Charactersofmahabharata Stories

Ṛṡyaśṛṅga guesses that his visitor Alambusā is a woman, a human dimorphic to himself. However, Alambusā dislikes to have a womanly body, preferring to be a man. Alambusa Ārśyaśṛṅgi is the name of a Rākṣasa warrior in Mahābhārata: Alambusa, son of Ṛśyaśṛṅga. My story of the conversation between his parents Alambusā and Ṛśyaśṛṅga builds upon details found in Mahābhārata and Alambusā-jātaka. Unlike other versions of Ṛśyaśṛṅga's story (Mahābhārata and Naḷinikā-jātaka) in which he is the principal character and his misgendering of a sensual woman with masculine and ascetic attributes is humourous, Alambusā-jātaka focusses on Alambusā's spirituality, humility, and extraordinary beauty that Ṛśyaśṛṅga mostly recognizes as feminine. My story inverts Alambusā's motives along with gender identity. The title is Pāḷi and means "Mixed Alambusā Wants Ṛśyaśṛṅga To Mix." Similar words are repeated in the verses of Alambusā-jātaka, but I have changed their inflection from feminine to masculine. The second chapter tells the story of the duel between Bhīma's son Ghaṭotkaca and Duryodhana's son Lakṣmaṇa. Cover credit: oye_nakhrewaali of India Forums

This book is full of Mahabharata quotes,a vast treasure of knowledge and wisdom. Very few narratives have been able to capture the true essence of love, loathing, envy, lust, helplessness, greed and power the way Mahabharata has. Hence, these quotes from the grand epic will add some more clarity to your life and make you see it in a different perspective. Check them out.

In Mahābhārata, Kṛṣṇā Draupadī receives Jayadratha hospitably, offering him and his entourage whatever she has on hand for breakfast. Vṛkodara Bhīma and her other husbands have gone hunting because fifty slaughtered animals are not enough to feed them, their brāhmaṇa dependents, and their servants for the day. Kṛṣṇā assures Jayadratha that Yudhiṣṭhira is on his way back with more food: various kinds of antelope and deer and elk (aiṇeya, pṛṣata, nyaṅku, hariṇa, śarabha, ṛśya, ruru, śambara), as well as hares, oxen, boars, buffalo, and other animals. However, Jayadratha is hungry for something other than breakfast, left behind by the Wolf-Belly and her other husbands ... Kṛṣṇā herself! The lifestyles and experiences of diverse characters from Mahābhārata are presented in the other chapters: (1) Satyabhāmā; (2) Śikhaṇḍin's wife Dāśārṇī; (3) Babhru Akrūra's wife Sauvīrī who was abducted by Śiśupāla; (4) Kṛpī; (5) Duḥśalā and Jayadratha; (6) Subhadrā and Uttarā with Parikṣit; (7) Kṛṣṇa's half-brother Jarā and his mother Turī; (8) Prātikāmin the chariot-driver of Duryodhana; (9) Sāmba who pretended to carry Babhru's child while married to Babhru's daughter Vasuṃdharā; (10) Kareṇuvatī the sister of Dhṛṣṭaketu; (11) Ekalavya the son of Śrutadevā; (12) Śakuni's nephews Vikarṇa and Citrasena. The title is Saṃskṛta and means "I'll give you fifty animals for breakfast." Cover Credit: @PriyaArshiSarun

Held up by Kṛṣṇa's hand while the clouds sent by Śakra pour rain all over the place, the hill Govardhana tells his story and describes the experience of being lifted into the sky to touch the clouds. The title is from Mahābhārata: Harivaṃśa, and means "Experiencing dreams from the rainclouds, cave-openings shut tight, on the pillow of Kṛṣṇa's arm." Cover Credit: tournesol of India Forums

