comes into being when the small fish is rescued from the big fish; civilization comes to an end when the fish keeps growing bigger than its pond.
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solar eclipse is supposed to have occurred when the Pandavas went into exile. This is described by Vidura in the Sabha Parva.
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Even though Draupadi had humiliated his son, Karna, on grounds of caste, the sun- god helps Draupadi by providing her with the magic vessel of food, yet another instance of forgiveness in the epic.
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Ram’s story is part of the Mahabharata but the poet Valmiki made it an epic in its own right. Known as the Ramayana, the story of Ram speaks of a model king and his model reign. The Mahabharata, by contrast, is more about imperfect kings and their imperfect reigns. In the Ramayana, Vishnu upholds rules as Ram, while in the Mahabharata, Vishnu changes rules as Krishna. In the Ramayana, God is king, while in the Mahabharata, God is kingmaker.
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She was dressed in the sixteen love- charms of marriage— a red sari, flowers in her hair, betel leaf in her mouth, bangles, armlets, anklets, bracelets, toe rings, rings on her nose and ears, necklaces and bejewelled belts around her waist.
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The world that is perceived through any measuring scale is called maya.
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confrontation and conflict does not necessarily happen when one is right and the other is wrong; it can happen simply because two people follow different value systems.
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Twelve years is less than a blink of Indra’s eyes;
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In Hindu tradition, telling and listening to stories are critical as they are vehicles of profound truths; they shape a person’s understanding of the world.
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The tragedy of exile thus seems very much part of a divine plan to help men be better rulers.
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Draupadi broke down. She did not want her secret to be the cause of a Rishi going hungry. She revealed the truth, ‘I love Karna. I regret not marrying him on account of his caste. If I had married him, I would not have been gambled away. I would not have been publicly humiliated. I would not have been called a whore.’
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(do not aspire for things until you are worthy).
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Vidula’s speech to rouse her son inspired many men to rise up against the British during the Indian freedom struggle.
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His advice that Shalya should try and demoralize Karna is perhaps the earliest reference to psychological warfare,
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If you were enlightened, Arjuna, you would have fought without anger, killed without hate.
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Why do you feel what you feel? Are you being spurred on by your ego? Why do you wish to fight? Is it from the desire to dominate your enemies and win back your territories? Is it rage which motivates you, the desire for vengeance and justice? Or are you detached from the outcome, at peace with the act you are about to perform? If these questions don’t come to your mind, Arjuna, you are not practising gyan yoga.
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When there is faith, there is no fear. Is it faith guiding your hand, Arjuna, or is it fear? If it is fear, then you are not practising bhakti yoga.
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Do you fight this war to break the stranglehold of jungle law in human society, Arjuna? If not, you do not practise karma yoga.
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The founding fathers of the Indian nation state read the Gita for the first time, not in a regional Indian language, or Sanskrit, but in English.
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Rationalists wonder how such a long discourse took place with two impatient armies on either side. Since this was a discourse by God, the rules of space and time did not apply. What seems like a long discourse to humans, must have taken place in the blink of an eye on the battlefield.
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Krishna took the female form known as Mohini, married Iravan, and spent the night with him as his wife, bringing great delight to his heart. The next day when Iravan was beheaded at dawn, Krishna wept for him as his widow. No widow had ever wept for a man as Krishna did for Iravan.
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The time when Bhishma is pinned to the ground falls in the period before the winter solstice when the Pitrs or ancestors are close to the earth according to the traditional calendar system. Bhishma, who chose never to give birth to a child, perhaps is ashamed to meet his ancestors and so chooses to die in the next half of the year after the winter solstice when the Pitrs pull away from the earth.
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the ninth night marks the shift from binary logic to fuzzy logic, where lines are not so clearly drawn between points of view.
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Krauncha vyuha— Heron formation Makara vyuha— Dolphin formation Kurma vyuha— Turtle formation Trishula vyuha— Trident formation Chakra vyuha— Wheel or discus formation Padma vyuha— Lotus formation
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One should have faith in one’s friends and family and not let one harsh word break the bond of trust.
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when a man praises himself, it is intellectual suicide.’
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a decision taken to please the ego turns out to be dear in the long run.
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When Vishnu took the form of Ram, he took the side of Sugriva, son of Surya, and killed Vali, the son of Indra. As Krishna, Vishnu clearly sides with Arjuna, the son of Indra, against Karna, the son of Surya. Both Vali in the Ramayana and Karna in the Mahabharata are shot in the back. Thus balance is achieved across two lifetimes.
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jeered
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The tale of Barbareek is part of oral tradition in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In Rajasthan, he is worshipped as Khatu Shyamji, he who always fights for the loser.
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Thus all creatures die not because of external factors but because of their own karma.
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knowledge must outlive death, so that the next generation is more enlightened.’
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Animals spent their entire lives focused on survival. Humans could look beyond survival, seek meaning in life, harm others to save themselves, help others by sacrificing themselves.
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unlike wealth, knowledge does not outlive death, hence has to be passed on to the living so that it is not lost forever.
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‘What is this heaven located even above Swarga?’ asked Yudhishtira. The Rishis replied, ‘It is a secret known to few. We do not know it.
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Three months later, Yudhishtira, your yagna will conclude and the Kali yuga will dawn. A new age will dawn where nothing will be as it was. Only a quarter of the values instituted by Prithu at the dawn of civilization will survive.
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The Rishis realized that Yudhishtira’s sacrifice, though grand, was less about charity and more about royal power. Hence, it was a lesser ritual.
Highlight (yellow) - Book Eighteen: Renunciation > Page 327
Despite learning from Krishna the value of outgrowing the beast within man, the Pandavas cling to their grudges after the war, like dogs clinging to bones. No lesson is permanent. Wisdom thus is always work in progress.
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Krishna’s son, Samba, is portrayed in the scriptures as an irresponsible lout, perhaps to inform us that the child of a great man need not be a great man; greatness is not transmitted through the generations. Every man ultimately makes or destroys his own legacy.
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While all the Yadavas crossed the Vaitarni and entered the land of the dead awaiting rebirth, Krishna returned to the heaven known as Vaikuntha, located even above Swarga, and took his place as Vishnu, God who sustains the universe. Balarama was already there as the thousand- hooded serpent of time, Adi- Ananta- Sesha, ready to receive him in his great coils.
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Vajranabhi asked artisans to carve images of Krishna based on descriptions given by Abhimanyu’s wife, Uttari. But the description was so grand that each artisan could capture only part of the beauty in each image. These images were lost to the world for centuries and later discovered by holy men who enshrined them in temples. The image of Srinathji at Nathdvara is said to be one such image.
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The epic ends not with the victory of the Pandavas over the Kauravas but with Yudhishtira’s triumph over himself. This is spiritual victory or Jaya. This is the ultimate aim of the great epic.
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All Hindu rituals end with the chant ‘Shanti, shanti, shanti’ because the quest for peace is the ultimate goal of all existence. This peace is not external but internal. It is not about making the world a peaceful place; it is about us being at peace with the world.
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Itihasa is not history, as is conventionally believed; it means ‘an account of life as it was, is, and always will be’. Itihasa is that which is timeless or sanatan. The sages therefore consider the Mahabharata to be the fifth Veda, the final whisper of God.
