When a King Repents: Lessons from the Story of Parikshit in Mahabharata In the Mahabharata, there is a very important incident about King Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna and the ruler of the Kuru lineage. One day, tired and thirsty after a hunt, he came to the hermitage of sage Shamika. The sage was sitting in deep silence, under a vow of mouna, so he could not answer the king. The king took this silence as disrespect and placed a dead snake on the sage’s shoulder. This was a very harsh act, done in anger and without thinking. The Curse and the Role of Shamika When Shringi, the young son of the sage, heard about this, he became very angry and cursed the king that Takshaka, the king of snakes, would bite him and he would die within seven days. Shamika was not happy with his son. He told Shringi that his behavior was rash and wrong, because a king protects the people and a hermit should not give such a curse for a small fault. Still, the curse had already been spoken and could not be t...

Ulupi and Hidimbi: Two Women Who Loved Pandava Warriors In the Mahabharata, many women play an important role in the life of the Pandavas, but two of them are very special because they did not belong to the human world. Ulupi and Hidimbi both came from different communities, and both formed a relationship with a Pandava warrior. Hidimbi, a Rakshasi, fell in love with Bhima, married him, and became the mother of Ghatotkacha. Ulupi, a Naga princess, married Arjuna and became the mother of Iravan. Like Ulupi, Hidimbi belongs to a supernatural community and forms a relationship with a human warrior. When we study these two women together, we can understand many things about dharma, acceptance and the true meaning of relationship in Hindu teachings. Who Was Hidimbi? Hidimbi was the sister of the Rakshasa Hidimba, who lived in the forest. When the Pandavas and Kunti came to that forest after escaping from the house of lac at Varanavata, Hidimba sent his sister to bring them so that he could ...

Do Not Curse the Protector: Shamika’s Words to His Son, Shringi, When He Cursed King Parikshit In the Mahabharata, in the Astika Parva Chapter 37 of Adi Parva, there is the story of King Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna. One day the king went hunting and became very tired, hungry and thirsty. He came to the ashram of Rishi Shamika, who was sitting in a vow of silence. The king asked for water, but the Rishi could not reply. The king did not know about the vow and felt insulted. In anger, he picked up a dead snake with his bow and placed it around the neck of the Rishi, and then went away. When the young son of the Rishi, Shringi, came to know of this, he became very angry. He cursed that Parikshit would be bitten by the snake Takshaka within seven days and die. When Shamika came out of his silence and heard this, he was not happy at all. His words to his son are a very important teaching of Hindu dharma. What Shamika Told His Son Shamika told Shringi that this act did not please him, ...

Jaratkaru in the Mahabharata: Austerity, Duty and the Birth of Astika Jaratkaru was a great rishi in the Mahabharata. He is remembered mostly because he became the father of Astika, the boy who stopped the Sarpa Satra (snake sacrifice) of King Janamejaya and saved the snakes from being burned alive. The story is told in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva. Without Jaratkaru, there would be no Astika, and the snake race would have been destroyed. Meaning of the Name The name has two parts. Jara means decay and karu means huge or gigantic. The sage had a very big and strong body, but he slowly made it weak and thin through severe tapasya. For this reason he got the name Jaratkaru. Vasuki’s sister also had the same name, and the reason was similar. The name itself carries a teaching. The body is only a tool, and a person who follows the path of tapasya does not care for its comfort. The Vision of the Ancestors Jaratkaru did not want to marry. He wanted to live as a celibate wanderer...

Ashvasena: The Serpent Who Wanted Revenge on Arjuna - Ashwasena and Karna’s Arrow: Revenge That Missed Ashvasena was a naga, a son of Takshaka, the king of serpents. His story is told in two places in Mahabharata, first in Adi Parva and then in Karna Parva. In Adi Parva, we see how his anger is born. In Karna Parva, we see how that anger comes back to take its revenge. The two parts must be read together to understand the full meaning. The Khandava fire, where it started In Adi Parva, in the section called Khandava Daha Parva, Agni Deva was suffering from a disease because he had eaten too much of the ghee of a long sacrifice. He was told that he could be cured only if he burnt the Khandava forest and the creatures living in it. Indra, who was a friend of Takshaka, protected the forest with rain every time Agni tried to burn it. So Agni asked Krishna and Arjuna for help. Arjuna covered the sky with a net of arrows so that no rain could fall and no creature could escape. Taksh...

