Week 13 Story: King Yudhishthira Interview

This is just a small excerpt of the only exclusive interview with King Yudhishthira after the Mahabharata War. If you would like to get access to the full version please subscribe to our reading. Thank you. 

Interviewer: King Yudhishthira it is said that you grew exponentially as a person while going through different tests during your twelve-year exile. Which test do you think you learned the most from?

King Yudhishthira: There were many tests during our exile, but I think the one that helped me see that I was capable of becoming king after my gambling blunder was when I was tested by the Yaksha, Prashna. As you know, Yaksha have the ability to shapeshift into any creature they want. But unless they make themselves known to you, you would have no idea that you are in the presence of a Yaksha.

Interviewer: Thank you for explaining that to our readers, I know I am never clear on the different non-human races. What exactly is the job of a Yaksha?

King Yudhishthira: There job is to protect nature, like the trees, rivers, and lakes. And it just so happened that Prashna had shapeshifted into a crane to safeguard a sacred lake.

Interviewer: And how did you and your brothers stumble upon this sacred lake?

King Yudhishthira: Well, a huge deer had stolen items a brahmin was using for his prayers. I knew it was our duty to help the brahmin, so my brother and I set out to get the brahmins items back. We chased after the deer all over the forest but were never able to catch him. We grew tired and dehydrated. So, one by one, we set out to find water to drink and then planned on returning to let the others know where the water was located. Slowly each of my brothers went off in search of water when one had taken too long and still had not returned. I was the last of my brothers to find the lake, and when I did, I was stunned by the scene. All of my brother lied dead on the banks of the lake.

Interviewer: Did you try and look for someone who might have hurt them or did you come to the conclusion that it was a Yaksha?

King Yudhishthira: I do have to say at first, I thought someone had slain my brother. But after getting over the shock of the situation, I calmed myself down and viewed my surroundings. After looking around I noticed there was no blood or footprints that went away from my brothers’ bodies, then I saw the crane Prashna and asked him if he knew what happened to my brothers.

Interviewer: I am astounded you were able to take a step back from that situation with the bodies of your brothers all laying in front of you, to gather a calm head and assess the situation.

King Yudhishthira: At this moment that is when I learned that as a leader, you must be calm and collected if you want to help others. By stopping myself and assessing the situation, I was able to find that the lake was cursed and if I answered a hundred question, I would be able to drink from the lake and save my brothers. This was an important moment for me when I learned about patients and how best to help others.

Interviewer: That is a valuable lesson and a great attribute in our King. Thank you for telling me that story, our readers can hopefully learn from it and see why you make such a great leader.

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Author's Notes:  This story came from a combination of two separate books but all of the facts are true. I wanted to keep the tale the same but explain it together as a whole story from Yudhishthira point of view. The information about the Yaksha was found in the book 51 Lesser Known Tales from The Mahabharata by Sharath Komarraju, specifically from the tale, The Yaksha Prashna. The tale goes into more detail about what happened when Yudhishthira arrived at the lake in the story The Mahabharata. It also talks about  how this particular tale is important for Yudhishthira character and how this test helps him become a wiser man and the future king. The information that leads up to the brothers looking for the lake was found in the book The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!

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Image: Yudhishthira and the Yaksha, Prashna. Source: Wikipedia by Ramanarayandatta

Week 12 Story: The Question Corner

Welcome readers to the Question Corner, 

Where I go over a story from an India Epics and then pose questions about the story and what the reader thinks might be the right or wrong decision. This week I think I might have found the craziest story where we learn about the characters in the tale of “The Mahabharata” trying to make sure the Pandavas win the war at any cost. I try to stay bias but this story is just… 

Well here, let me explain.

Everyone knows that Vishnu has many forms but, did you know that he had another form, other than Krishna, that helped the Pandavas win the Mahabharata War.  Well he did, and this other form is called Mohini. The avatar of Mohini is actually a woman. And while she has helped in different Indian tales, today we will learn about her eccentric heroics in the tale of “The Mahabharata”.

