#Kurukshetra War

[musingsonthemahabharata]

check out this stunning futuristic Mahābhārata art by Vamchi Vams!

the tendency with modern Mbh-inspired artwork is for it to still adhere to 'traditional' / historic conventions and for these to be seen as more 'accurate' renderings, but, especially with the war books (parvas), i'd maintain that one needs only to skim-read to see that the futuristic artwork most likely is a more 'accurate' representation of how the war is said to be fought. it would not be an exaggeration to claim that the astras (supranatural weapons imbued with mantras) used by warriors such as Arjuna, Karṇa & Aśvatthāmā functioned like nuclear weapons. i personally adore futuristic Mbh artwork because in my opinion it enlivens the epic & grounds it in our present as a timeless dynamic work and not as an ancient lifeless poem.

i do wonder if it is the inescapable archaic tone of 99% of the Mbh translations from sanskrit (which my dear friend Avi Sato pointed to me once & now i can't unsee!) that which contributes to this overall impression that traditional renditions * must * be more accurate. perhaps. i for one would love to see a truly futuristic translation and interpretation of the Mbh (both in literature & in film / TV) that also follows the narrative thread faithfully. might take it upon myself.

[mplanetleaf]

అభిమన్యుడిని శ్రీకృష్ణుడు ఎందుకు కాపాడలేదు? | Why didn't Krishna save Abhimanyu in Mahabharata...

[thisisbjoeblog]

Religion 101: Mahabharata Part 3 - The Brutal & Decisive Kurukshetra War

The Kurukshetra War, central to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, was a colossal battle fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, two factions of a royal family vying for the throne of Hastinapura. The battle took place at Kurukshetra, Haryana, India, just over 100 km north of New Dehli, on the way to Chandigarh. This war also serves as the backdrop for the sacred Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna…

[druidicentropy]

Abhimanyu

Arjuna and Subhadra were the parents of Abhimanyu. He belonged to the Kuru dynasty. He was Hastinapur's heir until his death at the age of sixteen on the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra War. Parikshit, his son born after his death, succeeded him as heir and ultimately as king.

[h0bg0blin-meat]

"The Trojan War was started because of a woman"

"The Kurukshetra War happened because of a woman"-

How about you read those epics with your eyes open and put your single braincell actually to work for once?

[empty-dream]

Karna and Arjuna in FGO Memorial Movie 2023

[darabeatha]

/ What are the chances that a bat god would fall in love with (insert ur muses' name)-

[zeherili-ankhein]

#mahabharat podcast

Poor Uttar he was just not made for fighting.... He was a pookie who should have done something like dancing with his sister

[lanliingwang]

hmm...huang feihu and arjuna as friends (more thoughts on the matter in the tags)

[esmeraywrites]

OOH OOH I'LL TELL YOU THE BIGGEST SIMILARITY??I GREW UP LISTENING BOUT ABHIMANYU AND

THE BIGGEST SIMILARITY IS

HEARING ABOUT BOTH MAKES ME CRY MY HEART OUT IN ABSOLUTE RAW PAIN COZ NEITHER DESRVED IT AND M CRYING NOW FML BUT LIKE ITS SOOOOOO SAD!!

So anyone here who has an idea about the great Indian epic Mahabharata and knows about the battle of Kurukshetra and has also read Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller..... DID YOU ALL ALSO NOTICE THE HUGE HUGE HUGE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE DEATHS OF ABHIMANYU AND PATROCLUS.... please don't tell me I am the only one.!!

(If you want I can explainnnn) *aggressively puts forward a similarity-comparison chart between the Indian and Greek mythology complete with diagrams and footnotes and highlighted key points*

[whimsiquix]

The irony of Ashwatthama of all people going “no warrior deserves to die like that” about Karna in Kalki, when he was involved in Abhimanyu’s death, slaughtered the Pandava army at night, Dhrishtadyumna, tried and failed to commit a genocide, almost murdered a foetus, and saw his own father’s head being chopped off in what was possibly one of the worst things that happened in the entire Kurukshetra is just-

To reinforce just how terrible this is, here is Arjun, AFTER Ashwatthama slaughtered his entire army and family countering his Brahmasira released to destroy his grandson, still praying for Ashwatthama���s welfare.

