Some Best kept secrets of the Mahabharata

THERE ARE NO SECRETS THAT TIME DOESN'T REVEAL 

Draupadi

·         Draupadi was destined to have 5 husbands from her previous life.Draupadi in her previous life, when she was known as Nalyani, (Daughter of Nala and Damayanti) prayed to Lord Shiva and got a boon of having a husband with 14 qualities(wisdom, strength, archery, looks, love, etc) . Lord Shiva acclaimed that no man can have all these 14 qualities, but on Draupadi's perseverance Shiva agreed that she will be granted her wishes in the next birth. The 5 pandavas had all these 14 qualities.

·         It was not all Krishna saving Draupadi at the cheer-haran.  According to Shiva Puran, it was also a boon by Saint Druvasa. The story goes that the sage’s loincloth was once carried away by the Ganga. Draupadi quickly tore a piece of her garment to cover him. The sage granted her a boon, which caused an unending stream of cloth to cover her when Dushasan was trying to strip her.

·         Draupadi had a clause. After Draupadi agreed to be the common wife, her condition was that she would share her household with no other woman. In other words, disregarding popular practice of the times, the Pandavas could not bring their other wives to Indraprastha. Arjuna, however, made an exception as one his other 3 wives was  Krishna’s sister, Subhadra. And with a little advise from Krishna, she was able to trick her way into the household.

·         Draupadi regained her virginity. This is something I was really surprised to find out, basically when Narad Muni finds out that Drupadi is living with all 5 husbands at one time, he suggests that should rather be intimate with only of one of them for a year in turns and be the Sister-in-law for the other. Also, she was given a boon from... (you guessed it right) Lord Shiva that she will regain her virginity periodically (some sources say in an year, some say in a day), so when she was to change her husband after a year, she was virgin for her new husband.

Yudhishthira

·         His name means " the one who is steady in battle or tough conditions " .His father king Pandu held dharma above all other qualities in a human especially for being a king ,therefore when Kunti told him about his boon he desired his eldest son and heir to be born righteous and truthful.

·         Although being the eldest son he was less martial than his brothers prefering diplomacy and politics. He was a polyglot knowing languages which no other human knew.Nevertheless he was a master in the use of spear only second to Karna. It was said that he could pierce a stone wall with spear as it was a piece of paper.

·         He had two wives Draupadi and Devika who was of Sivi kingdom. Draupadi bore him Prativindya his heir and Devika Yaudheya. Yaudheya survived Kurukshetra but was not made king. Instead he ruled his mother's kingdom.

·         After loosing in the dice game during his banishment he never left the game and kept practicing. He learnt from sage Bridashwa to control the dices. He became so good at it that he was never defeated again at it.

• He married his brother Bheem to a rakhsashi Hidimbi and denounced casteism saying actions mattered more than birth.
• Yudhishthira cursed women that they will never be able to withold secrets after he came to know about Karna and his mother hiding about him.
• His chariot had a flag of a golden moon surrounded by planets. He was also an expert charioteer

Ashwathama

• When he was born he cried like a horse hence his name.
• His father did years of severe penance to have a son with valiance of Shiv himself. Ashvatthama is considered to be a partial incarnation of lord Shiv himself.
• He possessed a gem in his forehead which gave him dominion over all life form lower than human. It protected it against hunger, thirst , fatigue, ghosts, demons , snakes ,insects etc. It helped him fight off Ghatotkach Bheem's half rakhshas son.
• He is master of all knowledge trained by the likes of Drona, Bhishma , Parshuram.
• He was the king of north Panchal after Kaurav army captured Panchal and gave it to Drona as guru-dakhshina and Drona split it between his son and Drupad.
• Bhishma once remarked that if Ashvatthama becomes angry nobody will be able to stop him because he was incarnation of Shiva himself. However Duryodhana always chose Karna over Ashvatthama because he saw him as fearful of death.

• Yuyutsu, Dhritarashtra’s Son from a Woman of Vaisala Varna, Yuyutsu was born to Sauvali, a maid servant who attended Dhritarashtra and looked upon the royal household. Sauvali was not kshatriya but belonged to the vaishya class. She was appointed to look after Dhritarashtra when Gandhari's was declared pregnant. Dhritarashtra was mesmerized by the maid’s charm and used her, both for his physical and sexual gratification. Thus, was born Yuyutsu, the dasi Putra of Dhritarashtra. No wonder, Dhritarashtra always wished of having a heir before his brother Pandu. So, while Gandhari couldn’ appease him with a heir, Sauvali, the maid did the needful by getting pregnant of Dhritarashtra’s child. Yuyutsu, however was born after Yudhishtir and the same day as that of Duryodhana. Thus, he was younger to Duryodhana, but elder to rest 99 sons and the only daughter of Dhritarashtra. So, while all the 101 children of Dhritarashtra were blue blood, Yuyutsu was a dasi putra as he was born to a dasi and not queen.The character of Yuyutsu in the Hindu Epic Mahabharata was same as that of Vibhishana in the epic Ramayana and so just like Vibhishana, Yuyutsu too provided Pandavas with all the vital information of Kauravas planning and strategies. He switched sides from Kauravas to Pandavas right before the Kurukshetra War. He was the only surviving son of Dhritarashtra after the 18 days of War. After, the death of Krishna when Pandavas along wit Draupadi decided to go to Himalayas, Yuyutsu was appointed as a guardian of Parikshit, Abhimanyu’s son and the future king of Hastinapur. Like Vibishana, Yuyutsu too was called a kinslayer and traitor even even after he was on dharma's side.

