#characters of mahabharat

[blackknight-100]

It'll never stop being funny to me how Indra's status and power level changes throughout the different texts because initially, you have this absolute badass God-King who defeats a giant monster and gets together with his wife and holds court in heaven. Next the Ramayana rolls up and he is set as a benchmark for battle-skill: Meghnad, as the warrior who defeated him, is an absolute powerhouse who nearly kills both Rama and Lakshmana (and one of those two is a god). In fact, depending on the version, Rama and Lakshmana only survive by semi-divine intervention (Garuda and Hanumana). It is a story about how Lakshmana, an exiled third prince, kills the man who defeated the King of Gods, thereby proving the victory of good over evil et cetera... et cetera... You know the drill.

And then, you have the Mahabharata. Where Krishna, then a young boy, protects an entire settlement from Indra's rage. Which... you know what, fine, he too is a god.

But then, Arjuna defeats Indra, who is his father. Arjuna, who presumably upset the audience a few moments ago after he just burned a whole forest with everyone (including children) in it to supposedly satisfy Agni.

Then, Indra shows up to Karna's doorstep begging for his armour, and Karna who had previously angered the audience by calling Draupadi a harlot gets to demand things from the king of the gods.

See the pattern?

Also they have that absolute disaster of a ceremony and their city is called Indraprashtha.

Like come on, at this point you're just using Indra as the bonus +500 point in games to get your favourites in the audience's good books after they messed up.

[archpoet77]

many of y’all aren’t ready for this conversation yet but there is LITERALLY no one in the Mahabharat who’s completely innocent. Not Draupadi, not Krishna and certainly not Karna.

[hindulivesmatter]

The Men of Mahabharat

Who's your favourite?

All of the men (who aren't villains) who played pivotal roles in the Mahabharat. Let's see who Tumblr loves the most!

Reblog to reach a wider audience!

Next poll: The Villains of Mahabharat.

[whimsiquix]

Hilarious tidbit of the day, that time Draupadi called Arjun the best of the Pandavas to the other Pandavas:

‘In particular, Panchali remembered the husband who was in the middle, the brave one who was absent. She told the foremost of the Pandavas, “In the absence of the two-armed Arjuna, the equal of the many-armed Arjuna and the best of the Pandavas, this forest seems cheerless to me. Wherever I look, the earth seems to be empty to me. This forest, with its many marvels and blossoming trees, no longer seems to be attractive in Savyasachi’s absence. This Kamyaka is as blue as monsoon clouds and is frequented by elephants in rut. But without Pundarikaksha, it has no charm. The twang of his bow is like the roar of the thunder. O king! I remember Savyasachi and without him, I cannot find any peace of mind.”

- BORI 376(79)

Side note: Pundarikaksha means: ‘The Lotus-Eyed-One’. 🪷 Something about Draupadi frequently describing how beautiful she finds Arjun absolutely breaks my mind actually.

[heisen-heimer]

Ok hear me out:

A Mahabharat anime would slap so hard

[lovefrombegonia]

*sits up straight* ykw qijiu is kinda similar karna and duryodhana but not really but really REALLY but--

[felinecryptid]

ouhhh needle guy, wont you hug me? come a little closer, make me bleed, make me lose my mind from bloodloss and erase my worries

[fanfictionroxs]

Dhanush-Baan aur Duryodhan

The fact that the bow and arrow represent both great love and great enmity for Duryodhan. The fact that it is a symbol of protection and attack for him. The fact that it brings out both regard/respect and ego/arrogance in his heart. The fact that he both adores and hates the bow and arrow. All because of two men who were enemies yet brothers, one fated to be Duryodhan's protector and the other fated to be his protector's downfall. One's arrow gave him everything and the other's arrow took away his everything.

Ah Niyati. She sure loves her irony.

[stxrrynxghts]

Uttar, an analysis

The ages of Uttar and Uttara are a big plot hole in the Mahabharat. I personally like to imagine Uttara as a 16 year old when she gets married (and Abhimanyu is 19), but Uttar is someone I am very confused for.

Uttar, along with his bro Shankh are mentioned during the Draupadi swamayvar. It is written that Virat arrived with the both of them, when mentioning the kings who had arrived.