On earth, only the turtle Akūpāra still remembered Indradyumna's glorious deeds. While being unforgotten allowed Indradyumna to stay in heaven for now, he developed athazagoraphobia, an overpowering fear of being forgotten. Many characters and incidents from Mahābhārata would be totally forgotten today if not for vestiges in the text that are dramatized in the next six chapters: (1) the battle of Dauḥśāsani with Prativindhya Draupadeya; (2) Bhojyā's reaction to her husband Yuyudhāna Sātyaki's battle with his childhood playmate Duryodhana; (3) Śikhaṇḍin's wife Dāśārṇī meeting Sthūṇa Yakṣa whose manhood her husband had borrowed; (4) Bhīṣma shooting at Śikhaṇḍin; (5) the battle of Śikhaṇḍin's son Kṣatradeva and Duryodhana's son Lakṣmaṇa; (6) blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra's interest in coloured horses. The eighth chapter sketches the lost story of Vidurā and her son Saṃjaya based on clues from their dialogue quoted by Kuntī. Readers have been warned that these are stories of battles, containing violent deaths of several characters, dead bodies, and dismemberment. The book is not marked Mature because the violence is not graphic. The title is Saṃskṛta and means "Your fame is torn up." Cover Credit: @PriyaArshiSarun

Stories about Time in Mahābhārata and two different characters named Yaśodā. Chapter One: There are several versions of the myth that the cosmos is seen inside baby Kṛṣṇa's mouth. One version is that Mārkaṇḍeya, adrift in the deluge, was breathed into the baby's belly and saw the cosmos as if it hadn't been swept away. Another version is that when Kṛṣṇa yawned, Yaśodā saw the cosmos. A third version is that when Yaśodā heard that Kṛṣṇa had eaten dirt, she made him open his mouth, and saw the cosmos. This story is based on the fourth version, that Yaśodā suspected that Kṛṣṇa had eaten one of the modakas that was her naivedya for Gaṇapati, and she made him open his mouth. Yaśodā had made twenty-one modakas as an offering to Gaṇapati. Now she counted only twenty, and there was Kṛṣṇa, sitting in front of the mūrti with his mouth pressed firmly shut. Who else but this Dāmodara, who gets into trouble unless she ties him up, would have consumed the modaka before it could be offered as intended? Our efforts come to nothing if Time, the cosmic form in Kṛṣṇa's mouth, arrives early to consume them. Chapter Two: Mahābhārata states that Kapila Vāsudeva was born to Narācī in Kṛṣṇa's time, while Rāmāyaṇa narrates how Rāma's distant ancestor Sagara's sons discovered sanātana Kapila Vāsudeva underground. To resolve this plothole, I wrote a crossover story about time travel, including the characters of Dhundhumāra and Yaśodā, who is the daughter of Ancestors. The title is Saṃskṛta, adapted from Bhagavad-Gītā, and means "I am Time, who destroys efforts, at maturity." The image of Kṛṣṇa revealing the universe in his mouth is by metacrisis of India Forums, used with permission. Cover Credit: @PriyaArshiSarun

You may have watched a movie or TV show based on Mahābhārata, or read an adaptation or translation of the story, or even written a fan fiction from the point of view of your favourite character. Have you ever wondered how an incident or dialogue sounded in the original Saṃskṛta text? What values did Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva, Karṇa Rādheya etc. espouse according to their speeches in the critical edition's reconstruction of the text as it was several centuries ago? Unfortunately, most people of Indian origin or affinity don't make the effort to read Saṃskṛta. Through this book, I would like to make it accessible to my readers. I have created fan fiction and translated the text that inspired it, but please try to sound out the original Saṃskṛta as well, and feel its rhythm. Mahābhārata is fiction in the public domain. Everyone who retells the story adds or ignores something, as I do in this book. You may or may not like my Mahābhārata fan fiction (please tell me either way!), but the purpose of this book is to give everyone the opportunity to read their favourite parts of Mahābhārata in the original Saṃskṛta - a musical, enchanting, and refined language. Your contributions and requests are welcome. The title is spoken by Gāndhārī to Kṛṣṇā Draupadī (Strīparvan 15.20): "Just as you are, even so am I; or who would reassure me?" How many characters from Mahābhārata may have felt lonely in shared experiences? Cover picture of Satyabhāmā Sātrājitī visiting Kṛṣṇā Draupadī is from Mahābhārata with Hindi translation by Paṇḍita Rāmanārāyaṇadatta Śāstrī Pāṇḍeya, Gita Press (Gorakhpur). Cover Credit: devashree_h of India Forums