Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

Maya showing gratefulness to Arjuna and Krishna. Source: Wikipedia.
PDE Mahabharata: The Burning of the Forest
Source. The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie (1921).

Reading notes focused on character of Mayasura and Vidura.
Mayasura - An article with more background information than the Mahabharata contains.
  • Agni, the fire god, requested for Arjuna and Krishna to defeat the god, Indra. This is because everytime Agni would ignite a fire in the forest, Indra would cause heavy rain to extinguish the fire. 
  • After a great battle, Agni burned the Kandava forest with a fire, which killed most of the residing animals. Mayasura is one of the creatures that escaped the fire. 
  • He became incredibly grateful to Krishna from saving his life perishing flames. Because of this, Mayasura promised Arjun and Krishna to build a great palace, as he was the “divine architect of the gods.” 
  • Duryodhana grew jealous of the increasingly prosperous Pandavas. 
  • Mayasura eventually constructs the grand Maya-Mahal. I learned that in addition to being a great architect, Mayasura s capable to create technological illusions. 
I chose to also pay close attention to Vidura, who is an interesting character introduced in the second part of the reading.

Vidura - An article with more information.

Early Life
  • Half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu 
  • Vidura tells Dhritarashtra that his first son is so full of hate and intends to destroy the entire race. Vidura urges him to get rid of the child, but Dhritarashtra ignores his advice. 
  • Krishna considers Vidura as Dharmaraja or “lord of truth”; also known as voice of reason and wisdom 
  • Son of a servant, making him ineligible to be king 
  • Unfortunate that such a wise man is incapable of being king, simply because he was born to a slave; emphasizes the importance of status in regards to power.
Helping the Pandavas
  • Vidura warned the Pandavas from Duryodhana’s plan to burn them alive. 
Against the War
  • Vidura was against the Mahabharata war but he is ignored again.


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