The mighty-armed one spoke to Arjuna. "O Arjuna! O Pandava! O Arjuna! In your mind, you have the knowledge of the divine weapon that was instructed to you by Drona. The time to use it has arrived. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! It is needed to save yourself and your brothers. You should release it, since it is capable of countering all weapons."

Having been thus addressed by Keshava, Pandava, the destroyer of enemy heroes, swiftly descended from the chariot and grasped his bow and an arrow. The scorcher of enemies spoke words of welfare, addressed to his preceptor's son, then to himself and all his brothers. He bowed to the gods and all his pre-ceptors. Meditating and pronouncing auspicious words, he released that weapon, so as to pacify the other weapon.

- BORI CE

Arjun who is so kind, who is so empathetic, who is the only one in all the world who understands just how much it hurts Ashwatthama to have lost Drona, who is so quick and easy to forgive crimes against himself, Arjun who couldn’t bring himself to kill Ashwatthama even on Day Fourteen, Ashwatthama who knew even in the end that if he had told Arjun to desist from war, that he would have because of how much they loved each other, that Arjun and Ashwatthama.

They deserve better than this.

[musingsonthemahabharata]

the formidable Bhīma! 🤍 impulsive, strong and quick-tempered as well as fiercely devoted to Draupadī, he avenges her by slaughtering the Kauravas. in certain versions, he drinks the blood of her principal offender, episode of great cosmological significance encapsulating the cyclicity of nature mirroring the motif of the menstrual blood shed by Draupadī in the royal hall. how i adore him so!

you can find my Mbh tidbits on IG here: @musingsonthemahabharata 🤍

artwork: Gita Press Mahābhārata, 1968 | Ravi Varma Press

[stxrrynxghts]

Ik this sounds stupid, but someone pls tell me, like in the Kurukshetra war, the day began with sunrise and ended with sunset. How did they drink water? Ok, maybe they had water bottles or smth, but ahem, what if they got hungry? Felt the need to use the washroom? How did these things get sorted?

Pls, I'm genuinely confused because I dont really recall the details of the war rn, and I def dont mean this in an insulting manner but these are very valid questions, I swear-

[orgasming-caterpillar]

My Sun, My Dear

According to traditions, the period of a solar eclipse is considered most unfortunate. It is said that no good can be done in a time deprived of the Sun. Until the rays of the Suryadeva reach the Earth for the second time that day, no dharmika deed should be done.

But what if the Sun is sure to never return?

What if, just what if, there will be no second time for the rays to strike the Earth.

Such an eclipse had shadowed the life of the eldest Kaurav prince, Duryodhana. It was close to dusk on the 17th day of the War of Kurukshetra. Duryodhana had lost his brothers —his ninety nine brothers— to a fruitless war. He had lost his family, his relatives and in the end, his teacher too. Grief sagged his heart every time he lifted a weapon.

But warriors do not wait to grieve. Grief can stop a man, not an army. Not the enemy.

Karna took Drona's place as the Commander in Chief of Duryodhana's army. So for as long as Suryen-dhanya Karna, blessed by the Sun itself, was beside him, who could defeat the Kuru prince?

Or so he thought.

The last rays of the sun were disappearing from the battlefield. As tradition wills it, every warrior had put away his weapons. Except Gandivdhari Arjuna.

For as long as he stayed alive, Duryodhana never forgot the sound of the bow string let loose. The arrow cutting through the air in the direction of Karna. The last ray of the sun glinting off of the tip of the arrow and briefly blinding everyone.

A moment later, when Duryodhana opened his eyes, the sun was no longer.

A blue sheet of dusk had settled over the battlefield as far as the eye could see. He searched the periphery of his vision for his beloved mitra. What could an arrow do to the man who wears the armor of Suryadeva himself.

He remembered the next few moments in pieces. Karna falling from his chariot. The charioteer speeding off without him. Karna in the dirt. Karna with Arjuna's arrow.

