Episode 30 - The four Pandavas who were left in the forest set off on a tour of the sacred sites of Ancient India, with the Sage Lomasha as their guide.  At a stopover near the historic hermitage that once belonged to Agastya, we are treated to one of the stories about this fabled hermit.

I have to confess to skipping a second story, because I simply couldn't make much sense of it.  While it tangentially involved Agastya, it also involved King Sagara, whose wife gave birth to a pumpkin and he was advised to put the seeds each in a vat of warm ghee, and each seed turned into a baby boy.  The king had 1,000 sons from this pumpkin.  The story then veers off to the draining of the ocean, and how the Ganga was drawn out of the heavens to re-fill the ocean, and how Shiva caught the stream in his dreadlocks.  I guess I'll leave that bit for the unabridged podcast!

Next time, we'll get the story of Rshyashrnga, who was born from a deer!

Episode 29 - We finish the story of Nala.  Brhadashva suggested that this story would cheer up the Pandavas, since there was indeed a king who had it worse than they.  But shortly after hearing the story, they get news that Arjun was up on a mountain top starving himself and they were once again plunged into depression and hopelessness.  At least Yuddistira learned Nala's dicing secrets, so he need not worry about another match with Shakuni.

The story of Nala as it is told in the Mahabharata has some significant discrepancies in the storyline.  They are too obvious and numerous to list out in full, but an example would be that Damayanti remained in hiding in her aunt's palace even though she could have told the queen the truth at any time, and could go home at any time.  Stranger still, the queen mother does not recognize her neice, because the girl was covered in mud all the time and so her famous mole was concealed by the dried muck.

On the other hand, the scenes are very dramatic and would have made a wonderful 19th century opera.

I found the detail about the size of Nala's army to be interesting.  Clearly, chariots were not the most common vehicle on the battle field.  There were 19 elephants and numerous horses, and hundreds of infantry, but just one chariot.  Perhaps by this time the chariot was more of a status symbol than an effective military weapon; alternatively, were they so expensive that one chariot was all that could be afforded on this mission!?!

Finally, thanks for the feedback on the identity of Kali.  They tell me that Kali is the kali in kaliyuga.  His buddy Dvapar is of the Dvaparyuga.  I had always thought the names Dvapar & Kali, in that context, were modifiers that somehow described these various epochs.  But now it seems Kaliyuga is the epoch that is dominated or (perhaps) ruled by the entity Kali.

I always thought a little better of the Dvaparyuga, since during that period people were more humane, but the character of Dvapar is not at all appealing.  As for Kali, he comes off as a small-minded little bastard-- hardly fitting for the demon who dominates an entire Epoch!

Episode 28 - While Arjun remains in heaven, relaxing with his father Indra, news reaches the Kaurava court of Arjun's exploits.  Dhrtarastra then has one of his bouts of regret while Sanjay scolds him for being so stupid.  We then cut over to the rest of the Pandavas, who are still living off the dirt in the foothills of Dehra Dun.  Bhima is ready to chop off some heads and he takes his frustration out on his elder brother.

The sage Brhadashva then shows up with a story of a king who actually had it worse off then even the Pandavas; he recites the story of Nala and his clever wife Damayanti.

It is interesting to think how this story would have been told in different cultures.  If this had been an ancient Greek story, it would have been Indra/Zeus who was the offended one and cursed Nala, rather than a more obscure god.  And if this story had been told in Medieval Europe, then the Five World Guardians would have been human noblemen, and Nala & Damayanti would have been from the middle class.  These noblemen would all have wanted her to be their mistress, but she chose instead an upright townsman whom she loved instead.  Then the noblemen, in their outrage at having been passed over in favor of a commoner, would have taken their revenge in a more traditional manner-- rape & pillage!

Episode 27 - We follow Arjun's journey into the Himalayas and beyond.  This episode includes Arjun's famous battle with the Mountain Man.  He doesn't come out of the fight very well-- Shiva crushes him into a meatball and ends the fight.  I like to think that he killed Arjun and then revived him and sent him on to Heaven, but the text is a bit vague; did he just get crushed, lose his eyesight and cease breathing?  Or did he go all the way and die on us?  Either way, he's sent off to his dad's kingdom up in Heaven where he acquires WMD in preparation for the big battle.

Meanwhile, the remaining brothers and their angry wife are left waiting in the jungle, swatting flies, while Arjun spends five years in paradise with Indra.  After Arjun has learned all the secrets of Indra's weapons, he is sent to Citrasena to learn the arts of music & dance.  Indra dispatches the sage Lomasha to visit the other Pandavas and tell them to tour the pilgrimage sites while Arjun finishes up his training.

Next time, we'll see how Dhrtarastra reacts to news of Arjun's trip to heaven, and we'll hear the famous story of Nala and Damayanti!

Episode 26 - We begin this episode with the tale of Krishna's adventures when he might otherwise have helped his friends in their distress.  At least he got a few good fight scenes out of it, including his son Pradyumna performing heroic feats defending Dwarka, and a ground-to-air battle with a flying city!

When Krishna is done with his exciting tale, the allies pack up and head for home.  The tacit understanding seems to be that they will wait until the 13 years are up and only then will they come up with a plan for action.  You can imagine Draupadi stewing as all this goes on. 

