Streszczenie książki Mahabharata

The story in 10 parts

1. Key idea 1

   A tournament shows the princes and their rivalry

   The first book opens at Hastina, capital of the Kurus. The blind king Dhrita-rashtra raises his late brother Pandu's five sons beside his own hundred. Their teacher Drona asks the king to let the boys show what they have learned, and the king agrees with a glad heart.

   A meadow is cleared, a fountain sparkles, and white tents rise around the field. The townsfolk roar like an ocean in a storm. Bhima and Duryodhan take up heavy maces and circle each other like wild elephants. The crowd splits into two shouting camps, and Drona sends his son to part the fighters.

   Here lies the seed of the whole epic. Duryodhan is jealous of his cousins, and Bhima is quick to answer him. Then Arjun, the finest archer, steps forward in golden mail, and his mother weeps for joy. A play fight among cousins can carry the seed of a war.

2. Key idea 2

   A nameless archer is crowned by Arjun's rival

   As the games end, a deep clash of weapons shakes the ground. A tall warrior in golden armour moves toward the field like a walking cliff. This is Karna, whose parentage is unknown to the crowd. He says in a voice like thunder that he can match every feat Arjun has shown.

   Karna repeats each feat, and Duryodhan embraces him and offers his wealth. Karna asks only for a duel with Arjun. In the stands Pritha, the mother of the Pandavs, faints, for she alone seems to know a secret about this warrior.

   Then the teacher Kripa halts the fight with a rule of war. A prince may not meet a man of unknown birth. Karna bows his head in shame. Duryodhan makes him king of Anga on the spot and asks only for his friendship. A single generous act can win a loyalty that nothing later will break.

3. Key idea 3

   Arjun wins Draupadi in a Brahman's disguise

   Duryodhan plots to kill the Pandavs in a house built of easy fuel. The five brothers and their mother escape through a tunnel and wander the forests disguised as Brahmans. Hearing of a bride's choice in Panchala, they go to the feast, lodge in a potter's cottage and beg for food.

   King Drupad sets a test for his daughter Draupadi. Whoever strings a stiff bow and sends five arrows through a whirling disc to hit a distant target wins her. One by one the kings fail, for the bow springs back and throws them down. Karna strings the bow, but Draupadi says she will not wed a charioteer's son.

   Then a young Brahman steps out of the crowd. Arjun walks around the bow, prays, bends it, and sends his arrows through the disc. Draupadi throws the bridal garland over him. The angry kings charge, but Krishna knows the brothers and calms them. Real worth can hide in plain clothes, and it shows itself at the moment of the test.

4. Key idea 4

   An imperial feast ends with Krishna's honour and a challenge

   The realm is divided. Duryodhan keeps the rich part with Hastina, while the Pandavs receive a forest on the Jumna river. They clear it and build Indra-prastha. Yudhishthir then plans the Rajasuya, a sacrifice that claims the title of emperor, and his brothers march out to win the other kings.

   The guests gather, and Duryodhan, watching the splendour, grows more bitter. On the day of anointing, Bhishma says the first honour belongs to the worthiest and names Krishna, comparing him to the sun among the planets.

   Sisupala, king of Chedi, shakes with rage and says Krishna is no king, elder or priest. Krishna replies with a list of wrongs. He had promised Sisupala's mother to forgive a hundred offences, and he says the count is now full. His whirling disc ends Sisupala's life. Great power draws envy, and the envious wait for a weak moment.

5. Key idea 5

   A rigged game of dice costs the Pandavs everything

   Duryodhan goes home from the feast sick with jealousy. His uncle Sakuni hates the Pandavs too, and he is an expert with loaded dice. Yudhishthir, for all his goodness, loves to gamble, and he thinks it dishonourable to refuse a challenge.

   Game after game he loses, and each loss stings him into a larger stake. First go his gold and chariots, then his empire, then his brothers, then himself, and finally Draupadi. She asks a hard question. Could a man who had already lost himself still stake his wife?

   Duhsasan drags her into the council hall. The elders are shamed but stay mostly silent, and Karna and Duryodhan insult her. Bhima swears to break the knee Duryodhan used. Then omens frighten the old king, and he offers Draupadi any gift she names. She asks that her husband and his brothers be freed. The brothers go into exile. Honour without wisdom can ruin a house, and one brave woman can win a measure of it back.