The day before the great war between the Pandavas (sons of Pandu) and the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarashtra). The Kauravas sacrificed a white elephant for victory. When the Pandavas heard of this, they knew that they needed to sacrifice someone to counter the opposition. Krishna told Yudhisthir that is had to be a worthy human for the sacrifice to help. So, Arjun’s son Iravan volunteered to be sacrificed but before he had to die; he wished to be married, consummate the marriage, and then have his wife mourn his death. The Pandavas and Krishna saw these conditions as reasonable and set out to find a woman for Iravan to marry.

Sadly, the men are unable to find a woman that only wanted to be married a day and then be widowed. Surprise there. So, to fulfill Iravan last wish, Krishna assumes the form of Mohini.  Now here is where the story gets a little weird. I am not sure if the other men knew about Krishna turning into Mohini, but I am hoping that if they did they kept it a secret from Iravan. Would you want to know your wife was actually a man moment before you met her? And not just any man, a man you had been friends with? But let’s just hope that no one was aware of this and Krishna just disappears for a couple of days and no one questions his whereabouts during this time. 

Sorry I got off track. Back to the story… 

Iravan meets Mohini and she of course agrees to marry him. Iravan is super happy he has found someone to marry him. They spend their wedding night together in passion and then the next morning Iravan goes off to be scarified for the war effort. After his death, as promised, Mohini mourns the loss of her husband then turns back into Krishna to help the Pandavas with the war.  

Strange story, right? Now I pose the question to the readers, was Iravan sacrifice worth it? Is it weird that he was with Krishna/Mohini and was not aware that the women he married would be gone from existence soon after he died? This story just brought so many questions to mind so please feel free to send in some letters. I need some feedback. Hope you read next time, when I pose questions about an even crazier story that involves a young child eating his father’s dead flesh. 

Until next time,  

            The Question Master

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Author's Notes: For this story I tried writing in a very new style for me. I made the writer seem like he is posting a blog or maybe has an article in the newspaper that is about making the reader laugh and keeping them entertained. I got this idea for writing in this manner when I was reading the original stories in the book, 51 Lesser Known Tales from The Mahabharata by Sharath Komarraju. The book is filled with short stories that go with The Mahabharata tale but did not make into the main stream version of the story. While I was reading these stories, the short story of The Avatar of Convenience: Mohini really stuck out to me. The facts in my story are accurate to what I read in the book but the book tells the story so straight forward. I wanted to turn the story into something light hearted and give it some comedy.  This is why the story is from the prospective of an outside columnist who stumbled upon the tale. Everything out the tale just seemed so bizarre I felt that anyone who read it would be just as awe-shocked as myself. Also the last note about another story is actually information about another short story in the book called, Pandu's Last Wish. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!

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Image: Question made from scrabble pieces. Source: The Blue Diamond Gallery by Nick Youngson

Week 11 Story: The Goblin Island

Everyone knows that there are goblins but did you know that there are she-goblins? Well, there are. They are just like other goblins, but they possess the magic to transform into beautiful women so that they can lure human men into falling in love with them so that it would be easier to eat them. On an island, a large group of only she-goblins was able to flourish by luring sailors into the town because of their magical beauty. And since no one ever escaped the island, the she-goblins were able to continue attracting sailors to the island and feast on their flesh. But one she-goblin would change everything.

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It had been about a week since the she-goblins had gotten to eat. They were starving and ready for a ship to sail close enough to the island to lure the men in. Just at that moment, a ship began to sail by close enough to the island. The head of the she-goblins, Vanessa, turned to the others and said, "Ladies let's look our best. This time we must try and ration the sailors better. So, each night we will select only a couple to eat that way we be sustained longer till the next ship comes along."

All of the other she-goblins were excited and very hungry for flesh except, Tracey. She did not seem to like the taste of human flesh and always felt terrible that they killed all of the sailors. But that was the way she was raised. Not wanting to cause trouble or not be like the rest she continued eating the sailors as she was ordered by Vanessa. Tracey did not know that this boat of sailors would change her way of life.

As usual, the she-goblins were paired with the sailors and used their magic to make the men fall in love with them. However, because of Vanessa rationing of the men, Tracey began to get to know her sailor husband. It did not take long for Tracey to realize that she was actually in love with her human husband. But what could she do? Vanessa would never let him live, and there was no way off the island. Not even a she-goblin could leave the island.

