Pandu learns that Kunti had a secret. Long before she was married, the Sage Durvasa came to the court Kunti lived in. Since he was a scary man, everyone would avoid him. Everyone except Kunti. The sage delighted in Kunti so much that he gave her the power to summon any god she desired. Kunti decided to test this out. She looked up at the son and recited the words. Suddenly, the sun god appeared. Lost in his light, Kunti was given a child who was born with gold earrings and armor. However, she knew she could not keep the child. So she sent him adrift in a basket on the river.
Pandu takes his wives into the forest to rest. One day as he was hunting, he accidently shot a hermit. The hermit cursed him and said that any time Pandu is intimate a woman, he will die. Pandu, stricken with grief, decided not to return to the kingdom. Without telling him of her son, Kunti told Pandu that she was able to call any god she desired. Pandu insisted that she do just that and bare Pandu a son.
Kunti was able to summon three different gods and bore Yudhishthira the wise, Bhima the strong, and Arjuna the archer. Kunti also used her power to help Madri bare twins. All was well until one day. Kunti returned from a journey and found Pandu had died because of his curse. When the funeral happened, Madri decided to join her husband in the pyre. The forest reminded Kunti of everything she lost so she took the boys and returned to the kingdom.
Back at the kingdom, Gandhari’s pregnancy was a bad one where she was always in pain and she constantly had nightmares. When her day came, Gandahri found that she had not given birth to a baby but rather a lump of lifeless flesh. Vyasa had promised Gandahri that she would have 100 sons, so he took the lump, divided it into 100 pieces and dipped each piece into a jar of oil. As the eldest was born, everyone saw there was demonic presence about him. However, the king and queen, being blind, only cared for their children with love.
When the Pandu brothers returned, Duryodhana, Gandhari’s oldest, started to get jealous of the attention the Pandu brothers were getting. He especially hated Bhima. As his hate grew, Gandhari’s brother fueled the hate further. Duryodhana decided to invite the Pandu brothers to a retreat where he poisoned their food with sleep inducing poison. Bhima fell asleep by the river. Duryodhana tied Bhimas hands together and pushed Bhima into the river.
As Bhima drifted down, serpent tried to dig their fangs into him. Bhima woke up and started killing them off. Afterward, he noticed in had set foot in a different palace. He was greeted by Vasuki the serpent ruler. The two were related so the serpent treated Bhima as his own grandson, showering the boy with blessings. The serpent gave Bhima the strength of 100 elephants and Bhima left knowing that he had to grow into a man to face the dangers around him.
One day as the boys were playing, Bhima accidently threw the ball into a deep well. The Brahmin Drona came and shot an arrow into the well, hitting the ball. Then he kept shooting arrows. Each one attaching to the previous one. With the final arrow, he pulled the ball up. The boys asked the Brahmin to return to the kingdom to meet their grandfather, Bhishma. Bhishma realized that Drona would make the perfect teacher for the young boys.
Drona trained the Pandava boys and found that all of them excelled at their given talents. Arjuna epically was skilled with every weapon and was able great in hand to hand combat. Arjun and Drona’s son were given the ability to control the earth with weapons. Drona relieved that he was training the boys for vengeance on a kingdom.
One day as the Pandava brothers were traveling, they found Ekalavya. Arjuna was disappointed because Ekalavya was the best archer. Arjuna demanded to know who Ekalavya’s guru was. He said it was Drone. The boys returned with Ekalavya to Drone and demanded why he taught just a simple forest dweller. Ekalavya said that many years ago, he came to Drone to be taught but Drone refused him. So Ekalavya decided to practice with a cut out of Drone. Drone asked Ekalavya for his right thumb and left the boy. Drone knew that without his thumb, Ekalavya could not become the great archer, so Arjuna could be it.
Bibliography: Epified: Mahabharata Videos
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