Reading the Mahabharata by the Tungabhadra - Day 8
Day 8 of reading the Mahabharata - reading Markandeya’s Ramayana in Hampi, Yudhishtira’s answers to the Yaksha, Savitri’s story, and Arjuna’s battle in disguise.
There is some justice in reading Markandeya’s rendition of the Ramayana, recited to the Pandavas, as I sit in Hampi. A large part of the Kishkinda Kanda is supposed to have occurred here, and I remember the stories that my grandfather told me about how Hanuman was born on Anjanadri Hill. I read of Yudhishtira’s answers to the questions posed by the Yaksha and somehow, I lost myself for the first time since I began reading the Mahabharata. Reading the story of Savitri and Sathyavan, the episode of Droupadi’s abduction and the subsequent rescue, I feel the Pandavas’ pain. It must be hard to stick to Dharma when it seems to fail you. ...