Yudhishthira: The King Who Never Celebrated Victory In the Mahabharata, many kings fight wars for land, power and name. When they win, they celebrate. They hold big feasts, they take pride in their strength, and they enjoy the fruits of victory. Yudhishthira is different from all of them. He fights the war, he follows the customs of a king, he accepts the throne, but he never feels happy about it. Inside his mind there is always one question: what was the cost of all this? This quiet sorrow is not weakness. It is one of the most important teachings of the Mahabharata. A King Who Wins but Does Not Rejoice The Kurukshetra war ended with the Pandavas as winners, but the price was very heavy. Almost all the elders, teachers, cousins, sons and friends were dead. Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Abhimanyu, and the five young sons of Draupadi, all were gone. Yudhishthira looked at this and could not call it a victory. When the war finished, he went to the field and saw the bodies of his own people. He ...

The Reluctant King: Yudhishthira and the Weight of the Crown - Dharma or Duty: Did Yudhishthira Really Want to Rule? Yudhishthira is not merely the Indian equivalent of a righteous king. He is a character who questions whether righteousness can always be followed without causing harm. His decision to gamble, his participation in the war, his grief afterward, and his final test on the journey to heaven make him more morally conflicted than a simple embodiment of virtue. So the question comes naturally: did he really want to be a king, or was kingship something put on him by his mother Kunti, by his brothers, and by the circumstances of his birth? The Case That He Did Not Want the Crown There is a lot in the Mahabharata which shows that Yudhishthira was not a man hungry for power. After the war ended, he was the one who broke down. He saw the dead bodies of his relatives, teachers and friends, and he said clearly that he did not want the kingdom. In the Shanti Parva, he tells his bro...

Yudhishthira and Job: Two Righteous Men, One Painful Question Every religious tradition has to answer one hard question: why do good people suffer? In Hindu tradition, the Mahabharata gives us Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, who is known as Dharmaraja, the king of righteousness. In the Bible, the Book of Job gives us Job, a man described as blameless and upright. Both men lived a life of virtue, and both were put through great pain. When we place their stories side by side, we learn how two traditions look at righteousness, suffering and the will of God. The Life of Yudhishthira Yudhishthira was born to Kunti through the grace of Dharma Deva, and from his childhood he was known for truthfulness and patience. Still, his life was full of loss. He lost his kingdom of Indraprastha in the game of dice. He and his brothers, along with Draupadi, spent twelve years in the forest and one more year in hiding. After all this, he had to fight the great war at Kurukshetra, where he lo...

Yudhishthira and Aeneas: Two Kings Who Chose Duty Over Desire Every culture has stories of leaders who sacrifice their own happiness for the good of others. In the Mahabharata, which is the itihasa (sacred history) of Bharata, we meet Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas. In the Roman epic, the Aeneid, we meet Aeneas, the Trojan prince who carries his people to Italy. Both are duty-bound leaders. Both put the future of their people, and their moral obligations, above personal wishes. Scholars of comparative studies, including a comparative essay from the University of Pennsylvania, have argued that Yudhishthira is a particularly close parallel to Aeneas. It is a fair comparison, but it also shows some very important differences. Yudhishthira and Dharma Yudhishthira is called Dharmaraja, the king of dharma. He was born from Dharma Deva himself, so truth and righteousness were part of his nature. All through the Mahabharata, he tries to uphold dharma while also fulfilling his dut...

Bhima and Rostam: Strength, Duty and Dharma in Two Epic Traditions - A Comparison Every great epic has one hero who is known for his physical power. In the Mahabharata, this warrior is Bhima, the second of the Pandava brothers. In the Persian epic Shahnameh, this warrior is Rostam. Both are remembered for their great strength, their courage in battle, and their loyalty to their own people. Comparing them helps us to understand how different cultures look at the ideal of a strong and dutiful hero. It is important to note that Bhima is not a story character only. For Hindus, the Mahabharata is Itihasa, meaning "thus it happened", and Bhima is a real person of that history. Who is Bhima? Bhima is the son of Kunti and Vayu Deva, the wind deity. He was born with extraordinary strength, and from childhood he defeated his Kaurava cousins in games and wrestling. He is known for his big appetite, his loud nature and his honesty. Bhima killed many rakshasas, including Hidimba, Baka...

Ananta Shesha Holds the Earth: Boon, Duty and Dharma - Mahabharata In the Mahabharata, the story of Shesha is told in the Adi Parva, in the section known as the Astika Parva Chapter 32. Shesha was one of the sons of Kadru and the brother of the many Nagas. But his mother and brothers were wicked, and they were always doing deceit and harming others. Shesha did not like this way of living. So he left his mother and his brothers and went away to do hard tapasya. His tapasya was very severe. He controlled his senses, lived on little food, and kept his mind fixed on one thing only. After a long time, Brahma became pleased with him and appeared before him. Brahma asked him to take any boon he wanted. The Boon Shesha Asked For Here we can see the real character of Shesha. Brahma was ready to give him anything, like power, a kingdom, long life or victory over his enemies. But Shesha did not ask for any of these. He only asked that his mind should always find joy in dharma, in peace of mind, a...