Perhaps Uttar was a kid. Let's assume that he was a kid, 3 years old? Now, let's calculate. If we include the 12 year exile that Arjun had, the 13 year exile of the Pandavas, and an extra one year Uttar turns out to be 29 years old.

Even Abhimanyu's age can be calculated to be in the early thirties by some, but I kind of reject that theory. I personally see him being a young adult. But, the Upapandavas are another plot hole.

We know next to nothing confirmed about them, except that they were atirathis, and the manner in which they died. Even their achievements in the War are not specifically highlighted. Their ages are a point of contradiction as well. Their existence is mentioned ONLY after we are given a description of Abhimanyu's birth.

I personally feel that they could have been older. Abhimanyu being the youngest kid of the Pandavas might as well make sense. The Upapandavas were probably in their mid twenties- early thirties by that account.

Back to Uttar:

His actions are mostly termed as being cowardly. He was undoubtedly a decent warrior, as he had defeated Shalya, and COULD have killed him, if he had not boasted and given Shalya time to hurl a spear at him (LOL).

Uttar is someone who mostly spends time with members of the opposite sex. He is also the heir apparent of the Kingdom, and has relatively no experience of war. Doesn't mean that he was not trained enough. The most plausible explanation for his actions are that he panicked after seeing such a big army, that too alone.

Virat was a Maharathi, and Kichaka was one of the most powerful people alive at that time. I don't think that Uttar would have gotten to fight in any wars, when there were so many experienced warriors in the army already?

I came to the conclusion that he FELT that he could fight the whole army himself, and had a somewhat romantic view of the war, but when he saw the army, he panicked.

Uttar is a green boy, doesn't matter what his age is. It was his first war, and seeing the likes of Bhishma and Drona in front of him would cause panic to anyone.

Arjun did not TEACH him warfare (as shown in CERTAIN shows.) He just gave him confidence to fight. I personally feel that Uttar was the only prince of a small kingdom, where life went on peacefully, and he had no reason to prepare for a war, unlike certain princes. Uttar's future was already set.

If you closely observe Uttara's character, she feels like someone who is very naive and innocent. She asks Uttar for clothes for her and her friends' dolls, and he readily agrees. The siblings are not understanding the depth of the situation they are in, and It can be plausible that they are too pampered as children?

My conclusion is that Uttar was a bit arrogant prince who needed a bit of a reality check and a confidence boost. His age, I feel, should be seen as somewhere in mid to late twentie. That makes his and Uttara's bonding interesting, since she is 10+ years junior to him.

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

This is not as coherent as my usual posts and I'm sorry about that in advance. This is tangentially related to our last post about women in Mahabharat. I saw this post by @nushkiespeaks. I have a lot of thoughts about it but what matters the most in the context of our previous post is that I do not like the use of the phrase "her dharma saves her" in this scenario. I will explain.

TW: violence against women, sexual assault. Please proceed with caution.

(I want to clarify that this is not meant as a call out post or anything. These are just my thoughts about what some feminist analysis of the epic lack sometimes. You can feel free to agree or disagree with me but please be kind and respectful about it and not call people names or harass anyone.)

I love Draupadi as a character so I say the following with all the love in my heart for her:

People usually either praise Draupadi for being a perfect victim. Or denigrate her for not being one. To them, she's either the pure hearted goddess who believed in her personal god and fulfilled her dharma of being a perfect wife. Or she's the cunning woman who didn't perform her dharma properly and deserved what she got.

What gets left behind is that the fact no one should have to go through any of that regardless of whether you believe they performed their dharma correctly. What also gets left behind are: all the other women mentioned in the scene, if only in passing. The slaves.

If you're strictly talking about the BORI CE version of the story(as the post clearly is), while reading it, it's almost impossible to miss the repeated mentions of the normalised and legally sanctioned sexual abuse/harrassment and rape of slaves. (Side note: Yes, slavery was a thing back then. It's horrible. People just don't like to acknowledge the instances in the Mahabharat where slavery is mentioned because it's just not a good look for sacred books to be chill with and actively encouraging buying and selling of actual people like objects. Trust me, if you have a favourite character in the epic, they were probably involved in the practice of slavery somehow, even Krishna, I'm very sorry to tell you this.)

