Week 5 Reading Diary: The Mahabharata [PDE]

Mahabharata: by various authors

We started a new epic this week and I had high expectations. So far into the epic and I'm liking it a lot. One of my favorite characters is Ganga. She not only seems very powerful, she is pretty smart too. I love the part when Shantanu sees her in her human form and is mesmerized, asking her to be his wife. Her response is the best thing ever. She says, "she must needs at once part from him if he spoke harshly to her at any time or attempted to thwart her in doing as she willed." I'm a bit sad they "broke up" but I do love the picture used in the chapter that shows them with their son, Devavrata.

Ganga, Shantanu, and Devavrata (Image Source).

Shantanu does get some points back, though. When he meets Satyavati and wants to marry her, he asks her father's permission and he says he'll only allow it if he makes Satyavati's son heir to the throne. Shantanu "could not consent to disinherit Devavrata, son of Ganga, and went away with a heavy heart."

Although, there was not a lot of story content between Pandu and Madri, I really like them for some reason. I really would have liked more interactions and scenes between them because it said she was his favorite wife.

In the chapters after, there is a skills tournament between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Karna, son of Surya and Kunti,  makes an appearance. I really liked how he was described in the chapter. He was said to be "comely as a shining god, clad in golden armor and wearing celestial earrings, and in his right hand carried a great many-colored bow. He paused in the center of the plain and surveyed the people with pride." They descriptions really helped me picture him as charismatic and powerful. I can't wait to read more of the story!