Why Shesha Abandoned His Brothers and Chose Tapasya In Chapter 32 of the Astika Parva, which is part of the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, we find the story of what Shesha did after his mother Kadru made a wrong plan. Kadru had made a bet with her sister Vinata about the colour of the tail of the horse Uchaishravas. To win the bet by cheating, she asked her sons, the nagas, to hang on the tail of the horse so that it looks black. Shesha refused to take part in this cheating. He left his mother and went away to do severe tapasya. Shesha in the Forest Shesha lived only on air and kept very hard vows. He went to Mount Gandhamadana, and then to Badari, Gokarna, Pushkararanya and the slopes of the Himalayas. These are all sacred tirthas. He spent his days there controlling his senses and following his vows without any break. When Brahma saw him, he had matted hair and wore bark clothes. His skin, flesh and muscles had become dry because of the tapasya. Brahma spoke to him and said that he sh...

Why Darbha Grass Is Sacred: The Story of Garuda and the Amrita In Hindu rituals, Darbha grass is used almost everywhere. A priest wears a ring made of it on the finger, a seat is made of it for sitting during puja, and it is kept in homa and shraddha ceremonies. Many people use it daily but do not know why it is considered so pure. The answer is given in Chapter 30 of the Astika Parva, which is part of the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata. Background: Garuda and the Slavery of His Mother To understand the story, we must remember what happened in the earlier chapters. Vinata, the mother of Garuda, lost a bet to her sister Kadru and became her slave. The sons of Kadru, the snakes, kept her in this condition. When Garuda asked how his mother could be freed, the snakes told him to bring Amrita, the nectar of immortality, which was kept in heaven. Garuda went to heaven and faced many obstacles. He fought the Devas, crossed a wall of fire, and passed a spinning wheel with sharp blades that guard...

Garuda’s Single Feather and the Lesson of Humble Power In the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, there is a famous account of Garuda taking the Amrita, the pot of nectar, from the Devas. The Devas tried to stop him, but they were completely defeated. Then Indra, the king of the Devas, used his weapon Vajra against Garuda. This also failed. Indra understood that this bird could not be defeated by anyone. After this, Indra changed his approach. He spoke to Garuda with respect and said that he wanted to know the extreme limits of Garuda’s strength. He also asked for eternal friendship. This is an important point. The king of the Devas, after losing, did not hold on to anger. He chose friendship. What Garuda Said Garuda accepted the friendship. But he gave a warning first. He said that his strength is great and very hard to bear. He also said that the learned people do not approve of speaking highly of one’s own strength or praising one’s own qualities. Still, because Indra ...

The Feather of Garuda: Humility of the Mighty Suparna and Fall of Indra In the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, there is a very important story about Garuda, the king of birds and the vahana of Bhagavan Vishnu. In Chapter 28 and 29, we read how Garuda went to bring Amrita for freeing his mother Vinata from slavery. On the way he defeated all the Devas, crossed many obstacles, and finally got the Amrita. But the most interesting part of the story comes at the end, when Indra attacked him with Vajra and Garuda responded with great politeness and strength together. Garuda’s Victory Over the Devas Garuda was born to Sage Kashyapa and Vinata. His mother was made a slave by her co-wife Kadru, and the Nagas demanded Amrita as the price for her freedom. So Garuda went to the abode of Devas where Amrita was kept. The Devas were completely routed by him. The fire wall, the rotating chakra with sharp blades, and the two poisonous snakes guarding the Amrita, all these obstacles he...

Why Did Garuda Not Drink Amrita, Even When He Had It? - Unparalleled Strength Without Greed Garuda, the son of Vinata and Sage Kashyapa, fought Indra and all the Devas to get Amrita, the nectar of immortality. He passed through many obstacles on the way. There was a ring of fire around the place where Amrita was kept, a rotating wheel with sharp blades, and two giant serpents guarding it. Garuda crossed all of them by his strength and his intelligence. But he did not steal Amrita for himself. He took it for one reason only, to free his mother Vinata from slavery. Here is the wonderful part. Garuda had the Amrita in his own hands and he did not drink even one drop of it. A modern man will say that Garuda is a fool. You got the immortality potion and you did not drink it, what kind of fool you are. But the Mahabharata does not see it like this. This is the story of self denial, and it is told in the chapter 29 of the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva of Mahabharata. Why Garuda Was Forced...