KumaravyasaBharata : Aranya Parva - Part 1

1) Hastinapur is believed to be around 22 miles northeast of today's 'Meerut' city. back in hastinapur, rishi maithri, rishi veda vyas, vidura, all advice Duryodhana and Dhritarastra to bring back pandavas but their advice go in vain!

2) Entire village who loved pandavas dearly follow them aimlessly into forest despite Yudhistira and Bhima denying. When Yudhitira worries for their food and needs to Dhowmya maharshi, the maharshi asks him not to worry much on current state. Maharshi says "In happiness and sorrow, in wealth and poverty, In praise and criticism, In cold or hot, samabuddhi and sthira buddhi is a must. You should all stay healthy and sane. Have ability to bear hunger / thirst. For Anna Siddhi, pray Dwadashatmaka Aditya (Soorya)". Arogya, Aishwarya, moksha and Jnaana are few seeks we all do.

At the need of the hour for Pandavas, is the need of health and hence, Yudhistira prays Soorya and soorya agrees to fend their hunger with Anna Daana for all 12 years by gifting them Akshaya Paatra.

Arogyam bhaskarad ichcheth (Soorya)

Sriyam ichcheth uthaasanath (Agni)

Iswarath jnana manvichcheth (Shiva)

Moksham ichcheth janardanath (Vishnu)

3) All the people build parnakuteera in *Kaamyavana* where Panadavas decide to stay. It overthrows the kingdom back in capital in its prosperity. In Dwaraka when Krishna hears Pandavas current affairs, he despairs! He immediately seeks to meet Pandavas and hugs each of them individually wiping their tears with his peetambaram. When he calls out for Draupadi, she, who was hiding behind in utter shyness, runs at his call and falls at his feet. She is overcome with the grief and pain of her endurance along with her true gratitude to Krishna who saved her at her one prayer.

She finds only Krishna trust worthy and asks him through her tears, what use is of greatness of her husbands to her who cannot protect / fight for their wife, when even a weakest of weakling, fights for his wife's respect, how could Dritarastra and Bheeshma keep silent at her insult when she is also the daughter in law of the same house. The more Krishna tries to console her, the more her grief grows and that shows how dear was krishna to Draupadi.

4) When Krishna repents for not being around at the court to prevent this injustice happen, Draupadi for once, asks him, how can he not know, he who is the super protector of the earth, the one who came and rescued her at her one prayer, how can he not know the injustice could happen to them. Krishna swears on his dad Vasudeva and says he did not and could not know. He explains his fight back in Shalya with the Shalya king (brother of Shishupala) and says he was not in dwaraka too and the Shalya fight was a tough one for his hands.

He consoles her saying, her vow is his responsibility to fulfill. He vows back to her to avenge immoral kauravas. He consoles her saying he will make sure Arjuna's arrows will have answers to her desire to seek blood of every person who has humiliated her. He despairs and even cries saying what good is Devaki to have borne him as a son who cannot prevent this happening to pandavas.

Draupadi, requests him, to have his soul and mind on pandavas from now on, at his every moment, to be their protector and stand with them. He assures her the trust and gives her the support she seeks.

5) On his way back to Dwaraka, Krishna could not help but wonder, how he planned to make Yudhistira the supreme ruler by getting him to perform Rajasuya yaaga and instead how they ended up in forest now. He could not reason the injustice done to them, despite them following every good deed. He so wished now, that when Yudhistira got a second call for the dice game, he should have taken sometime, and come and met him and discussed with him before agreeing to go. Why didn't that happen. Failing to reason, he ends up thinking, such is the fate of every human being, who is to abide by vidhi, despite having all goods of goods wishing them.

6) When Pandavas hear the happenings in Hastinapur, through a common man passing by, Draupadi enrages with anger. She taunts and teases all her husbands for her current state. She boils over Yudhistira, asking, how can he not have any anger towards Kauravas for what is done to them. She says, anger, should be in Kshateriya blood, to make them strive and fight for good. Yudhistira, consoles her saying, Oh dear, 'Anger' is our biggest enemy. It takes birth from us, feeds off from us and goes on to destroy us in end. He tells Veda Vyasa, who visits them, that other than his satya, nothing is more important to him, and he doesnt even mind if he faces wrath of all his brothers, his wife, to let kauravas have the land. All he wants is, his Satya / truthful life.

7) Prathismruti mantra (an Eswara mantra), gets rid of King's shoka / grief, it grants them the strength to fight their enemies, it overcomes the daily household troubles and grants them 'Dharma','Artha', 'Kama' and 'Moksha', purusharthas,it gets rid of horrible diseases. Veda Vyas does that mantra upadesha to Yudhistira, he undergoes immense peace and goes to samadhi stiti for a while. Vyasa also advices him to do this mantra upadesha to Arjuna later alone, and asks him to let Arjuna go to Indrakeela parvata to pray Shankara after upadesha. There is a detailed episode on how Arjuna prepares himself for the tough tapas at Indrakeela parvata to attain all shastrastras and get blessed from Shiva.

*Note: These are personal notes based off on recordings heard from Kumaravyasa bharatha (Karnata Bharatha Kathaamanjari) vyakhyana from Muttor Krishnamoorthy and Hosahalli Keshavamoorthy.