Hari OM Dear Families,
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
Om Saha Navavatu
Vakratunda, Saraswatyai Namastubhyam, Gurur Brahma, Buddhir Balam
Mahabharata continues:
Virata Parva begins- Yudhishthira bids farewell to all the dwellers in the forest who have been with the Pandavas these last 12 years. The next year has to be in disguise. Dhaumya and the Pandavas select a lonely place and start discussing their future plans. The first hurdle is to select the country where they can spend the whole year. Arjuna suggests Virata in the Matsya kingdom and everybody agrees to the suggestion. Next comes the disguise each of them have to be in. Yudhishthira creates a plan wherein he be a friend to the king. He will tell the king that his name is Kanka and he is proficient in the game of dice. Next, Bheema's plan is to take up charge of the king's kitchen and the gymnasium, and his name will be Valala. Arjuna will take the form of a eunuch because of a curse, and he will be well versed in dancing, singing and playing all musical instruments. He will train the women to be excellent singers and dancers and will go by the name of Brihannala. Nakuka will be in charge of the king's horses and will call himself Damagranthi. Sahadeva will be in charge of the cows and will be called Tantripala. Draupadi will be a hairdresser for the Royal women and will be called Sairandhri.
Yudhishthira is very pleased with the plans. All of them leave Dwaitavana and go to Kamyaka from where they walk south towards the kingdom of Matsya. Here, they part ways with Dhaumya. He goes to Panchala and the others proceed on to City of Virata. The next problem is to hide the weapons. They see a tall Shami tree and decide to hide them there as its branches are dense and strong. The weapons can be safely hidden and not visible to the people. It is heartbreaking for the Pandavas to give up their weapons albeit for a year. They cover the weapons with the carcass of a dead cow so that they can be protected from the weather. All are very sad as they have to be separated from each other. They have to behave as strangers. They decide on names for themselves which would be used as codes in case of emergencies. The names are Jaya, Jayesha, Vijaya, Jayatsena and Jayadbala. The Pandavas enter Virata. Yudhishthira puts on his disguise and walks towards the palace. He sees the king but does not salute him. The king is mesmerized and does not feel offended that the new person is not saluting him. King Virata walks up and asks for introduction. Yudhishthira says he is a very good friend of the king Yudhishthira and that he is also very fond of dice. Virata is impressed by his dignity and is happy to have him in his kingdom, invites him to stay there as his friend. He also is happy to learn the game of dice. Yudhishthira says his name is Kanka, and asks for a boon that he will not eat food touched by anyone and will eat only once at night for a year.
A few days later, Bheema enters the city carrying a ladle. He goes straight to the court in the palace and asks the king for a job as a cook. Bheema says he can cook a thousand different tasty dishes. The king looks at him and feels he looks more apt to be a prince and more fit to command an army. Bheema says he is actually a wrestler and that cooking is his hobby. The king gives him the job to teach the cooks all he knows and puts him in charge of the gymnasium. Bheema says his name is Valala.
Next, Arjuna enters the court draped in a red saree with long hair and necklaces. He offers to teach Uttara, the king's daughter, music and dance. He says his name is Brihannala. The king offers him the job.
Nakula approaches the king as he inspecting his horses. He offers to be put in charge is the stables and says his name is Damagranthi. He gets the job. Next, Sahadeva offers to look after the cows. He challenges that there is no one more knowledgeable about cows than himself. He also is confident that the cows will yield more milk when he milks them. He is gladly given the job and he goes by the name, Tantipala. Thus all the the five Pandavas enter the city.
Draupadi enters the city in the guise of Sairandhri. Everybody is awestruck by her beauty though she is in old and tattered clothes. The queen sees her from her balcony and is disturbed by the taunts of the people towards Draupadi. She sends her maids to fetch her. Draupadi sees the queen and is still trembling with fright because of her experiences with the people who were taunting her. The queen wants to know who she is is, how she is still unmarried and what she does for her living. Draupadi says that she used to be the hand maiden to the queen Draupadi, and that she is married to five gandharvas who had to leave her because of a curse for 1 year. Draupadi is happy to stay with the queen but says that she will not eat food which is leftover and will not massage the feet of others.