In the middle of the night, Tracey snuck out of her house and went down to the sea. That day Vanessa had told her that they would be eating her sailor for dinner in two days. Tracey went to the sea hoping to discover an answer, sitting down on a rock by the ocean she kept going over her options of how to save her husband. She could try to tell him that they were goblins but he would never listen because of the magic. She could try to fight the other she-goblins, but there were so many of them. She would end up dead, and then they would eat him or worst they would eat him in front of her then kill her.

A sea fairy was not far away listening to Tracey go over an impossible puzzle of how to save her husband that she appeared in front of her. At first, the sea fairy was scared; the she-goblin magic did not work on the sea fairy, so she saw Tracey as her true self. Very timidly she told Tracy, "I can help save your sailor. But you will have to stay on the island; I cannot help evil creatures."

With tears in her eyes, Tracey knew that this would be her only hope of saving her sailor's life. So, she agreed to help the sea fairy. That night when Tracey returned home, she made a bunch of noise then called over some of the other she-goblins. When they arrived Tracey let them know that she had missed out on the meal that night and wondered if there were any left-overs?

The others she-goblins crackled telling her of course not, they devoured those sailors within minutes. But not to worry she would get the first bite the next day since they would be eating her sailor soon. Trying to keep the ruse going, Tracey smiled then started to chant their eating verse,

"Man's meat, man's meat,
That's what goblins like to eat!"

The other she-goblins joined in, and after a few minutes, Tracey felt that enough noise had been made. Tracey shushed the she-goblins and let them out so they could get some rest. Then she went off to bed, hoping that the sea fairy had kept her end of the promise and finish the rest of the plan to save her beloved sailor.

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Author's Notes: This story comes from a combination of two tales, one called The Goblin Town by Noor Inayat and the other called, The Goblin City by W. H. D. Rouse. Both of the stories are about a town/city of she-goblins that lure sailors into their town/city so that they can eat them. One night a sailor is woken up after hearing some noise realizes that the women are all she-goblins. In the tale of The Goblin City, the man’s meat chant is what gives it away that they woman are all goblins. Then the stories split the design on how the sailors are rescued. The Goblin City sailors have a fairy that helps them, while The Goblin Town sailors have a mysterious voice that save them. Either way both groups of sailors are saved by a flying horse that takes them home. I wanted to change up who helped the sailors and changed the story to a forbidden love. Even though Tracey cannot save herself from being evil, she can save the man she has fallen in love with from being eaten. I decided to still keep the story morbid which is why Tracey is still stuck on the island and will never be able to leave. I also added the man’s meat chant to make it obvious that she is trying to get her husband to figure out that they are she-goblins and try to get off the island. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!

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Image: The picture of the flying horse from The Goblin Town book. Source:  Twenty Jataka Tales by H. Willebeek Le Mair

Week 10 Story: Crocodile Tears

Where did the phrase come from? 

This is the story of why we call insincere tears, "crocodile tears." It all started when a husband and wife crocodile were relaxing in the river under the shade of some fruit trees. The wife kept hearing a rustling above her, and the noise was making it hard for her to sleep. When she looked up, she saw a monkey looking through the tree for some fruit to eat. Angry that he had disturbed her slumber, she woke her husband.

"Honey, I cannot get any sleep with all of that noise. Make that monkey stop." The wife snapped at her husband.

The husband looked up and politely asked, "Sorry to bother you monkey, but my wife is trying to sleep could you try to keep it down?"

The monkey had not realized that there were two crocodiles underneath him. If he had seen them, he would have kept quiet. Genuinely sorry he told the crocodiles, "I am very sorry to have disturbed you two. I thought I was all alone. This tree seems to be out of fruit so I will be on my way."

Happy with how the monkey had responded the husband slowly shut his eyes and was soon fast asleep again. But the wife was not pleased. Why did her husband let the monkey get away? He had always been too caring for other animals. He tried to be a peacekeeper. She wished he would be ruthless. She loved to eat the hearts of monkeys and could not get that monkey's heart out of her mind.

She watched as the monkey leaped to another tree but as he did a branch fell to the ground. This gave the crocodile wife a nasty idea. She went and retrieved the stick and carefully placed it on her back. Then she began to make herself cry.

The husband awoke to the crocodile tears of his wife. Worried that something terrible must have happened to her, he asked her, "My dear, what is wrong? Tell me what you need to stop those sad tears."

