Title: The Indian Story Book: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu
Author: Richard Wilson
Illustrator: Frank Pape
Year: 1914
Source
Pandu is the father of five tall sons: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva. When Pandu dies, his brother Dhritarashtra, who is blind, becomes king. Dhritarashtra has one hundred sons; Duryodhana is the eldest. He hates his cousins, the sons of Pandu (the Pandavas). Drona trains the young princes in the arts of war.
When the princes have grown up and mastered the arts of war, Drona organizes a tournament. The cousins engage in mock battles, but Duryodhana and Bhima fight so fiercely that Drona puts a stop to their contest. Arjuna performs amazing feats of archery.
A charioteer then enters the tournmanet ground, and Karna bows to him as his father. Bhima is outraged that Karna is the son of a charioteer and mocks him. Duryodhana defends Karna's skills and virtues, despite his humble birth. Darkness ends the tournament, and everyone realizes that Karna is a warrior whose talents rival those of Arjuna.
Duryodhana is furious when Yudhishthira is named as heir apparent to the throne. Duryodhana tries to trap the Pandavas and their mother Pritha (Kunti) in a burning house but they escape, disguising themselves as hermits.
They then go to the swayamvara of Princess Draupadi, daughter of King Drupada of Panchala. Drupada has heard of Arjuna and hopes he will enter the contest; to be sure Arjuna will win, Drupada sets up an archery target he thinks only Arjuna can hit. All the suitors fail to string the bow; Karna strings the bow, but Draupadi declares she will not accept a low-born husband. A hermit, Arjuna in disguise, then strings the bow and shoots the target.
People are amazed! Draupadi declares him the winner, but the other suitors are angry and attack the hermits. Krishna raises his hand to stop the hostilities, and all bow to him.
Arjuna then takes Draupadi home and tells his mother he has won a prize. Not knowing what the prize is, Kunti declares that it must belong to Yudhishthira as the eldest, so Draupadi will be the wife of Yudhishthira, not Arjuna. [Note that this is a major change in the story that Wilson introduces: in the traditional version, Kunti tells Arjuna that he must share his prize with all the brothers, so Draupadi becomes the bride of all five Pandavas.]
Now that the Pandavas have made an alliance with King Drupada, Duryodhana divides the kingdom: Duryodhana takes the richer part of the kingdom along the Ganges and gives the western portion on the river Yamuna to the Pandavas. They build a beautiful royal city and perform a special sacrifice to make Yudhishthira king.
Dhritarashtra attends, as does Duryodhana, along with the kings of many other kingdoms and Krishna too. When Yudhishthira honors Krishna as the guest of honor, Shishupala, King of Chedi, gets angry. Krishna uses his discus weapon (chakra) to behead Shishupala.
Now that Yudhishthira is a king in his own kingdom, Duryodhana is mad with jealousy and decides to trick Yudhishthira in a game of dice, with the help of Prince Shakuni (who is actually his maternal uncle). Shakuni cheats and Yudhishthira loses everything, gambling even his brothers and himself. Then he loses Draupadi. Dhritarashtra is appalled and vows that the Pandavas shall not be slaves; instead, they shall go into forest exile. [In the traditional version, the forest exile is the result of a second gambling match, which Yudhishthira loses as he did the first.]
When a servant summons Draupadi, she refuses to go. Then Duryodhana's brother, Prince Dushasana, drags Draupadi by the hair into the council chamber.
She begs her husbands to avenge her, but they can do nothing. Karna taunts her, as does Duryodhana. Dhritarashtra then offers to grant Draupadi a wish; she asks to go into exile with the Pandavas. The Pandavas and Draupadi go into the forest for twelve years of exile and a thirteenth year that they must spend in disguise.
While the Pandavas are in exile, Duryodhana comes to visit and mock them, but he ends up needing their help to escape the gandharvas of the forest (led by Chitrasena), and that makes Duryodhana hate the Pandavas even more. Another prince (Jayadratha) tries to abduct Draupadi, but the Pandavas rescue her. They visit wise men who tell them stories, like the tale of Savitri who conquered death and the love story of Nala and Damayanti.
They spend the year of disguise in the court of King Virata: Yudhishthira as a brahmin priest, Bhima a cook, Arjuna a dancing master, Nakula as a stableboy, and Sahadeva as a cowboy (and Draupadi as a hairdresser to the queen). Near the end of the year, Duryodhana, together with Drona and Karna, steal King Virata's cattle. Virata's son, Uttara, calls for a chariot-driver to take him into battle, and Arjuna offers to go. Uttara thinks Arjuna is only a dancing teacher, but finally agrees. Arjuna takes Uttara to where the Pandavas have concealed their weapons, disguises as corpses hanging from trees, and so they prepare themselves to fight Duryodhana and retrieve the cattle.
Uttara is amazed by the quality of the weapons. Arjuna reveals that they are the weapons of the Pandavas. Uttara then asks where the Pandavas are now. Arjuna then reveals the truth about their disguised identities. When Drona sees the monkey banner (Kapi Dhwaja, in honor of Hanuman), he knows it is Arjuna who pursues them. Duryodhana escapes, but they rescue the cattle and bring them back to King Virata. It is now time for the Pandavas and Draupadi to reclaim their kingdom.
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