Journey to the Old Era (Drisana's Mahabharat #1)

Author's note & Plot of Mahabharat

Hi!!! This is Raffesia, the same one that started Drisana's journey. This is my new account and my first story. A lot of mistakes may happen, you're warned.

One more thing. I take it as a fiction. Just my opinion and beliefs are in this story. This has nothing to do with facts or researches or the original epic Mahabharat. I may Google a little to find some informations, but that nowhere near means I want lengthy discussions or history lessons. And I'm SORRY if that OFFENDS anyone.

[ Though you can leave comments or message me if there's any confusion or something seems unclear. I like to give a clear concept of things. ]

So, this is only for entertainment purpose. Take it as such and enjoy.

Thank you for bearing with me. ☺

Plot of Mahabharat:

The story begins with Bhismeh, the son of King Shantanu and river Ganga, taking his oath of celibacy to convince fisherman's daughter Satyavati to marry his father Shantanu, King of Kuru Kingdom whose capital is Hastinapur. Shantanu and Satyavati marry and have 2 children - Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Both died without any children, but Veda Vyas, the son of Satyavati is requested to impregnate Vichitravirya's 2 wives Ambika and Ambalika. Besides the queens, Vyasa also impregnates a maid. Soon, Ambika gives birth to Dhritarashtra, born blind, Ambalika gives birth to Pandu, born pale and Parashrami, the maid gives birth to Vidur.

25 years later, Dhritarashtra is married to Gandhari, the princess of Gandhar Kingdom; because of her boon of bearing a hundred sons. After knowing her would-be-husband is blind Gandhari decided to blindfold herself to share her husband's pain. This angers Shakuni, the brother of Gandhari, and he vows to destroy Bhishma, as it was him who had brought the proposal for Gandhari's marriage. Dhritarashtra is denied the throne for being blind, and the throne is given to Pandu. Pandu marries Kunti, a princess of Kuntibhoj Kingdom, and Madri of Madra Kingdom. Pandu is later cursed by Sage Kindama, that he will die if he attempts to impregnate his wives. Pandu, heartbroken, renounces the kingdom with his 2 wives. After this Dhritarashtra becomes de-facto king of Hastinapur.

Kunti uses her boon, given to her by Sage Durvasa, to invoke gods of her choice and obtain children from them. She begets Yudhisthir from Yama (the god of death and righteousness), Bheem from Vayu (the god of wind) and Arjun from Indra (the king of the gods). She also chants the boon for Madri, and Madri obtains twins Nakul and Sahdev from the Ashwini Kumars. Gandhari, jealous by this development gives birth to a lump of flesh after being pregnant for nearly 18 months, but this is cut into 101 pieces by Veda Vyas, and these pieces eventually transform into children - the 100 Kauravs (led by Duryodhana) and a daughter, Dussala.

Years pass, and the Kauravas grow up to be evil, led by their eldest brother Duryodhan, who is highly influenced by his uncle Shakuni, contrary to the Pandavas who are righteous. Pandavas return to Hastinapur with Kunti, after the death of Pandu and Madri. All princes are sent to study under Guru Dronacharya.

Years pass and the princes return to Hastinapur, where they are engaged in a competition of showcasing their skills. Arjun wins the competition, but Karna, son of a charioteer, gatecrashes the competition and challenges Arjun. Kunti realizes that Karna is her son whom she had obtained from Surya, the Sun God, long before her marriage to Pandu and in fear of defamation, flowed him in river. Duryodhan seeing his capabilities, befriends him and make him the king of Anga. In the meantime, Arjun, also befriends Krishna (mortal disguise of lord Vishnu), his cousin (Lord Krishna's father was Vasudev, brother of Kunti), and King of Dwarka. The Kauravas, along with Karna attempt to kill the Pandavas using a palace made of wax, but the Pandavas escape. They go into exile so all others believe them to be dead. In the process, the Pandavas encounter a demon by the name Hidimb. Bheem kills Hidimb but ends up marrying his sister, Hidimba. The couple begets a son, Ghatotkach. After that they went to Panchal where an archery competition was held to choose a groom for the Princess of the kingdom, Draupadi, born from fire. Arjun ends up participating and wining, but when they return to their hut to seek blessing of Kunti for the marriage, without seeing or knowing Kunti orders her sons to divide Draupadi among them. Conflicted by this and also due to a boon given to Draupadi in her previous birth, the Pandavas eventually marry Draupadi, thus revealing their identity. They return to Hastinapur and justify their polyandry.

The sequence of events leads to the Kuru Kingdom being divided - The Pandavas receive a new kingdom - Khandavprasth . Arjun destroys the Khandava forest where Snake and demons resided. They renovate the town, and rename it as Indraprasth. The prosperity of Indraprastha angers Duryodhana. A jealous Duryodhana summons Pandavas for a dice game with the help of Shakuni, where Yudhishthir loses his kingdom, brothers as well as their common wife Draupadi. Draupadi is dragged by hair and humiliated in the court. Duryodhan orders his brother Dusshasan to disrobe her. However, Krishna saves her honor at the end. Her saree (wrap around clothing) gets endless and she remains covered even though Dusshasan keeps pulling the cloth.

The Pandavas and Draupadi, as a result of losing, are forced into a 12-year exile and a year of incognito, the latter phase being spent in the kingdom of King Virata. Pandavas reunite with their children - the Upapandava (the 5 sons of Draupadi) and Abhimanyu (the son of Arjun and Subhadra), after the exile period. Abhimanyu is married to Uttara, the daughter of King Virata and Queen Sudeshna.

The Pandavas' peace treaty with the Kauravas fails to materialize, thus confirming that a war is set to happen. Both, the Pandavas and Kauravas, gather their respective armies by allying with different tribes and kingdoms.

Shortly before the Kurukshetra war commences, Arjun obtains the knowledge of the Bhagavad gita from Krishna, which helps him fight for righteousness without any remorse of killing his own people in the process. The war begins and continues for 18 days - both sides face mass destruction. It is said that 80% of the male population of Aryavart died in that war. The Pandavas and Kauravas lose all of their children, in-laws, and allies, and the war officially ends after Duryodhana, the only remaining Kaurava, is killed by Bheem.

Ashwatthama (the son of Dronacharya), on seeing Duryodhana's death, gets angered and raids the Pandava camp at night, killing many soldiers in the process. Dhristyadhymn (the brother of Draupadi and the commander-in-chief of the Pandavas) and the Upapandava are killed by Ashwatthama while they are sleeping. He also tries to kill Uttaraa's unborn baby rather unsuccessfully, but the baby is revived and named Parikshit by Krishna.

Krishna also curses Ashwatthama to remain in severe pain and immortality for the rest of his life because of his heinous act. The Pandavas return to Hastinapura, where Dhritarashtra attempts to kill Bheem but ends up being unsuccessful. Gandhari curses Krishna for letting the war happen as she lost all of her sons and grandsons, so he suffers the same fate. The show ends with Yudhisthir being finally crowned by Krishna, as the king of Hastinapur.

In my story, Drisana is a 21st century girl who had read about Mahabharat and already knows what is about to happen when she lands in Dwapar yug. She meet the Pandavas when they were on their way to go to the Palace made of wax.