#Gandhari

[stxrrynxghts]

*at the mall*

Gandhari: excuse me, I lost my son Duryodhan, can I make an announcement?

Employee: of course

Gandhari, on the mic: goodbye you little shit

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

IMQ Server Starbharat Samuhik Watch Party Memes #8

Credit to our beloved @chahaa-piun-ja.

-Mod S

[aru-loves-krishnaxarjuna]

Mahabharata AU—Fem!Arjuna AU pt.1

Masterlist

The day for the Dyut Sabha had almost neared. Only a day was left.

Raaj Maata Kunti was feeling tensed for some unknown reason. She had the feeling of something ominous happening the following day. 'Why is my heart feeling like this? It never does...' she thought. Sighing, Kunti went outside of her kaksh for some fresh air, but Angaraj Karna was passing by at that same time. Kunti tensed, and turned to opposite way. She walked anywhere but towards her first-born.

Kunti then encountered Maharani Gandhari, who sensed Kunti's tension immediately. "Kunti, are you alright, my dear?" Kunti startled out of her thoughts. Unable to hide her secret anymore, she vented out to Gandhari about Karna's birth and her regret, as well as the ominous feeling she was getting. Between all of the talking, Kunti had started crying bitterly.

Gandhari consoled her sister-in-law. "Oh dear, it was not your fault. You were a child back then. You did this all in innocence and let your child go because of your family's respect. Now, i think we should tell him about his birth. Come, dear."

Kunti agreed and they both went to Karna. "Putra Karna..." she called out to him. Karna smiled at her. He didn't know why, but he always felt calm when in the presence of the Raaj Maata. Kunti sighed for the last time and and blurted out all about his birth yet again.....

.

Karna didn't know what to think or feel...the Pandavas were his siblings...? No...this can't be...

"Putra Karna...i am so sorry for doing this to you! Please forgive me! I join my hands before you..." she said, sobbing. The sun too had started shining brightly when Karna was told the truth, bestowing him with the brilliance of a million diamonds, claiming him as his own. Karna had snapped his head back when Kunti said the last statement and he immediately lowered her hands. "No...i-it is alright, you didn't know..Maa..." Karna hesitated.

Kunti looked surprised at him addressing her as his mother, and held him in her arms, in her loving embrace. Karna didn't know what to do and wrapped his arms gently around his new-found mother, hesitantly. Gandhari, even though not being able to see anything, smiled at the union.

Kunti's worry for the following day had decreased, yet not completely.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The dyut sabha had started. Yudhishthir was constantly losing his wealth and land. When he lost everything except for his brothers, he betted on them. Yudhishthir lost his brothers and himself too. He decided to quit but then, "Samrat! You can bet on your wife now! If you win, you can get everything back!" Shakuni gave his oily grin, showing his black teeth, rolling the dice in his hands manically. Yudhishthir was about to say something when,

"Halt!" A shout came from the entrance. Everyone turned their heads to see who it was, and saw the dusky warrior princess of Indraprastha, walking gracefully, taking angry steps, her clothes' extended parts bellowing behind and around her.

Soldiers attempted to stop Savyasachi, yet one glare was enough to make them shiver in fear.

"Jyesht! You cannot bet on Panchali! She is our common wife! Did any of our rest of the brothers give consent to it? And you can not bet on her when you have lost yourself in the game!" Arjuni spat angrily. She turned her head towards the rest of her brother and opened her mouth to say something when she heard. "I bet my sister then."

Arjuni snapped her head back towards Yudhishthir, giving him a betrayed, upset look, which was enough to make bow his head in shame and guilt. Arjuni started backing away, taking slow steps, almost hyperventilating. She couldn't belive or yet, comprehend what was happening....Dharmaraj, Yama putra, committing such grave adharma..? She wanted to scream her head off, but being the younger sister didn't help in her book of dharma.

As she was almost there by the exit gate of the Court, she heard manic laughs.

Her brothers never laughed like this...

Was she...?

[krsnaradhika]

You know what would be the real dark humour?

Gandhari singing 'nainowale ne' for Dhritarashtra :)

[zeherili-ankhein]

#mahabharat podcast

Ok but how many people were needed to babysit the Kauravas??

[krishna-premi]

started rewatching starplus mahabharat and i feel bad for gandhari she really deserved so much more

[blue-lotus333]

(Draupadi & krishna art belongs to @pikachustrut , idk abt some others tho)

[chimera-tail]

https://www.tumblr.com/aru-loves-krishnaxarjuna/750973107739705344/masterlist?source=share

An Arjuni ff :3

woah.

