Some of the best kept secrets of-the Mahabharata
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Yudhishthira
Although the 18 days of Mahabharata war was fought to make Yudhishthira the king of Hastinapur, we have very little knowledge about the character than his brothers Bheem, Arjun and other characters of the epic. Here are something you might not know about him.-
Yudhishthira means "the one who is steady in battle or tough conditionsтАЭ. ┬а His father king Pandu held dharma above all other qualities in a human especially for being a king, therefore when Kunti told him about his boon he desired his eldest son and heir to be born righteous and truthful.
Although being the eldest son he was less martial than his brothers preferring diplomacy and politics. He was a polyglot knowing languages which no other human knew. Nevertheless he was a master in the use of spear only second to Karna. It was said that he could pierce a stone wall with spear as it was a piece of paper.
He had two wives Draupadi and Devika who was of Sivi kingdom. Draupadi bore him Prativindya his heir and Devika; Yaudheya. Yaudheya survived Kurukshetra but was not made king. Instead he ruled his mother's kingdom.
After loosing in the dice game during his banishment he never left the game and kept practicing. He learnt from sage Bridashwa to control the dices. He became so good at it that he was never defeated again at it.
He married his brother Bheem to a rakhsashi Hidimbi and denounced casteism saying actions mattered more than birth.
Kurukshetra war would have been longer if he had'nt killed Shalya king of Madra and uncle of Nakul and Sahdev. Shalya was an extraordinary fighter with a range of weapons.
He had this gift that whenever his opponent got angry his strength will increase therefore making him very difficult to fight. Only a person with a calm mind could have defeated him; Therefore Yudhishthira had to do that and justified his name.
Yudhishthira cursed women that they will never be able to withold secrets after he came to know about Karna and his mother hiding about him.
His chariot had a flag of a golden moon surrounded by planets. He was also an expert charioteer.
Ashvatthama
One of the most under appreciated characters in the epic the son of Drona was one of the most formidable and the most fiercest warrior of his time. He was comparable to Karna, Arjun and Bhishma yet we know very less of him save his immortality. Some facts about him.
When he was born he cried like a horse hence his name.
His father did years of severe penance to have a son with valiance of Shiv himself. Ashvatthama is considered to be a partial incarnation of lord Shiv himself.
He possessed a gem in his forehead which gave him dominion over all life form lower than human. It protected it against hunger, thirst , fatigue, ghosts, demons , snakes ,insects etc. It helped him fight off Ghatotkach Bheem's half rakhshas son.
He is master of all knowledge trained by the likes of Drona, Bhishma , Parshuram.
He was the king of north Panchal after Kaurav army captured Panchal and gave it to Drona as guru-dakhshina and Drona split it between his son and Drupad.
Bhishma once remarked that if Ashvatthama becomes angry nobody will be able to stop him because he was incarnation of Shiva himself. However Duryodhana always chose Karna over Ashvatthama because he saw him as fearful of death.
The most important part in epic of Mahabharata for Ashvatthama was when he was made Commander of Kaurava army on night of 18th day of war. He went to attack Pandava camp at night with Kripacharya( his uncle) and Kritvarma ( a Yadava) .He instructed them to remain at gates to kill anyone who comes out. He went into the Pandavas camp but it was guarded by a Bhairava and he did not allowed him to pass.Then Ashvatthama performed a yajna for Lord Shiva and offered himself as sacrifice . He rose from it with a part of Shiva in his body and an army of gunas given to him by goddess Kali. He became the destroyer and with gunas slaughtered all Pandavas soldier and their family.
Some other facts are as follows
Yuyutsu- He was not born from Gandhari but from a maid servant in her service. The Kaurava brother that defected to Pandava camp later became prime minister under King Parikhshit and even ruled as his regent.
Vrishketu- Son of Karna was made the king of Indraprastha . He was tutored by Krishna himself and was the last person to know and learn divine weapons as Krishna made him promise to never tell anyone about them.
Satyaki and Kritvarma - Both Yadavas fought from opposite camps in the war and remained lifelong enemies until they killed each other during the doom of Yadavas .
