Reading Notes: Reading A: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu p. 69 - 98

Wanting to be more. 

For this week’s reading, I chose to read Richard Wilson version of the Mahabharata called, The Five Tall Sons of Pandu. There was an explanation before the reading guide that informed me that Wilson took out the gods and the supernatural elements from the book version of the Mahabharata I had read. Because of this shift in the story, the Pandu brothers are not born from different gods with supernatural abilities, but they are still considered great warrior and honorable princes. Arjun is also still considered the greatest bowman and is challenged by his half-brother Karna (they do not know this yet). In this version, it seems that it mentions a lot more that Karna is from a lower birth the princes. They even have a scene where Karna bows to a charioteer and one of the Pandu brothers makes fun of him and remarks that he is from inferior birth. It made me feel sorry for his character. But it also made me angry towards the Pandu brothers who are thought to be grand examples of how royalty should act. Draupadi also thought Karna of a lower status than her, even though he had been crowned king by Duryodhan, she would not let him even attempt to win her in the archery contest. I think a story could be created from Karna point of view of him not feeling like he is enough when he is around anyone other than servants. Even though he is a mighty warrior, he still feels out of place being a king. Also, he could have always loved and wanted to be with Draupadi but knew because of his birth he would not want her. So, from a young age, he aspired to be the greatest bowman so he could one day impress Draupadi. One particular part that was the same in both stories is Arjun wins Draupadi in the same contest concealed as a hermit. However, instead of Draupadi being shared amongst the brothers as all of their wives, the gift of Draupadi is bestowed upon the oldest brother Yudhishthir. Even though I enjoyed a woman getting to have multiple husbands in the other story, this seemed to be a more "normal" storyline. However, Draupadi’s feelings are not taken into account. How does she feel about going to the eldest son? Maybe, even though she marries Yudhishthir, Draupadi also harbors feelings for Arjun the great bowman who won her from the start.

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