Karna with Arjuna's arrow lodged in his throat.

Karna lying still in the dirt.

Karna.

A scream ripped itself out of Duryodhana's throat, thunderous and raw as an impeding storm. The entire battlefield turned to stare as the Kuru prince mounted the nearest horse and galloped to the fallen body.

The Pandavas surrounded Karna, shocked to see their own mother weeping with his head in her lap. Arjuna's charioteer, Krishna, explained to them what adharma they had just committed, and why not to blame themselves for it. They did not weep. Even after killing their own blood, they did not weep.

Arjuna lowered his head in shame. Duryodhana wanted to cut it off.

By the time he reached Karna, the Pandavas had blocked him from his view. Yudhisthir had seen him approaching and was now standing in his way.

"Step aside, Yudhisthir," Duryodhana rasped, mounting off his horse.

"No."

He turned his full glare on him; furious, bloodshot eyes, stinging with tears. "I need to see him."

"You may not, bhrata Suyodhana. It is dusk, you should return with your army."

For one last time, Duryodhana tightened his grip over his gadaa. If they wouldn't give him Karna's body, he would fight for it. He was Duryodhana's before he was ever a brother to these sorry sobs.

"Keep your arms down, maharathi," Krishna's voice echoed off the air itself. "It is adharma to raise a weapon, for the Sun is no longer."

The Sun is no longer.

This was the exact moment Duryodhana remembered that his heart shattered. The gadaa slipped from his fingers.

He could see a sliver of Karna's body hidden in the crowd of the Pandavas' sena. Such a small army had never before seemed to infinitely vast to Duryodhana. He, raised with hundred brothers himself and not once feeling crowded, saw the bodies hiding Karna's from him and saw for the first time in his life a crowd so vast he couldn't see his path.

Hundred brothers, one by one each lost to these Pandavas. And Duryodhana never looked back to see who burned their pyre. But this, this he couldn't allow. He would sooner let them take his life than Karna.

Slowly, with the image of Karna's corpse burned into his eyelids, Duryodhana fell to his knees.

All across the ranbhoomi, not a single man dared to draw a breath. Their eyes stayed fixated on their King as he lowered his head and...

Joined his hands.

When he spoke, the ache in his voice rang through the battlefield. "Brother, they call you dharmaraja because you are said to value dharma before anything else. But I am a fool, I- I never cared for what is dharma and adharma. For my entire life I have looked for ways to make you inferior to me, but it was always I who was inferior."

The Pandavas looked at each other in shock. They had not expected him to kneel, let alone plead.

"Be the righteous King you were always meant to be, Dharmaraja, but grant me this one thing. Give me my mi-tra. That is- That is all I ask of you. If not your brother, then as a supplicant." Even the breaks in his voice echoed. His tears wet the Earth below him.

"Let him have it, Dharmaraja."

Yudhisthir looked at Krishna, as if expecting him to come to his senses. "But he is our brother, Vasudeva. We are the ones who shall perform his last rites by dharma."

Duryodhana opened his mouth to speak, but Krishna spoke before him. "What kind of brother, Dharmaraja? The one you didn't even know about this morning? The one you were preparing to kill for days? The one you called sutaputra?"

If he wasn't wrecked inside with misery, Duryodhana might have enjoyed the shame on Yudhisthir's face. But all he felt was hope.

"Let him have Angaraja's body. It is he who deserves to perform his last rites, for they loved each other over karma and dharma. It is hard to see the one who hates you as someone capable of love, but is it fair to deny him his love, Dharmaraja?"

Yudhisthir only looked at his pleading brother.

A funeral pyre was to be prepared for Karna after the Pandavas left. Duryodhana's army gathered wood and oil, someone stitched a shroud out of the dead warriors' clothes, nobody dared to disturb the grieving prince.

Karna. Karna. Karna. He chanted till it was not a name but the sound of his tears falling on his armor. It was not a word but aching devotion.

He lifted a bloody hand to cup Karna's cheek. The warmth should have gone out of it long ago, but he was Suryaputra. He burned until there was nothing left to burn but his body.