The Pandavas and Draupadi are very happy in Virata. Three months are over. During the fourth year, there is a big celebration in the city in honor of Shankara. The celebrations include an exhibition of wrestling. There is one wrestler from a foreign country who is invincible. No one is able to defeat him and the king is disappointed. Yudhishthira suggests to him that the only wrestler who can defeat the foreign one is Valala. He goes on to say that he has seen Valala in Indraprastha. Virata is extremely happy and summons Valala. Bheema as Valala is overjoyed seeing his brother's faith in him. A gruesome fight takes place and the foreigner is finally killed.
Indra had promised Yudhishthira through Lomasa that he would take care of Radheya as Radheya was a better archer. Finally, in the thirteenth year, Indra decides to fulfill his promise. One night, as Radheya is sleeping, Surya comes to him in the disguise of a Brahmin and warns him not to part with his Kavachas and Kundalas no matter who asks him. These are essential for his own survival as they are dipped in the nectar of immortality, the divine Amrita, which is the food of the gods. Surya warns him that Indra will come asking him for those objects as he is a well wisher of the Pandavas. Radheya without these will meet with certain death. Surya tries convincing Radheya many times but unfortunately Radheya does not agree as he had taken a vow to give whatever was asked of him. Finally Surya gives up and asks Radheya to ask Indra for his Shakti weapon. This will to a certain extent make up for the loss of his armor. Surya as a Brahmin disappears from the dream of Radheya.
The sun rises slowly as if it is unwilling to usher in the day which means the death of Surya's son. Radheya, after his worship, waits for Indra to arrive. As expected, Indra arrives in the disguise of a Brahmin. He asks Radheya for his Kavacha and Kundala. Radheya tries to offer him other armors, earrings, and even his kingdom. He tries to reason with Indra that his very life depends on his Kavacha and Kundala. But Indra refuses all and taunts him about the reputation he has earned about being truthful and righteous. Radheya agrees to part with his Kavacha and Kundala. He cuts them from his body and hands them over to Indra. He also tells him he knows that this is Indra and the reason for him asking for the Kavacha and Kundala. Indra is amazed at the greatness of the mortal man. He asks Radheya to ask for something in return. Radheya asks for his Shakti, the reason being that the future will not talk badly of Indra but will justify the trade. Indra gives him the Shakti but will warn him that it can be used only once. He also grants a boon to remove the scars in his body and gives him the name Karna. Karna asks Indra to disclose the mystery of his birth, and the name of his parents. Indra says that it is not his place to reveal the secret but to wait for some more time for the disclosure. Indra disappears.
Draupadi is loved by the queen and is treated very well as she had supposedly been a companion to the queen of the Pandavas. Ten months of the Ajnaatavaasa have passed. The queen has a brother named Keechaka who is the commander of the king's army. He had gone on a tour of conquests when the five Pandavas had arrived in Virata. On his return, he comes to his sister's palace and after spending some time with her, departs. On the way, he passes a garden and sees Sairandhri (Draupadi). He immediately falls in love with her. He approaches her and asks who she is. He confesses his love for her and promises to make her the queen of Virata. Draupadi is shocked and warns him to behave. She tells him that she is married to five gandharvas who will kill him if they hear about his misbehavior. Keechaka tries many ways to convince her but is unsuccessful. Draupadi keeps warning him. Keechaka in despair again reaches out to his sister. She is also taken aback and warns him not to have any feelings for Sairandhri as she is married to five gandharvas. She offers him to choose someone else. Keechaka is very sure he can get Sairandhri to love him in return. He hatches a new plan.
