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Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Section C

I wanted to focus on the story of the Padavas brothers and the water riddles. I love a good riddle and I think riddles always can make a story more interesting. To start off, these brothers are supposed to be brave and smart, gifted by the gods, but they are completely dumb when it comes to being thirsty. Honestly, it could be a metaphor for men who are "thirsty" and do no think straight. If you know what I mean. Though interpreting the story in that way may not be the best idea.

The fact that Nakula and Sahadeva died first does not surprise me. They did not even bother putting up a fight or even trying to answer the questions. I can understand being thirsty or dehydrated, but at least try to listen to the talking crane. There has been a few times on a hike or something where I see a pond or river and all I wanted to do is jump in it and drink all of it, but I always refrain. I am not part god, so this part is confusing to me.

I love Arjuna's attempt because it matches his character so well. He is definitely the one with some anger issues and a short fuse. While he may be good with a weapon, making him mad with one is a bad idea. What made me laugh was how quickly he drank the water after not being able to kill the crane. Like his one shtick did not work so he just decides to knowingly die. At this point he has to know how his two brothers died.

Bhima was even worse. Instead of trying to attack first, he says "but first let me get a drink." That's like if Muhammad Ali asked to stop the fight and grab a drink first right as the fight started. Obiosuly he dies. I guess smarts were not as much of their personalities as I thought.

Then comes Yudhistira. he savior of the story. His moment of grief after seeing his brothers was actually pretty sad and emotional. It was nice to see that it did not cloud his ability to notice that something was wrong about the deaths. Then the questions start. Some of the questions asked did not seem like riddles, but rather straightforward answers about gods at the time. I think adding some new, modern riddles for the readers to solve themseles would make for a good story. Maybe even just a story of riddles themselves. In the end, his choice of which brother to save was kinda dumb, but the reason behind it justified it and I respected him more for that.

(Yudhisthira and the crane. Source: Wikipedia)

Bibliography: Mahabharata, R.K. Narayan. Book
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