| There was once
a king named Santanu, who ruled the kingdom of Hastinapura. The
throne was never passed to Santanu's son, but was instead passed
to his grandchildren, the cousins Dhritarshtra and Pandu. However,
Pandu was enthroned instead of Dhritarshtra because he was blind.
The cousins soon got married, and Pandu had five sons, named Yudhistira,
Bihma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, and there were called the Pandavas.
Dhritarshtra on the other hand, had one hundred sons, and one daughter.
They were called the Kauravas.
An unfortunate
twist of fate led to the death of King Pandu, leaving the blind
Dhritarshtra with no choice but to ascend the throne. In the palace,
the Pandavas and Kauravas were in constant strife. With the death
of Pandu now, it was apparent that the oldest son would be the
one to take the throne after Dhritarshtra died. The oldest son
was Yudhistira, who was from the Pandavas. The scheming Kauravas
were unhappy with this, and together they began plotting against
Yudhistira.
The chance
for the Kauravas soon came, to kill the Pandavas. They constructed
a house of wood and other materials that easily burned, and invited
the Pandavas to stay in it. The Pandavas were on their guard,
and easily got to know of the Kauravas plan to burn them. Without
the Kauravas knowing, they dug an underground passage under the
building, and when the fire started, they escaped and went into
hiding in the forest, with the Kauravas thinking they were dead.
The Pandavas
traveled in disguise, without anyone knowing who they were. One
day, they came upon the king of another city, Panchala, in the
forest. The king was looking for a bride for his daughter, and
whoever could bend a large bow, and hit a target, would have her
as his husband. Many people tried, including the Pandavas, and
eventually Arjuna managed to do so. The princess, Draupadi, became
the common wife of the five sons of Pandu, and very soon, word
spread far and wide that they were still alive.
When they
came back to Hastinapura, the eldest of the Kauravas, Duryodhana,
was king, but with return of the Pandavas, the elders decided
that the kingdom should be shared. So the Pandavas set off, and
they set up a new capital in the city. Yudhistira ruled this capital
well, and it prospered and flourished.
When Duryodhana
saw this, he was very jealous and he decided to get rid of the
Pandavas once and for all. He hatched and a plan to get rid of
the Pandavas by a game of dice, where the stake was banishment
from the kingdom from twelve years, following which, having to
stay in the kingdom unnoticed for a year.
Duryodhana
employed the skill of his uncle who was proficient at playing
dice, and eventually, the Pandavas lost. So that Pandavas were
exiled for twelve years to the deep forest. Many interesting things
happened during these twelve years, and it soon was over, and
the Pandavas had to live in disguise for one year. The party pretended
to be cooks, counselors and dancers, whilst they stayed at the
court of a neighbouring city.
However, when
the queen's brother of the city took a fancy to Draupadi, Arjuna
killed him, and on hearing the news, Duryodhana knew the Pandavas
must be in the city. He eventually incited another king who had
a long feud with the city, to attack the city, hoping by doing
so, their cover would be gone, and he would be able to exile the
Pandavas for another twelve years.
Next:
The
Mahabharata continues >>
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