The wife told him through floods of tears, "That monkey was mad you made him leave and threw a stick down at me. Why do monkeys have to be such mean animals."

Once the husband heard this, he was furious. He tried to comfort his wife telling her, "Dear please do not cry. I hate to see you cry. I will make that monkey pay." And off the husband swam, set out to kill the monkey that had made his wife cry and bring the heart back to her to show his love.

During this entire facade the crocodile wife had created, the monkey had been watching up in a new tree slight ways down. Even though he was not guilty, he knew he would have to convince the crocodile husband of his innocence.

When the crocodile husband found the monkey, he left the water and waited at the trunk of the tree. Even though the monkey tried to plead with the husband he would not believe that his wife had made everything up. The husband vowed to wait under the tree till the monkey would leave so he could kill him and give his monkey heart to his wife.

Unknown to everyone in the situation a wise lion had watched the entire scene while sunbathing on a rock in view of everything. Seeing the monkey was in great distress he decided to go down and help out. When the lion reached the tree, the crocodile quickly told him, "Do not try to help this monkey he was mean to my wife not once but twice. He must suffer the consequences of his actions!"

The wise lion yawned then laughed and said, "The only animal that needs to suffer the consequences of their actions in your dear wife. Mr. Crocodile, she has played you as a fool. While up on my rock I saw your wife's crocodile tears but they were fake tears so that you would get this monkey's heart for her. This monkey has done nothing wrong."

Confused and hurt the crocodile slunk back into the water towards his wife. He looked at her the solemnly then told her, "From now on, anytime you cry, whether it is real or not, I will assume you are creating fake crocodile tears. No lion or monkey or any other animal will ever be able to trust a crocodile's tears from now on."

And so, this is how insincere tears became known as crocodile tears. And a crocodile's tears have never been trusted since.

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Author's Notes: In my story, I used elements from W.H.D. short tale, The Crocodile, and the Monkey. In the original story, a crocodile wife merely tells her husband she wants to eat a monkey's heart and is so upset about not having one that she cries "crocodile tears." When I heard this phrase in the original story, I knew I wanted to create a story about the origin of the phrase, "crocodile tear." In the original story, the crocodile husband tries to trick the monkey by offering him a ride on his back across the river to another fruit tree so that he can give his wife the monkey's heart to eat. The monkey catches on to the crocodile's plan and lies to him that he does not keep his heart in his body but in a tree. The husband crocodile gets tricked by the monkey and the monkey is able to live. I deiced to keep the characters, for the most part, the same by having a husband and wife crocodile enjoying time together in the river and the fact that the wife wanted to eat the monkey's heart. However, for my story, I had to make the husband crocodile seem friendlier and caring about the balance of nature, even though once again he can be tricked by another character in the story. Because of the husband's personality, the wife is angry and wants to trick her husband into getting the monkey's heart for her. The monkey character was pretty much the same, just trying to stay alive which is why he leaves when the crocodile asks him nicely the first time. I added the character of the wise lion since this animal would be intimidating to the crocodile so that he would listen to him about the truth. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!

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Image: Saltwater crocodile swimming in a swamp. Source: Wikipedia by Matt

Week 9 Story: Before the Rivalry Began

I am born to be something more. 

When I was little, I would love to go with my father when he would visit King Draupad. My father was a great charioteer, and King Draupad would only go into battle with my father as his driver. Even though my father was not born of noble birth, King Draupad always treated him and my family as equals. I would watch them leave for battle and could not hold back my excitement. One day I would leave for battle and return victorious just like them.

We were allowed to visit the capitol anytime. But when my father was away in battles with King Draupad, my mother and me stayed at the capitol. During our time at the capitol, I would play with the prince and princess. It was a simple time. As children, we did not know about birth rights and ranking. But as I got older, I learned that even though the prince and princess treated me like a friend, I was still beneath. I was still a servant.

When the prince began to train in weaponry to become a skillful warrior, I would watch from a distance envious. My parents had already told me that I would be trained to be a skillful charioteer. It would be my honor to be the charioteer for the prince who would one day be king. But in my soul, I could feel that I was meant for more than being a charioteer to a king. I was meant to be a warrior.

My charioteer training began. But I would keep a watchful eye on the prince's training. That way whenever I got the chance, I could practice weaponry to become a skillful warrior. The prince would even come over and spar with me. Even though we both knew what place we had to take when we were old enough the prince knew I wanted more. The years passed and my training continued until today.