To me, it's odious to mention dharma whenever we talk about Draupadi's vastraharan because it leads the obvious conclusion that those other women mentioned in text suffer at the hands of their "masters", in part because maybe they weren't performing their dharma correctly.

Maybe that's not what people mean when they praise Draupadi for her dharmic perfection. But every time those people, I cannot help but think of those women. The ones that are forgotten.

The ones who were not allowed to save themselves.

I guess, I'm ultimately just trying to say that this post is just my humble request to people to not talk about topics such as sexual assault in terms of the moral character of the victim. The people may mean well, but it does unfortunately perpetuate the idea of a perfect victim.

-Mod S

[forevermore05]

Let's say you're one of the writer's way back when Atla was first starting. Bryke has stepped back and let the writers do their thing. What are some things you would keep or remove completely? What are things you would have done differently? What would you have liked to explore more of with the story and the characters?

OOOH good question

I would definitely be giving South Asia, Hinduism, and Buddhism their honour back but making Desi main characters not caricatures. I will pay my respects to those religions by using them properly and not discarding them when you don't truly understand their meaning. And better representation will all the cultures.

Likewise, I would make a 4th (or maybe more) book, so we can see the healing of the 4 nations and flesh out the Gaang and other characters properly. I feel like ending it on book 3 was too sudden, and I hate the comic, so I don't even recognize those, since it is so OOC.

I would make Zuatara canon through some slow burn. I would not pair Aang up with anyone, since he is too young but keep him having a crush on Katara for the Chakra arc (which stays true and respect to Hinduism) but to provide a lesson on heartbreak and moving on. Same with Toph, such a cute little baby.

I will REMOVE those nonconsenual kisses entirely. Basically out with Kataang.

I want to see more of the evil politics of the Fire Nation before Aang defeats Ozai and how Zuko deals with it. In contrast, to how Zuko handles politics being Fire Lord.

I WANT more Suki and her backstory. I also want to see her and Ty Lee fight side by side. It would be so cool.

I would actually have Zuko and Katara speak to Azula after the Agni Kai.

I would keep Sokka's sexism arc.

Not only that, but I would love to explore Yue even more and her take on the NWT

I also want to go in depth with Mai, I want to give her some depth.

Have Aang's character understand the Mahabharat scripture before making a choice. (Maybe kill Ozai)

I want to see a healing arc for Azula

I also want Uncle Iroh to face some repercussion of being an activity member of war. I love Uncle Iroh, and I want to write the consequences and him accepting humbly due to his development.

Book 4 and (leading to adulthood) head canons for the Gaang

Katara: Helps the SWT and NWT, then goes on to become ambassador for the SWT in the Fire Nation

Zuko: Fire lord

Aang: Helping all the Nations to heal

Toph: I think she would totally be the creator of the pro-bender, you cannot change my mind, I think she would also become a teacher

Suki: Girlbossing as a Kyoshi Warriors and being known as one of the best

Sokka: Become Chief of SWT and a skilled engineer

I want Katara and Zuko to find his mother together (so we can get good development)

I feel like I have more, but I will add more if I think of any.

[chahaa-piun-ja]

Also for several times just standing there tits out waiting for the divine armour to materialize as a hail of arrows is coming towards him

Karna was so real for having his entire tits out while everyone else was wearing heavy fucking armor like yeah he's serving the army AND cunt

[stxrrynxghts]

Okay so, recently there was a huge kaand. As y'all know, I usually post incorrect quotes or my rewatching series of Star Plus Mahabharata. Now someone took my posts and blew them out of proportion. I have blocked them, yes, not because I'm afraid, but because I don't want any stress. I get easily affected by this stuff, and I don't wish to fall into depression again.

I'm writing this post to clarify MY opinions, if y'all are willing to listen. Currently, all the quotes and rewatches are deleted. I will post them either publically or privately again, but it depends if you all wish to see them.

I use basic meme templates from the incorrect quote generators, and put the names of the MB characters which I think suite the template. So there was this specific incorrect quote:

Draupadi: I love you guys, you are the best thing that happened to me. The Pandavas: we are the best thing that happened to you? Draupadi: yeah. The pandavas: we are starting to feel a little sorry for you.