Things only get worse after the allies leave, and the Brahmins move back in.  They surround their beloved ascetic king and praise him for his meekness and self-control.  The Brahmins re-iterate how important it is for a king to keep lots and lots of Brahmins around at all times.

This is finally too much for poor Draupadi.  She finally gets fed up and starts berating her husband.  The two begin debating the relative value of Dharma vs. Karma.  Sitting in the woods like a Saddhu certainly did not appear to be the Dharma for a King!  Kings should be men of Action.  They should act now and keep acting until they have either succeeded or have died trying, because that is what Kings do!

Bhima also chimes in and picks up the argument, taking up Draupadi's side.  He points out that the ritual calendar is not the same as normal time, and 13 months constitutes 13 years ritually, so they are already done and can start the war right away!  But Yuddistira always out-argues them all, and besides, he's the boss.  Fortunately, things are not allowed to get out of control because Vyasa shows up and gives them something to keep them busy-- find a new forest to camp in, and send Arjun north in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction!

Episode 25 - The continuing adventures of the Pandavas in the forest.  The story picks up with Maitreya's curse and angry departure from the court at Hastinapur.  Dhrtarastra, apparently tired of all the dire predictions decides it is time for a fight scene, and asks Vidur to tell the story of Bhima and Kirmira.  Vidur then recites the battle scene as Bhima kills another Rakshasa.

We then move back to the forest where a meeting of the Pandavas' allies is taking place, Krishna among them.  Krishna and Arjun enjoy a brief love fest, telling each other how wonderful they were and such close friends.  Draupadi finally gets fed up with it and demands to know why the outrages perpetrated against her have still not been avenged, yet she is surrounded by the greatest heroes on the earth.

She points out that if Krishna were so great as everyone keeps saying, then how did this calamity even take place?  Krishna's reply is rather surprising.  There is none of the mystical teachings here-- he wasn't far away because he was far from their hearts.  He wasn't ever-present and yet directing events towards the final great war.  No, none of that.  He was just out of town at the time, fighting king Shalva and his flying saucer, and just hadn't heard the news until it was too late!

Next time, Draupadi will turn on her husbands and really let them have it.  Stay tuned!

Episode 24 - The Pandavas are now settled into their forest encampment and receive a surprise visitor.  The Kauravas plot to kill the Pandavas while they are defenseless in the forest.  Vyasa himself steps in to put a stop to this outrage, and he then introduces the sage Maitreya, who scolds Duryodhana, and then finally curses him to be struck in the "thigh" by Bhima.

If you ever felt uncomfortable about the fact that Bhima had to cheat and hit Duryodhana below the belt in their final battle, you can now rest assured that it wasn't Bhima's fault.  Maitreya made him do it!

Episode 23 -This episode covers the Pandava's departure for the forest and the initial fears of theKauravas as they considered what they had done.  As things washed out, only the five brothers, Draupadi and a gaggle of Brahmins went into the forest.  Yuddistira did some yoga and some austerities and memorized the 108 names of Surya, and was able to get the Sun God to give him the ability to magically feed everyone while they were in the forest.

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Episode 22 - At the end of the First Dice Game, it really seemed like King Dhritarastra had put everything back the way it was.  He restored the Pandava's freedom, titles and wealth.  Unfortunately, Bhima had sworn some pretty serious oaths to kill his cousins, and cousin Duryodhana was too filled with hate and fear to allow things to be left the way they were.

The blind king then ordered Yuddistira to return for one final round of dice.  The loser would give up his possessions and retire to the forest for 12 years.  The 13th year would be a year of hiding during which, if they were caught, they would be sent back to the forest for another 12 years.

Since Shakuni once again had control of the dice, you can imagine the outcome...  This ends Book 2 of the Mahabharata.  Next time we'll pick up with Book 3!

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Episode 21 - This is a big one; this episode covers the tangled details of the incident that sets off the rest of the story.  At the heart of it, it is about Duryodhana and Shakuni cheating at dice to win from the Pandavas all their possessions and even their freedom.  That much is clear, and the match culminates in the deliberate humiliation of Draupadi before the court.  Bhima swears oaths to kill both Duryodhana and his younger brother Dushasan, and the future conflict all arises from the fears and hatred born from this moment.

In detail however, many facts are quite confounding.  For instance, Shakuni says Yuddistira is addicted to dicing but is not good at it.  Where did this come from?  There is no detail either before or after this story that would lead anyone to believe this about Yuddistira.   Then there is the question of Yuddistira's determination to lose everything in the match.  While he may be excused for going forward with the dice game ("for that is the eternal oath I have sworn"), but who really made him gamble away his kingdom, his brothers and his own freedom?   These stakes were his decision and no one else's.

Finally, everyone loves Bhisma and considers him a good man, but on this day he is strangely impotent and brain-addled.  What explains the odd reticence among the Kuru elders?  How is it that the entire court stood by and allowed the maltreatment of one of their own women? 

There is something oddly somnambulistic about this whole scene, where it seems the events had to work themselves out in a certain way, and therefore a spell was cast over the players to ensure things had their proper outcome...

One thing is certain, and that is relations between the Pandavas and the Kauravas will never be the same from here on, and are trending for the worst!