Today I heard that King Dhrita-rashtra plans to have a tournament so that his sons and nephews can showcase their warrior skills. There is a warrior that everyone marvels at his ability, Prince Arjun.  I know that if I can show that I am a greater warrior than he is, I will have to be accepted as a warrior. All I have to do is beat Arjun in front of everyone, and everyone will know that I am more than a charioteer.  

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Author's Notes: This story is meant to be a prequel to Karna's life before he goes off to challenge Arjun in the tournament in the Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan and The Five Tall Sons of Pandu by Richard Wilson. Even though Karan is actually of royal birth, he does not know that he is related to the Pandu brothers until the end of the story. In both of the stories, we learn that Karna is raised by a charioteer, but we do not learn any more about his childhood. I pictured that even though Karna respected and honored his adopted father profession, it was not the life he wanted. He felt like he was born to be more. (Which he actually was but did not know it.) So, I combined the childhood of Karna with the childhood of a prince and princess. This way he could see how a prince lived and started becoming envious of being a warrior from a young age. I wanted to show that he was determined to become the best. So that when he learned about Arjun being the greatest warrior he felt that the only way he could feel better about himself was to defeat Arjun. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!

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Image: The coronation of Karna to be a king. Source: Wikipedia 

Week 7 Story: A Fire Begins to Grow

It only takes a small spark to start a blazing fire. 

A picturesque woman has experienced another traumatic incident. She is embarrassed and ashamed of what has happened to her. She tried to warn others for help, but no one came to her rescue. She attempts to hide from the world's prying eyes. Beneath the covers and her bed sheets solemnly crying. Suddenly a fire of courage begins to grow inside her heart. 

"No longer will I hope that my husbands will protect me and keep me safe! First, I was wagered and lost to their hateful cousin Duryodhana. Then royal men of noble birth stood by as my clothes were attempted to be torn off my body. All while my husbands' heads were hung down in shame and they did nothing to stop the monstrosity. Yudhistira was born through the god Yama. Arjuna was born through the god Indra. Bhima was born through the god Vayu. Nakula and Sahadeva were born through the god Aswins. All of my husbands possess talents and strengths from their lineage that other warriors will never have yet use none of it to save me. I tried to be a good wife. I went into banishment with them for twelve years. I then became a Sairandhari and worked in Virata's woman's chambers for a year. My husbands were warned about taking care of me when we were in Virata's kingdom but did they? NO. That is why Kichakak assaulted me. He knew that no one would protect me. He probably laughed when the Queen said I had five Gandharvas who would watch over me if he attempted anything. I can longer put my safety in the hands of these men. How can I consider these cowardice men my husbands? They do not protect me, and they do not fulfill their vows that we took when we were married. I must be in charge of my fate now! No man from this day forward will be expected to save me. I will not need to be safeguarded but take matters into my own hands. First, I will begin by taking care of Kichakak. He has been the fuel to feed the fire inside my heart and grow it into a malevolent wrath. But the first spark was created by Duryodhana and he will fill the final heat from me when he perishes. Tonight, will be the last night I cry.”
 

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Author’s Notes: In the story of The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan, Draupadi is the wife of the five Pandavas brothers Yudhistira, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva all born from gods. But after two different incidents where Draupadi is treated maliciously by other men. Her husbands, in my opinion, do little to protect her. All of the Pandavas brothers are born from gods and are assumed to be extraordinary warriors but they fail to be a warrior and protect their wife. This story is an inner monologue that Draupadi has after she is assa

ulted by Kichaka. She has gone through a lot being married to the Pandava brothers and I envisioned her as a strong woman. So, instead of being the proper Indian wife, passive and polite, running to the men for help. Draupadi gets angry and becomes revengeful towards the two men who harmed her. While she is also angry with her husbands for not helping, she has just become cold towards them and no longer relies on them for protection. In the orginal story when Kichakak assaults Draupadi, Bhima does come in after the fact and kill Kichakak to avenge Draupadi. This gave me idea to change the ending to have the reader think that Draupadi was going to be the one to go kill Kichakak and then her next target would be Duryodhana.

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Image: Fire. Source: Wikipedia by Awesomoman