Indian Epics

Duryodhana could not take it anymore. He had enough of seeing his cousins, the Pandavas, achieve victories whether is was against the king Jarasandha or Yudhishthira declaring himself a supreme monarch. Yet, Duryodhana had an evil plan to take back the spotlight. He and his cousins were part of the warrior kshatriya class and could not turn down an invitation for a duel. However, this duel would be different. Duryodhana proposed a gambling match as turning down this invitation would be as shameful as turning down a battle to a warrior. Thus it was settled. Duryodhana would invite Yudhishthira for a classic game of Texas Hold'em. However what Yudhishthira did not know was that Duryodhana had the most famed gambler on his side, Shakuni. Yudhishthira soon received the invitation for the poker match and was conflicted with his choices. He knew how easily he could lose his belongings, but also had to maintain his honor. Despite his hesitations, Yudhishthira traveled to Hastinapura to ta...

Part D of the Mahabharata did not disappoint and kind of ended up how I expected and remembered when I rad the epic a long time ago. Ultimately, the Pandavas were always considered the good guys in the epic and it was not surprising to see them come out on top. One aspect of Part D I found noteworthy was how all of the curses and promises made earlier in the epic came true. The characters really enjoyed vengeance and revenge, and those two themes were strong throughout the epic. One example was Bhishma being killed and then getting to choose his own death. Bhishma was rally in a tough place having known both sets of cousins, so I think it was nice at least he could choose how he left. Additionally, the Mongoose story was nice to take away from the epic. Another aspect of the epic that I found weird was how Krishna passed away. To me it does not really make sense for a god to die, but I guess since he was in an incarnation it really just transformed back to his true self. There were som...

 Part C of the Mahabharata brought forth the plot I was most excited about the epic: the battle. I enjoyed reading the buildup, especially the role Krishna and how he dialed with having to decide between the two sets of cousins. Personally, I would have made the same decision as Arjuna and chosen Krishna rather than having the ten crore army. I feel that having god on my side would make any amount man power futile. I was also interested by how Bhishma decided to be the commander for the Kauravas. I was also unsure of how he would have to decide between the two, but I guess he just decided to stay at the position he already had with Kauravas. Part C also left many questions to be answered, and I am ready to see what comes of Karna vs Arjuna. I kind of expected Karna to have some motivation to join the Pandavas after hearing he was their true brother, but he seems really motivated to defeat Arjuna. On that note, I am curious to see how the arrow he was given by Indra affects the batt...