Nakula - Nakula was said to have a unique talent that he could ride a horse in rain without getting wet. It was because of his two talents horsemanship and swordsmanship . He deflected rain drops with his sword.
Vibhishan - To perform Rajsuya Yagya ,Yudhishthira sent his 4 brothers in 4 directions to collect tribute from kings. Sahdeva went south where he met King Vibhishan in Lanka as he was an immortal. He sent Sahdeva back with gift of jewels and precious stones and clothes of finest fabrics.
Arjun - Arjun was ambidextrous so one of his name is Sabyasachi. He had control over all his senses and could go on days without needing sleep getting the name Gudakesh . The horses in his chariot where white therefore one of his name is Svetavahana.
Curse on the name of Arjuna- The father of sage Parashuram sage Jamadagni was killed by Kartavirya Arjun's sons . Therefore Parashuram cursed that anyone with name Arjun will never become a king only subordinate.
Duryodhana- He was said to be incarnation of Kali(demon).He was best mace fighter of his time. When he was born he cried like a donkey. He was first person in history other than lord Vishnu to perform Vaishanav Yagya making him Emperor of the Entire World he achieved this with help of his friend Karna who subjugated everyone including Krishna and Jarasandh. Other than his jealousy towards Pandava he was a rightful and just king treating his subjects with equality . It is said that when he died flowers rained from heaven.
Eklavya - In later life he became kings of Nishada and he was subordinate to Kingdom of Magadha. He was killed by Krishna himself in swayamvar of Rukmini. In some version of the epic it was he who was reborn as Drishtadyumna to kill Drona.
Most handsome man- Although Nakula is considered most handsome of all the Kuru princes, the smallfolk of Hastinapur liked Karna. Common women of Hastinapur desired Karna because of his fair glowing complexion.
Bheema's Pride- After Drona's death Ashvatthama became enraged and released Narayanastra. Only Krishna,Drona and Ashvatthama knew about this weapon and how to stop it. It brought a deadly shower of missiles and annihilating Pandava army. Krishna advised Pandava warriors to bow and submit to the weapon as it was the only way to stop it. But Bheema saw this as a symbol of cowardice and didn't submit. Therefore it continued to harm him. Krishna and pandavas had to restrain him to save his life.
Mayasura- The demon who made the palace for Yudhishthira at Indraprastha was the father of Mandodari wife of Ravana.He founded Mayarashtra which became modern city of Meerut .He was foremost among daityas being born from sage Kashyap and Diti.
Shakuni- He is considered to be personification of Dwapar yuga. He was enraged by marriage of his sister to blind Dhritrashtra and vowed to destroy Kuru lineage. However he loved his nephew Duryodhana very much.His lineage continued till Prince Ambhi of Taxila who fought alongside Alexander the great and was killed by Chandragupta Maurya in 3rd century B.C.
Karna- Interestingly for most part of the epic Karna was called Vasusena " the born with wealth" or Radheya " son of Radha" . He got his name after he gave his armour to lord Indra. It was Indra himself who took form of an insect and bit Karna on his thigh while Parshurama was sleeping on it that led to him giving curse to Karna. Later to repent for his curse he gave Karna his own Vijaya bow, Bhargavastra that no one possessed and a silver chariot covered with tiger skin.
Bhishma's dillema - When choosing the heir to the Hastinapur throne after Pandavas came from the forests after their father Pandu's death, Bhishma and Vidur had different choices. Vidur was in favour of Yudhishthira while Bhishma was supporting Duryodhana. This was because contrary to popular belief Duryodhana was very popular among the common people and because living in the capital he had much knowledge about millitary and administrative matters than any Pandavas while Yudhishthira was unknown to the general populace and he will never understand them. However he gave in to Vidura after he realised that Duryodhana was egocentric and power hungry at heart.
Godmother- The eldest female of Hastinapur royal family was the child of Chedi king Vasu and fish who in reality was apsara Adrika when the fish swallowed the king's sperm. He was cut out from the fish by chieftain of fishermans. Due to smell of fish coming from her body she was called Matasyagandha. Later Sage Parashar had sex with her out of which Sage Vyasa was born. He also gave her fragrant smell. Thus giving her name Yojanagandha.