Now, this is a very popular incorrect quote. I don't see how this is derogatory towards the Pandavas, or Draupadi for that matter. It's just a joke. And I'm allowed to make jokes. You, however, are not allowed to post screenshots of my posts on social media without my permission/giving credit.

Tell me honestly, did this feel insulting to any of you? If it did, then I will accept my mistake. I did not make it from the intention of hurting anyone. I just thought it would suit them.

Now change the characters. If I had written this for Krishna and Balarama, would it feel insulting? No. IT IS JUST AN INCORRECT QUOTE!

And then this person says that I used "derogatory" language for my favs. WAIT WHAT? Does this person even know who my favs are? Pls tell me where have I used derogatory language for Abhimanyu or Uttaraa. Yes, I have made incorrect quotes. But these quote templates are used by 100s of ppl online, it's not just ME who is making these quotes, srsly. And no one has ever said that "hey I find them insulting".

Then, my rewatch series. First, it is solely, SOLELY based on what SP MB portrays the characters to be like. If I put any references from the OG MB, I MENTION IT explicitly. My rewatch series was inspired from @demonkidpliz's rewatching MB series (yes, I did take permission before starting it.)

Now, Dhrishtadyumna was trying to kill Drona, right after his birth. So I said it was "out of his aukaat". Why? Because he is very weird. He insults Draupadi in a very sexist way, and is downright irritating till this point. So I used this language for him. It is a satire on the show, God.

OG Dhrishtadyumna was a very nice warrior, but are his warrior skills shown in the show ? Are they? No. And if you consider this to be an accurate representation of him, then...you are special.

Then, this person posts stuff about me calling Arjun depressed. THIS was the biggest issue. I saw some of my friends commenting under it, without even clarifying it with me, first, so it did hurt initially.

The show does not show Arjun to be the great warrior he is. Arjun in the OG MB does not hesitate to fight UNTIL the Kurukshetra war, and he has proved his mettle as the best warrior of his time multiple times in the text. In the show...well, all of his gr8 warrior sequences are just removed. Almost all of them.

In the Varnavrat thing, the Pandavas (and Arjun) are eager to kill the Kauravas, which is very uncharacteristic for SP MB Arjun. So I said that "oh, he wants to fight? He won't want to fight after the depression hits in."

IT IS FOR SP MB ARJUN.

NOT FOR THE REAL ARJUN, GOD.

Yes, I know that he was a gr8 warrior. Yes, I know that he did tapasya and pleased all the Gods. Because he was GREAT. And I know that. The title of the post was "Re-watching Mahabharata", and the tags were "starplus mahabharat", "starbharat recap" and "starbharat". Srsly? You will say that I am calling the OG Arjun depressed?! Really?! It's a satire on the show!

Asking me to show even a single verse in the text where he is mentioned to be depressed is kinda weird since I DID NOT CALL HIM TO BE DEPRESSED! And I know how serious depression and suicide is. I suffered from it once. I don't need anyone teaching me about how serious it can be, or how it can affect your life. I am NOT trying to pick fights with anyone, okay? I am not. I am not interested in weird kalesh at all.

I want y'all to tell me if I have done anything wrong, or if any of you ever had similar feelings seeing my incorrect quotes or rewatch series. Since they are currently deleted, I will start posting them again if y'all are interested in seeing them.

[prettykittytanjiro]

Ramayan: a character analysis

Part 1

Link to part 2

I just found a paper which had a Ramayan and Mahabharat stupid character analyses cause me and my friend couldn't be bothered to do physics and maths so I'm gonna share them with y'all >:D

Its kinda school / work/ jumble au made for funsies :3

Lakshman:

The Original Angry Bird

Its also his nickname

probably had a emo and My Little Pony phase

He knows all the My Little Pony lore

He's the guy who can basically conjure up anything and everything the second you need it

Some idiot (read: us): aw, dammit- I forgot the lighter!

Lakshman, tending to a fire he made with nothing but a leaf: what?

