Story: Jayadratha's Love

There she was! She is the most beautiful thing Jayadratha had ever seen! She was perfect in his eyes. Everything he could have ever wanted. Everyone knew she was sweet as can be and she had the ability to bring a smile to any person’s face. She was so picturesque with curves in all the right places. Jayadratha had been dreaming about this moment all morning. It was a day full of people not noticing him and being pushed around. It had been a long day for the high schooler, and all he wanted to do was take a little break at lunch with his friends and to see this beauty.

One of the upperclassmen ran into him and cut in front of Jayadratha in the lunch line. Jayadratha did not think anything of it because this basically happened every day. He had quickly learned that people like him were at the bottom of the totem pole in the tenth-grade social class system. What could he do, really? It was who he is and since he liked himself, he didn’t think he needed to change.

He finally got himself in the lunch line to quickly grab some food and go eat outside with his friends. However, he could not stop staring at her. He inched closer and closer. His mouth watered. All he wanted was to grab her and run out of the crowded cafeteria. He reached out, but suddenly, she was gone. She was in the hands of some punk, named Bhima or something lame like that, from his chemistry class. Jayadratha watched in despair as the guy carried it away.

Jayadratha was quickly consumed with rage and yelled. “Where do you think you’re going with that!”

The guy turned around and the people around the scene stopped and stared in disbelief. When the guy, Bhima, turned, Jayadratha saw the beauty again.

“Dude, what’s wrong with you,” the guy asked.

“You took what was mine and I want it back!”

Bhima looked down at his tray. “Are you talking about this donut?”

“Yes, I am! I’ve been thinking about it all day. It’s all I’ve wanted!”

“Dude, what are you talking about. This is my doughnut. I bought it this morning,” the guy looked at Jayadratha in confusion.

Jayadratha, unaware of the attention he was receiving from the rest of the room, begged Bhima for the delicious pastry, but Bhima refused and turned to leave. Filled with rage, Jayadratha pounced on Bhima! Bhima was a well-built upperclassman and Jayadratha was basically just a backpack on him. At first, Bhima didn’t even recognize the extra 110 pounds on him.

“Woah! Dude! Get off of me!” Bhima yelled but Jayadratha had come too far. He wasn’t about to give up now.

“Give me the donut!” Jayadratha yelled.

“Okay, fine! You can have it!” Bhima said. When he heard this, Jayadratha climbed off and ran to grab the delicious donut, but Bhima lifted it out of reach.

“You gotta give me something for this. I want you to do my chemistry homework for a month,” Bhima added with a sly smile. Jayadratha nodded and grabbed the donut out of Bhima’s hand and ran out before anyone could change their mind. Outside, Jayadratha looked down at the glazed donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. He took a giant bite and thought a months’ worth of homework was definitely worth it.

The Donut

Author's Note: In the original story, Jayadrath was Rajah of Sindhu. He happened to be passing in the forest where the Pandavas were making their settlement for the years of exile. When Jayadrath saw Draupadi, he fell in love and kidnapped her. The brothers eventually found their wife and the kidnapper. When they found their love again, they made Jayadratha become their slave.

I thought fighting over a girl would be just like any old story so why not fight over the next best thing: food! I hope you all enjoy this version of the story but the point I wanted to keep was that even though Jayadrath was an underdog in my story, he still tried to take something that wasn't his. 

Bibliography: Mahabharata, Public Domain Edition: Jayadratha and Draupadi 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

As the battle went on, Bhishma and Arjuna were forced to fight each other. In the end, Arjuna was victorious and Bhishma fell. This caused everyone in the battleground to weep over the fallen hero. Bhishma told Arjuna to honor Yudhishthira and end this war. Then, Drona took Yudhishthir captive.

In the midst of chaos, Jayadratha escaped and went to help the enemies. Because of this, Arjuna lost his son and he vowed to destroy Jayadratha. With the help of Krishna, Arjuna was able to gain his revenge. Then, Bhima’s son, Ghatotkacha was slain. The Pandava brothers tricked Drona into thinking his son had died. When Drona was distressed over this, the Pandava general took the opportunity to attack and slay Drona.

