Indian Epics and Analysis

The mighty king, Vichitravirya, was just pronounced dead by his legal council. So many of his subjects adored him and cherished his rulings, so a period of mourning occurred for weeks.   According to my rulings of Dharma, he lived a righteous life, but the gods did not choose to reward him with a son to take the throne. Because of this, I wanted to send a test to his family to see if their Dharma was as important to them as it was to Vichitravirya. One week after his  death, Satyavati, a beautiful sister to the king, makes a plan to tempt the royal family into breaking my cosmic law. Satyavati summons Bhishma, her and Vichitravirya’s brother, and makes a proposal to him. “Brother, you had no opportunity to take the throne because of your older brother, but this could be your chance to rule the kingdom.” She said with a sneaky tongue. Bhisma’s eyes lit up with excitement thinking about his future on the throne. He leaned in closer and listened to her opportunity.

·       The Pandavas and at Indraprastha -        distressed to find out that the Pandavas are still alive -        Duryodhana is Dhritarashtra’s son, and he can’t have the Pandavas as much as his son does -        Many of the characters are split on whether they support the Pandavas or not, so Dhritarashtra doesn’t know what to do -        He plans to give them part of his kingdom, and the Pandavas built a city called Indraprastha -        They marry a few more women because they all did not want to share Draupadi as a wife -        Yudhishthira was exiled for 12 years ·       Shakuni and Duryodhana -        They want to get their revenge on the Pandavas by playing a game of dice -        Vyasa warms them about having bad omens but they go anyways ·       Dice game -        Yudhishthira loses everything he owns, but they keep the game going -        He also gambles away his brothers, and then himself and his wife

·       Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura -        Vichitravirya dies without having sons, so Satyavati (woman that Shantanu falls in love with)   begs Bhishma to sleep with his widows -        He thinks that is morally wrong and he doesn’t want to break his vows -        So she wants the widows to sleep with her son vyasa -        A rishi (poet) named Parashara fell in love with Satyavati and he slept with her and they had Vyasa -        Vyasa was summoned to sleep with the widows, and he looked strange because he had been performing religious rituals  -        One of the widows, Ambika, is repelled by him and closes her eyes, so their son, Dhritarasha, is born blind -        Ambalika (another widow) turns pale when she sees him, so their son, Pandu, is born looking pale -        Ambalika makes her maid sleep with Vyasa and likes him, so their child, Vidura, was born without any flaws Satyavati  This is a statue of Satyavati from the first few stories in Maha