After a few days, Queen Sudeshna asks Sairandhri to get some rare wines from her brother Keechaka. Draupadi is shocked with this suggestion and tries to make the queen see reason. But Sudeshna flatly refuses and on the contrary, scolds her for not doing her job properly. Left with no choice, Draupadi agrees to go. Keechaka welcomes her into his home and asks her to stay back. He tries to come near her and take her hand. Draupadi pushes him and starts running in the direction of the court of Virata. Keechaka runs behind her. He grabs her hair and throws her on the floor. He kicks her. Draupadi, with her hair disheveled, enters the court of Virata. She sees Yudhishthira there, and Bheema also happens to be there. He is furious but is stopped by Yudhishthira with a look. Draupadi is enraged that Yudhishthira is not coming to her rescue. She looks at the king and asks him how he can allow this to happen in his kingdom. The king sits on the fence and tries to placate Draupadi instead. Yudhishthira is infuriated with the king and advises Draupadi to go back to her room. He tells her that her husbands cannot come to her rescue as they might have a valid reason for not coming. The Pandavas are quiet as they are worried that their disguise will be recognized. Draupadi, though annoyed, picks her garments and leaves the court with a look of fire at both Yudhishthira and the court in general.
Draupadi returns to her apartment and starts weeping. The queen comes there to console her. Draupadi blames her misery and warns her that her husbands will kill Keechaka. That night, Draupadi silently goes to meet Bheema. He is shocked to see her there. Draupadi tries to manipulate him into doing what she wants. She wants justice and the way she thinks she can get it is by killing Keechaka. She talks of all the hardships she has faced. Bheema is moved but comforts her and promises to kill Keechaka in a fortnight and not immediately as he is worried that he will be recognized. But Draupadi refuses to be convinced. Bheema finally relents. He asks Draupadi to ask Keechaka to come and meet her in the dance hall in the night. He promises to kill him there. Draupadi is extremely happy and goes back to her apartment. In the morning, she meets Keechaka and talking sweetly, she asks him to meet her in the dance hall at night. Keechaka, being crazily in love with her, cannot be happier with the turn of events and promises to meet her there.
That night, Bheema covers himself in a soft piece of silk and goes to the dance hall. There is a couch, in which he lies down covering himself. Draupadi stands behind a pillar. Keechaka, all dressed up, also comes there. Vaguely seeing someone on the couch, he approaches it with the anticipation that it is Draupadi. Unfortunately for him, it is Bheema, who grips his hand. Keechaka recognizes that the hand does not belong to a woman. Bheema introduces himself as Sairandhri's husband. Both start fighting and finally, Bheema manages to kill Keechaka. Bheema heads back to the kitchen. Draupadi is overjoyed and calls the guards of the dance hall to look at the fate of Keechaka. She tells them that he has been killed by her gandharva husband. The news breaks out and all the one hundred and five half brothers of Keechaka, along with King Virata and Queen Sudeshna, come to see the ghastly body. The brothers, called Upakeechakas, decide to also burn Sairandhri along with Keechaka. Draupadi again calls out to Bheema, who kills all of them. Now, everybody is scared of Sairandhri. The king tells his queen to ask Sairandhri to leave the city as she is very dangerous. The queen approaches Sairandhri and asks her to leave. Sairandhri asks for thirteen days more and says that the curse of her husbands will be lifted in thirteen days. She promises to leave the kingdom then.
The spies of Duryodhana had been sent to all the countries to find out the whereabouts of the Pandavas, but with no success. They looked in Dwaraka and Panchala, among other places. The general consensus was that the Pandavas were dead. The only news the spies could get was the death of Keechaka and his brothers, the Upakeechakas, by a gandharva married to a woman in the middle of the night. Drona and Bheeshma do not feel that the Pandavas could be dead. They implore Duryodhana to return the kingdom to the Pandavas. Bheeshma thinks that the place wherein Yudhishthira lives will be very prosperous. Kripa feels that Duryodhana should get ready and collect his army to fight the Pandavas in the inevitable war. Duryodhana sees the logic in Kripa's words. Suddenly, with a jolt, he realizes that Keechaka could only be killed by Bheema. He remembers how a year back, a beautiful young lady had entered the Matsya kingdom and had said she had five gandharva husbands. He is sure Keechaka had fallen in love with this woman and had been killed by Bheema in revenge. He decides to invade the Matsya kingdom and take away the cattle. The Pandavas will come out to defend the kingdom and they can be recognized. Duryodhana decides to rope in Bheeshma, Kripa, Drona, Radheya, Aswattama, Shakuni etc. Susarma, their friend, decides to attack on the eighth day after the full moon from the southern side and the Kauravas decide to attack from the northern side on the ninth day.
Hari OM
Best regards
Indira and Raji