I'd like to think he's also very paranoid about hygiene

He has a secret fanclub he's unaware of

EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE AND WILL DO HIS BEST TO DECIMATE THE OPPONENT WITHOUT HESITATION

•will shake the opponent's hands in congratulations/his version of 'you did good' (depending on the result of the match) after whatever they were competing for while smiling and speaking in the kindest tone known to mankind as if he just hadn't attempted murder :)

The house is FULL of woodworking projects he's made by himself- people see a LOT of them on Urmila's and Ram's desks/workplaces/lockers :)

Adding onto that he almost always has like tiny little wood chips/sticking eticking on to HIM AND HIM ONLY👍

Shatrughan:

Who?

he's the kid who took arts as a stream, probably

He writes fanfiction on characters that deserve more attention than they get

Has ALL the tea even though noone even THOUGH HE'S NOT EVEN PRESENT AT THE SCENE IN THE CCTV-

He's the great vent-entity that possesses every vent in existence, that's how-

He's the guy with PERFECT attendance but somehow STILL gets questioned if he's even in class or not :(

He's the very cool wine uncle and has a very great taste in fashion

Spews out show/game references left and right

Has a secret book with masterplans on how to pull the greatest pranks in history

[nushkiespeaks]

KRISHNA IN VYAS MAHABHARAT AND THE POWER OF DUTY AND CHOICE (I)

Krishna in Vyaas Mahabharat

Trust me, I had seen Krishna's representation in TV serials and fictional books, but I always felt that something was missing. I understand the grand scale of Krishna, the all knowing Krishna, the mischief maker Krishna, the Dwarkadheesh Krishna, but I could hardly find nuances in the portrayal or how he exactly intertwines his roles together as one. In many instances, I feel like I am seeing actually different persons rather than entirely one. It should be one man enacting different activities, but somehow I felt fictions and serials cannot capture it well enough.

This is when I started reading Bori Ce, and oh man the way I was completely blown off by his portrayal! This is exactly what I had imagined Krishna to be! The all in one man showing all the nuances with perfect balance, not underdoing or overdoing it!

This man openly shows affection, anger, patience, courage and what not and has a strong command, a personality, a confidence in his stance that he has immensely knowledgeable and knows what is right and wrong.

KRISHNA IN MAHABHARAT IS AN ENTIRE PERSONALITY IN ITSELF.

There isn't a stiffness to his character which I always feel is shown, or the general notion of him being always in a mischievous mood throughout, nor he is the one who would always be ready to throw heavy "gyaan" in your way, everytime someone is upset.

1. Krishna, fitting in Mahabharat as a human and as a God: [ Krishna feels you, he gets you what you feel ] :

Krishna in Mahabharat, actually behaves like a person does as per required in a situation. He actually feels like a separate individual dealing with problems, fighting through it like anyone of us. Him being God, doesn't actually draw him from the fact that he will do a task with his command or Maya. Rather he takes up a situation, understands it and does his best to work upon it.

And you find him in a range of emotions while dealing with a situation.

For example, after the Dyut, he goes to meet Pandavas and Draupadi. The texts actually show how much he was shivering with anger, so much so that the forest seems like being caught in a storm, the sky in tremors and the earth is shaking. At that moment, his anger was disastrous. He was angry, very angry and he shows it. This is when Arjun comes, falls at his feet and recounts Krishna's past and cools him down. And Krishna gets very emotional at this.

Imagine you're very angry, and someone comes and says words of calmness and you melt almost immediately, and reciprocate their affection. That's exactly what Krishna does. He could've shown his superiority, could've destroyed the surroundings around just because he's God and knew that Dyut was unrighteous that happened. But he doesn't. He calms down and shows affection to Arjun by reciprocating how much he loved him and considered him is own. Such a contrasting set of emotions shown so well, unlike how we see Krishna not giving a damn about the Pandavas and running straight towards Draupadi. This was not him. He was angry, but was never so much that would overpower everything. He sees the Pandavas distraught and he actually comforts them.

He goes to Draupadi next and is heartbroken at her condition. Yes, Draupadi openly complains to him about what had happened and weeps. And unlike how we think or had seen Krishna giving a series of speeches of how "world does things to the one who is right, you should be strong Sakhi, rise up" he doesn't do any of it. Because he understood what Draupadi needed was a burst out of her grief, and some comfort. Krishna does the same, he infact goes on to say that fie upon Arjun and Bheem, the strength of Pandavas, and how all the Kauravas will be vanquished. He asks her to stop shedding tears and that the Kaurav women will shed more tears than her.

