Week 12 Reading Diary A: Noticing the Details

This portion of William Buck's retelling of the Mahabharata starts with the trial at the crystal lake and ends a little after the end of the Pandava exile. The questions asked by Dharma at the lake appear to be slightly different in each version of the story. In this version, Yudhishthira proved he understood the importance of wisdom, the danger of pride, and the power of contentment. It is always fun to read the dialogue between Dharma and Yudhishthira; it feels like reading through an old book of Indian proverbs.

Yudhistira and Yaksha,

Author: Ramanarayanadatta astri, Date: acquired in 1965, Source: Wikimedia 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Pandava’s last year in exile when everyone had their disguises. Particularly, Arjuna’s is the most amusing. In his year of womanhood he teaches the princes how to dance… so it was quite comical to see her shock when he later returned to her a very masculine warrior. Draupadi seemed to have the most trouble in her exile. Her beauty is truly a blessing and a curse. Men claim that they cannot control themselves around her, but once again Draupadi exhibits the utmost amount of dignity and bravely protects herself in all situations… even when her life is threatened!
Arjuna has the most unrecognizable disguise, however, after him would probably be Yudhisthira. Since Yudhisthira is famous for losing everything he owns in a dice game, no one would ever guess that the kingdom “dice master” would be him!
This portion ended with Duryodhana refusing to play nice with the Pandava brothers. He reminds me so much of a spoiled child in these scenes. I do not know how Karna, Drona, and Bhishma are able to stay loyal to him through it all.