Storytelling for Week 6: The Mahabharata

Author's Note. For this week's storytelling, I decided I wanted to incorporate one of my favorite book series---Harry Potter! I've read the books one too many times and love them more each and every time. Since completing the Mahabharata, there is one scene that reminds me of something in one of the books. This will have a lot of spoilers about the last book in the HP series...just a warning! In the last book of the Harry Potter series [SPOILER ALERT], there is a stone, called the resurrection stone, that gave the owner the power to bring back loved ones from the dead (in a kind of half ghost, half living form). While reading the Mahabharata, there was a scene towards the end where the Pandavas get to see their lost loved ones in the Ganges River. In my story, I will write about the Harry Potter trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) and one of the Patil sisters, Pavarti, talking about this part of the Mahabharata. This story will take place following the [SPOILER ALERT] great Battle of Hogwarts where Harry is recalling the power of the stone that he used to see his loved ones before going to Voldemort--the big bad guy for anyone who has not read the series :). Just for some background information: the students attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are put into certain "houses"/"teams" (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin). Each "team" has a certain part of the castle where they live in, and each house's common room is a kind of living room that the students spend their time in. Any characters mentioned that are not the trio are simply other characters in the Harry Potter series. Hope you enjoy!




Gryffindor Common Room

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, recalling the events of the Battle that had just occurred a few weeks ago.

The trio in the Common Room (Image Source).

Harry always felt a stab of pain any time the Battle was mentioned. He could not help but feel the agony of the loss of so many of his closest friends, those he considered his family. Those that supported him. Those that fought for him. Those that died for him. He tried to push the thought away and focus on the positive changes that were slowly happening after their world had been rid of the awful enemy.

Hermione and Ron could not help but wonder at those moments right before Harry confronted Voldemort. Ron hesitantly approached the subject.

"Say, Harry, you don't have to tell us anything about it if you don't want to...but how did it feel right before you faced Voldemort. I mean, bloody hell, I would have been scared out of my mind!"

Hermione scolded him, "Oh Ronald. Be a bit more sensitive about this will you?!"

Harry realized he had not yet told his closest friends all about the time right before he was willing to give up his life to end the Battle of Hogwarts. Ron was right. He was scared out of his mind. Which is why he had used the resurrection stone. Harry decided the time was finally right to tell them just what unfolded in the last part of the Battle between him and Voldemort.

"It's fine, Hermione. Really. I'm sorry I haven't told you both about what happened but I've just had a lot to process."

Hermione didn't want Harry to feel guilty at all.

"Oh Harry, don't apologize! We know you needed time to think everything through."

Ron nodded in agreement and Harry finally began his story.

"As I was walking in the forest toward Voldemort, I could hear him and his followers in the clearance right beyond me. I was very nervous, like you said Ron. I needed support. But there was no one around me. I took the resurrection stone out of my pocket and, in that moment, I knew what I needed to do. I turned it over in my hand three times and whispered that I was about to die. It was incredible. Just incredible. Almost immediately, ghost-like forms of my parents, Lupin, and Sirius came forth. They were almost real, but not quite solid..y'know?"

Ron and Hermione could only nod in silence as Harry continued on.

"I could talk to them, they could talk to me. They gave me the support and love and comfort that I needed to take those steps toward Voldemort. I am still a bit freaked out about just how powerful that stone was. I mean really...I got to see my loved ones even after they died. Have you ever heard of something like that?!"

One of the Patil sisters, Pavarti, was sitting on a couch near the trio and could not help but overhear what Harry had been telling Ron and Hermione. She got up and made her way toward her fellow Gryffindors. To provide him with some comfort, she wanted to tell him about an Indian epic she had read a long time ago.

"Hi Harry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but overhear your story about the resurrection stone. You seem a little apprehensive about the incredible power of the stone. I just wanted to let you know that it is not a crazy idea. I read this Indian epic a while back called the Mahabharata, and in the story a similar thing happened. Following a lengthy and tragic battle, the survivors are in mourning and in need of reassurance and comfort...some closure as well, understandably. A great sage called Vyasa came and told them that he would be able to relieve their suffering. He told them that they should bathe in the great Ganges River and after that, they would be able to see their lost loved ones again."

Pavarti Patil in the Common Room (Image Source).

Harry listened with rapt attention, as though his life depended on it. What happened in the forest for him was no small incident. It was not something he could just accept and forget. It was a lot to take in and rationalize. He listened closely as Pavarti continued.

"They did as they were told and bathed in the Ganges. The river water began to bubble and foam, and one after another, all the deceased relatives and comrades ascended through the water. They reunited with their loved ones, hugged, wept, and held on to each other tightly. Their grief and suffering slowly began to ebb away as they felt such joy from seeing each other once again. Once the sun began to rise, the deceased parted from their loved ones and made their way back to the water. Although they would not come back to life, this powerful reunion of the dead with the living helped ease the sorrow and grief that everyone had felt. They got the closure that they needed. From that day on, they were able to go on with their lives, thinking of their lost loved ones with happy memories."

