Mahabharat for Youths

Mahabharat For Youths

Introduction : 

"The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about people dead or living, and philosophical discourses."

Chapter 1: King Shantanu and Bheeshma

Long, long ago, in ancient India, King Shantanu ruled the kingdom of

Hastinapura. For centuries, Hastinapura was ruled by the Kuru family

of King Shantanu. King Shantanu married the river Goddess Ganga

and they had a child named Bheeshma. But Ganga had to go away to

take care of so many people (she was the river Goddess). 

So she left Bheeshma in the care of his father. Some years later, King Shantanu 

married a fisherwoman named Satyavati and had two sons Vichitraveerya and Chitrangada. When he was old enouhj,

Vichitraveerya became the King of Hastinapura.

Bheeshma was very nice to his brother Vichitraveerya and let him be

the king. 

Chapter 2: The Kurus

King Vichitraveerya had three children- Dhritarashtra, Pandu and

Vidura. Dhritarashtra, the eldest was born blind. He could not rule the

kingdom. So Pandu became the next King of Hastinapura after

Vichitraveerya. The third brother, Vidura was a very smart man. As a

minister, he helped his brother rule the kingdom wisely. Bheeshma

supported the three brothers to rule the kingdom well and keep the

people happy.

King Pandu married Kunti and Madri. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari,

who agreed to keep her eyes blindfolded in respect for her blind

husband. Vidura married Parshavi.

Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura worked as a team with the help of

Bheeshma. This was good for the people of Hastinapura. 

Chapter 3: The Pandavas

After ruling the kingdom for a few years, Pandu made his brother 

Dhritarashtra, the king. He left the kingdom and went to live in the

forest with his two wives.

With the blessings of the Gods, Pandu and Kunti had 3 children. Their

eldest son, Yudhishtira, was born with the blessings of the God of

Dharma (honesty). Their second son Bheema was born with the

blessings of the wind God, Vayu and their third son Arjuna, was born

with the blessings of the Lord of Devas, Indra.

Madri and Pandu had twin boys, Nakula and Sahadeva. They were

born with the blessings of the Ashvini twins, the Gods of sunrise and

sunset and also the doctors for all other Gods.

The five sons of Pandu were called the Pandavas.

Chapter 4: The Kauravas

With the blessings of sage Veda Vyasa, King Dhritarashtra and Queen 

Gandhari had a hundred sons and one daughter. Their eldest son

Duryodhana was a strong boy. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari had 99

other sons. Their daughter’s name was Dushala. The sons of King

Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari were called the Kauravas. From a

young age, Duryodhana did not like his Pandava cousins. He grew up

thinking that someday he would be the king of Hastinapura.

It is never good to not like other people. Making friends is always

better than making enemies. Duryodhana was going to learn that

lesson in a few years.

Chapter 5: The Kuru Princes

The Pandavas and Kauravas were called the Kuru princes as they 

belonged to the Kuru family of kings. After the death of their father

Pandu in the forest, the Pandavas came to Hastinapura to live with

their cousins. Sage Kripa and Sage Drona became their Gurus to give

them the education they needed to rule the kingdom in the future.

In time, Arjuna became an excellent archer. Bheema and Duryodhana

became experts in handling the mace. Yudhishtira was the wisest one

and was always honest and made the right choices.

The Pandavas and Kauravas did not like each other very much and

were not friendly to each other. You should always be friendly with

cousins. If you fight with family, it makes everyone sad. 

Chapter 6: Karna

Before Kunti became the mother of Yudhishtira, Bheema and Arjuna, 

she had another child with the blessings of Surya, the Sun God. His

name was Karna. Kunti was too young to take care of Karna and so

she gave him away to a charioteer Adiratha. Karna did not know that

he was Kunti's son until he grew up.

There was a big stadium in Hastinapura where the Kuru princes were

asked to showcase their skills they had learned from their teachers,

Drona and Kripa. Karna wanted to be treated as a warrior and show

his abilities in the event but the Pandavas made fun of him for being a

charioteer's son. Duryodhana was nice to Karna and crowned him the

king of Anga. They became very good friends.

Duryodhana made a new friend by being nice to Karna. 

 

Chapter 7: The burning palace

Yudhishtira was the oldest Prince and next in line to be king. But

Duryodhana wanted to be the king. To make both princes happy,

Dhritarashtra built a palace in the town of Varanavata outside

Hastinapura and made Yudhishtira its King. Duryodhana would be the

next king of Hastinapura.

Duryodhana wanted to hurt his cousins. So he asked his friend

Purochana who lived in Varanavata to set the palace on fire one night

when the Pandavas were sleeping. Vidura came to know of this plan

and told the Pandavas to escape the palace by building a tunnel. The

Pandavas escaped into the forest before the palace was set on fire.

Everyone else thought that the Pandavas had died in the fire.

The Pandavas were able to escape the fire because they listened to

the words of their uncle, Vidura.

Chapter 8: Draupadi

Draupadi was the daughter of King Drupada of Panchala, another

kingdom in ancient India. She was said to be very beautiful and many

kings wanted to marry her. Draupadi's brother Dhrishtadyumna

organized an archery contest. Whoever won the contest would get to

marry Draupadi.

The Pandavas were living in the forest after escaping from the burning

palace. They attended the event disguised as normal villagers.

Arjuna, the skilled archer won the contest and married Draupadi.