6. Key idea 6

   Savitri's tale shows love that argues with Death

   The exile lasts twelve years. Draupadi cooks and sweeps the forest cottage, and at night she grieves over her loosened hair and her vow of vengeance. The sage Markandeya comes when Yudhishthir is mourning her pain. Yudhishthir asks whether any woman has ever loved and suffered more, and the sage answers with the story of Savitri.

   Savitri is so radiant that no prince dares ask for her hand. Sent out to choose, she returns with the name Satyavan, son of a blind king who lost his kingdom. The sage Narad warns that Satyavan will die exactly one year later. Savitri will not choose again.

   On the fated morning she follows Satyavan into the forest. He grows faint while cutting wood, lays his head on her lap, and dies. Yama, king of the dead, draws out his spirit. Savitri follows him along his dark road, and her words move him again and again. He gives her sight for her father-in-law and his lost kingdom. A faithful heart can answer even Death.

7. Key idea 7

   A year of disguise ends with a cattle raid

   After twelve years in the forest the brothers must live unrecognised for a thirteenth year, or begin another twelve. They take service with King Virata. Yudhishthir becomes a courtier skilled at dice, Bhima a cook, Nakula a stableman and Sahadeva a cowherd. Draupadi is a maid, and Arjun lives as Brihannala, a teacher of music and dance.

   Then Duryodhan comes from the north with Bhishma, Drona and Karna and drives off the cattle. Young Prince Uttara boasts loudly but has no charioteer, and Draupadi suggests that Brihannala once drove for Arjun.

   Arjun halts at a tree where long bundles hang like corpses. They are wrapped weapons, and the finest is his own bow, Gandiva. Its deep voice tells the Kurus who has come, and old Drona knows the year is over. Arjun routs the Kuru soldiers and the herds go home. Patience and disguise can keep a promise whole until the right moment comes.

8. Key idea 8

   Peace is pleaded for and refused at Hastina

   With exile over, Yudhishthir asks for Indra-prastha back. His allies meet in Virata's hall. Krishna proposes sending a wise envoy to ask for the kingdom. Satyaki rises in fury and calls this a coward's counsel.

   Old King Drupad judges the matter coolly. He believes Duryodhan will not yield, so he advises sending an offer of peace while heralds seek allies. Peace and war are prepared together. The envoy fails, and Krishna himself goes to Hastina, pleading for the old king to be a father again to Pandu's sons.

   Bhishma, Drona and Vidura all urge Duryodhan to yield, and the blind king weeps and begs his son to accept. Duryodhan answers in fury. He will not give up so much as a needle's point of land, and a Kshatra breaks like timber but never bends. Peace fails not for lack of wise words but because one proud will refuses them.

9. Key idea 9

   Duty is tested by promise, loyalty and kinship

   Again and again the poem asks what a person owes. Draupadi, still burning over her insults, urges Yudhishthir to take back his kingdom by force. Yudhishthir refuses, because he gave his word.

   Loyalty pulls in other directions. Bhishma loves the Pandavs like a grandfather, yet he stays by Duryodhan because Duryodhan is his lord. Drona warns the prince against war, but he stands with the Kurus all the same. Arjun says a pupil must never kill his teacher, and he bows to Drona before riding past him.

   Women speak the moral voice of the poem. Draupadi asks the whole hall where Kuru virtue has gone, and no man can answer her. Savitri argues that eternal law does not part wife and husband. Duty is a question of conscience as much as arms. Duty held without mercy or wisdom can harden into hatred.

10. Key idea 10

    The rivalry of Arjun and Karna, and how verse tells it

    Karna and Arjun stand like mirror images. One has the rain god as his patron and the other the sun, and each is the finest archer of his side. Dutt says their rivalry is the central theme of the epic, as Achilles and Hector are for the Iliad. Each is a son of Pritha, though neither knows it at first, and that hidden bond gives their rivalry a tragic weight.

    Dutt tells the tale in rhyming couplets, with long lines that roll like a chant. His pictures come as similes drawn from jungle, sea and sky. A crowd roars like an ocean, warriors move like tuskers in a forest, and a hero shines like a comet.

    Banners give the army a face. Arjun carries a monkey standard, Bhishma a palm tree, and Bhima a silver lion. These lists help the ear keep track. A poem that tells of kings can still be as personal as a duel between two men.