Narayan’s Mahabharata (Part D) Reading Notes



·      The war begins
-       Bhishma is the commander of Duryodhana’s troops against the Pandavas
-       Krishna begins preaching a doctrine during the battle to Arjuna called “Song of the Lord”
-       Krishna goes back into god form, and shows “all being, creation, and destruction”
-       After this, Arjuna is very ready to fight and march into battle



 
Image: Bhisma was shot by Arjuna and is left dying in battle
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·      Bhishma
-       After the sermon, Arjuna wants to protect Krishna at all costs.
-       Bhishma attacks Krishna and cuts him, this enrages Arjuna
-       BUT when Krishna wants to kill Bhisma for that, Arjuna begs him not to
-       Amba becomes reincarnated as a warrior and helps to defeat Bhishma
-       Bhishma is a demon, and his sons come to his aid.
-       Bhishma recognizes Amba as a male warrior but cannot attack her because he still sees her as a woman
-       Arjuna shoots Bhisma from behind with an arrow, and this is a deep wound, he can no longer fight in the battle
·      The defeat  of the war
-       Bhima (son of Bhishma) kills Duryodhana’s brother and drinks his blood
-       Arjuna and Karna (of the side of Bhisma) fight and Karna begs for mercy when his chariot gets stuck in the mud
-       Karna is killed, so shalya is made their new commander in chief
-       Duryodhana fears for his life so he hides at the bottom of a lake
-       Duryodhana speaks of the battle right before his death and says Krishna is responsible for all the warriors’ deaths. Krishna reminds him that the warriors brought about their own death
·      The end
-       The Pandavas go back to Hastinapura
-       Dhritatashtra grieves and desires revenge on Bhima.
-       Krishna constructs a statue of Bhima so he was strike it without actually acting on his rage
-       The Pandavas, Dhritatashtra, and the women go perform rituals for those that died in battle, and none of them feel any sense of victory because they mourn for those that died in battle
-       Yudhishthira confronts the still dying Bhishma. He cremates Bhishma on the bank of the Ganges
-       Krishna is killed by a hunter while he is sleeping
-       Dhritrashtra and Kunti die in a forest fire
-       All the Pandavas die one by one, Yudhishthira is the last one left and he ascends to heaven still in bodily form

-       The only one to continue the Pandava family line is Arjuna’s grandson, Parikshit, and he becomes king of Hastinapura




 Bibliography: The Mahabharata; R.K. Narayan. Mahabharata

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