Five Pandava boys and one hundred Kaurava boys were growing up in royal settings, as we learnt in the previous episode of Mahabharata series. Let’s find out what happens next.
The jealousy of Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kaurava brothers, began to grow at the sight of the skills, strength and dexterity of the five Pandavas. At the same time, Shakuni, his maternal uncle, became his evil counsellor in planning wily stratagems. They tried to get rid of Pandavas on multiple occasions, the most famous of which is the case of the wax palace. They had built a magnificent palace, made of combustible materials like jute, lac, ghee, oil, etc and invited the Pandavas to move in there. The idea was to burn down the palace at night.
Pandavas, however, had learnt about the evil plan. With the help of a miner, they created a subterranean egress, a secret exit. One night when the palace was set on fire the Pandavas, along with their mother Kunti, escaped and made their way out of the kingdom.
Duryodhana and Shakuni were elated when they got the news that the abode of the Pandavas had been burnt down and no one had survived. Vyasa has beautifully described the then mental state of Dhritarashtra: Just as the water of a deep pool is cool at the bottom and warm on the surface, so the heart of Dhritarashtra was at once warm with joy and chill with sorrow.
There was royal mourning at the palace, although many of the royal members were secretly happy about what had just taken place. Pandavas, on the other hand, travelled in disguise and reached the shores of the Ganges river. After crossing the river, they ventured deep into the forest, suffering many hardships and overcoming many dangers. The days turn into weeks and months and then years.
A number of events took place in the next few years. Five Pandava brothers got married to Draupadi, the princess of Drupada. There is an interesting story behind this bizarre event. Draupadi was conducting her Swayamvara (an ancient Indian ritual in which a young girl chose her groom from a number of potential candidates). In this case, a challenge was presented to the candidates. They were required to string the bow and with it shoot a steel arrow through the central aperture of a revolving disk at a target placed on high. This required almost superhuman strength and skill. Many princes had come to the Swayamvara, and one by one they all failed to succeed in their attempts. Even Duryodhana failed. Eventually Arjuna succeeded, but since he was in disguise, everybody present there thought that a poor man had got Draupadi’s hand.
Another bizarre event took place following Arjuna’s marriage to Draupadi. Since Pandavas had vowed that they would share all things in common, they all got married to Draupadi. Soon after this, the Pandavas revealed their identity and moved back to their home and started governing a small part of the kingdom.
How did that affect Kauravas, and Duryodhana in particular? Where does the Mahabharata story go from here? We will find out in the next part.
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