He still couldn't wrap his head around the truth in his grief. Karna －brilliant, quick-witted, unyielding Karna－ was dead.

He clutched the body in his arms. The body that no longer belonged to his lover. A shadow. A torture.

Karna. Karna. Karna.

His Radheya. His Angaraja. His Karna. His Priye. His Sun.

Duryodhana felt as though all the light had gone out of his life. He carries the embers of it to the pyre, lays him down as gently as one would to a newborn instead of a corpse.

With shaking hands, Duryodhana carried the fire and lit the funeral pyre. He couldn't bear to watch as flames engulfed his beloved and turned his head to the sky. The scream that followed was a living thing, clawing its way out of his throat.

For the last time in forever, his lover burned as bright as the Sun.

And the smoke swirled in the night sky, carrying the prince to a land of eternal eclipse.

[talonabraxas]

Vishvarupa "Universal-form" Vishvarupa ("Universal form", "Omni-form") also known popularly as  Vishvarupa Darshan, Vishwaroopa and Virata rupa, is an iconographical  form and theophany of the Hindu god Maha Vishnu or his avatar Krishna.  Though there are multiple Vishvarupa theophanies, the most celebrated is  in the Bhagavad Gita, "the Song of God", given by Krishna in the epic  Mahabharata, which was told to Pandava Prince Arjuna on the battlefield  of Kurukshetra in the war in the Mahabharata between the Pandavas and  Kauravas. Vishvarupa is considered the supreme form of Vishnu, where the  whole universe is described as contained in him.

[h0bg0blin-meat]

What hindu gods/deities are lgbt (I'm sorry if this is rude or ignorant I just wish to learn as I've heard some are)

Dw it's neither rude nor ignorant. Now before I start I do wanna say that almost all the queerness we see in Hindu mythology is highly subtextual most of the time, which is like pretty obvious cuz these were the ancient times. So this might lead to a varied number of interpretations, and I can only offer the same. But most of them are pretty convincingly queer, so let's get into it cuz why tf not. (This is gonna be a loooooong post so buckle up)

Vishnu

This fella is probably the most pan-coded deity in the entire pantheon. Extremely comfortable with both his masculine and feminine side, Vishnu can sometimes be considered one of the peak genderfluid icons out there. His avatar, Krishna, despite being referred to as the Parampurush (in other words the manliest man in the entire universe), his physical appearance (which is what is considered to be a very feminine body for a man today, i.e., slender and soft) breaks the stereotype of what masculine man should look like. There are paintings of him and Radha where I've stared for like a hot minute trying to figure out which one is Radha (mostly in grayscale cuz otherwise their complexions are a dead giveaway) and yet, he slays it like a badass.

Then we also have Mohini, the goddess of beauty probably the best seductress out there, and the only female avatar of Vishnu. Through her having a union (yk what they mean by that) with Shiva (AHEM subtext amirit), Vishnu gave birth to Ayyappa, and wouldja look at dat he has two dads, which was actually prophesized. Mohini in one of the versions of Mahabharata (not the original one) ALSO slept with Iravan (Arjun's son) the night before he was gonna offer himself as a sacrifice for the Kurukshetra war. Reason was that Iravan had a wish to get married and spend the night with his wife before dying, and wishing his wife would mourn for him after his death. So Krishna felt bad for him, turned himself into Mohini and married him. The next day she held her husband's body and mourned for him like any wife would. We can also go back to the time where he sported (make of that word what you will) with Arjuni (female version of Arjun) as well as the female version of Narad (for a year in the latter's case).

In short, we can see how chill Krishna is with his fluidity with sexuality and gender, so much so that it's hard to put a label on him sometimes, which is fine. But yes interpreting him as queer wouldn't necessarily be a preposterous claim after all.