Harry felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was not crazy. The stone was not crazy. Everything that had happened was not crazy. It was a process of closure that he had to go through. Harry wondered if the story Pavarti had told was real.

"What an incredible story, Pavarti. Thank you. Really. Thank you so much. You don't know how much I needed that. But...I am curious about something. Is this a real story or just something that someone made up in their head?"

Pavarti could only smile before saying, "Of course it happened inside their head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"***


~The End~


Bibliography.
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Web Source: Mahabharata [PDE].
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007).
***A direct quote--(but spoken by Dumbledore) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007).

Week 6 Reading Diary, continued: The Mahabharata [PDE]

Mahabharata: by various authors

I got to finally finish the epic today. I am sad to see it end but I loved reading all about how the story comes to a close.

The scene where Abhimanyu dies was such a sad scene! The way he died and poor Arjuna's hearing about it was absolutely heartbreaking. It says that "when it was told to Arjuna that his son was slain, the mighty warrior wept silently and lay upon the ground." This sentence was so powerful because it shows just how much the mighty warrior loved his son and how absolutely distraught he was at his son's death. He did get his revenge and killed the one who killed his son. Sadly, Ghaotkacha, Bhima's son, also loses his life in battle.

As Bhima stated before, he finally gets his revenge on Duhshana for having humiliating Draupadi all those years ago.

The battle of Arjuna and Karna was long-awaited! It was a short chapter but it was so unbelievably captivating. The intensity and suspense was so incredible throughout the fight. It was also a bit sad for me to read because, in the end, it is the two brothers fighting against each other.
even though Arjuna came out the victor, I was so sad to see that it was at his hands that his brother died. Just tragic.

It was a short little scene, but I loved that Kunti was able to reunite with her five sons and Draupadi!

I finally got to read about the battle I've been waiting most for! The battle between Duryodhana and Bhima! The way the battle was described was just great with Duryodhana being in the lake before the battle eventually commences. It says that "the warriors fought like two fierce bulls, and smote one another heavy blows, until their faces were reddened with blood. Once Duryodhana almost achieved victory, for her struck Bhima on the head so that all present thought that the Pandava hero had received his deathblow. Bhima staggered but recovered himself, and soon afterwards he struck Duryodhana a foul blow upon the knee, which smashed the bone so that he fell prostrate. Thus was the vow of Bhima fulfilled." My expectations for this battle were fulfilled as well.

Duryodhana in the lake before the real fight begins (Image Source).

The departure of all the characters was bittersweet. It describes it as them all walking "towards the rising sun, and by the long circuitous path which leads to Mount Meru, through forests and over streams and across the burning plains, never again to return."

Another great epic!!

Week 6 Reading Diary: The Mahabharata [PDE]

Mahabharata: by various authors

This week, I continued reading the Mahabharata. Last week, I stopped at the part of the epic where Duryodhana wins the match and Bhima swears revenge.

It starts out with the brothers living in the forest in a period of exile. This and the following chapters really remind me of Rama's adventures in the Ramayana! He too was exiled and had some various encounters like the Pandavas do. It is a simple little detail that I noticed but it was still nice to see the similarities between the two epics.

The Pandavas and Draupadi in exile (Image Source).

There is one scene that is not of the utmost importance but it was really very touching. It showed the care that they all showed one another in exile. The scene tells of how "they wandered in sunshine and shade; they dwelt in pleasant places, amidst abundant fruits and surrounded by flowers. They suffered also from tempests and heavy rains, when their path would be torn by streams, and Draupadi would swoon, and all the brethren would be faint and weary and in despair. Then Bhima would carry them all on his back and under his arms." How beautiful of a picture it is!!

Another scene that was brief but had such a great impact on me was the one where Yudhishthira was giving advice to Draupadi. He says that "anger is sinful; it is the cause of destruction. He that is angry cannot distinguish between right and wrong. O fair Draupadi, one should forgive every wrong. Forgiveness is holiness; it is Truth." This is truly one of my favorite little scenes in the entire epic. It is such a great piece of advice and something that we can apply in our own daily lives.

I love the part where Hanuman makes an appearance! I really liked the scenes between him and Bhima since they are half-brothers after all!

Like in the Ramayana, Draupadi faces many obstacles and challenges like Sita. I love finding more and more similarities between the epics!

One of the best scenes in the epic so far is the one where the brothers are asked riddles by a "voice" in the river and at the end, only Yudhishthira was patient and answered them all wisely.

The battle was was so nice to read about! I can't wait to finish the epic!