I. Love. This!!!!!

AND THE LAST LINE!!! "She was Madhav's Parthavi and Narayan's Naari" AAAAAAAA-

I'M DECEASED.

This is beautiful.

[eremin0109]

mahabharata fix it headcanon (kind of??)

Man, sometimes I wish to read a funny, crack-y retelling of the Mahabharat. Of Pandavas and Kauravas having more or less a friendly, playful rivalry than the blood feud they have in the canon. Of Karna being the mediator between the cousins if things got a little too heated. Of Abhimanyu, Ghatotkach and other Upapandavas being spoilt rotten by their 100 uncles and Lakshman Kumar and other Kaurava children having study sessions with Yudhishthir and Sahadev, going on adventures with Bheem and Arjun.

Yudhisthir would be the King of Indraprastha and Duryodhan, the King of Hastinapur and the Kuru empire stretches from Gandhar in the north-west to Anga in the north-east, with two stronghold capitals to keep it secure instead of just one. Karna, despite being offered to be crowned the King of either kingdom, chooses to let his younger sibling and cousin take over, being content in his small, prosperous territory of Anga.

Kunti and Gandhari would both be mother figures for both sets of cousins, acting as advisors in the family. Bhishma, ever the guardian of his large family and Vidur, the maverick politician, retain their roles but have relaxed responsibilities as the kingdom (and the household) is at peace.

Dhritarashtra and Shakuni would have some skirmishes between them, classic brother-in-law tussle but for the most part would be harmless. The former king sits at the advisory board of Hastinapur while Shakuni is properly coronated the king of Gandhar, to keep him from meddling in the internal matters of the crown.

The Queens, Draupadi and Bhanumati would be great friends with respect and affection for each other. Being in charge of not just the palace but also crucial departments (finance for Draupadi, public welfare for Bhanumati) of their respective kingdoms. Draupadi acting more or less as an older sister to all of her fellow co-queens, but she has very special affection for Subhadra. It's no wonder Panchali loves her, as she's Krishna and Arjun's darling too.

The Rakshabhandhan at the Hastinapur palace is nothing short of an annual grandiose event. There are friendly bets amongst all the brothers on who can get their dearest sister/cousin the best gift. Of course, Dusshala loves her brothers and cousins too much (though Duryodhan and Nakul-Sahadev are secretly her favourites) to actually give a ranking of the gifts, so the contest remains at a draw for year after year.

Karna chooses to stay at Hastinapur, when Indraprastha should've been a rather obvious choice. Not that he doesn't like spending time with his siblings, but he just has a closer bond with his cousins. Not to mention there's a whole other reason he spends more of his free time at Hastinapur. The Pandavas are well aware of his affection for Duryodhan and tease him endlessly about it, just as the Kauravas tease their eldest for being so enamored by the Pandav-jesth.

Arjun is Karna's favourite sibling (ha, I did say this was a crack-y au) just because of the sheer similarities they have. They help each other to hone their archery skills, with Karna teaching Arjun secret techniques he learnt from his time with Parshuram. Arjun admires Karna and the way he is the amalgamation of all the qualities that the rest of the pandavas possess individually. They also bond closer due to the both of them being gay and Karna acting as a support system for Arjun as he comes to terms with his feelings for men, and Krishna in particular.

Krishna is the Kurus' biggest ally obviously. His relationship with Kauravas is more understated, but there is a mutual respect and admiration there. The Pandavas are his dearest obviously, some of them a LOT dearer than others AHEM but yeah, you get what I mean.

Obviously, they would still have family drama, what Indian household doesn't? But at the end of the day, they all apologise and make up and live happily ever after.

@fanfictionroxs

[friend-shaped-but]

[netraa-dotcom]

duryodhan inherited more of shakuni than he did of either his parents. the respect and love for gandhari, but the stubborn tendency to do everything that ends up causing her grief. the outright manipulation and disdain when it comes to dhritrashtra.

and it's funny because duryodhan is shakuni's beloved sister's son, but living proof that she married the horrible man who has become his brother-in-law. he is everything that shakuni loves and hates at the same time.

if shakuni was the poison of the kuru empire, duryodhan was the vessel it was poured from. and how could the vessel not corrode in the process. how could duryodhan not be ruined by the person he thought he was lovingly obeying

[greenbloods]

Fire and Blood, GRRM // Mahabharata, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguri

[teanicolae]

spent today absorbed in the père lachaise cemetery, and one of the things i was struck most by was seeing the many sculptures of female figures towering over tombs: almost all tearful or in distress. it made me think of Strī Parva, "The Book of Women" from the Mahābhārata, which exclusively focuses on portraying women's grief and tears, who break upon seeing their men & sons slaughtered on the battlefield in the aftermath of the war. one of the distressed female characters, queen Gāndhārī, lashes out at Kṛṣṇa and accuses him of murder, declaring that he could have stopped the war as he is both omniscient & ever-powerful.

