Reading the Mahabharata by the Tungabhadra - Day 8#
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.
Reading the trauma of the Prince Uttara, I laughed out loud, for though he faced the insurmountable might of the Kauravas, he had Brihannada, the Partha Dhananjeya in disguise, by his side. Reading the battle between the disguised Arjuna and the Kaurava army, I felt my blood flow in excitement, felt myself cheering for Arjuna’s chance at exacting just revenge for all the injustice his brothers suffered at the hands of Suyodhana and his brothers. If this is what the battle is like, I can hardly wait for the war.
Today I went to read the Mahabharata by the Tungabhadra, and I did. I learnt the answers to the Yaksha’s questions, and the ways of a King’s court through the eyes of Yudhishtira as he served King Virata for a year.