This is when guys, this is when I felt him. He actually acted like anyone of us who will comfort someone who is distressed, to an extent he/she would go on to support their stance, instead of asking to forget about it or be strong instead. No. Krishna wanted her to lament it fully and not store it up within her or forget about it. Krishna never asks to try to forget whatever happened. He knew what exactly Draupadi wanted that time, and let's her be. The grief stricken Draupadi who only wanted to pour her heart out. He comforts her after listening to her stance and anger completely. He's moved by her grief and reciprocates her anger by saying they'll pay for their sins and he'll make sure of that. And this is actually what a response should be, or we give to someone near and dear one who's been hurt or done unjust. He exactly acts like US.

But he was God. According to our thinking, He could've said to her that why are you crying? Be strong, have faith and all that....but Krishna doesn't. This is where the nuance of him being a human and a God is bridged.

It's not over yet. Krishna openly says, how he should've been during the Dyut physically, but he couldn't because of a war. He feels upset that he couldn't be there.

This again adds up to the emotional range of Krishna, that doesn't generally reduce him to an all knowing God who is detached from the world.

BUT HE ACTUALLY IS. HIM BEING GOD ACTUALLY DETACHES HIM FROM WORLDLY EMOTIONS! HE SHOULD BE DETACHED FROM MATERIALISM AND THAT HE IS!

And that is actually the beauty of his amalgamation of him being Godly and humanly at the same time! He isn't emotionally detached from anyone, he's completely involved in each emotion but to an extent it is required. What you call it as a balance of it. You see both angles together in his character subtly, not overpowering each other but coming together as a whole to make him KRISHNA.

Krishna follows the way how a human should work, he is that's why for a reason is called the ULTIMATE MAN.

It's not for his physical strength or power, but also because of a PERFECT blend of emotions he displays, akin to a man and teaches us how exactly should it be.

This is where Krishna appears like a whole character and doesn't appear subtly flat with a single dimension of a God. You know he knows, he knows you know that he knows, but still....that emotional strike you will get while reading about him from Vyas Mahabharat will give you that feeling in your guts. It will just make you feel closer to him

[ TO BE CONTINUED ]

[orgasming-caterpillar]

Mahabharat Characaters on Social Media: pt. 4

Pt. 3. Ao3

Draupadi

Family girl

Always posting photos and short videos of her family (Esp her husband Bheem, but also occasionally her brothers-in-law)

They all adore their bhabhi, it's the cutest thing ever.

Also some funny posts from time to time, mostly gets her ideas from Nakul and Krishna.

"Me and my twin wore the same hairstyle so no one could tell us apart" and then it's just Dhristadyumna

Shikhandi

Trans guy with a gorgeous girlfriend.

Martial arts enthusiast probably.

Gives short courses on how to fight properly.

Idk why but he gives me major calisthenics nerd vibes.

Gets a lot of transphobic comments, but his girlfriend is hotter than all the transphobes so he does not give half a shit

(SHIKHANDI SHIRTLESS THIRST TRAPS WITH THE TOP SURGERY SCARS AND THE MUSCLES AND THE— AHHHHH *DIES*)

Dhristadyumna

Has an account on every platform his siblings are on.

Headboy vibes.

Don't let that fool you though, he WILL fight you if you're mean

Respects his elder brother a lot, you can see that from his comment's under Shikhandi's posts

Always reposts his siblings' posts on his story.

Doesn't want too much attention though, so he deletes his account sometimes but always mkes another.

Drupad

Used to be abusive towards his daughter and trans son. Got a good dose of education (see: character development) from his daughter's best friend, Krishna. Now supports both of them.

Comments "My Son 💪💯" under all of Shikhandi's posts tell me I'm wrong I dare you.

Likes his daughter's husband.

Likes his daughter's best friend more.

"Vaasudev, ye thirst trap kya hota hai? Mujhe to Shikhandi ke comments mein kuch samajh nahi aa raha." "...Uncle ji, aap neend lelo thodi."