Shiva

Tbh Shiva is also pretty queer-coded, given his union with Mohini (and yes he specifically ASKED Vishnu to turn into her and hence he KNEW it was his best friend after all), and him turning into a woman to join Krishna's leela that one time, which also denotes that he's pretty confident in his gender fluidity as well, to some extent. He also has a sort of female avatar, who's actually very underrated. I think it's called Shivani. Also no one can deny the tension between Shiva and Vishnu let's be real here. They even have a ship name- Harihar, PLUS that "Vishnu is in the heart of Shiva and Shiva is in the heart of Vishnu" line. Btw this was a joke, but now you know why they're one of the popular ships of Hindu mythology. I personally have very neutral stance to the kind of bond they share, whether you call it platonic or something else.

(Note that I personally do not consider Ardhanarishwar and Vaikunthakamalaja as any genderfluid thingy because I just see them as literal fusions of the two couples, but yes many consider these two fused versions of Parvati-Shiva and Lakshmi-Narayan respectively to be gender-nonconforming, or non-binary of some sort.)

Lakshmi

Why did I add her here? Because I have a feeling she might be bi, given the fact that her husband is also technically her wife, considering we take Mohini into account, who I'm pretty sure she loves just as much as she loves Vishnu. But again, that's just my take on it.

Agni

Now he's one of the more popular queer-coded Hindu gods, specifically known for his implied poly-esque relationship with his wife Svaha and Soma (the wind god). Now many sites on Google have claimed Soma to be his husband, but I am yet to find a scriptural evidence for that claim, so I suggest you to take their words with a grain of salt. But what IS true is that these two guys do share a pretty profound bond. There was also this one instance where Soma went to a mountain and Agni followed him. Then both of them at the top of that mountain, 'became one' (what does that mean? not sure but it sure as hell sounded romantic. anyways). Also Soma is considered the "seed" and Agni the "progenitor" hence releasing the "seed". Now again what does that mean? Idk but that's sus as hell for sure.

Plus, Agni is also very well-known to be the (oral) receptor of Shiva's (and sometimes Soma's but not sure about the second one) semen, which he then flung into Ganga cuz it was too hot to bear for him, and that's how Kartikeya/Murugan/Skanda (Shiva and Parvati's son and a God of war) was born. So yeah.

Mitra-Varuna

These two.... are another pair of popular queer-coded Hindu deities. They're almost always summoned and worshipped together, and you can say they have canonically.... well had a union, and good news is none of them became a woman for the deed. Their union is recorded in the Shatapatha Brahmana 2.4.4.19, where Mitra is said to have "implanted his seed in Varuna" (hmmm nothing homosexual going on here) during the waning moon. Many people consider this a metaphor for the cyclic nature of celestial phenomena so it's upto you to interpret it however you want.

Now they also give off that sunshine x grumpy vibe, with Mitra being the god of friendship, sun, daylight, dawn and stuff while Varuna is the god of the waters, moon, nighttime, dusk etc. Plus, the latter has anger issues but he has a bubbly Mitra (pun intended) to calm him down for dat :D.

They are also known for siring two sages, Agastya and Vasistha after they accidentally released and mixed their semen into a pot as a result of getting enchanted by Urvashi (one of the apsaras or celestial nymphs).

Budh and Ila

Budh is technically an AMAB non-binary (or intersex) deity (and technically the planet Mercury) born to Chandra (who's also synonymous to Soma most of the time) and Tara, to put it simply, and got cursed to be neither male nor female because Chandra had an affair with someone else's wife -_- (Tara was the wife of Brihaspati, or Jupiter, who was also the guru of the gods).

Ila is another genderfluid deity. Some versions of the myth says they were born a woman, some say they were born a man called Sudyumna, while some say they were born a woman, but since their parents wanted a son, Mitra-Varuna (who they preyed to) changed their gender and Sudyumna was born (but then there was some issue with the rituals, which led to the duo to turn him back to a woman, which is when they took the name of Ila. Ik, too much gendershifting going on, bear with me). Anyhoo they got this genderfluidity from Shiva's spell and every month they'd change sex from Sudyumna to Ila and back to Sudyumna and so on. Budh got enchanted by Ila and married her, and bore the Pururavas with her.

Later on, some versions say Ila permanently turned into a man with Parvati's boon. But personally interpreting, Budh was technically still married to Sudyumna so..... idk what happened to them afterwards tho. I hope they were still spouses...