Since the Pandavas shared everything amongst each other, their

mother instructed them to all marry Draupadi. So Draupadi had 5

husbands.

The Pandavas were good sons of Kunti because they listened to their

mother and shared everything with each other. 

Chapter 9: Indraprastha

After the Pandavas married Draupadi, they came back to Hastinapura

and asked their uncle Dhritarashtra for their share of the kingdom.

Duryodhana did not want to share anything. He asked his father to

give the Pandavas a deserted piece of land outside the city.

With the help of Maya, the architect of the Gods, the Pandavas built a

wonderful palace and city in that land and named it Indraprastha.

Yudhishtira was crowned the King of Indraprastha and he performed a

big Puja called the Ashwamedha Yagna. Kings from all over the

country including his Kaurava cousins were invited. Everyone loved

the beautiful palace and city.

With good friends and their hard work, Yudhishtira was able to convert

a bad piece of land into a beautiful city.

Chapter 10: The Game of Dice

Duryodhana liked Indraprastha so much that he wanted to be its king.

He made a plan to win Indraprastha with the help of his uncle

Shakuni. They invited the Pandavas to Hastinapura to play a game of

dice. In the game, Shakuni and Yudhishtira played against each other.

One by one, Yudhishtira bet his possessions and lost them.

Duryodhana, Shakuni and the Kauravas cheated the Pandavas in the

game. They said bad things about them and insulted them. Because

Yudhishtira lost the game, his brothers, Draupadi and he, had to go

and live in the forest for 13 years. Duryodhana took over Indraprastha

and became king of both Hastinapura and Indraprastha.

Every game has limits. Even the wise Yudhishtira did not stop when

he should have.

Chapter 11: Pandavas in the Forest

After the painful loss in the game of dice, the Pandavas left

Indraprastha for a long time in the forest. Of the 13 years, they had to

spend the last in disguise. If the Kauravas found where the Pandavas

were in the 13th year, they had to spend another 13 years in the

forest. That would make it 26 years in the forest. The Pandavas

wanted to get back to their kingdom as soon as possible.

The Pandavas faced a lot of hardship in the forest but they learnt a lot

of things too. They were angry with their Kaurava cousins and wanted

to fight with them at the end of the 13 years to take back their

kingdom.

Good people will learn to make the most of even bad situations

Chapter 12: Pandavas in King Virata’s court

In their thirteenth year in the forest, the Pandavas had to stay hidden

without being spotted. So they disguised themselves as unrelated

common people and hid in the court of King Virata.

Arjuna was in disguise as a dance teacher to King Virata's daughter,

Uttara. Yudhishtira became an advisor and minister to King Virata.

Bheema was the cook for the king. Nakula took care of the King’s

horses and Sahadeva took care of the Royal cows. Draupadi was a

maid to Queen Sudeshna. The Pandavas managed to stay

undetected by anyone until the 13th year was over.

There is honor and respect in every job, even for Princes. 

Chapter 13: A War is coming

After thirteen years in the forest, the Pandavas wanted their kingdom

back. But Duryodhana did not want to share anything with the

Pandavas. He was very selfish. Lord Krishna went on behalf of the

Pandavas to convince the Kauravas that war was not good for

anyone. Krishna said that a lot of people would get hurt in the war. But

Duryodhana did not listen.

After all peace options failed, it was decided that war was the only

way. All the kings across the country had to choose sides with the

Pandavas or the Kauravas. Soon the entire country was ready for the

biggest war ever.

Duryodhana did not listen to his parents and uncles and wanted to

have a war. It is always important to listen to the words of elders.

Chapter 14: The 18 Day War Begins

The Pandava army and Kaurava army met for a big battle in the field

of Kurukshetra. Arjuna was sad to see that he was going to fight his

cousins, uncles and teachers. Lord Krishna, who had agreed to be

Arjuna’s charioteer, told him that he had to do it because it was his

duty. Lord Krishna’s lesson to Arjuna before the war is called

Bhagavat Gita.

Both sides fought the battle very hard. For the first few days, each

side had good times and bad times. But soon after, the Pandavas

started doing better than the Kauravas.

Bheeshma, the commander of the Kaurava army was defeated on the

tenth day. With each passing day, more and more Kaurava

commanders started to lose.

Chapter 15: The 18 Day War Ends

By the 15th day, things were starting to favor the Pandavas a lot.

Although some of the kings and warriors on the Pandavas side had

also suffered injuries in the battle, the Kauravas suffered much more

losses.

Dhrishtadyumna defeated Drona and soon Arjuna defeated Karna.

Those big victories helped the Pandavas a lot. On the 18th day,

Bheema and Duryodhana fought a long and hard battle with their

hands and their mace. After a long fight, Bheema won. Once the

Kaurava King lost, the war was over.

Victory always favors good people.

Chapter 16: Yudhishtira is the King

The Pandavas had won the 18-day war. But they had also lost a lot of

friends and family. The entire Kuru family was very sad about the war.

War is never good. It is always best to resolve things by talking and

not fighting. If the Pandavas and Kauravas had agreed by just talking,

the war would not have taken place. Nobody would have gotten hurt.

Yudhishtira was crowned the king of the entire kingdom, which

included Indraprastha and Hastinapura. The Pandavas became the

rulers of the country. It was a time of great joy and prosperity for all

the people of Bharata.

By being good, the Pandavas finally became the rulers of

Hastinapura. Good people always win.

KURU FAMILY TREE