F for Forest Life of Pandavas - Mahabharata Mashup

Namaste! 

Forests have been an integral part of our epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, the Pandavas spend almost half their lifetime leading simple lives in forests, either by choice or due to the circumstances. 

After a curse, King Pandu renounced the throne and handed it to Dhritarastra. He left Hastinapura with his wives Kunti and Madri and traveled through mountains and forests to settle near the Satasringa mountains (a range with a hundred peaks). There, he performed penance for many years. The Pandava brothers were born in this region and grew up there until Pandu’s death. They trained under Suka (son of King Saryati), who was doing tapasya in the same area. 

Arjuna was fourteen when Pandu died, and Madri chose to join him, leaving Kunti to care for the five brothers. The rishis decided to take Kunti and the Pandavas to Hastinapura since it was their rightful home. This led to insecurity and jealousy in Dhuryodhana, who thought he was the only heir to the entire kingdom. 

A few years later, Dhuryodhana planned to kill the Pandavas by burning them in the House of Lac in Varanavata (this was some years after he fed poison to Bhima, bundled up his unconscious body, and drowned it in Ganga with Karna's help). The Pandavas escaped thanks to Vidura’s alertness (who also knew about the other attempts on the Pandavas' lives and the 'accidental' death of a charioteer). 

They spent the next few months living in a forest. Here, Bhima killed the cannibal demon Hidimba. He also married the demon’s twin sister, Hidimba/ Hidimbi, who professed her love for him. The duo had a son, Ghatotkacha (more details in the later post). 

The Pandavas and Kunti traveled across a few villages and were still in disguise during the temporary stay in Pnachala kingdom and the wedding to Draupadi, the princess of Panchala. 

Again a few years later, Yudhistira lost Indraprastha and all his wealth to Shakuni in the dice game. This time, the five Pandava brothers and Draupadi shift to the Kamakya forest for their twelve-year exile (plus a year in disguise). 

They don’t stay in the same place, though. The four Pandavas and Draupadi go on thirta yatra (pilgrimage) during the five years Arjuna spent in heaven with Indra. Later, they stay in a few more forests and return to Kamakya forest toward the end of exile. 

Vanaprastha is considered the third stage of one’s life, where we renounce worldly relationships and materialistic desires to lead simple lives and spend the remaining time in meditation. Satyavati and her daughters-in-law (Ambika and Ambalika), Dhritarastra, Gandhari, Kunti, Vidura, Sanjaya, Rukmini Satyabhama, etc., followed the same when the end was near. The last stage is Sanyasa. 

This forest lover couldn’t find a better topic for the alphabet! 

Hop over here to get a super short summary of the story of the Pandavas. 

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The AI images are made on Bing.