Kṛṣṇa rejects her blame and retorts that he cannot override the cosmic laws. he himself is subjected to them; the massacre was ordained, no one is exempt from death, and the cycle of life is definitive.

my understanding of this exchange is: he is not telling her that she should not grieve or that her grief is "wrong"; he merely offers her the opportunity to place it in a larger context and to use her distress to understand deeper herself as well as the web of nature / existence / cosmology. there is no one to blame or resent or victimise; life unfolds as is. and,

even what we understand as 'negative' feelings therefore can be utilised as a stimulus for self-reflection. i myself have spent a lot of time simmering in grief without considering what it could teach me, so this particular scene is very profound for me.

and, how beautiful is Kṛṣṇa's revelation that he himself is subjected to the cosmic laws once incarnated! will elaborate on this in a future article or post 😊

*my retelling of this dialogue is not based exclusively on the critical edition but also on its variations, as this is one of the instances in which i find referring to multi-versions valuable.

photos: some of my favourite sculptures seen in the cemetery!

[aru-loves-krishnaxarjuna]

Mahabharata AU—pt.3

Masterlist<– rest of the parts here

"Madhav...your Parthavi needs you..."

Somewhere in the middle of a battlefield, amongst bloodshed, stood a magnificent chariot, where Dwarkadhish Vasudev Krishna was stationed in its seat, the reigns in his hands. Angry tears slipped down from his lotus-shaped eyes down his dusky face. They dare treat His Parthavi like this..?

No, not only His Parthavi, but hundreds and thousands of women were treated like this. What had this world even become?

Protecting his lover was his priority now...

•.───── ❁🏹❁ ───•.•─── ❁🏹❁ ─────.•

"Dusshasan i am telling you, stop this right now!" Karna urged. He couldn't see this continue any longer. So what if he used to be rivals with the Gandivdhari, she was his sister. For a woman, her respect is more valuable than her life.

As the saree was almost stripped off of her body, something happened. A storm inside the hall started suddenly. The flame torches burst into explosions. Everyone looked confused. But Dusshasan didn't stop, he continued pulling. But this saree was not looking like it would strip off of her at all. As much as it was pulled, the more it extended. Courtesy to Krishna...

While the one who stood near the game board, the one whose saree was being pulled, had closed her eyes, letting happen whatever was going to happen. All she wanted feeling now was oblivion, to be unconscious to everything...

"Duryodhan! Stop this right now!" Karna shouted. He never called Duryodhan by his name so the latter was shocked. "Why Mitra Karna!? You never–!"

"I am telling you! JUST STOP IT!–" By then Dusshasan had fell down due to exhaustion and the Vastraharan of his sister had finally stopped. Even though Phalgun was covered in apparels of cloth, everyone else's dupattas, headgears or crowns, as well as jewelleries had fell down.

Krishna had let everyone get disrobed, yet not his Parthavi.

Arjuni now stood there in all her wrathful glory, in the middle of the court, glowing for some unknown reason. Her saree stained with her blood flowing down from her wounds. Conspicuous strains of tears were running down her cheeks from her hawk-like eyes, red from anger yet again.

Raaj Maata Kunti, Maharani Gandhari and Samraggini Draupadi entered just then, terrified at the sight in front of them. What scared them, the two who could see that is, was the blood trails on the floor and the wrathful yet battered form of Kirti in the middle of the whole, vast room.

"A-aryaputri!–" Agnisutaa tried to rush towards her wife but

"No!" Arjuni stepped back, snapping her arm, pointing her finger towards her to stop right there, her booming, velvety voice stopping Draupadi, and scaring the rest. "Do not come near me. No one even dare to come to me, or i will get besmirched..." she was taking deep angry breaths between talking. Vijayaa slowly lowered her arm and steadied herself.

This time, something happened even nore shocking.....

[itsmeagain-lezabeth]

we read the mahabharata in english and here are some of my little doodles

[anokha-swad]