• Vrishketu- Son of Karna was made the king of Indraprastha . He was tutored by Krishna himself and was the last person to know and learn divine weapons as Krishna made him promise to never tell anyone about them.

• Satyaki and Kritvarma - Both Yadavas fought from opposite camps in the war and remained lifelong enemies until they killed each other during the doom of Yadavas .

• Nakula - Nakula was said to have a unique talent that he could ride a horse in rain without getting wet. It was because of his two talents horsemanship and swordsmanship . He deflected rain drops with his sword.

• Vibhishan - To perform Rajsuya Yagya ,Yudhishthira sent his 4 brothers in 4 directions to collect tribute from kings. Sahdeva went south where he met King Vibhishan in Lanka as he was an immortal. He sent Sahdeva back with gift of jewels and precious stones and clothes of finest fabrics.

• Arjun - Arjun was ambidextrous so one of his name is Sabyasachi.He had control over all his senses and could go on days without needing sleep getting the name Gudakesh . The horses in his chariot where white therefore one of his name is Svetavahana. Curse on the name of Arjuna- The father of sage Parashuram sage Jamadagni was killed by Kartavirya Arjun's sons . Therefore Parashuram cursed that anyone with name Arjun will never become a king only subordinate.

• Duryodhana- He was said to be incarnation of Kali(demon).He was best mace fighter of his time. When he was born he cried like a donkey. He was first person in history other than lord Vishnu to perform Vaishanav Yagya making him Emperor of the Entire World he achieved this with help of his friend Karna who subjugated everyone including Krishna and Jarasandh. Other than his jealousy towards Pandava he was a rightful and just king treating his subjects with equality . It is said that when he died flowers rained from heaven.

• Eklavya - In later life he became kings of Nishada and he was subordinate to Kingdom of Magadha. He was killed by Krishna himself in swayamvar of Rukmini. In some version of the epic it was he who was reborn as Drishtadyumna to kill Drona.

• Most handsome man- Although Nakula is considered most handsome of all the Kuru princes, the smallfolk of Hastinapur liked Karna. Common women of Hastinapur desired Karna because of his fair glowing complexion.

• Bheema's Pride- After Drona's death Ashvatthama became enraged and released Narayanastra. Only Krishna,Drona and Ashvatthama knew about this weapon and how to stop it. It brought a deadly shower of missiles and annihilating Pandava army. Krishna advised Pandava warriors to bow and submit to the weapon as it was the only way to stop it. But Bheema saw this as a symbol of cowardice and didn't submit. Therefore it continued to harm him. Krishna and pandavas had to restrain him to save his life.

• Mayasura- The demon who made the palace for Yudhishthira at Indraprastha was the father of Mandodari wife of Ravana.He founded Mayarashtra which became modern city of Meerut .He was foremost among daityas being born from sage Kashyap and Diti.

• Shakuni- He is considered to be personification of Dwapar yuga. He was enraged by marriage of his sister to blind Dhritrashtra and vowed to destroy Kuru lineage. However he loved his nephew Duryodhana very much.His lineage continued till Prince Ambhi of Taxila who fought alongside Alexander the great and was killed by Chandragupta Maurya in 3rd century B.C.

• Karna- Interestingly for most part of the epic Karna was called Vasusena " the born with wealth" or Radheya " son of Radha" . He got his name after he gave his armour to lord Indra. It was Indra himself who took form of an insect and bit Karna on his thigh while Parshurama was sleeping on it that led to him giving curse to Karna. Later to repent for his curse he gave Karna his own Vijaya bow, Bhargavastra that no one possessed and a silver chariot covered with tiger skin.

• Bhishma's dillema - When choosing the heir to the Hastinapur throne after Pandavas came from the forests after their father Pandu's death, Bhishma and Vidur had different choices. Vidur was in favour of Yudhishthira while Bhishma was supporting Duryodhana. This was because contrary to popular belief Duryodhana was very popular among the common people and because living in the capital he had much knowledge about millitary and administrative matters than any Pandavas while Yudhishthira was unknown to the general populace and he will never understand them. However he gave in to Vidura after he realised that Duryodhana was egocentric and power hungry at heart.

• Godmother- The eldest female of Hastinapur royal family was the child of Chedi king Vasu and fish who in reality was apsara Adrika when the fish swallowed the king's sperm. He was cut out from the fish by chieftain of fishermans. Due to smell of fish coming from her body she was called Matasyagandha. Later Sage Parashar had sex with her out of which Sage Vyasa was born. He also gave her fragrant smell. Thus giving her name Yojanagandha.

• Iravan sacrificed himself - Arjun’s son Iravan sacrificed himself to Goddess Kali to ensure Pandava’s win in Mahabharata war. But he had a wish that he want to get married before dying. So, Lord Krishna took the form of Mohini nd married him and the day Iravan died, he wept like a widow.
• Udupi fed the Kurukshetra warriors- When the Mahabharata war was fought, All the kings aligned themselves on one side. But Udupi king preferred being on the neutral part. So, he spoke to Lord Krishna and said that,” The people who will fight will definitely need some food to eat. So, I will be the caterer in this battle and I will feed each warrior.The battle lasted for 18 days and thousand of soldiers died every single day. So, Udupi King had to make that much of less food each day so that the food never gets waste.

Source: various content found on the net