Week 9 Story: Parikshit's Family History

Parikshit settled into his chair next to his young son, Janamejaya. Parikshit had a saddened look on his face, and Janamejaya knew that they were settling in for a serious conversation.

"Son," Parikshit said, "It's time that you learn about our family history."

Janamejaya was intrigued. He had never learned much about his family. He hadn't met his grandfather, aunts or uncles, or cousins. He had always wondered who his family was, and how his family was royalty in Hastinapura. 

"Yes, father," Janamejaya responded with an eagerness that he struggled to contain.

Parikshit slowly began to tell the story, though it was clear in his voice that he did not want to tell it, "So the story begins long ago with your great-great-great-grandfather, King Vichitravirya. I never even met Vichitravirya, he was gone before my time. But he was a very noble man."

Janamejaya was leaning in, visibly eager to hear more. Janamejaya wondered why Parikshit had waited so long to tell him stories about their past and wondered if maybe it was just too uneventful to tell. However, Janamejaya could not have been prepared for how wrong he was.

"After Vichitravirya passed away, his grandsons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu both became kings. Pandu, your great-grandfather, was king first. He had five sons named Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Together, they were known as the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra was blind but that didn't stop him from having plenty of kids - he had 100 children, including your cousin Duryodhana."

Janamejaya was confused. How could he have at least 100 cousins but he's never met them? Why hadn't he met his grandfather or any of his great-uncles?

"Well, starting early on, Duryodhana had severe jealousy issues with the Pandavas. In fact, this jealously lasted all his life. When Duryodhana was a young man, he tried to kill the Pandavas. He attempted to light their house on fire with their mother, Kunti, in the house as well. Thanks to a half brother of the Pandavas and Kauravas, the Pandavas were alerted to the plan and escaped to the forest. While the Pandavas were outside of Hastinapura, they met Draupadi, a beautiful princess. They all married Draupadi. And, eventually, Yudhishthira got a new kingdom."

Janamejaya was shocked. But now he understood why he had never heard of Duryodhana.

"However, Duryodhana was not satisfied with his evil deeds yet. He knew Yudhishthira had a gambling problem, and he exploited this issue. Yudhishthira lost everything while gambling. Dhritarashtra was not pleased with Duryodhana's trickery and forced him to return everything to the Pandavas. However, Yudhishthira made one last deal, and he lost. The Pandavas were forced into 12 years of exile and 1 year of disguise."

Janamejaya couldn't believe what he was hearing. But why hadn't he met any of the Pandavas or his Kaurava cousins?

"Following the Pandavas's exile, there was a great war between the Kauravas and Pandavas. Yudhishthira led the Pandavas, and Duryodhana led the Kauravas. During the beginning of this war, all of the Kauravas except Duryodhana and a few others had been killed. During the night time while Pandava forces were sleeping, the Kauravas went to their camp and slaughtered all but a few of the Pandava forces. The Pandavas went to find Duryodhana who, at this point, was hiding in a lake. Once they found Duryodhana, Bhima challenged him to a fight and broke Duryodhana's thigh, which killed Duryodhana slowly. At this point, your only relatives that were alive were your great grandfather, Arjuna, your great-grandfather, Uttara, your grandmother, Bhima, Yudhishthira, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadi, and Dhritarashtra. But this was the end of the story for almost all of them. After the war, Yudhishthira was the king, and Dhritarashtra passed away shortly after the battle. The Pandavas then left for heaven, and I was named king. And you will follow me as king. Any questions?"

Janamejaya was shocked. His family history was messy, bloody even. He couldn't force himself to ask any more questions if he had any, and he told his father he had heard plenty. He knew he could never live with as much jealousy as Duryodhana, and aspired be a noble, peaceful ruler when he became king.

Pandavas meet their grandfather, Vyasa. Image from Wikimedia

Author's Note

I adapted my story from C.A. Kinkaid's telling of the Mahabharata. I was left wondering what Parikshit must have felt like, and how he would tell the story. So, I did some research on Parikshit and learned that he had one son, Janamejaya, and made the story as Parikshit telling his son the family history. I retained many of the major plot points of the Mahabharata, but was able to tell the story from a new point-of-view and show how I think a descendant of the characters of the Mahabharata would take in the story.

Bibliography

"Parikshit". Wikipedia. Found Online at this link

"The Mahabharata". C.A. Kinkaid. Found online here