I love how, in the introduction, they state how many individuals take the stories and the characters and add to it in their own ways. This makes each story so unique to each individual -- just like we are doing in this course!
I don't think I have read about the Mahabharata, so I have my captions on to get the best grip on all of the names. The Mahabharata is a story of kings and queens, heroes and villains...It's a story of an all-consuming war that swallowed the subcontinent.
I found it very interesting that the Mahabharata is said to be due to karma. Everything throughout is thought to occur because of what happened before and after the fact.
The videos started with King Shantanu of Hastinapur in the bank of Ganga when he fell in love with a river goddess. Ganga, the river goddess, said yes but made him promise to never question any of her decisions. When they had their first child, Ganga drowned the baby and King Shantanu was very upset as anyone would be. Queen Ganga killed their next six children as well and King Shantanu never questioned her actions once. Once the eighth child was born and the queen was about to drown it, King Shantanu stopped her and asked her why she was doing this. She then informed him of the 8 Vasus who had been cursed to live mortal lies for a crime committed long ago. Ganga had agreed to give birth to the 8 celestial spirits and free them from mortality as soon as they came into the world.
After Ganga told him the truth, she left him and took their last remaining son with her. The son's name was Devarat and he was a very skilled archer. Shantanu saw him before knowing it was his own son when he returned to the river and Ganga came out and told him the news. Devarat was indeed his son and was trained by the warrior Parshuram and Vashishtha taught him the knowledge of the Shastras. Shantanu brought his son to his kingdom and showed the people and they were all pleased and happy for him to eventually become king.
As time passed, Shantanu fell in love again with a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati. She refused his marriage proposal because her father believed that, even if she married him, her children would never be kings. They would always be considered second to Prince Devarat's children. He was devastated when he returned home alone and the people noticed. He stopped meeting with people and doing his kingly duties.
Prince Devarat noticed his father's sadness and decided to go reason with the fisherman and his daughter himself. Even when he agreed to give up the throne, the fisherman would not budge. Devarat swore an oath that would eventually bring about a war that would reshape Bharatavarsha. He vowed that he would never marry or have any children. This was the time when he became known as Bhishma which means he of the terrible oath. The king was saddened when she was brought to him as he felt as though the kingdom was ruined. The king granted his son the ability to choose his own death so he would not die unless he granted it upon himself.
(Photo from WikiMedia).
The Mahabharata by Epified.
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