Odia Mahabharata
King Bali’s story ended when Bhagawan Sri Rama killed him. His son Angada’s story ended when, after his coronation as the King of Ayodhya, Rama bid an affectionate farewell to him with a very precious gift. Some legends extended Angada’s story beyond Tretaya yuga and ended his story in Dwapara yuga. He was the cause …
Continue reading "TO WHAT PURPOSE, THIS CHARACTER KIRATASENA?"
In Sarala Mahabharata, (a) In King Duryodhana’s court, where he had gone as Yudhisthira’s emissary of peace, Krishna asked the Kaurava king for five villages for the Pandavas so that a war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas could be avoided. It would not be incorrect to say that during his interaction with the Kauravas …
Kiratasena, the king of the kiratas, the forest-dwellers, went to the Kurukshetra War for glory and for revenge but ended up attaining moksha. The Great War at Kurukshetra was imminent. The Pandavas and the Kauravas had entered the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and each side, with the warriors who had come to fight for them, was …
Different from each other in a hundred ways, Bhima and Krishna share one personality trait in Sarala Mahabharata, which is a remarkably creative retelling in Odia, in the fifteenth century, of Vyasa Mahabharata. It is this: neither can be contented. In different respects, though! Insatiable, says the poet Sarala, was Bhima’s hunger for a fight, …
The negotiations to avoid war between the Pandava and the Kaurava brothers had failed and war was imminent. Duryodhana appealed to the kings who had chosen to fight for him to give him victory. They told him that the Pandavas themselves were great warriors and with Krishna on their side, they were invincible. Notwithstanding all …
(A summary of the main ideas. Written in the form of notes. Written for the purpose of discussion of this extremely important parva (chapter) at a Sarala Mahabharata Group Meeting. The points for discussion are highlighted. Unedited) Broadly speaking, this Parva is about the pre-War negotiations and preparations for the Great War at Kurukshetra. This …
Continue reading "READING “UDYOGA PARVA” OF SARALA MAHABHARATA"
Note: This is a revised version of the article “The Tale of Belalasena: A Unique Perspective in Sarala Mahabharata” published in Samachar Just Click on March 28, 2024. The story of Belalasena occurs in Sarala Mahabharata. In Vyasa Mahabharata, there is no Belalasena story or an equivalent of it. Belalasena was Bhima’s son. Let us …
Continue reading "THE TESTIMONY OF THE SEVERED HEAD IN SARALA MAHABHARATA (THE STORY OF BELALASENA)"
Sarala Mahabharata 