Bhishma on his bed of arrows

Bhima sought to take revenge on Duhshasana because he put Draupadi to shame all those years ago. Bhima cut off Dushasana’s head and drank his blood. The Kaurava warriors fled because of the gruesome sight. Meanwhile, Arjuna and Karna were waging a deadly battle as well. Thinking of his poor son, Arjuna sent an arrow into Karna’s head.

Having lost his best men, Duryodhana retreated to dwell in a lake. However, the brothers found him and Bhima struck him in the knee. When night came, Ashwatthaman came to slay the brothers while they slept. Draupadi lost her brother and her five sons. Out of sorrow, she went to find Ashwatthamann and take his great jewel.

All the families came to mourn their lost ones. After all the bodies were slain, Yudhishthira was made rajah of the city of Hastinapura. To atone for his sins, Yudhishthira performed a horse sacrifice. This horse went on to have many adventures and finally, it returned to Hastinapura. Then, Yudhishthira performed many rituals and he finally became the king.

One day when the brothers and Draupadi went to the place of their elders, Vyasa came and said the ones they lost would be returned to them. After meeting them, the royal family returned to the kingdom with new sorrows. Krishna and Balarama retreated to the forest where they were slain.

After this, Vyasa once again appeared to the Pandavas and told them their time on earth had come to an end. One by one, all of the heroes ascended into the rising sun.

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part C

Draupadi with the Pandava brothers

When the Pandava brothers retreated to the forest, disheartened, Surya came and offered them food. The brothers, Draupadi, and Dhaumya lived in suffering in the forest for twelve years. When Krishna came, Draupadi complained about how her husbands never tried to save her. Krishna promised that she would once again rule a kingdom. Draupadi tries to goad Yudhishthira to action to reclaim their kingdom.

Arjuna was told he would be the one to slain the brother’s enemies. He went to the Himalayas to settle there and find the strength to conquer the enemies. Here, he met Mahadeva, Mahadeva blessed him with great weapons. Then, Indra, Varuna, Yama, and Kubera visited Arjuna, giving him gifts and took him to the celestial Swarga where he lived for five years. Here he overcame demons and tempters.

As this was happening, the brothers, Draupadi, and the priest Dhaumya moved towards the Himalayas. One day when they were wandering, they were visited by Indra. Indra had brought Arjuna back and the brothers were reunited. However, as the years went on, Arjuna’s life was in constant danger against Karna who wanted to take Arjuna’s life. All the gods feared because Karna had invincible armor that he would not give up. Finally, Indra convinced an exchange of armor for a bow and arrow. When this happened, Jayadratha saw Draupadi and fell in love with her and took her away. Bhima found them and forced Jayadratha to be Yudhishthira’s slave.

Jayadratha with Draupadi

On the twelfth year, all the brothers except Yudhishthira were stricken down because they drank water from a magical pond. Yudhishthira answered the god’s questions and asked that his brothers be restored back to life. The goddess Durga gave the brothers the ability to not be recognized for a year. When the brothers and their wife went to Virata, they found favor of the king.

Here, the queen's brother attacked Draupadi. Bhima sought revenge and ended up killing Prince Kichaka. This caused other kingdoms to attack Virata. When their thirteenth year was up, they showed their true selves to the Rajah of Virata.

Abhimanyu’s, Arjuna and Subhadra’s son, marriage was brought as a giant festival. However, there was a threat of a war and brothers sought to secure an alliance with Krishna. Upon hearing the request, Krishna agreed to help the brothers. Before leaving Duryodhana’s city, Krishna convinced Karna to come along with him. Karna’s mother was disheartened but she let her son go. The Pandavas and the Kauravas had joined to form a great army to fight against Duryodhana. Arjuna looks out and sees his brothers and gurus on the opposing side but Krishna goads him to keep fighting. A great and intense battle raged on for days but in the end, Duryodhana was defeated.

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata