the Pandava brothers lived in the wilderness with their mother Kunti before she brought them to live in Hastinapura. Now they are living in the wilderness once again, and they will face many dangers while they living in hiding.
Unlike Shurpanakha's ill-conceived love for Rama in the Ramayana, the love affair between Bhima and the rakshasi Hidimbi is a happy one!
After defeating the rakshasa Hidimba, Bhima will now do battle with an asura: Baka, also known as Bakasura.
The Pandavas are living in hiding, disguised as brahmins, but news of Draupadi's swayamwara brings them out of hiding — although they remain in disguise. You will also get to read about Draupadi's supernatural birth in this segment, along with the supernatural birth of her brother Dhrishtadyumna.
You have seen some dramatic swayamwaras so far: Sita's swayamwara in the Ramayana, the swayamwara when Bhishma abducted the three brides earlier in the Mahabharata — and now the dramatic swayamwara of Draupadi.
Things will now take an unexpected turn: Arjuna won Draupadi as his bride at the swayamwara, but in obedience to their mother's accidental command, all five Pandavas will now become Draupadi's husbands. It is not uncommon for kings to have many wives in the epics, but for a woman to have five husbands at once is not something anyone would expect!
This story provides a more detailed account of Draupadi's previous lifetime as Nalayni, and the "karma" that results in her having five husbands.
Finally, Yudhishthira becomes a king in his own right, building a great royal stronghold at Indraprastha on the river Yamuna
As you can imagine, making a marriage work with five husbands and just one wife is complicated. Arjuna accidentally breaks the rules established for their living arrangements, and as a result he must leave for a period of individual exile, and during that exile, he has a series of extraordinary adventures! The encounter with the Naga princess Ulupi is one of the most famous of those adventures.
This wonderful episode of Arjuna's exile will probably remind you of a fairy. It comes from Kincaid's retelling of the Mahabharata which you might want to consider as a reading option later on; as you can see, he has a lively and vivid storytelling style.
The king is reluctant for Arjuna to marry his daughter because he needs her to have a son to carry on the royal succession. So, Arjuna and Chitra marry and have a son, but the son stays in Manipur and goes on to become king. There will be a dramatic encounter between Arjuna and his son when, many years later, Arjuna returns to Manipur.
Arjuna has a special connection to Krishna, and in this episode you will see how he comes to marry Subhadra, who is Krishna's sister.
This episode tells about a famous adventure that Arjuna and Krishna have together. The meeting with Maya, the divine architect of the gods, will prove to be a crucial event in the series of events (leading to catastrophe!) that will take place when Arjuna returns home to Indraprastha. About Maya: this is the masculine for of the name , as opposed to the feminine form, Mayā. The masculine Maya is an asura, sometimes called Mayasura, while the feminine Maya is the goddess of the illusion that we call reality.
Mayasura proves true to his promise and builds an amazing palace for the Pandavas, one which drive Duryodhana even more mad with jealousy.
It is now time for Yudhishthira to declare himself a supreme monarch by performing a Rajasuya sacrifice. This will require that he confront a rival king, Jarasandha, and it will also lead to a violent confrontation between Krishna and Shishupala, the King of Chedi.
The coming catastrophe now begins to take shape: just as a kshatriya (member of the royal warrior caste) cannot refuse a challenge to battle, he also cannot refuse a challenge to attend a gambling match.
Draupadi's fate is an essential part of the story here, and she protests eloquently and loudly about the events that have taken place in the gambling hall.
As the scene continues, Bhima in particular will swear some terrible oaths, and the rest of the epic will be driven by the cycle of revenge that has now been set into motion.
There will be a second match, and it will end almost as badly as the first match, with no reprieve. As bad omens occur, you will see people shouting "Swashti! Swasthi" which is indeed related to the word "swastika," an ancient symbol of good luck in India, later misappropriated by the Nazis.
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